Amy's Fabulous Split StayTrip Report!!!! (Finally)... - Page 22 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I'm Back! I am going to wrap up my TR today/tomorrow! Glad to say my back surgery was a success, I am in recovery, back at the gym rehabbing, and doing quite well! Kids are back to school, and I am back to an empty house again. I applied for the Mom's Panel and anxiously awaiting...good luck to all who entered!
So, where was I? AKL... here are some more stunning pics of the resort....
This is the glass atrium looking in from outside, at the rear of the resort.
The lobby, at the rear facing the front.
We were done with our dinner at Boma around 7pm. With our very stuffed bellies we decided to go exploring, and the boys were very interested in the pool. So, Tony took them for a dip, and I decided to stay out and take pics and so a little roaming around. The pool, even though "heated" was not very warm, and Note: the water slide closed at 8pm when the lifeguard goes off duty. So, it's pretty boring at night, IMO. We found the pool, although large to be pretty plain compared to the one at CBR they just didn't even compare.
I wanted to go fill our resort mugs, and the only place to do so at AKL is the Mara- AKL's quick service place, and their place also to get convenience foods as well. I couldn't find the darn place to save my life! You'd think it would be inside, perhaps somewhere off the lobby, for easy access to all guests, especially those who've paid all that money to stay in a savannah room - but NO - you actually have to go down the elevator to the ground floor, past Jiko and Boma, to an OUTSIDE walkway past Boma, and there it is next to the Arcade! Obserd!!! It is so inaccesible I think we filled the mugs twice. Good thing they were free with our DxDDP! My opinion is that since this is a deluxe resort, they expect the guests to eat at their "better" restaurants, so they keep their quick service place tucked away where no one can see or find it! And, the variety they have there is pretty pricey too IMO. In all fairness we did eat one late meal there, and it was pretty tasty, but we used dining credits to do so.
I didn't take any pics of the pool because it was at night and too dark, it wasn't lit very well.
I decided to go over to try the night vision viewing of the savannah. I thought it would be neat. The problem is, it's hard to find! It's tucked away way back behind the pool on a winding path past the flamingo area. If you aren't careful, you can miss it/walk right past it, as they want you to be very quiet while viewing, so there isn't really anyone there to alert you of the area. There was a long line, and only two pair of night vision goggles available, and they gave each person 5-10 minutes of viewing time, so YES you could wait up to 30 minutes for your turn. And, there really wasn't much to see, in all honesty, all you'd see was the outline of an animal and some eyes, the guides would have to tell you what you were looking at half the time. And, you're whispering the whole time, so you'd not really hear them any way. Needless to say, I was pretty disappointed, and would have rather spent my time on my own balcony.
__________________
~Amy~
Last edited by Buffalogirl18; 09-16-2009 at 09:12 AM..
We had planned to be at Boma for breakfast at 8:30 and then spend a half day at AKL, and then move on to DHS for the rest of the day....but everyone was tired so we slept in instead! I think you need a day or two of that, especially on a week or longer vacation.
So, as usual, I am always the first one up. I got out of bed at 9:30, opened the drapes, and boy that savannah was hopping this morning! Our family of giraffes couldn't have been closer to our area...the wildebeast were not far behind, and their were 3 zebras making their way down the road. It was really something to see. That's what we wished the savannah had been like the whole time we'd been there, but for those of you who haven't stayed at AKL before, it's not the case- it's hit and miss, sometimes you see several animals, sometimes you see one, sometimes the're all off in the distance, and sometimes you'll see nothing for hours! Here are more pics of the savannah...
(having trouble posting pics right now, will try again later)
__________________
~Amy~
Last edited by Buffalogirl18; 09-16-2009 at 09:28 AM..
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Good thing they were free with our DxDDP! My opinion is that since this is a deluxe resort, they expect the guests to eat at their "better" restaurants, so they keep their quick service place tucked away where no one can see or find it! And, the variety they have there is pretty pricey too IMO. 
There was a long line, and only two pair of night vision goggles available, and they gave each person 5-10 minutes of viewing time, so YES you could wait up to 30 minutes for your turn. 
And, there really wasn't much to see, in all honesty, all you'd see was the outline of an animal and some eyes, the guides would have to tell you what you were looking at half the time. And, you're whispering the whole time, so you'd not really hear them any way. Needless to say, I was pretty disappointed, and would have rather spent my time on my own balcony.
Here are more pics of the savannah...
PassPorter Guide Author
Good to see you updating again. 
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