An Animal Kingdom State of Being with Cam and Fam COMPLETED 9/18 - Page 127 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 really love the giraffe shirt too! My sister is a BIG giraffe collector and next May we FINALLY get to go ON her birthday! Can you say "Birthday Present IN THE BAG!"
I'll be looking for it in a couple weeks!
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 love the giraffe shirt too! My sister is a BIG giraffe collector and next May we FINALLY get to go ON her birthday! Can you say "Birthday Present IN THE BAG!"
I'll be looking for it in a couple weeks!
I was up at 8:15, checking e-mail, Facebook, and then finishing off the Main Street Baker cinnamon roll for breakfast. I got in the shower around 9:00, and got Luke up at 9:45. I wait for him to start getting ready before I got Stefanie up at 10:00). We were all three ready to go by 10:30, but then Luke got an e-mail from work and had to do some things for work. Just little things like making sure everyone’s paycheck (including his) were deposited and transferring some information about his district’s students on to the state level. Just little stuff! But he worked quickly and we were officially headed out by 11:00.
While Luke was working on the laptop, I stepped out on the balcony and got this picture of the Sable Antelope. He was the only soul out in our area at this time.
As soon after arriving at Epcot as possible, I power-walked to Soarin’ to get FastPasses, so we wouldn’t miss out again today. I wove quickly through the crowd, made my way down the stairs by the down escalator because everyone else was trying to get down the other set of stairs. I bypassed a whole lot of folks that way and soon had 3 FastPasses in hand that would ripen at 4:38 PM.
I sent a text to Luke that I had been successful and head out of The Land. Just as I neared Innoventions West, Luke replied that they were in there on a bench across from the big piggy bank. In just seconds we were all reunited. I suggested walking to Mexico since it was now lunch time and we had hoped to eat at La Cantina. The day at this point was very hot and very sticky, especially for someone who had just power-walked through the park.
Before we made it to Mexico, we stopped to get a few photos of Mater and Lightning in topiary form.
These are so adorable!
Once in Mexico, we went directly to La Cantina and joined a growing lunch crowd. I placed our order quickly, but began to wonder if our food would ever arrive. Finally, we had our Taco Pollo for Luke and me and Stefanie’s chicken tenders. We found all the food to be really delicious. Luke and Stefanie had already found a seat outside and we were settled before we realized that we could have eaten inside with A/C. But it was not totally unpleasant outside as we were in the shade and a breeze was picking up.
Once we were refueled, we set off to explore the World Showcase, starting in Mexico. We rode The Grand Fiesta Tour and then explored the art and figures in the marketplace. We exited by way of the ramp as Stefanie’s legs were very stiff today.
Next was Norway where we began with the Stave Church, a favorite of ours. Stefanie was actually curious here today and wanted me to read all the plaques to her. Maelstrom only had a 10 minute wait and they weren’t even using the entire indoor queue. We made it safely through this lovely, yet troll infested land, and arrived at the little village in just minutes, less than the posted wait time. We skipped the movie in favor of some shopping at The Puffin Roost. We made no purchases today, but we’ll return for Geir Ness for Luke, and hopefully, some Laila lotion for me as it was unavailable today. As we came out, we noticed that Akershus was extremely busy for lunch as the whole courtyard was packed with princesses and their families.
Norway is one of my favorite WS countries!
I actually took the photos of each country later in the day while on a Friendship Boat, but thought I’d post them as we toured each country. It seems I totally forgot Mexico.
We moved east arriving at China where I wanted to check out the Tomb warriors I had seen in other’s TRs. I love history (actually majored in it), so I couldn’t believe I had missed this.
Then I took this ceiling picture as I honestly had never looked up. When a picture of this ceiling appeared in the Mystery Photo Contest, I knew right away it was in China (not sure why). So I had new goal for this trip – to photograph this ceiling for myself as it is so beautiful.
Up Next: Those are made of what? I didn’t get as far as thought in the last installment. Plus What do we think of Via Napoli?
I LOVE the photos you took of WS from the boat! I always enjoy the museum exhibits at all the countries. They do a beautiful job setting them up and describing the objects. The topiaries of the cars are new and adorable! I really must book a longer trip at AKL. I've only stayed there for a couple of nights per trip, although it's my favorite resort. Nothing like waking up to see an antelope outside your window! (The one in your photo is a Sable Antelope, I believe. The Eland has straighter horns.)
Cool pictures! Do you have a giraffe from the Mexico pavilion? I seem to remember lots of carved figures there, but I can't remember from your prior reports if you have one.
My mom's seem the actual tomb warriors in China. They're massive! I miss the movie in China...it used to be at Disneyland and was one of my favorites for its beautiful scenery.
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
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Thank goodness you were able to power walk thru the park to get your Soarin' FP's. Doesn't sound like either of your traveling compaions would have been able to keep up with you, what with the broken foot and the sore legs! Hope everyone was feeling better in no time.
Curios to see what you thought of Via Napoli--have been wanting to eat there for a while now--maybe next year?
Loved the pictures, Jasmine took a ton in China as well, we spent a good amount of time wandering around the Tomb Warrior exhibit, it was on the top of my must do list (I am a big history buff as well) and the girls spent time reading all the little details. I think Jaz took dozens of shots from each and every angle. What amazes me is how each and every warrior is different.
WDW - August 1997 Off Property
WDW - January 2005 AKL
WDW - May 2006 Pop Century
WDW- november-dec 2007 pop century
WDW- dec/jan 2009/2010 pop century
WDW- oct/nov 2012 art of animation
WDW- sept 2013 port Orleans riverside
WDW- july 2015 beach club
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.
The Mystery Photo contest really made me realize that I miss a lot of details rushing around the parks! My next trip I hope to slow down a bit and take in all the fun little details!
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But he worked quickly and we were officially headed out by 11:00. 
Luke and Stefanie had already found a seat outside and we were settled before we realized that we could have eaten inside with A/C. But it was not totally unpleasant outside as we were in the shade and a breeze was picking up. 
, I can't wait for your review of Via Napoli, since we have our Candlelight Processional dinner reservations there that night. 
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