Merry, Magical, and Bright: Late Fall Adventures of Cam & Luke Updated 3/12 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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.
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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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What a TR. You and Luke always have so much fun. Love the charms you got. Happy that your magic bands were just forgotten and not lost. Looking forward to reading more. I love your TR's.
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I’m so glad that you were able to get into the park with your AP, and you didn’t have to go back to your room OR wait in the guest services line!
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Me, too! I kept thinking if I'd just looked over to the nightstand when we went back for the portable charger, I would have seen the Magic Band. But I never looked that way.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lonereb
What a TR. You and Luke always have so much fun. Love the charms you got. Happy that your magic bands were just forgotten and not lost. Looking forward to reading more. I love your TR's.
Thanks! Once I knew it was missing, I was sure I had never put it on, and wished I had put one of the extra two bands in my backpack just in case. But fortunately, the AP card worked.
Day 4 Part 2 Wednesday, November 8 at the Animal Kingdom
We left the Cotton-Top Tamarin and took the trails to Pandora. I’m not quite sure how I did it holding my hot chocolate and pumpkin bread, but I immediately began photographing this new alien land. As you can see from the first photo, we hadn’t even made it over the bridge in the land proper before the camera was aiming at the scenery.
Along the trails and pathways are alien plants that we knew would eventually glow at night. As a friend mentioned to me just Wednesday, you forget while in Pandora that much of this is simply not real. But honestly, every plant looks so real.
At this point we found some outdoor seating at Satu’li Canteen, the newest counter service restaurant at Animal Kingdom. There is considerable outdoor seating here and quite a bit of it is in the shade. We easily found a table and opened up the bags with our breads and enjoyed a restful breakfast surrounded by a new world.
When not a crumb was left, we moved on for a bit more exploration. I was fascinated by this mechanical robot both here and in the movie. These robots we were used by the military to attack the Nav’i. Bad!
The décor inside carried on the themes of Pandora. One section was solely for matching guests with a banshee and another was for creating an avatar. The biggest bulk of the store was a variety of souvenirs, including toys, clothing, and tumblers, the usual Disney wares but with an Avatar theme.
We exited through the back of the shop for a moment, and guess what I found. That gorgeous view from the earlier photo. Of course, I got a few more shots before we returned inside.
Now we wanted to check out the area around Flight of Passage. We did not have a FastPass for this attraction today, but we wanted to see where we’d be going in a few days’ time as well to discover what the theming looked like in this area. In the first couple of photos, you’ll be able to see a teeny bit of the standby queue for this ride. The standby queue is well camouflaged so guests are pretty clueless as to how far they will be traveling before reaching the ride.
The object in the photo below baffled me when I was upclose to it initially, by afternoon, I’ll have figured out what it was. We did rewatch Avatar prior to our trip, and though this land doesn’t actually follow the movie’s plot, the scenery is an excellent duplication.
Our next FastPass time was quickly approaching. We had managed to get FP+ times for Festival of the Lion King that overlapped with those of Ginger, her DH and her mom. Unfortunately, Ginger’s mom had become sick after riding Flight of Passage, though Ginger didn’t think the ride was a factor. She had taken her mom to the care center at AK. Eventually, she and her mom determined that it was best to spend some downtime back at the resort, so we wouldn’t be able to meet up with them. Hopefully, on a future trip, we’ll finally meet. We took another route back to Africa from Pandora.
This photo is a reminder of the old Camp Mickey-Minnie, though we were seeing it from the opposite side. If I remember right, Luke said this was initially designed when the park first opened with plans that included more magical creatures such as dragons.
First impression of Pandora -- two thumbs up
The theming from vegetation to the mountains to the human structures is over-the-top and totally transported us to another time and place. In simple, we loved it!
NEXT: Tumbling monkeys, a magical river ride, and further explorations
The pictures of Pandora and wonderful. It is a beautiful land. I've never seen the movies and probably never will, as they don't look appealing to me, so I'm sure some of the significance will be missed. I'm still excited to see it all.
The pictures of Pandora and wonderful. It is a beautiful land. I've never seen the movies and probably never will, as they don't look appealing to me, so I'm sure some of the significance will be missed. I'm still excited to see it all.
I don't think you really need to have seen the movie to enjoy the land. And a ride on Nav'i River can explain the object that baffled me on our first time through Pandora.
Glad your early morning scare was easily overcome and you were able to get started visiting the animals. I always keep my camera at ready during the safari ride just in case I get a chance for rhino, lion and giraffe pix, oh and the elusive cheeta. Pandora is fantastic. I really like your eye to catch the scenery. I have been several times and did not see some of your views. I hope that you guys got to spend some time there after dark. It really comes alive with the glowing plants, animals and walkways.
I’ve never seen the movie (and doubt I ever will) but I, too, was bowled over by how beautiful Pandora is. I’m still so mad at myself, though, that I forgot to walk back through after it got dark. I’m looking forward to your pictures when you get to that point in the TR.
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We, too, were bowled over by it and thought it was a perfect addition to an already practically perfect park!!! 
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