Nala & pride "A Bucket Full of Magic" TR - Page 20 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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And as for Eddie/Yeti, we have a reverse story with Maddie. We have a children's museum in town and the major attraction is a gigantic boy named Eddie in the lobby. Maddie keeps calling him Yeti.
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After Kiara’s big adventure, it was time to bid Dinoland goodbye and make our way towards Camp Minnie Mickey. We had about a half an hour before the FOTLK started, so we were in pretty good shape. Unfortunately, even though it was a walk on, we didn’t have time for ITTBAB. This was something Sarafina said she really enjoyed on past visits to the AK, but we didn’t feel too bad not having time to do it as we had seen it before. On to the camp we pushed, with me walking in front of Sarafina to blaze a clear path for her.
Once we made it down the long path to the FOTLK, we found the area littered with strollers and were milling about looking for scooter parking. A CM happened to notices us looking for a parking spot and came over to assist us. She informed Sarafina that she didn’t need to park it, but instead could ride it through the queue and sit on it for the show. Immediately, it dawned on me where she was directing us to go. The handicap sections. Not wanting to take advantage of anything, I told the CM that Sarafina could walk the queue, but she flat out insisted that she didn’t do it. I continued to protest, as I didn’t want to take a seat away from anyone who really needed it in one of the sections, but she assured me there was plenty of room.
A few minutes passed and when the time came to line up, the CM again insisted we take the handicap accessible side. I opened my mouth to protest one final time, and she stopped me by putting her hand on my shoulder and saying that for the comfort of all in our party, it really was OK for Sarafina to ride her scooter all the way to the door. Again she assured me that there was plenty of room and she somehow, through a great deal of kindness to, and concern for, my mother, convinced me to just do it.
We, short of Grumpy who decided to skip the show (which was a big mistake) headed into the queue and waited only a few minutes for the doors to open. And as the CM had said, the handicap section of the line was not even a ¼ full. I was feeling better about the whole thing when we were let into the theater and directed to our seats.
Sarafina on her scooter, was of course directed to an area on the end of an isle, and while it took her a few times to get it parked where the CM wanted her to be, she finally got it. Kiara and I took a seat next to her and I realized for the first time of seeing the show, we were sitting on the ground level. I was concerned about what kind of a view our seats would give us, but I wasn’t about to complain. As we sat and waited for everyone else to load into the theater I happened to look over at Sarafina and noticed her attempting to prop her feet up on the front of the scooter. I then noticed that both ankles were once again, swelling up like crazy. When I asked her why they were doing it, she told me that sitting for long periods of time can cause them to swell.
I felt horrible! Here Grumpy and I had insisted she sat on her backside all day, in an effort to have her keep up with us, as well as avoid this very thing, and it was still happening. Sarafina saw the look on my face and immediately told me if she had been walking all this way, they would have been MUCH worse. And she never would have made it this far. She told me not to worry and that she was fine, and right then the lights slightly dimmed. The show was on.
One by one, the main performers introduced themselves and pulled a member from the audience to make the sound of the animal of the section they were sitting it. We were elephants, which thrilled Kiara, as her one of her favorite stuffed animals, “Ellie”, made the trip with us not only to WDW, but to the AK with us that day, as according to Kiara, she needed to see her home. (“Ellie” was purchased last year at the AK, so there was no way I could argue with her logic. ) The show went into full swing, and the tumble monkeys appeared to entertain us. As always, they were wonderful.
Sitting on the ground level for the first time, I was amazed at just how much there was to look at. From farther up in the bleachers, where we had been in the past, I never noticed what was going on around the stage. There were so many performers around us, and we had an amazing view of them. As I was looking around and taking it all in, Kiara tapped me on the shoulder and said “Mom! It’s Birdie!!!!” I turned to see the performer that does the aerial ballet, and just as I looked at her, she waved to Kiara. Kiara waved back and got so excited. “Birdie” then blew Kiara a kiss, which tickled her pink. Kiara then blew her a kiss and ‘”Birdie” caught it and held her hand to her heart.
It was a simple, little exchange between the two of them, but it was so very sweet. I am not ashamed to admit that the FOTLK for some reason makes me cry every time I see it. And this time was going to be no exception as the tears were already starting.
The show continued on, and Kiara enjoyed “Birdie’s” performance even more than usual. And I, well I found myself crying harder than I ever had while watching the show. By the time “Circle of Life” was performed, I was a sobbing fool. That part always gets me, but it was even more poignant with three generations of my family sitting side by side.
I happened to make eye contact with one performer that was standing right in front of us, and I couldn’t help but wonder if she was thinking I was flat out crazy as I sat there with tears rolling down my face.
It was time to close out the show, and the selection of the members of the audience to join the parade began. I have always wished Kiara would be selected to do this, but we had never been in the right spot. This time we were, but with so many others so close to the floor, I knew the odds of her being selected were still slim. I then noticed the performer that I had made eye contact with walking towards us. I held my breath, as there were many to pick from in our section, but she walked right up to us and held her hand out to Kiara. Kiara looked at me, a bit confused about what was going on, and I told her she wanted her to join in the parade, and gently nudged her towards the CM. Kiara willingly joined in, and after brief instructions and being handed a noise maker, she was off to make her way around the theater.
As if I wasn’t already an emotional mess, I got even worse in those few moments. The CM that picked Kiara is right beside her in the picture, and she was sweet enough to stay close to her the entire way of the parade route.
Of all the times I have seen this show, this one was the absolute best! Once again, we had been touched by a little magic and I was deeply grateful for it. My only regret was that Grumpy had elected to sit it out. I’m sure he would have loved to see his little girl in action.
Up next: My favorite adult beverage in the AK, a really awesome parade, and possibly the best safari EVER!
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Okay, tissue alert needed with this update! I too always cry in FotLK and then to read all this magic for you all, I was crying and not even there. Great update!
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I'd have been a blubbering fool, too! FOLTK always makes me cry; I'm sure it was an awesome experience seeing Kiara & sharing it with your Mom. Very, very special!
And I'm so glad that I'm not the only mom who feels that way about Primeval Whirl. I will only go on it with Mo if there's no other option (I've been known to send my brothers on that and the Tea Cups with her.)
What a special day for you guys! I'm so glad Kiara got up the courage to try a new ride and participate in a show! I hope the rest of the day was just as magica!
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This was something Sarafina said she really enjoyed on past visits to the AK, but we didn’t feel too bad not having time to do it as we had seen it before. On to the camp we pushed, with me walking in front of Sarafina to blaze a clear path for her. 
but she assured me there was plenty of room. 
When I asked her why they were doing it, she told me that sitting for long periods of time can cause them to swell. 
Sarafina saw the look on my face and immediately told me if she had been walking all this way, they would have been MUCH worse. And she never would have made it this far. She told me not to worry and that she was fine, and right then the lights slightly dimmed. The show was on. 
) The show went into full swing, and the tumble monkeys appeared to entertain us. As always, they were wonderful. 
Kiara looked at me, a bit confused about what was going on, and I told her she wanted her to join in the parade, and gently nudged her towards the CM. Kiara willingly joined in, and after brief instructions and being handed a noise maker, she was off to make her way around the theater. 
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