An Animal Kingdom State of Being with Cam and Fam COMPLETED 9/18 - Page 69 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I've been reading your TR for the last few days during study breaks, LOVE it! The pictures are great, especially the ones you take of the goodies y'all buy, that is so fun. I also appreciated the pics of the Fantasyland Expansion, the kids & I really enjoyed sneaking a peek at that.
__________________
"Not all treasure is silver and gold, mate."
Captain Jack Sparrow
I'm late to the party but I hope you had a wonderful birthday and anniversary!!!!!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Silver-n-Gold
I've been reading your TR for the last few days during study breaks, LOVE it! The pictures are great, especially the ones you take of the goodies y'all buy, that is so fun. I also appreciated the pics of the Fantasyland Expansion, the kids & I really enjoyed sneaking a peek at that.
Luke was actually disappointed that he couldn't get more construction pictures, but Dumbo never had a short wait so we never rode it. He thought up there he could catch more.
Holy cow it's amazing how quickly you get behind on some of these TR's!!! Can't wait to read more, but birthdays and anniversaries do sort of get priority, I'd think! Speaking of which, Happy Happy for both events (better late than never, right?)
You can definitely see more construction from Dumbo!
Luke had figured that but with his broken toe standing for more than 30 minutes in the sun was very uncomfortable.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Principessa_di_Fata
Holy cow it's amazing how quickly you get behind on some of these TR's!!! Can't wait to read more, but birthdays and anniversaries do sort of get priority, I'd think! Speaking of which, Happy Happy for both events (better late than never, right?)
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.
I woke up off and on after 1:00 AM as I was excited and did not want to miss our safari. At 4:58 Luke’s iPhone dinged and I said “That’s an interesting wake up sound.” (Remember he has changed the tone every single morning so far.) But it only dinged once. I was confused. I got up to check the clock to see that I could sleep awhile longer.
At 5:22 a doorbell alarm sounds on his iPhone and it was really time to get up as we were to be at the Kilimanjaro Club Lounge to check in for our safari between 6:30 – 7:00. We left the room all safari ready at 6:40. As we walked out into the lounge, I was searching for Ann and Carly. Then I saw Ann and even though this was our first face to face meeting, it didn’t feel like it as we hugged and talked excitedly about our day and everything else. Ann is just as sweet and lovely in person as I already knew she was.
Animal Kingdom Lodge was still experiencing computer problems. But soon we were ready. We ladies rushed to make what we thought would be our last potty break and then headed downstairs to the back of the main lobby where we were to meet our guides, Erich (one of AKL’s keepers and the birthday boy this day) and Greg (one of the managers for AKL’s keepers). Erich gave us some preliminary instructions, including that we had about 10 – 15 minutes before we would board buses to begin the tour. So we all figured one more potty break would be a good idea.
Soon enough Erich was explaining that we’d need to go through a security check before loading a Disney bus for Animal Kingdom and he also explained how the safari would work, warning that it would be necessary to forget everything we saw or heard backstage within 8 minutes of ending the tour. The security check was set up out front of the lodge as we descended the ramp to the bus, and it was very quick. We were off then for the short trip to AK, entering through a cast member drive into the back of the park. We listened attentively as he explained how cast members enter the park, what various buildings were, and much more cool stuff that I promptly forgot 8 minutes after re-entering the park. (You didn’t think I’d give away all the secrets, now did you? If you want to know more, you’ll just have to take the safari.)
We were dropped off at a cast member path into the area right by Kilimanjaro Safaris where we would be loaded into the first 2 trucks of the day.
Absolutely no line!
Here comes our truck! Erich was our guide for the next hour plus. He is truly knowledgeable and enthusiastic about his job, as well as friendly and easy to talk to.
Closet to Furthest: Luke, Stefanie, Carly, and Ann
The truck was stopped at each animal sighting and we were given ample time to photograph while Erich gave us information about each animal and stories of actual experiences with these animals at Animal Kingdom and Animal Kingdom Lodge. My poor camera had its hardest workout ever on this safari. I loved every moment capturing the animals on digital and hearing more information on each. So now for the pictures and there are a whole lot of them, all taking with my telephoto lens. The first animal was the okapi, but he was too far up in the brush to get a good shot.
This little fellow was also trying to hide from us.
The Rhino was very in to posing for the camera.
There were quite a few birds of various varieties with the rhino.
Even a duck made an appearance.
I took over 400 pictures this day and almost all of them were on the safari, so I’ll be breaking this up into several installments.
I woke up off and on after 1:00 AM as I was excited and did not want to miss our safari. At 4:58 Luke’s iPhone dinged and I said “That’s an interesting wake up sound.” (Remember he has changed the tone every single morning so far.) But it only dinged once. I was confused. I got up to check the clock to see that I could sleep awhile longer.
At 5:22 a doorbell alarm sounds on his iPhone and it was really time to get up as we were to be at the Kilimanjaro Club Lounge to check in for our safari between 6:30 – 7:00. We left the room all safari ready at 6:40. As we walked out into the lounge, I was searching for Ann and Carly. Then I saw Ann and even though this was our first face to face meeting, it didn’t feel like it as we hugged and talked excitedly about our day and everything else. Ann is just as sweet and lovely in person as I already knew she was.
Animal Kingdom Lodge was still experiencing computer problems. But soon we were ready. We ladies rushed to make what we thought would be our last potty break and then headed downstairs to the back of the main lobby where we were to meet our guides, Erich (one of AKL’s keepers and the birthday boy this day) and Greg (one of the managers for AKL’s keepers). Erich gave us some preliminary instructions, including that we had about 10 – 15 minutes before we would board buses to begin the tour. So we all figured one more potty break would be a good idea.
Soon enough Erich was explaining that we’d need to go through a security check before loading a Disney bus for Animal Kingdom and he also explained how the safari would work, warning that it would be necessary to forget everything we saw or heard backstage within 8 minutes of ending the tour. The security check was set up out front of the lodge as we descended the ramp to the bus, and it was very quick. We were off then for the short trip to AK, entering through a cast member drive into the back of the park. We listened attentively as he explained how cast members enter the park, what various buildings were, and much more cool stuff that I promptly forgot 8 minutes after re-entering the park. (You didn’t think I’d give away all the secrets, now did you? If you want to know more, you’ll just have to take the safari.)
We were dropped off at a cast member path into the area right by Kilimanjaro Safaris where we would be loaded into the first 2 trucks of the day.
Absolutely no line!
Here comes our truck! Erich was our guide for the next hour plus. He is truly knowledgeable and enthusiastic about his job, as well as friendly and easy to talk to.
Closet to Furthest: Luke, Stefanie, Carly, and Ann
The truck was stopped at each animal sighting and we were given ample time to photograph while Erich gave us information about each animal and stories of actual experiences with these animals at Animal Kingdom and Animal Kingdom Lodge. My poor camera had its hardest workout ever on this safari. I loved every moment capturing the animals on digital and hearing more information on each. So now for the pictures and there are a whole lot of them, all taking with my telephoto lens. The first animal was the okapi, but he was too far up in the brush to get a good shot.
This little fellow was also trying to hide from us.
The Rhino was very in to posing for the camera.
There were quite a few birds of various varieties with the rhino.
Even a duck made an appearance.
I took over 400 pictures this day and almost all of them were on the safari, so I’ll be breaking this up into several installments.
Passing notes in class instead of doing your assignment Miss Mathews That will cost you the next 2 Saturdays in detention cleaning out Mr Filches old files.
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.
This was the reason I so wanted to get a concierge room for our trip...what amazing sights and pictures and you have just started (no room for us this trip - but I plan to enjoy this vicariously though yours until we try for next year).
I love the rhino pictures...I think they were all trying to stay cool with the backs covered in mud, except for your one "I will not a picture covered in mud" rhino. You got such wonderful shots....can't wait for more.
That settles it. My next trip will have to include a club-level AKL night so I can do this safari. I love the squirrel photo in the midst of all the exotics! It's an equal-opportunity safari!
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.
I really enjoyed these pictures and so did my DGD who is 5.... She wanted to know why the Rhino was 2 different colors. Then, she wanted to know how did you get the squirrel to stop so you could take the picture!!!!..
Waiting for your next update and more pictures!!!!!!!.....
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during study breaks, LOVE it! 
The pictures are great, especially the ones you take of the goodies y'all buy, that is so fun. I also appreciated the pics of the Fantasyland Expansion, the kids & I really enjoyed sneaking a peek at that. 
Can't wait to read more, but birthdays and anniversaries do sort of get priority, I'd think! Speaking of which, Happy Happy for both events (better late than never, right?)
But soon we were ready. We ladies rushed to make what we thought would be our last potty break and then headed downstairs to the back of the main lobby where we were to meet our guides, Erich (one of AKL’s keepers and the birthday boy this day) and Greg (one of the managers for AKL’s keepers). Erich gave us some preliminary instructions, including that we had about 10 – 15 minutes before we would board buses to begin the tour. So we all figured one more potty break would be a good idea. 
The security check was set up out front of the lodge as we descended the ramp to the bus, and it was very quick. We were off then for the short trip to AK, entering through a cast member drive into the back of the park. We listened attentively as he explained how cast members enter the park, what various buildings were, and much more cool stuff that I promptly forgot 8 minutes after re-entering the park. (You didn’t think I’d give away all the secrets, now did you? If you want to know more, you’ll just have to take the safari.) 
Absolutely no line!
Susan
PassPorter Guide Author
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