Dreaming of a Disney spring break - part three COMPLETED - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
Sunday 17 April – part two: this is one busy park!
All checked in, it was off to Animal Kingdom. My goodness, the car park was packed, when we got there. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen it that busy. Thank goodness for my Guest Assistance Card, so that we can get parking close to the entrance. That is such a bonus, especially on hot days like this.
I lathered up as soon as I got out of the car with sun tan lotion and we headed inside, getting some Photopass pictures on the way and some of our own as well.
The park was packed. It was absolutely thronged with people, although the wait times on the tip board weren’t too bad, with Expedition Everest showing just 35 minutes at 10am.
We headed straight for Kilimanjaro Safaris and walked on, using the Guest Assistance Card. I asked for the front row of the vehicle, as my body doesn’t like being jerked around too much anymore and that happens a lot more at the back of the vehicle. I’m glad that I did, because this was a jerky ride, although at least the truck in front of us kept stopping, which meant that we had to as well, ensuring that we had lots of good photo opportunities.
It was a very good safari, with lots of activity, particularly the elephants and rhinos. The only slight letdown were the giraffes (we did see a baby giraffe, but it wasn’t on the side we were on) and the lion who obviously didn’t fancy posing on his rock today... Our driver was clearly not a fan of the soundtrack and only did as much as he had to do, focusing instead on animal spotting, which works for me.
When we came off there, we found another Photopass photographer.
We also found a nice mist effect, which is very cool (literally and it looks cool as well). A Cast Member told us that was a recent addition over the last couple of months.
We walked through the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail and my goodness, certain parts of it were insane. I have never seen so many people in the aviary before or the hippo viewing area, so we raced through those quickly. Fortunately, the rest wasn’t too bad and we had some good animal sightings, especially our old favourites, the gorillas.
We started to wander back to the entrance, as we didn’t have long in Animal Kingdom today. We walked through a couple of shops and took the longer route through Asia and Discovery Island, so that we could see if there were anymore Photopass photographers and we did find another one.
Again, it was so crowded and people were driving so mad, cutting in front of us all the time. We were glad to be heading for the exit, as this was starting to get to us and we’re used to crowds at Disney.
We headed back to the car, relieved to have escaped the madness. The parking lots really were looking pretty full by now and we wondered whether it would reach capacity today. It’s certainly the busiest we’ve seen this park in a long time.
Great photopass pics- I like the Animal Kingdom borders. I can't get over it being so busy. I don't think i've ever been to AK when it's that busy. It's great that you were able to see so many animals on the safari.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Location: A little over 1000 miles from my happy place!
Posts: 1,628
Post Thanks / Like
Likes (Given): 6
Likes (Received): 1
Thanks (Given): 7
Thanks (Received): 0
Pixie Dust (Given): 0
Pixie Dust (Received): 0
Great photopass photos! We were in the World over spring break too, although I can't remember at the moment which park we were in on 4/17, I'll have to look at my notes!
Great start to your third installment of your trip. I find AK even on a good day to be very busy and crowded. I can't even imagine what it would be like at peak or near peak capacity. As usual I love all the photos but I have to ask about the Photopass ones - are those new borders for 2011 or specific ones just for the time you went (because the F&GF was still taking place, correct?). I think the foliage borders are cool and would love to be able to use them when we go in a couple of weeks.
I can't believe you had breakfast were off the ship, back in Orlando checked into BLT and at AK by 10am! Did you debark early or does DCL have all their passengers off that early?
I love the photopass pictures in front of the waterfall, it looks like you're in the middle of a jungle...beautiful!!
It sure sounds like a very busy day at AK!!! I have found the parks the most crowded during the Easter Break and it seems like your day was similar to my experiences. On those type of days, I'd rather just enjoy the resorts or do some shopping. Can't wait to hear about your room at BLT! So glad you still had a week left at WDW
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
About This Page: 
PassPorter Guide Author
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
Thank goodness for my Guest Assistance Card, so that we can get parking close to the entrance. That is such a bonus, especially on hot days like this. 
, I'll have to look at my notes!
Linear Mode
