Our "30 Year Anniversary" Disney Vacation 2014 [February 7-14] - Page 7 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
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 rain was gone, and it was a gorgeous, sunny day. We were headed to Animal Kingdom! :0) We were lazy this morning and took our time getting ready. We headed out to the park around 10:00. Today, we decided to try out FP+, as we didn't do any at MK yesterday.
We were a little disappointed to find out the Festival of the Lion King was not showing. It is our absolute favorite thing at Animal Kingdom, and our favorite show in all of WDW. I was happy to find out though, that we will get to see it again in February!
We hadn't had any breakfast, so we stopped at Flame Tree BBQ for lunch. Once again, it did not disappoint!
BBQ Ribs, chicken, baked beans, cole slaw, & sweet tea. Key Lime Parfaits for dessert. We paid OOP for the side of onion rings.
Cost: approx. $45.00 (or 2 QS credits)
I always eat too much here, and always get the same thing. After looking at their menu again, I think next time, I might try the Smoked Chicken Salad (doesn't it sound good?). Of course, I'll have to add a side of their yummy onion rings too! And, I didn't know they had Turkey Legs....
Our view while eating lunch.....{sadly, I never got a chance to ride Expedition Everest this time}.
After lunch, we went to look for DeVine.
Most people will overlook her but just ask a CM where she'll be and it's worth taking a few minutes to watch! Just ask Peter......
The window for our fast passes was now open and it was time to make our way over to the Finding Nemo show.
What a great show!
When we came out the show, we looked for something cold to drink. It was now in the 80's, but we weren't about to complain. Back home in VA, it was freezing and speaking of another snow!
Frozen lemonade hit the spot!
Cost: $8.00 {or 2 snack credits}
Just found this TR! I am pretty spoiled at staying at Deluxes and Moderates - but have always wanted to stay at ASMovies. Looks so fun and exciting. Sounds like you having some great park days so far. Can't wait for more. Love all your photos!
Dinner looked delicious! I can't believe how foggy it was at MK that night. Wow!
We love Kona! Never disappointed there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great dinner! Love the pics from MK!
We had a great first day, despite the rain.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DMA
Wow, can't believe that fog in MK!
What a nice evening! Dinner at Kona looked yummy!
The steak is delish....and that fondue...
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
Dinner looked really good!! Glad you were able to see the Electrical Parade before it started to rain again! Can't believe how foggy it got.
The rain was so off/on that day. So glad we got the parade in. I did hate not seeing Wishes (even though we were there)..
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
Sounds like a perfect AK day, except for not getting a chance to ride EE!
Peter won't ride EE, so sometimes it is hard to fit it in.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nemo125
Just found this TR! I am pretty spoiled at staying at Deluxes and Moderates - but have always wanted to stay at ASMovies. Looks so fun and exciting. Sounds like you having some great park days so far. Can't wait for more. Love all your photos!
We had only stayed at mods and one time at Beach Club. I was very skeptical about trying a value....but we loved it! Thanks for following along!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by shazza
We like Nemo, too. It sounds like you had a very nice day at Animal Kingdom.
We were disappointed about missing FOTLK, but we enjoy Nemo too. We love AK!! Always a fun day there!
WEATHER: Much warmer than freezing Virginia that we left!
BEST THING: We were in Disney a day early!!
WORST THING: nothing really...We were in Disney!!
FIRSTS: Staying at a value resort.
$$ MEAL EXPENSES:
$54.81 + tip = OOP (TS)
Saturday, February 8, 2014
WEATHER: Rain off and on all day.
BEST THING: Peter singing with the Dapper Dan's
WORST THING: Fog during Wishes!!!
FIRSTS: Eating at Be Our Guest, wearing Anniversary pins.
$$MEAL EXPENSES:
$40 (approx.) = 2 (CS) credits DDP
$80.92 = 2 (TS) DDP + app & tip (OOP)
no (SC) used today
We headed over to the Kilimanjaro Safaris next. When the CM saw our pins, she moved us to the front of the truck. The safari was awesome as usual!
After the safari, we took a break and went back to the resort until our dinner reservation.This trip was very laid back. I love having somewhat of a plan, but like to be flexible too. It worked best for us to take a break midday, and spend a little time back at the resort {resting or sitting by the pool}.
We had a dinner ADR at Yak & Yeti. This was a repeat for us and while our dinner was very good, we'll probably take a break from this restaurant for awhile and try a few new ones next trip.
that yummy salad!
I got the steak and shrimp again.
and mango cheesecake for dessert.
Peter got the mahi-mahi.
Cost: $77.17 {or 2 TS credits} plus $12.75 OOP for the salads. Also, a cash tip. Y & Y is a very nice restaurant for "couples". It is very cozy and quiet. We had a really nice table this time, next to the window.
A great dinner date!
It was EMH at the park today, so closing time wasn't until 8:00. We rode Dinosaur, which is always fun! We both love Dinosaur!
We had never ridden Kali River Rapids and I thought this was the perfect time to give it a try! Peter on the other hand, was not in the mood. I can be very persuasive though {or worrisome maybe???}, so we ended up with ponchos on, climbing aboard our white water raft!!!! Peter wasn't happy about getting wet, but all I could do was laugh the entire time!! We didn't get that wet! He has even agreed to ride again next trip!
This pretty much wound up our day at Animal Kingdom though, so we made our way to the bus stop. We did so many "new" things on this trip, most of which will now become must-dos.
This would be our only AK day, but at least we got to enjoy a few of our favorite things there.
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
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Never disappointed there. 
We had a great first day, despite the rain. 
We had only stayed at mods and one time at Beach Club. I was very skeptical about trying a value....but we loved it! 
Thanks for following along!!
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