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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Ha! This update was too funny. Great pics of the animals (although with 3 boys I sure hope they behave themselves when we're ready to take our safari, otherwise the animals won't be the only ones doing inappropriate things; I can only imagine the snickering and jokes that will ensue from my boys after witnessing that!)
So thanks to your foreshadowing I had the song "Let's Get it On" going through my head the whole time I was reading it. Ummm, thanks, lol! Great pics! I love the thoughtful look on the gorilla's face.
Great photos of the safari!! And those Gorillas.............I could seriously stay there all day watching them.................well except for Mr. Mooner!!! That was funny!!!
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Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
Great pictures from AK! Mooner gorilla (oops, good I saw my #%$@ autocorrect wanted that to say nooner - perhaps they knew about the inappropriate behavior?)! Too funny!
That was such a funny post! That poor oryx...he needs to find a animal shrink stat or maybe they just need to through him a prozac!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
Such a funny update. I guess zoo-born oryxes don't have finely-tuned survival instincts. Crazy that it got so close. That lioness was definitely interested! Amazing shots of the other animals, especially the cheetahs.
That oryx will never be able to survive on its own. But living at DAK isn't a bad rap! And I was thrilled with my pictures. My new camera with its 20x optical zoom served me well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcc0313
What a great start to your trip. Loved all the details from the Royal Room, they look wonderful, definitely need to stay there on a short trip. Your salted chocolate...I did not have a very filling lunch so now I am sitting here craving salted chocolate from Germany...not nice I tell you, needs to be a warning in there, if you are hungry pass over
Sorry it was so hot at AK, not that it is never not hot, I still remember one December trip when it was maybe 60 degrees, get to AK we were all sweltering...it is just never cool....the air sweating did not sound like fun at all, but at least you had an interesting safari.
I really was a slacker with food pics this trip, so it will usually be safe to read future updates on an empty stomach.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lsugirlinutah
OMG...sweaty weather! I am laughing so hard! We saw some inappropriate behavior on our safari, too, and my kids were all "What's that? Why's that lion on top of that other lion?" and then and elephant peed AND pooped and my kids were in awe. I guess if you have small children be prepared for the questions...
Maybe that's why there were 2 female lions out that day!
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Originally Posted by Caldercup
Must resist making a comment.... Must.Resist!!
Seriously!! Are you TRYING to kill me, Shashi?!!
What are you, 7?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jessie092408
Great photos! I feel better for that poor animal who was offering himself up as lunch. Maybe he was having a bad day.
Poor guy! Hopefully he worked through his issues.
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Originally Posted by Ciavobella
You sure Gino wasn't mooning the agitator in training?
Quote:
Originally Posted by MayraLR
What a funny update! I had to try so hard to contain my laughter so my husband wouldn't think I'm nuts. What was up with these animals and their inappropriate behavior, were they auditioning for an episode of "Animals Gone Wild"?
Quote:
Originally Posted by DisneyLuv
Ha! This update was too funny. Great pics of the animals (although with 3 boys I sure hope they behave themselves when we're ready to take our safari, otherwise the animals won't be the only ones doing inappropriate things; I can only imagine the snickering and jokes that will ensue from my boys after witnessing that!)
There was plenty of snickering from the kids and the adults. A few times, the adults were snickering and the kids didn't know why!
Quote:
Originally Posted by dutchdisneyfamily
So thanks to your foreshadowing I had the song "Let's Get it On" going through my head the whole time I was reading it. Ummm, thanks, lol! Great pics! I love the thoughtful look on the gorilla's face.
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
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I hadn’t done online check in because I was hoping showing up in person would give me a better chance of getting a room near my family. In the end, we were nearby, but not right next to each other (and on different savannas as well). Otherwise, the check in process was painless and quick.
The bad news is that my room wasn’t ready yet, so I spent some time out on the savanna, getting some pictures.
I checked the status of my family’s flight (they’d left 10 minutes early – sweet!) and when it got to be about the time I expected them, I went outside to wait at the DME bus stop. This is when it started raining for real. Pouring is more the right word!
Just then, I got a call from my DM who was aboard the DME bus and let me know they’d be a few more minutes. Wherever they were, it wasn’t raining. She said the boys were itching to get to a park. I told her I wouldn’t go to AK unless the rain slowed down some. By the time they arrived, it had stopped (though it did continue to rain off and on for about an hour or so after that, and then light showers into the evening).
Once their bus arrived, we greeted each other (you’d think it was years since we’d last seen each other rather than mere days ). Then we headed inside so they could check in. DM volunteered to do the honors and I went with her while the rest of the group explored the lobby (or explored a comfy couch – I’ll let you guess who picked that option ).
When DM checked in, she was surprised to find out that Disney knew she was celebrating her 50th anniversary. I hadn’t mentioned anything to her because I didn’t want to get her hopes up only to have nobody acknowledge it. Anyway, the CM gave them anniversary buttons (and wrote “50” on them) and the rest of us all got “We’re celebrating” buttons. This was the first little touch of Disney magic.
I should stop for a second to say my DM is the kind of person that won’t ever let you do anything for her, so I wasn’t sure how she’d feel about all the special attention and surprises. I shouldn’t have been! She and DF ate up the attention with a spoon! It was perfect, there were so many magical moments, and they wore those buttons every day of the trip.
The CM also gave DM a rose (and me too, because I was standing there), which was the first of many little magical moments. Their villa was ready, so we went to drop off their stuff and find them something to eat. DM asked me to take a picture for her Facebook page.
I just now noticed Noah in the background
We checked out the savanna view and it was lousy. I wasn’t too happy with it, honestly. They were in a little corner of the savanna and the only animals we ever saw there were birds. I was disappointed for them, and frankly wished that I’d gotten the dud view because I’d stayed at AKL before. Oh well.
I wasn’t hungry (why wasn’t I hungry? I hadn’t eaten much – oh, now I remember, I was saving myself for Boma! ) so I just accompanied the group down to the Mara. I gave them lessons on using the dining plan and told everyone to get a mug. All the boys chose black and the girls chose pink. I was the smart one and chose blue, so mine was easy to identify. Of course, I was in a different room, so it didn’t help too much, but I enjoyed gloating over my cleverness.
Once everyone had ordered, I headed up to their room to get the groceries delivered. I called Bell Services and spent the few minutes waiting for them to arrive getting some pictures of the villa. They had a 2-bedroom lockoff, which worked well.
The groceries arrived and I put them away, then I went over to my room to get settled there because it was finally ready. It was down the hall.
My view was spectacular – looking out over Kidani Village with plenty of animals. Oh well, I guess I’d get visitors this way. I got a call from DM that they were back in the room. Apparently, the chocolate-covered strawberries I’d ordered for my parents had arrived the second I left the room. And my DM and DF consumed them the second they entered the room, so no photos!
I needed to have my luggage brought up, so I decided to walk down to Bell Services. That was a mistake, because the second I shut my door, I realized I’d left my KTTW card in the room. Well, at least I was fully clothed, unlike many movies I've seen.
I went to Bell Services to ask them to deliver my luggage. I asked the CM if he could let me in the room and he said no, I’d have to get a new KTTW card. So I took my bags and went over to get a new KTTW card. Actually, this was a pretty cool thing because I learned something new about WDW! The CM asked me if I wanted to keep my old key (the one in my room which was now deactivated) or bring it down to be recycled. The recycled room keys are made into park benches! I decided I absolutely must have my room key be part of a park bench somewhere, so I let him know I’d be bringing the dead key down to be recycled.
I went upstairs and unpacked and then headed over to join my family. Just as I was knocking on their door, a CM came down the hall with their luggage. Perfect timing. And all the bags were there. I invited anyone who wanted to see my view to come on over. I had plenty of takers.
Daniel also came over, but he’d gone back into the room before I took the photo. I had room in my studio for one of the boys to sleep on the sofabed and Daniel claimed it right away. I was secretly pleased because Daniel is the quietest of the chatterboxes, so I could easily get to sleep.
The rest of the group eventually made it over to my room to see the view. I neglected to take photos, but there were plenty of animals out – giraffe, zebras, ankole cattle, ostriches, etc. It looked like the promotional images, which made their lousy view seem even worse.
The boys were getting bored, but we didn’t want to go to a park because we had dinner reservations at Boma. I suggested the pool. It was currently raining, but the kind of light rain that you barely notice. The boys were up for some swimming, so they changed. DM and DF decided to join us at the pool, and DB and DSIL stayed behind to unpack.
The boys had a blast in the pool. They each must’ve gone down the slide 25 times. I was able to get a few pictures (I couldn’t get Daniel – he always seemed to go when I was looking at someone else).
I love this shot – so action-y!
The boys played in the pool for a good long time until it was time to clean up for dinner. Everyone was also ready for a late night in the MK after dinner, too!
Up Next: The best meal of the trip so far!
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
The rooms are beautiful! Too bad the 2-bedroom has such a lousy view, but yours sounds perfect. What a cool fact about recycling the KTTW cards! I'll always turn mine in from now on, since I don't need it for scrapping.
Glad that the family made it to the resort and that their flight went well. Glad you got rooms down teh hall from each other but sorry that they did not get a great savannah view....but as you said, a great way to get some visitors. What a nice way to start your moms trip off with some anniversary magic....glad she and your dad enjoyed it. The pool sounded like the perfect way to pass some time...can't wait to hear all about the wonderful meal, we love Boma. On our trip they had this cocunut rice that was so delicious, I think I had like 3 helpings.
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Glad to see the family has arrived! The rooms are beautiful, too bad about the savannah view your parents had though. Glad the boys are enjoying some pool time!
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That was funny!!!
But living at DAK isn't a bad rap! And I was thrilled with my pictures. My new camera with its 20x optical zoom served me well. 
Disney magic
) so I just accompanied the group down to the Mara. I gave them lessons on using the dining plan and told everyone to get a mug. All the boys chose black and the girls chose pink. I was the smart one and chose blue, so mine was easy to identify. 
Well, at least I was fully clothed, unlike many movies I've seen. 
I invited anyone who wanted to see my view to come on over. I had plenty of takers.
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