Nala & pride "A Bucket Full of Magic" TR - Page 17 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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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.
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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
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.
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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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Wonderful evening in Epcot! Glad to hear Sarafina was doing better when you got back to the room too I'm sure the scooter will help her ankle swelling alot!
Sounds like a great day at Epcot, and what a wonderful visit with Belle. Glad that Grumpy made the call for Sarafina, I am sure the scooter will make the trip much easier for her as well as all of you. Glad that you were able to save the day (and the UK) from a villian and that everyone enjoyed some time with Nemo (glad to hear that the ride caused no issues for Kiara). Looking forward to hearing about the BEST DAY ever!!!
You can always count ok Kiara to make a beeline for SAB when given the chance. That girl has a one track mind.
So sweet of Grumpy to take care of your mom like that. I think it's a good idea.
Best Disney day EVER??? Can't wait to hear about that one.
Since we had turned in early the night before, it only made sense that we would be early to rise the next morning. And since I was the last one to fall asleep, it only made sense that I would be the last one awake. That, however, was not the case.
At a few minutes past five AM, there I was, wide awake. I was so ready for this day to begin. It was a day that was going to be spent in my favorite Disney park, the AK, and I just couldn’t wait for it to start. But my enthusiasm to start this day was sadly not viewed as zealously by any other member of my pride. It took all I had to lie quietly in the darkness and wait for one of them to stir. If I was a betting woman, I would have put money on Kiara being the first to rise.
It was actually Sarafina who was first to rise, (gotta love that almost 80 year old bladder ) and once she was up, Grumpy and Kiara began to move. We got ready for the day and headed to the lounge for breakfast. When we were done eating, Grumpy headed to the lobby to see if Sarafina’s scooter had arrived. It wasn’t there yet, so we decided to head to the lobby and kill some time waiting for it there. By the time we got there, Teena as on duty and I was able to get some pictures of her and Kiara together.
Grumpy checked again and Sarafina’s wheels had arrived. We made her take it for a spin out the back door of the BC and after she successfully completed a series of maneuvers, I deemed her ready for the general public. We stopped to talk to Teena again, and when Sarafina was out of earshot, I whispered to her that I hoped she wouldn't be reading stories about a crazy woman on a scooter on the Dis boards.
At around 9:30, we headed to the bus stop and a CM there directed Sarafina to park her scooter where the back of the next bus would be. She was nervous about getting it on the bus, and Grumpy assured her he would drive it on for her. A bus came in a matter of a few minutes and we were on our way to the AK.
Grumpy drove the scooter off the bus for Sarafina and the we all made our way to the gate. It was here that we encountered a bit of a problem. Grumpy is the keeper of our park passes, but I entrusted Sarafina with hers. Grumpy handed me my pass and I headed to a handicap accessible turn style with Sarafina while Grumpy and Kiara headed to one with a shorter line. They were just about to step into the park when Sarafina made a horrible discovery. I turned to see her with a dumbfounded look on her face, holding her room key in her hand. I asked her where her park pass was, the one with Minnie Mouse on it, and she said “Was that my park pass?????” Ummmmm, yeah. When I asked her where it was she said it was back in the room.
My heart sank. I was so close to getting into my favorite park and now I knew I would have to spend at least an hour going back to the BC and getting her park pass. I informed Grumpy what was going on and when I walked back to Sarafina, a CM asked what was wrong. I explained what had happened and he directed us to the guest services window right across from us. I assumed our only option would be to buy a one day pass, and to be honest, I was willing to do it if it meant I wouldn’t loose any time in my beloved AK.
We stepped up to the window, and a very nice CM assisted us. I explained the problem, and her response was perfect. “Hakuna Matata. No worries”. That made me smile. Since I still had my pass in my hand, she asked if she could see it, and checked the numbers on it. She then asked how many passes we had purchased together and when I told her four, she looked and saw that two of the numbers in front of my pass number were already in the park. That would be Grumpy and Kiara. Through process of elimination, she was able to pinpoint the number on Sarafina’s pass and within seconds, a new one was being issued to her.
WOW! I didn’t know they could do that, but I guess it is something that happens every day. I thanked her profusely for helping us out and Sarafina and I headed to the turn style for round two. This time, it was a success.
I had assumed Grumpy and Kiara would be waiting for us right inside the gate, but they were nowhere to be found. I scanned the area several times and still saw no site of them. So I called him. My call went straight to voice mail. Drat! I tried again, and got voice mail. Double drat!
As I tried to dial Grumpy’s number one more time, my phone beeped. I had received a text message. Now mind you, I had only started texting a short while ago (like days) and I had only made a few practice runs, (to disneydani) so to say I was a novice, was an understatement. Adding insult to injury, Grumpy had upgraded my phone from my previous fossil (that I could actually use) to this new fangled, modern wonder of technology. Reading the text message proved to be a bit of a problem for several reasons. One being that in the sunlight, I couldn’t read the display. The second being that I couldn’t figure out how to read the stupid text message. It was a miracle that the stupid phone didn’t go sailing off into the deep foliage of the Oasis, as my frustration began to build.
Not able to retrieve the text message, I tried to call Grumpy again. Voice mail. This time I left a message. Again my phone beeped. I had received a second text message. Finally, through some miracle of the techno gods, I figured out how to get my text messages. The first one said “In Dinoland” and the next one said “on Emma”
Triceratopspin! They were on Kiara’s favorite ride. At least I now knew where to go.
Sarafina and I made our way to Dinoland, and to be honest, I was a bit miffed that Grumpy didn’t stand still for five minutes and wait for us. At that moment , I was a tad bit crabby, but once we reached Triceratopspin and I saw the look of pure joy on Kiara’s face as she soared high above Dinoland, my mood changed. But, I still wanted to throw my new phone in the closest body of water I could find and go back to my old one.
When Grumpy and Kiara came off “Emma”, she begged me to take her for another spin. I agreed and told Grumpy he should head to EE to pick up FPs for us. He was game, and we arranged a meeting place. Before he walked away I told him he better be where he said he was going to be, as I wasn’t going to deal with trying to track him down on a devise I had no idea how to use. Grumpy agreed and as he walked away I heard him snickering and saw him shaking his head. Lucky for him, my sense of humor had returned and I was able to laugh at myself too.
Also lucky for him, he was out of reach.
Kiara and I enjoyed our ride and when it was done, we hooked up with Sarafina and made our way towards EE to find Grumpy. And as he promised, he was right where I expected him to be. Clearly, I have trained him well. (or the man flat out fears my wrath )
Our FPs for EE were not for another hour or so, and with a lunch ADR at Yak and Yeti, we knew we would have to wait a bit past our window to ride. Thankfully, Disney is great about allowing you to use a FPs past the allotted time. We had about an hour and fifteen minutes to kill before lunch, and since we were standing in Asia, I suggest we head to the Maharajah Jungle Trek and everyone was game. With Kiara’s recent development of a bird obsession, I was excited for her to see the aviary there.
The first enclosure we came to was of course that of the komodo dragon. True to form, he, or she, was perched on the warm rock and posing for pictures. The bats were next, but they were less than active, so after a few minutes, we moved on. Up next was one of my favorites on the trek, the tigers. Much to my dismay, the tigers (or tiger, as the case was) were like the bats, and very lazy. A good picture here was clearly not going to happen, as the lone tiger out in the enclosure was deep in a nap, so we made our way to the aviary.
I picked up a guide for Kiara and as soon as we stepped in, she was on the hunt. We didn’t have to look very long before we saw our first bird.
And what an interesting bird he was. I can’t remember what type of bird this was, but the feathers on top of his head fascinated Kiara. We don’t see them like that in our back yard.
We saw quite a few more, and Kiara did a great job of using the guide to identify what we saw. Several birds up on a rock caught our attention and we spent about five minutes watching them.
Seems they were having a bit of a tussle over a piece of real estate. The exchange between the two of them was quite humorous, and the darker bird, with the very pretty feathers, was especially nasty. But, I guess if someone was trying to boot me out of my nest, I would get my feathers ruffled too.
When we came to the end of the trek, we returned out bird guide and a quick check of the time told us we had about twenty minutes to kill before our ADR. Since we were there, and really didn’t have time to do much of anything else, we headed to Yak and Yeti to see if we could get a table a bit earlier. With the mention of Yak and Yeti, Kiara again stated she didn’t like “Eddie” and how much he scared her.
When we reached the outside of the restaurant, I pointed to it and told Kiara that this is where we were going. To eat lunch. I then pointed to EE and told her THAT was where “Eddie” lived, and he wouldn’t be inside the restaurant. She still wasn’t totally convinced, but “willing” (AKA, didn’t have to be dragged kicking and screaming) walked to the doors. And as we entered, I crossed my fingers and hoped that our server wouldn’t be a very large, very hairy man.
We stopped at the podium, gave our name and were immediately escorted to our table. A few minutes later, our server appeared. Much to my delight, he in no way, shape, or form, resembled the Yeti. He was from Australia and was so enthusiastic and upbeat. And he would set the trend for servers on this trip, that were not only excellent, but nice, little pieces of eye candy for the ladies at the table.
He went over almost every item on the menu, from drinks to entrees, and offered a great description of them, as well as his personal recommendations. We place our drink order, and he left to fetch them while we decided what we wanted for lunch.
By the time our drinks arrived, we had made up our minds, and place our order. To start our meal out, we ordered the dim sum basket to share. For our entrees, I selected the bourbon chicken, which was highly recommended by our server, Grumpy went for the Kobe beef burger, Kiara an order of chicken fried rice, and I don’t remember what Sarafina ordered. Our food arrived and we all dug in. Even though I had read some very negative reviews of Yak and Yeti, we all enjoyed our meal and proclaimed it to be a restaurant we would all be happy to return to. When our meal was over, we paid the bill, tipped our wonderful server well, and left very happy with everything about the experience.
We stepped out of Yak and Yeti, full and happy, but there was much more to do to make this day complete.
Up next: A ride on EE and fingers crossed we don’t yak on the Yeti.
Nala, I AK too! To hear your description of it makes me want to be there right now!! Cool bird pics and I'm glad you are enjoying your day! Thank goodness, Sarafina's pass debacle worked out!!
I think the Yak and Yeti is very yummy too! And our waiter there was very nice (although I must have not put on my reservation I wanted eye candy as we were skipped on that!)
More please
Glad that CM was able to print a new ticket for Sarafina! Sounds like the day is off to a terrific start. Glad that "Eddie" (my nephew called the Yeti that too!) wasn't your waiter at Y&Y!
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
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Great picture of Kiara and Teena!
How great that the CM could reprint a new park ticket for Sarafina.
Before you even got to where Grumpy and Kiara were...I was thinking I would have headed to Triceratop Spin to find Kiara myself. She is a girl who Knows what she likes.
We love Y&Y. As a matter of fact, the last time we went I had the bourbon chicken YUM and Craig had the Kobe burger. We always try to get the last reservation of the day so we have the park practically to ourselves on the way out. It is amazing that way, I think you'd really like the park like that.
great update
so sorry about sarafina's ankles
glad you got the scooter
thanks for the y&y review - I want to try it next oct
can't wait to hear about the rest of your day
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.
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I cannot wait to read about the next day! 
) and once she was up, Grumpy and Kiara began to move. We got ready for the day and headed to the lounge for breakfast. When we were done eating, Grumpy headed to the lobby to see if Sarafina’s scooter had arrived. It wasn’t there yet, so we decided to head to the lobby and kill some time waiting for it there. By the time we got there, Teena as on duty and I was able to get some pictures of her and Kiara together. 
I informed Grumpy what was going on and when I walked back to Sarafina, a CM asked what was wrong. I explained what had happened and he directed us to the guest services window right across from us. I assumed our only option would be to buy a one day pass, and to be honest, I was willing to do it if it meant I wouldn’t loose any time in my beloved AK. 
) 
AK too! To hear your description of it makes me want to be there right now!! 
Cool bird pics and I'm glad you are enjoying your day! Thank goodness, Sarafina's pass debacle worked out!! 
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