Is It Time Already?! OKW and POR, November 2013 - Page 17 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
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Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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The Osborne Lights are breathtaking! I think the night we saw them my mouth was agape most of the time. You were lucky to be so close to the laundry. Sorry about the noisy neighbors. We love Flame Tree Barbeque and your meal is the one I always get. Your favorite photos is so cool! I love the clouds reflecting in the water. waytogo:
Sounds like a good time at the Ak so far. EE is one of my faves! Always go for the single line as there is usually virtually no wait! Can ride it many times!
Looked like a good lunch at FTB. It's easily my favorite counter service in the parks!
Sorry to hear again about the carts and that inconsiderate family with all their noice from them and their misbehaved kids!
It was my first time at FTB, and I'm sure it won't be my last!
I think I must be just really sensitive to noise!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
The Osborne Lights are breathtaking! I think the night we saw them my mouth was agape most of the time. You were lucky to be so close to the laundry. Sorry about the noisy neighbors. We love Flame Tree Barbeque and your meal is the one I always get. Your favorite photos is so cool! I love the clouds reflecting in the water. waytogo:
I just love that picture! I'm probably going to switch the wallpaper on my phone to that picture!
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
That last photo really is fantastic. Most people, when they think of Disney, would never imagine you would have beautiful vistas like that.
At least the nearby laundry was one good thing about the room location. I can't believe all the noise you had to deal with. Golf carts, kneeling buses and noisy neighbors.
I have to say, I'm not a huge fan of the Nemo show. I mean, I like it, but it doesn't wow me like Festival of the Lion King does. Sophia was loving all the shows, though, so she really wanted to see this one.
Wow or not, the people in this show are so talented!
The guy who sang Crush's part was incredible!
After the show, we had to head over to the Safari to use our next FP+. Unfortunately, it was parade time, so the paths were crowded, and we had to wind in and out as the CMs directed us.
I should mention here the one MDE glitch I couldn't fix before the trip started. I had made an ADR for Yak & Yeti for 4:30pm this evening because the park was scheduled to close at 5 this night. Then, I checked back as it got closer to the trip and saw that the park was open much later! So, I had tried to change my ADR to 7pm. I received a confirmation email cancelling the first reservation and second email confirming the later reservation. However, MDE never reflected it. It kept saying I had a 4:30pm ADR. So, as we wound in and out toward Africa, we stopped at Yak & Yeti where I asked the CM to check our ADR. They had it at the later time. Hooray!
We kept winding around and caught glimpses of the parade here and there.
Next: I've never seen that before!!!
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
Last edited by Dlandmom2; 12-15-2013 at 01:41 AM..
You're so quick with the updates! I just finished responding to the previous one.
I'm in agreement about the Nemo show. I appreciate the hard work and talent, but the show itself leaves me cold. Been there, done that, don't need to do it again. Lion King, however, I see on almost every trip.
I don't think you're being grumpy about the noise at all - I can't believe how much you had to put up with on this trip! I personally think when you're somewhere like Disney, there should be higher expectations on people being quiet, as you know there are going to be families there, potentially with young children. I honestly think any noise after 9:00pm/10:00pm is unreasonable and midnight - well, that just amazes me that people can be like that.
That last photo really is fantastic. Most people, when they think of Disney, would never imagine you would have beautiful vistas like that.
At least the nearby laundry was one good thing about the room location. I can't believe all the noise you had to deal with. Golf carts, kneeling buses and noisy neighbors.
The noise became a real distraction. It didn't keep us from enjoying our trip, but it did keep us from being more rested...well, mainly me. It still boggles my mind that the kids slept through it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
You're so quick with the updates! I just finished responding to the previous one.
I'm in agreement about the Nemo show. I appreciate the hard work and talent, but the show itself leaves me cold. Been there, done that, don't need to do it again. Lion King, however, I see on almost every trip.
I'm really sad to hear Lion King is going away soon...is that just a rumor or an official announcement? While we were waiting for the show to start, I heard some people behind talking to a CM about it, and she said she heard it was going away in May.
I was asked to do a survey about my AK visit that day, and I said how much I loved the show and hoped it would stay a lot longer!
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcc0313
So sorry about all the noise in the room
I love doing laundry at WDW - ok I really do not love laundry but I never mind when I am on vacation at WDW, it is my downtime
Great day at AK so far, glad that you were able to change your dinner to later so you had more park time.
Since we were getting such a late start every day, it was great that the park was open later. Thankfully, on this day, the huge crowds hadn't materialized yet, so the park was almost empty during those last few hours.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
I don't think you're being grumpy about the noise at all - I can't believe how much you had to put up with on this trip! I personally think when you're somewhere like Disney, there should be higher expectations on people being quiet, as you know there are going to be families there, potentially with young children. I honestly think any noise after 9:00pm/10:00pm is unreasonable and midnight - well, that just amazes me that people can be like that.
Glad you had a good time at Animal Kingdom.
People will be people, so everyone's concepts of what's acceptable will be different, but it still amazes me that anyone would think that kind of noise is acceptable. Oh well.
As for OKW, I was really surprised that pretty much ALL their vehicles had loud engines! It wasn't just one or two! Now THAT surprised me because you'd think Disney would think of these things!
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Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
It was now time for our safari. I think our FP+ time was for 4pm, and it was probably close to 4:30 by now. The ride was a complete walk on...I mean, not another soul in line. I mean, the vehicle before ours was just getting sent out with no one in it. I mean, our ride vehicle was half empty. Wow. I guess the lateness of the day made a difference, especially since the park was originally scheduled to close at 5. And the parade was going on, so that's where a lot of the people were. Still...wow! This was one of those times where we could've gone through the regular line, done the ride, and then gone back through the FP+ line to do it again! Heck, we could've just kept going through the regular line over and over!
We were seated in the second row. There were two people seated in the first row, and I think one of them was a CM on her day off. I think there were only two more rows behind us filled, and that was it.
Here's where another snafu took place. I forgot to charge my camera battery! This was the ONLY ride where having a 30x zoom was going to be important, and my camera died about 5 minutes into the ride. What a nut I was this trip!
Still, I had my phone, so I did the best I could. Considering the ride wasn't busy, our driver kept moving a lot, which meant we didn't have a lot of "still" time to take good pics. I mean, she was good and gave us great descriptions of things and pointed out where animals were hiding, but she didn't stop a lot. She'd slow down...but as bumpy as the roads are, it still left a lot of my pictures blurry.
This guy was SO close to us! The driver had to warn us, "Please don't touch the ankole cattle even though they're close enough to do so!"
And then came the highlight of the safari. The lions were moving! You heard me...they were actually moving! Not just sitting with their heads up, they were moving, walking around, interacting, it was awesome! Even the driver said she had never seen that before! (Here comes picture overload!)
After the excitement of seeing all this died down, I started kicking myself for not having charged my camera battery! Can you imagine how much better the pictures would've been with my camera?!
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
Last edited by Dlandmom2; 12-15-2013 at 11:56 AM..
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What a great safari, guess that nice late in the afternoon safari paid off as I guess the lions after lounging all day in the sun were up and roaming....so cool.
Even with your phone camera you got some good shots, sorry about the camera battery, I have had that happen a few times over our trips.
Good that you were able to confirm your changed ADR for Y&Y!
Sorry, to hear your camera battery died, but you still got some great photos of the lions on the safari!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
I guess that's the secret to finding the lions up and moving-- no people on the safari! WOW! I've never seen the line empty like that. Perfect. Definitely the wrong time for your camera battery to die, but you still got amazing shots.
Lion King isn't going away. It's just moving to a new theater in Harambe.
I agree on Finding Nemo: The Musical. It has lots of talent and is eye catching, but it doesn't wow me like FotLK. I still enjoy sitting it though. What an awesome safari, especially with the lions being so active. So sorry that you camera was unavailable for it.
What a great safari, guess that nice late in the afternoon safari paid off as I guess the lions after lounging all day in the sun were up and roaming....so cool.
Even with your phone camera you got some good shots, sorry about the camera battery, I have had that happen a few times over our trips.
That's what I was guessing...they must've wanted to get up and stretch their legs after lying around all day!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Oh wow, what an amazing safari to have - how cool to have the Ankole cattle that close!
It really was close! If you look at the bottom left corner of that picture, you can see part of our truck so that really gives you an idea how close those horns were to us!
Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperDave
Sounds like a great time at the AK.
Good that you were able to confirm your changed ADR for Y&Y!
Sorry, to hear your camera battery died, but you still got some great photos of the lions on the safari!
I really enjoy AK a lot! I'm sad we weren't able to visit Conservation Station though. Maybe next time!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
I guess that's the secret to finding the lions up and moving-- no people on the safari! WOW! I've never seen the line empty like that. Perfect. Definitely the wrong time for your camera battery to die, but you still got amazing shots.
Lion King isn't going away. It's just moving to a new theater in Harambe.
I'm glad it's not going away! Sophia's glad, too! I still can't believe we saw so much activity with the lions. The driver was really surprised to see so much movement and from all of them at once. It was awesome!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
I agree on Finding Nemo: The Musical. It has lots of talent and is eye catching, but it doesn't wow me like FotLK. I still enjoy sitting it though. What an awesome safari, especially with the lions being so active. So sorry that you camera was unavailable for it.
I'm so glad I was still able to capture some good pictures with the phone!
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
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You were lucky to be so close to the laundry. 
Sorry about the noisy neighbors. 
We love Flame Tree Barbeque and your meal is the one I always get. 
Your favorite photos is so cool! I love the clouds reflecting in the water. waytogo:
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I personally think when you're somewhere like Disney, there should be higher expectations on people being quiet, as you know there are going to be families there, potentially with young children. I honestly think any noise after 9:00pm/10:00pm is unreasonable and midnight - well, that just amazes me that people can be like that. 
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