TR: Thingamabobs, Zebra & Giraffes, Oh My! Completed 3/25/15 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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What a great start to the day with the Sunrise Safari, we went on it a few years back and loved it. Such great pictures. Loved your second safari in the rain, definitely something I would do....loved the pictures.
What a great start to the day with the Sunrise Safari, we went on it a few years back and loved it. Such great pictures. Loved your second safari in the rain, definitely something I would do....loved the pictures.
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Originally Posted by xwewhisper
I've been on the Safari around a downpour once, and it was AMAZING! So glad you were brave and went for it Sometimes getting soaked is so worth it.
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Originally Posted by Cam22
Wonderful fun at AK! your photos of Nemo! KS in the pouring rain looked fabulous.
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Originally Posted by KMB733
Amazing pictures from the Sunrise Safari!! Sounds like a great time at AK. Love the pictures of the elephants playing in the rain!
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Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great day at AK! Love the pictures of the safari in the rain!
Thanks everyone!!! It was definitely an exciting adventure!!
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Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
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I was looking at the pictures of your family on page 5 and your daughter reminded me of someone. I have eventually decided that she has the look of Katherine Heigl. Hope Daddy has a handy shotgun collection handy for cleaning during date pickups. lol
I was looking at the pictures of your family on page 5 and your daughter reminded me of someone. I have eventually decided that she has the look of Katherine Heigl. Hope Daddy has a handy shotgun collection handy for cleaning during date pickups. lol
Awe - thanks! She is a keeper!
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Originally Posted by dutchdisneyfamily
That was quite the safari experience!
Thanks! It was fun!
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Originally Posted by JKnott17
The safari looked like a blast in the rain!
Thanks! It was!
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Originally Posted by OhToodles!
What a fun day at AK! The elephants must have been fun to watch!
How did you protect your DSLR from the rain?
Thanks! I had my DSLR in its bag, and then a poncho wrapped around the bag
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Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
After returning to the resort and putting on dry clothes – I retreated to the balcony with my cheese and cracker platter and a glass of wine! There is something so peaceful about sitting on the balcony, listening to the rain, with a wonderful glass of wine! Ahhh…….
Then Emily decided that she would indeed like to go check out the pottery in the Community Hall, so she and I headed that way (Scott was taking a nap ). Given the weather, the Community Hall was actually quite busy. But we managed to decide what we would like to paint and get all the details of how it would work (our products were due to be ready Tuesday afternoon if we completed them now). We each picked a bowl that had little Mickey Heads along the border. Each bowl would be $18 (no additional discount – that is the DVC member price). We then each selected the color paints we would like to use. The CM brought over everything we needed, including our paint palettes.
We really enjoyed this activity – although it was taking a bit longer than we anticipated and I was starting to feel rushed as we had dinner reservations. Emily was already wearing what she had planned to wear to dinner, so I finished up my painting and left Emily there (we were not too far) so that I could get ready for dinner. Scott & I returned for her, and she was just finishing her piece up. We got our bowls checked in with the desk so that they could be “fired” (I believe that is the correct term?) and we would be back in a few days for them!
Then we headed right downstairs to check in at Sanaa!
Scott & I are all dressed for dinner!
We were sat at a table near the beautiful windows and our server was Tracy. We immediately ordered drinks – Emily had the Mango Lassi Smoothie, Scott had a dirty Martini, and I have a ½ carafe of Black Pearl Oro Wine.
Of course we ordered the bread service (and I apologize – apparently I did not note what any of use ordered so I am going by the receipt (which is vague) and photos!).
Emily was ready to dig in!!!
I could just eat the bread service and wine all night and be happy!!!
For entrees, I had the Slow Cooked Beef Short Ribs and Buttered Chicken with Basmati Rice.
Emily had the Tandoori Shrimp with rice.
Scott had the Tandoori Lamb with rice.
They brought this dessert for all of us to share celebrating our anniversary and Emily’s birthday – which was a nice touch.
Of course, throughout dinner we kept our eyes out for our animal friends – including this crazy crane who loves to watch his reflection in the window!!!
After dinner we headed back up to our room to digest our dinner, and Scott and I changed back into park clothes as we were going to head over to Magic Kingdom for a bit tonight. The park was open until 2:00 a.m. ~ and of course Emily really wanted to give this a try!! So we relaxed before heading out.
We arrived at Magic Kingdom just before 9:00pm. (Not bad, considering our dinner was at 5:30).
We were able to snag a fastpass for Stitch’s Great Escape and basically just walked on.
Then we headed over to Carousel of Progress – I was able to get a few photos in here, as we were the only ones in our section (but of course, I still did not use flash!).
We visited the fastpass kiosk again and was able to get another fastpass for Big Thunder Mountain, but we had a bit of time, so we just wandered a bit – and stopped in the pin shop in Frontierland as Scott was not too thrilled with the new lanyard we had picked up for him in DTD the other day, so he wanted to exchange it – easy peasy! We also grabbed a diet coke and a water while we were in there (remember, AP discount in stores!! ).
Our fastpass for BTMRR was finally ripe, so we headed over there next.
When we exited BTMRR it was nearing time for the Main Street Electrical Parade, so we found a spot in Frontierland to sit and watch. The park was not too crowded now (this was the 11pm parade).
We love this parade and could watch it every night!
After the parade, we made our way back up into Fantasyland and rode It’s a Small World.
It was after midnight now and we were getting those “midnight munchies” so we headed over to Storybook Treats and Emily ordered a root beer float, I had a twist cone, and Scott had a vanilla cone! We sat and people watched while enjoying our midnight treat! We could see the wait time for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train was still at 90 minutes right now (apparently this is where everyone in the park was!), so we figured we would check again in a bit.
So we wandered over to Space Mountain – not much of a wait here – so we got in line and got on the ride probably about 15 minutes later? We got on the ride, had our ride, came through that last tube just before you come to the end………..BAM……….the ride stops!!! We are just outside the tube……….just shy of the unloading area………..all the lights come on, we can hear everyone behind on the tracks – everyone trying to figure out what was going on……..and we are just sitting there, and sitting there………..and sitting there………CM’s are walking past us and coming back with other guests that they have obviously walked through the ride…………..and we are still sitting there …………they keep telling us to just hold tight, they have someone on the way to assist us soon………….and we are still sitting there when we see the Reedy Creek Fire Dept. guys come in with their bags and such, and of course they come right over to our car, and inspect the car, the tracks, the unloading area………they have to “rescue” us as we are not close enough to the unloading dock, and the track is elevated here (maybe 3-4 feet?) – so they literally release our belts, and one by one, hold our hands/arms to guide us to the platform! And of course, we are saying we could have easily gotten ourselves over there (we were inches), but you know, we had to be “rescued”. It was pretty darn funny – and of course Scott mentioned that he is also a firefighter/EMT, and so he and all the guys start talking “shop” while Emily and I are standing there like “REALLY??” We must have sat there for about 20-25 minutes in that spot waiting to be “rescued”! ……………Never a dull moment on a Fredsbo Family Vacation!!!
This is us waiting to be "rescued"!!
And this is before all the excitement!
So after all that excitement, we headed over to check Seven Dwarfs Mine Train again, and the wait was down to 30 minutes, so we got in line. This time we were going through the regular stand by line, so we were able to see some of the interactive stuff along the way.
It was finally time to head back to the resort………….as it was nearing 2:00 a.m.!!!!
We stopped for a Photopass photo, and I also took a photo of my lovely castle all lit up!
Main Street was fairly empty, given the hour……….and I have proof that we were there that late!
We were able to get a bus fairly quickly – and I believe each of us fell asleep on the bus!! And needless to say, I did not get to enjoy my tub soak this evening – and I don’t even remember if I even bothered to wash my face before hitting the pillow! Oh, and Scott had to be at a 7am tour!!!
Total Miles Walked today: 14.91
Total Spent on Food & Beverages: $159.47
Total Spent on Souvenirs, Activities, Misc.: $194.04 ($150 of this was the Sunrise Safari)
Total TIW Discount savings: $21.74
Total Annual Pass Discount Savings: $3.33
Up Next: Tasting the world!
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Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
I can't believe all of this-- relaxing on the balcony, the ceramics, fabulous dinner, MK, lots of rides, the parade and a RESCUE-- was just the afternoon and evening! Seems like 3 days-worth of activities to me!
The ceramics looks like so much fun! Of course bread service at Sanaa is sooo tasty I love the pic of Emily ready to dive in! What an interesting experience getting "rescued" too. Always something new at Disney right?!
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