The Promise of Spring: Flower & Garden Festival 4.0 -- A Cam and Luke TR COMPLETED 8/27 - Page 56 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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WOW you were really close to the stage, you can almost touch the fish!!. I can understand all about the heat wearing you down. Since we now go in November the weather is so much nicer and we get to enjoy more time in the parks.
You are certainly hitting the jackpot with the safari rides! Love all the pictures! And great shots from Nemo as well! You've done very well in the heat! I wouldn't have lasted as long!
Oh, you did have great seats for the show! I love that show. The puppeteer/actors are so expressive and good.
I remember when this show was first described that I was skeptical about being able to see the puppeteers. But then we saw it and it was so very cool. it!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roxie2006
WOW you were really close to the stage, you can almost touch the fish!!. I can understand all about the heat wearing you down. Since we now go in November the weather is so much nicer and we get to enjoy more time in the parks.
We are really hoping our November trip breaks our series of very hot trips.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
You are certainly hitting the jackpot with the safari rides! Love all the pictures! And great shots from Nemo as well! You've done very well in the heat! I wouldn't have lasted as long!
We did have some incredible safari rides. Usually, we've had enough hot, humid weather in Kentucky to prepare us, but unfortunately, we had come from very mild weather into this crazy, sticky heat.
Great photos from Finding Nemo and can't believe how close you were to the stage! Too bad with that one kid opening the doors before the show! Nice score on getting two FP+s for look as he looks like he is enjoying EE immensely!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
I really enjoyed seeing all your animal pictures especially the giraffes and gorillas! So nice that Luke got to ride EE twice as he always looks like he's having so much fun. Great pictures of the Finding Nemo show and how great that you got such nice seats! It must have been so incredibly hot standing on that line before they let you in the theater.
Great photos from Finding Nemo and can't believe how close you were to the stage! Too bad with that one kid opening the doors before the show! Nice score on getting two FP+s for look as he looks like he is enjoying EE immensely!
Thanks! We had never used FPs for Nemo so we were quite excited to find out where we could sit.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lindawdw
I really enjoyed seeing all your animal pictures especially the giraffes and gorillas! So nice that Luke got to ride EE twice as he always looks like he's having so much fun. Great pictures of the Finding Nemo show and how great that you got such nice seats! It must have been so incredibly hot standing on that line before they let you in the theater.
Thanks! I knew there was no way we would be let in until the other show was let out, but the kids were very restless and mom and dad were obliviously playing on their phones. Too bad they could plant more trees in this area.
While we waited in the line at the AKL bus stop, we decided that what we most wanted now was a chance to nap. But when we returned to our room, my first task was to check out the savanna from our balcony. I was so excited to find that around 5:00 in the afternoon, there is an abundance of animal activity on the AKL savanna, including my beloved giraffes. So while Luke stretched out for a nap on the couch, I spend some time observing and photographing the wildlife. There were Somali Asses, wildebeests, zebras, Roan antelope, and even a bunny and squirrel. At one point, I was observing a giraffe heading into an area where several birds had been eating. Initially, he nudged his head at them, in what seemed to be an effort to shoo them away. Eventually, they came to some kind of agreement, and both giraffe and fowls continued to feed near one another. I am positive that between the Animal Kingdom Lodge savanna and the Kilimanjaro Safaris’ savanna I saw more giraffes than I ever had on any previous trip.
About 30 or so minutes later, I snuck quietly back into the room, and curled up for a nap in bed. Earlier Luke had set an alarm, so I wasn’t worried we’d either one oversleep. The alarm sounded at about 7:00, giving us time to freshen up before heading down to Boma for our dinner. We didn’t have to wait long before we were being led to a table. Our server whose name I don’t remember and it has faded off the receipt was efficient at clearing our dirty dishes and refilling drinks, but not overly friendly. I requested a wine and from the receipt it looks like Jam Jar Moscato. Whatever it was it was light and delicious. I went to the buffet first and these first three photos are of my first choices. I must have already dived into my food as there are none of Luke’s first plates and bowls.
Before we arrived at Boma, we decided that we would not rush this meal in hopes of trying as much as we both wanted to from the buffet. Because of that this meal took a bit over an hour to complete. Before desserts, I walked the buffet with my iPhone to take photos of the items Luke or I had managed to sample. I timed this really well as it seemed most folks were still at their tables. I didn’t think to photograph the other items that neither of us tried this time. So if it’s pictured, one of us ate it and enjoyed every bite.
My first plates:
Eventually, we were both stuffed and ready to return to the room. Before lights were out We had reworked out FastPass for tomorrow, making them all for the afternoon so we could sleep in.
Final Stats Day 8 at Animal Kingdom:
Fitbit Data = 18,531 steps / 6.79 miles / 2,144 Calories /3 floors/6 hours 51 minutes Asleep
Today’s High Temperature = 91 hot, humid degrees
Worst Part of the Day = Dealing yet again with the oppressive heat and humidity
Best Part of the Day = Caring for Giants tour
More beautiful photos of the wildlife from your balcony!
Nice that you got a nap in before dinner too!
Dinner sounds like it was delicious! Good idea to take your time!
More beautiful photos of the wildlife from your balcony!
Nice that you got a nap in before dinner too!
Dinner sounds like it was delicious! Good idea to take your time!
Since we were staying at Jambo House and had no after-dinner plans, it was so pleasant to eat at our leisure and really enjoy so much of what was offered. This may be one we go back to every time we stay at AKL.
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
Beautiful photos of the activity on the savannah outside your room - this is why a savannah view room at Animal Kingdom Lodge is just so magical. And then rounded off by dinner at Boma. Life doesn't get any better!