"Hey, Mom, Dad, get on plane and go to Disney" Trip report - "Finding shelter from the fireworks" - **Updated 11/13** - Page 15 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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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
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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.
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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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Nala, I am in dire need of an update!! No rush or anything... But I think we all agree that we have waited very patiently to hear all about your magic at the Poly (seeing as most of us will also have to wait 36 years to go....) Hurry back with more!! And more beautiful pics!! I'm loving every minute!!
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That must have been such a magical moment to see Kiara enjoying HalloWishes so much. And what a great display of fruit and vegetables - that is just so creative.
You are making me SO homesick for the Poly! I am pretty sure that we were room 1515, so we must have been right next door to your room. Just think, you guys could have been busting in on us - - that story was hee-larious! And seeing Kiara with the sand between her toes just proved what a great choice this was for you guys!
The picture of the two of you gazing at the castle is a keeper -- frame that baby and put it on your nightstand! That should be your last image before you close your eyes every night.
And the goodies that keep showing up at your door - - yeah to Grumpy for surprising you with a gift basket and yeah to Fairy Godmother who sent Kiara the perfect princess basket! What a way to start your trip!
And I am just over the moon for you that Kiara was able to watch Wishes from the comfort of the lounge! That did my heart good and I know that it made your year.
The next morning broke and I was the first one awake. I really didn’t want to move as I knew it would wake up Kiara, but I had too. I looked at the clock and saw that it was just past 6:30, moved as quietly as I possible could to the bathroom, and when I came out discovered Kiara was not only awake, but doing her now expected, we are in WDW, early morning assault on poor Grumpy. There she was, poking at the poor man and saying over and over again “Hey Dad, go swim”. I crawled back in bed and apologized to Grumpy for waking her. And I couldn’t help but grin as I listened to the two of them going back and forth. That was a sure way to confirm that we really were in WDW!
Kiara did manage to get Grumpy up, but he managed to put her off for a dip in the pool. He headed up to the lounge, picked up coffee for both of us and breakfast for Kiara. As we were enjoying breakfast, talk of what we were going to do this day started. I had planned to go to the AK, but Grumpy had his sights set on Epcot and Kiara was itching to get to the MK. After much discussion, and Kiara changing her mind and wanting to go to the AK to ride Ema (Triceratopspin) Grumpy agreed that the AK was a good choice.
We were in no hurry to get anywhere that day and Kiara’s desire to go for a swim was put aside when a raft of ducks appeared on our patio. (and yes, I had to look up what a group of ducks on land is called) At first there was only a few, but as soon as Kiara began to share her breakfast with them, more came. I was in the shower when this all started and by the time I came out, about eight ducks were on our patio. And much to my dismay, I discovered that Kiara was feeding them and Grumpy was letting her. I have a huge problem with feeding the wildlife at WDW for several reasons. Number one, it is bad for the animals and number two, it invites ravenous creatures who will stop at nothing to get a bite of food, to swoop in on you and literally attack your food. Those creatures would be seagulls and I was certain that at any moment a flock of them (hey, being a child of the eighties, I knew that one) would swarm in. I expressed my fear of a gull invasion to Grumpy and he pointed out that there was not a seagull in sight. I attempted to voice my concern about feeding them being bad for them and Grumpy reminded me that it wasn’t him or Kiara that had been feeding a pair of young raccoons that had been frequently visiting our backyard. So, I really had no room to get up on a high horse.
I let Kiara and Grumpy have their fun with the ducks and when the food supply ran dry and the raft waddled away from us, the two of them got ready for our day at the AK. It was shortly after ten AM before we made our way to the bus stop and after watching several busses to the same locations come and go, an AK bus arrived. We loaded up and were on our way to my favorite park. Grumpy took Kiara to head to the gate while I went through bag check and we agreed to meet up by the stroller rental. Somehow, Grumpy and Kiara had managed to get in the slowest moving line (you know the one, where all the goofballs who bought a one day ticket and used it yesterday go, followed by all the goofballs who didn’t’ know that the AK was not a Universal Studios park) and by the time they made it through, I was waiting for them. Once again, as I had done in the past, I thought that perhaps their delay was because they were being awarded a Dream Prize. And when they joined me, once again I was advised that it was the goofballs in front of them and not the Dream Team that was the cause of delay.
We headed slowly through the Oasis and as the music there reached our ears Kiara shouted “Oh, listen. It’s Mom’s music”. Guess I play that AK CD a bit too much! We made our way through the Oasis and as we made our way to the top of the hill and the foliage broke away, there it was. The Tree of Life!. And as I do every trip to the AK, I stopped to take a picture.
And as Grumpy does every trip, he asked me if I really needed another picture of the tree. I didn’t bother to respond, as I knew this was a rhetorical question.
We headed straight for Dinoland and decided that I would take Kiara for a ride on Triceratopspin while Grumpy headed to Asia to pick up FPs for EE. By the time he came back, Kiara and I were done with our ride. Grumpy advised me that we only had about twenty minutes to wait before our FPs were ripe, so we decided to leave Dinoland and head for Asia. But before we could make it out of Dinoland, Grumpy, fed by Kiara’s begging, was suckered into parting with a few bucks. The two of them just couldn’t walk by the carnival games without giving one a shot. Kiara picked out the game, Grumpy laid down the money, and she proceeded to throw her four balls (at $.75 each) for nothing. And as Kiara tossed her balls away, I couldn’t help but take a picture for a fellow PassPorter who loves these games as much as I do.
This picture was all for Jillybean!
Before Kiara could beg for another shot at the game and before Grumpy could cave in to her begging and reach in his pocket, I managed to pull both of them out of Dinoland. We wormed our way through the crowd that was in line for the Nemo show (boy, does that thing go on forever!) and were making our way into Asia. We found a spot to sit and wait for our FPs to come due and it was there that the whining started. The day was heating up and Grumpy had stated when we were in Dinoland, that Asia was ten degrees hotter. He was right. Poor Kiara was not handling the heat well and before she could slip into a full blown meltdown, I offered to take her into the gift shop to look around. It was at that moment that I remembered what it was that I knew I had forgotten to pack, Kiara’s fan/water bottle thingy! I told Grumpy that I had forgot it and he advised me I would have never found it as he had found it in our backyard when he did yard work the day before we left and had thrown it away. Well, I knew what we were buying on our trip to the gift shop.
Once inside the gift shop, I was grateful that I was able to keep Kiara focused on finding and purchasing a new fan/water bottle thingy. For some reason I thought these things were seven dollars, so when the CM rang up our purchase, I was a bit shocked that my total was over eighteen dollars with tax! I think I need to pack that away in one of our empty suitcases to avoid having to buy one every trip!!!
With the purchase in hand, Kiara and I headed back to Grumpy who had gone to fill his water bottle so he could fill hers up. Grumpy then went to refill his water bottle so he would have something to drink and when he returned, Kiara dumped her water out and wanted his new water. The two of them went back and forth with the water supply and soon it was almost time for one of us to brave the forbidden mountain. Grumpy granted me the honor. Off I went, stood close to the FP entrance and had to wait a few minutes before my time came up. Soon I was in the queue and on my way. Along the short walk, a man behind me struck up a conversation with me. This was his last ride on EE of his trip and as we boarded, he asked if I had been on the ride before. When I told him I had, he looked at me and said “Are you a screamer?”
Being that I have a twisted sense of humor, and my mind often goes where it shouldn’t, I really had to refrain from making an off color response. I was well behaved and told him that I did more laughing than anything. We got to the top of the hill and I was finally able to get the picture I have been trying for every ride prior!
It still wasn’t great, but it was far better than my other attempts that were nothing but sky. I just love the view from up here! The ride was great, and I felt a bit faster than before. Perhaps the heat of the day was warming up the track. After our ride, I did stop to look at the photo and considered taking a “ghetto” shot of it, but feared the CM standing near by would yell at me for doing it. I exited the gift shop, made my way back to Grumpy and Kiara and sent him on his way for his turn. Kiara and I kept close watch on the trains as they made their way up the mountain and soon saw Grumpy waving at us. Shortly after we saw him waving at us, he was out of the gift shop and the three of us decided it was time to move on.
We stopped to check out the apes near Kali, but they were not out so we decided to address the subject of taking a ride on the river, but Kiara shot the idea down. Too bad, as it would have been a great way to cool of in the ever climbing temperatures of the day. On to Africa we headed when on our way Kiara spotted Baloo. This was her first character greeting and first one to sign her book.
When Kiara had her fill of hugs and cuddles with Baloo, we moved on and decided that there was no better place to get a cool drink and enjoy a break in the shade then the Dawa Bar. It was right there and I was more than ready for a “Lost on the safari”!
Up next: The great lunch debate and how a little rain can be a good thing….
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I'm really enjoying your TR Nala! It was so sweet to read how Kiara was loving the fireworks from the Lounge at the Poly! Your trip just sounds so magical Can't wait for more.
Love the relaxed pace of the morning and feeding the 'raft' of ducks...very impressed with you looking that up!!! (Also appreciate the homage to Flock of Seagulls!)
Glad your morning at AK was so successful...hope the climbing temps don't slow you down, too much.
danielle
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~Shoot for the moon, if you miss, you will land among the stars~
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I burst out laughing when reading the question "are you a screamer" and I'm afraid (since I have a VERY warped sense of humor) I would have had to say something!! Don't think I could have kept a straight face thru that either!
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But I think we all agree that we have waited very patiently to hear all about your magic at the Poly (seeing as most of us will also have to wait 36 years to go....) Hurry back with more!! And more beautiful pics!! I'm loving every minute!!
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Pixie Dust
I'm so glad Kiara got to enjoy Hallowishes. 
And what a cool surprise. 
The conceirge lounge sounds like a dream in itself. 
PassPorter Guide Author
And seeing Kiara with the sand between her toes just proved what a great choice this was for you guys!
followed by all the goofballs who didn’t’ know that the AK was not a Universal Studios park
I think I need to pack that away in one of our empty suitcases to avoid having to buy one every trip!!! 
More please 
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