An Animal Kingdom State of Being with Cam and Fam COMPLETED 9/18 - Page 51 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Ahhhhhh Boma! I love Boma! I am sorry that the potatoes and the falafel are no longer on the buffet!
All of your pictures of the Lodge and the animals are wonderful!
I just AKL! I just feel so relaxed and calm when I am there!
Don't you think parents are just crazy sometimes?? I mean why in the world wouldn't the mother go in and check on her daughter?! Sorry you had to use the teacher voice!
Can't wait to read all about your MK day! (which I am still sorry we never caught up to you at the MK! )
The next 16 days will not go fast enough...I loved all your AKL pictures and I am so excited to stay there, even moreso than I already was.
The corn and chicken soup sounded delicious as did the rest of your meal, I am kind of sad that we are missing Boma for dinner, but we do have it for breakfast.
Love all your purchases, I do agree that the store at AKL is the best...we always enjoyed shopping after our meals there, love your purchases, I had a feeling when you described it but now seeing it...your yellow 71 shirt is the one that I gave in and purchased on my February trip, I fell in love with it and knew I would regret not making the purchase.
Wonderful photos, love the night time shots. Great comment from the CM about leaving troubles on the nightstand. We stayed at Kidani last January and yours photos are bringing back great memories.
Great update. My kids can get rambunctious like all kids, but my son absolutely knows better than to go in the ladies room. The mother was probably just happy to have a short break from them and didn't care what they were doing!
The evening giraffe shot looks like it could be a mother and baby giraffe I saw a number of times during our stay, possibly?
Looking forward to the next installment! BTW my giraffe Sanuks came today and you are so right, they are soooooo comfy!
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15 total family trips with stays at the Poly, AKL, Wilderness Lodge, Beach Club, Swan, Dolphin, POFQ, Pop Century, All Star Music, Movies & Sports, and Coronado Springs.
Great update. My kids can get rambunctious like all kids, but my son absolutely knows better than to go in the ladies room. The mother was probably just happy to have a short break from them and didn't care what they were doing!
The evening giraffe shot looks like it could be a mother and baby giraffe I saw a number of times during our stay, possibly?
Looking forward to the next installment! BTW my giraffe Sanuks came today and you are so right, they are soooooo comfy!
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15 total family trips with stays at the Poly, AKL, Wilderness Lodge, Beach Club, Swan, Dolphin, POFQ, Pop Century, All Star Music, Movies & Sports, and Coronado Springs.
Love those breakfast Mickey lounge pants. When we were there DH bought a DVC windbreaker at AKL after our DVC tour. The CM asked "How long have you been DVC members?" DH said "about an hour" I knew he was hooked!
Great evening at the lodge. I love roaming about and taking photos there. Inside and out there are so many wonderful details. Apart from the rest-room incident, a good time at Boma. I'm so disappointed that the potatoes with afritude are gone! Shopping at Zawadi is definitely the best on property. I always see lots of things there I want!
The teacher voice does come in handy . As does the teacher look. Dh often tells me not to look at him like he's a seventh grader (to which I reply, "Quit acting like one."). Sounds like a nice relaxing evening, except for the odd bathroom encounter!
Great updates!
Sorry to hear about Luke's feet. Glad to hear that you were able to take frequent breaks for him to rest.
Love that teacher voice. It can work wonders
Can't wait to see how you spent your days in the parks!
Love the pics of AKL, as I have never been!! You got alot of great pics!!
Those kids were out of line. Glad someone had the nerve to set them straight. Some parents just don't want to discipline their children at WDW but they need to sometimes!
Can't wait to hear if you made it to MK rope drop!
I would have loved to have been there in the bathroom with you to see you go into 'teacher mode' for a moment. Thanks for handling that.
Your photos are just wonderful. We didn't get to see a lot of AKL when we were there and didn't take any photos as we were too concerned with finding our meeting spot, but some of your shots I kept thinking, "There's the fire-pit we just saw!" and so on. I love the photo of Stefanie and the one of the African "Bat-pole."
Another great installment with so many wonderful photos! We've been to AKL once to eat at Sanaa, but I didn't really spend much time looking around the resort, as it was late when we finished our dinner.
I those pajama pants!!
And I love the CM's comments about leaving his troubles on the nightstand. What a great attitude!