A 40th celebration to end the world! THREAD 2 COMPLETE AGAIN 4/27 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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A 40th celebration to end the world! THREAD 2 COMPLETE AGAIN 4/27
As the first thread of this trip report was starting to get very long and I was struggling to post updates to it, I decided to start another thread. I figure if I'm having issues, it won't be long before others start to experience it as well...
Wednesday 12 December – part two: so many animals in such a short time!
We headed back to the car to unload the hand luggage, and I had to get some photos of the amazing scene outside as we came back to the room…
I didn’t realise it at the time, but there appeared to be a baby Thomson’s gazelle.
Then there was the sighting of a red river hog, which I’ve never seen before.
Our own savannah wasn’t doing too badly either…
Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many animals in such a short period of time. It was just heaving out there on the savannah, and it seemed as if every time I looked up, there was even more activity. It was just unbelievable.
Mark fell asleep, which was probably the best thing that could happen, so I caught up on the trip report, photo editing, and the boards for a little while.
By 1:00pm, I was starting to get hungry, so I headed out, leaving him a note in case he woke up while I was gone. I wandered along the fifth floor…
… then headed down to the first floor, and had a look around Jiko.
Then it was outside, and I wandered past the pool to see the flamingos…
These photos really make me want to stay there! Visiting for an hour or so clearly isn't enough. Glad Mark could finally get some rest!
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Tanya
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These photos really make me want to stay there! Visiting for an hour or so clearly isn't enough. Glad Mark could finally get some rest!
You should - it's a beautiful place to stay. We found out on this visit though that you do see the most animal activity during the day, so try and pick a visit when you can spend a bit more time in the resort.
Great animal sightings! And fantastic photos of the lodge! I can't wait to stay there!
Is it true that the lowest floor you can get for DVC is 5th?
I believe that's right for Jambo, whereas at Kidani, where the whole resort is DVC, you can get any floor. That works for us, as we prefer the upper floors of a resort.
Great animal sightings! And fantastic photos of the lodge! I can't wait to stay there!
Is it true that the lowest floor you can get for DVC is 5th?
We've never had fifth floor - 3 & 4, I think.
Great animal activity!!
I showed my son the pictures you took from the fifth floor and said I needed to check that out next time. Turns out, he and DD have apparently wandered up there and he knew there were those great views already! How have I missed that?!
Great animal activity!!
I showed my son the pictures you took from the fifth floor and said I needed to check that out next time. Turns out, he and DD have apparently wandered up there and he knew there were those great views already! How have I missed that?!
Isn't it great, the way kids know things that parents don't?
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Beautiful pictures of all the animals. I could watch them all day. Love the shots of JIKO and the uupper walkway. Looking forward to more.
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Disney Trips: BLT & Poly Bungalow 2016, VGF 2015, Fantasy 2015, Saratoga Springs Resort 2014, Grand Villa at VGF 2013, Fantasy 2013, BWV and Kidani Village 2011, BWV and Kidani Village 2010, BWV and Saratoga Springs Resort 2008,Beach Club Villas 2008,Villas at Wilderness Lodge 2006, BWV 2006, BCV 2005, HHI 2004,Polynesian 2003,Grand Floridian 2000/concierge, Honeymoon at Polynesian 1994,Polynesian 1980,Polynesian 1978
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Sue
Fantastic photos of the beautiful lodge and all the animal activity! I only book AKL when I can make it a priority to spend a lot of time at the resort. As you say, there's too much going on to leave!
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It was just heaving out there on the savannah, and it seemed as if every time I looked up, there was even more activity. It was just unbelievable. 
We found out on this visit though that you do see the most animal activity during the day, so try and pick a visit when you can spend a bit more time in the resort.
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