Celebrating Memorial Day at Philadelphia Zoo - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
Philadelphia Zoo ~ Friday,May 22, 2009 Cast of Characters:
ME - Heather (35), DH - Joe (33), DD - Brianna (4), DSS - Kameryn (9)
My DH & I wanted to do something for Memorial Day weekend, but since his days off are Thursday & Friday we knew we couldn’t go away anywhere. Thursday was out because I had a doctor’s appointment & DSS had school till 2:40. Thursday night I was online trying to figure out where to go & what to do that wasn’t too far away or too expensive either. DH wanted to go to the beach, but this early in the season the water would be way too cold. We thought about Dorney Park, but the travel time would time would eat up too much of our day. Then it dawned on me that the last time we had been to the zoo was 4 years ago. The plan was set. All the kids knew was that we were doing something on Friday, but we wouldn’t tell them where we were going.
We woke up Friday morning, had a quick breakfast, and loaded everyone into the truck. DD kept trying to guess where we were headed. We passed PHI Airport & she yells “I know! We’re going to Disney!!!” (I wish that was where we were headed!!!!) DH & I laughed. I told her we weren’t going to Disney till October for my bday. It was smooth sailing until we hit the Schuylkill Expressway. Anyone from the Philadelphia area knows that this can either make our break your timeline. We were OK until 676 merges with the Schuylkill. Then we just sat, crawled one car length, sat, crawled one car length. This went on for 40 mins!!!!! We did manage to watch the Zoo balloon take off for quite a few rides & see a few rowers on the river as well. Channel 6 Zoo Balloon Boathouse Row
First stop inside the zoo, the bathrooms of course I was not going to be hunting down a potty if DD had to suddenly go Unfortunately a few other mothers & school groups had the same idea, so we waited, & waited, & waited for our turn. After our not so quick pit stop, we watched the spider monkeys at Monkey Junction for a few mins. The kids got a kick out of then climbing the ropes & swinging. DH & DSS, of course, noticed one of the monkeys was taking his own potty break while swinging from one the ropes. What is it with boys & potty humor?????? Spider monkey
Our next stop was the Rare Animal Conservation Center. We saw fruit bats, porcupines, naked mole rats, lots of rare monkeys, & lemurs. DD & DSS both asked why the bats were smaller than the ones at AK in Disney (This would be a theme though out this zoo trip. My kids compare everyplace we go to Disney just like me) Porcupine Blue eyed lemurs Continued on next post…….
Marmosets
Next stop was the Kangaroos. They were just lying around. Some were in the shade and one or two was sunning themselves. From there it was off to the Reptiles & Amphibians house. DSS loves frogs, snakes, alligators & crocs, so he was excited about this stop. We saw lots of odd colored frogs & snakes. I tried taking a few pics, but the glass always gives off some sort of glare so after a few attempts I just gave up in here. The King Cobra was pretty active and that made DSS happy.
Once exiting the R&A house you see Tortoise Trail. There was at least 5 or 6 giant Galapagos tortoises sand one male peacock.
Galapagos tortoise Peacock DSS, DH & DD watching the tortoises Continued on next post……
Directly across from the TT was the Pachyderms area. It was a warm day (high of 85) and the Rhino was taking a mid day dip him his watering hole. Rhino
The elephants were very active and outside! Last time we were at the zoo they were inside & let me tell you, the smell in there was so foul I almost ran out of the door! You may notice I have more pics of animals then I do kids. Well, let’s just say they were not cooperating with Mommy on this trip. The few pics I have I had to sneak. DSS & DD watching the elephants Peek a Boo!
By now it was noon, so we decided to grab a quick lunch before heading over to PECO Primate Reserve. Luckily there was a hotdog cart right there! We got 3 combo meals (HD, chips& a drink), 2 extra HDs & a bottle of water for $23. What a steal! There was a nice shaded pathway that we plopped down on & had lunch. I was pretty happy with lunch. For the past 2 years we’ve been getting Chicken Dogs from BJ’s (Kunzler Chicken Franks ~ which are also Gluten free!) & have found that when I eat regular HDs I just find them, well, icky! They served Hebrew National Franks, which I are my least favorite HDs, but these were pretty good. Must be the Philly water Did someone say lunch????
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.
Thanks! I have a bunch more I still need to resize. Last time we were at the zoo we made the "mistake" of going into a place to sitdown & paid way more the food wasn't all that great.
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
Sounds like you had a lot of fun! I haven't been to a zoo in so long the last one I went to was in Switzerland of all places and that was *gulp* 9 years ago...when I graduated Highschool Where has time gone?
I should look for a zoo here and go to it. I'd to to Animal Kingdom but thats Notazoo.
__________________
Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust! Studying Hard to Make a Difference!
After we scarfed down our lunch it was off the PECO Primate Reserve. I believe these active little guys were called Sifakas. They were all over the place. The zoo keepers must have placed a bunch of grape halves all over the glass because one guy kept trying to jump up & reach one. He tried a number of times before he tried climbing a nearby rope & swinging towards the glass. He sure did entertain all of us who were watching him.
Next were the Orangutans. There were two in the enclosure. They were throwing hay at each other. DSS & DD thought it was funny they were fighting. Finally we went over to see the gorillas. I have very mixed feelings about them. There were three in the enclosure. One was sitting up in a window sill looking outside. Another was playing in the outdoor area and then returned to their gorilla door for some shade and a rest. The last gorilla, which was also the largest of the three, was just leaning up against the enclosure wall with piles of lettuce at his feet. DH & I both looked at each other & said at the same time “he looks so sad.” You could literally see it in his eyes. There were people all around the glass tapping on it & he would take a deep breath & look down. I broke my heart. DH & I talked about how when we were in AK back in Jan we had spent 20 mins watching the gorillas and it was so enjoyable. They were eating, playing; even play fighting with each other. They were happy, but this guy just wasn’t & we could tell. That was enough for me; we needed to go to another exhibit.
Right across from the PPR was the Bank of America Big Cat Falls. Statue in front of Big Cat Falls
This enclosure was being built the last time we had been at the zoo so I was excited to see how it turned out. The Lions were first, but just our luck they are sleeping in the sun on top of their rock (just like on Kilimanjaro Safari, always sunning & can never see them!!) The path winds around the lion area & dumps you into a movie theater that has three screens in a straight line. It is a 3minute film featuring lions, tigers, cheetahs, cougars, and jaguars. Some of the film covers all three screens and other times it shows three different scenes. It was well shot, plus it was nice & cool in the air conditioning J There was a jaguar enclosure. DD watching the jauars Continued on the next post………
There was also a cougar enclosure. There were 3 cougars in here (again napping)
Up next were the tigers. There were four rather large tigers, but again because of the heat they were all napping in the shade.
In front of the biggest viewing area they had a Zoo employee who was telling us all about Tigers & answering all the kids questions. Finally the “Falls”
I honestly wasn’t that impressed with this area. I guess I expected a lot more since at the time they were building it they made it out to be this grand thing & IMO it wasn’t. The enclosure areas were pretty small and there were two small waterfalls (neither of which were in any of the Big Cat’s enclosures) Continued on next post…….
Been there and done that, have been stuck there for over an hour before. AND OMG trying to go any where near 676 towards the Walt Whitman when there is a few sports events and a concert.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Thanks so much guys! We just got a wireless router (finally!!!) & I'm hoping to knock out the rest of this TR fairly quickly now! It's so much easier to update in the big oversized chair while watching TV than it is at the uncomfortable, falling apart desk & metal chair
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.
About This Page: 
trying to figure out where to go & what to do that wasn’t too far away or too expensive either. DH wanted to go to the beach, but this early in the season the water would be way too cold. We thought about Dorney Park, but the travel time would time would eat up too much of our day. Then it dawned on me that the last time we had been to the zoo was 4 years ago. 
The plan was set. All the kids knew was that we were doing something on Friday, but we wouldn’t tell them where we were going.
we weren’t going to Disney till October for my bday. It was smooth sailing until we hit the Schuylkill Expressway. Anyone from the Philadelphia area knows that this can either make our break your timeline. We were OK until 676 merges with the Schuylkill. Then we just sat, crawled one car length, sat, crawled one car length. This went on for 40 mins!!!!! 
We did manage to watch the Zoo balloon take off for quite a few rides & see a few rowers on the river as well.
I was not going to be hunting down a potty if DD had to suddenly go 
Unfortunately a few other mothers & school groups had the same idea, so we waited, & waited, & waited for our turn. After our not so quick pit stop, we watched the spider monkeys at Monkey Junction for a few mins. The kids got a kick out of then climbing the ropes & swinging. DH & DSS, of course, noticed one of the monkeys was taking his own potty break while swinging from one the ropes. What is it with boys & potty humor??????
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
Been there and done that, have been stuck there for over an hour before. AND OMG trying to go any where near 676 towards the Walt Whitman when there is a few sports events and a concert.
Linear Mode
