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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We are taking our two grandsons 6 and 3 to Disneyland for Christmas, along with my father and inlaws (70's) We will be staying at Disneyland Hotel (good choice I hope?).
We fly into SNA at 8:30 am on 12/23 (suggestions on transportation to DL hotel?) so will have most of that day to attend parks. We also will have 12/24 and 12/25 as full days, departing flight on 12/26 at 5pm, so most of that day too.
Suggestions for "plan of attack" as some early mornings (early entries?) and late nights (to catch parades and fireworks), to get the most out of both parks?
The parks will very likely be crowded during your stay. It isn't a long walk from DLH, but you can gauge accordingly after your first day on how you may want to attack the rest of your stay.
Definately go in the MK at night to visit "Santa's Reindeer Round Up", to watch the holiday transformation of "It's A Small World", and to watch the fireworks display "Believe in Holiday Magic."
The fireworks will be tough as it gets very crowded, but well worth it. Check now and see if they have any package deals that include a reserved viewing spot.
It's a great time to go and you won't be disappointed, but with the age range traveling with you, do plan some time to rest.
I think I would even go so far as to suggest that you call Disneyland Hotel to see if they have a shuttle that could pick you up. Their phone number is 714-778-6600.
If not, there are shuttle services at the air port that can take you to the hotel. Nt sure of the cost.
There are shuttles to all the DLR hotels. There are also taxis as well as renting a car while you are there. That would be my suggestion. It is always nice to have a car at hand while you are there for whatever comes up. More to come on this in my TR hopefully within this next week.
We took the Green Van Shuttle (I think that was the name?) from SNA and the service was great. Our flight was 2 hours late but they were still there when we landed. When we were there, all the shuttles shared the same area. If you didn't have a reservation, you just found the guy with a clipboard and he found a shuttle for you. We got a good discount by booking ahead of time, though.
__________________
*~*Tina
Picking up our Brasilian exchange student at the a/p
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Early entry is Mon, Tues, Thurs, Sat. Definitely take advantage of that as well as Toontown Madness if you have tickets included with your parkhoppers. Visiting Mickey at his house is the best place to get good professional pics with the Mouse.
We always go during the holidays but we choose to go the week after Thanksgiving. We still get all the glory of Christmas at DL but without all the crowds. But whenever you go, Christmas at DL is awesome.
Thanks to all that have responded. I will look into the DL Shuttle I think, I'm feeling they would only stop at their hotels, correct? So more direct route. I would like to rent a car but there will be 9 of us, so we would need to get two...
I will look into the early entry times. we are there 3 mornings at the hotel and have 4 day passes, so hopefully that will include the Toontown tickets? We fly in on a Sun morning, so that will leave Mon, Tues and Weds at the early possibilites.
Mary and I went and Thanksgiving Day and it was every bit as crowded as it would be in the summer. However, the 'trimmings' that they have gives you a warm glow and as cool as it was last night, that felt good. I am including a couple of MUST see photos, I mean, you MUST SEE THEM IN PERSON to really get the Christmas glow.
This is "It's A Small World" after dark........
And this is Sleeping Beautys Castle after dark.......
Thanks for the great pictures! We will definately be making an effort to keep the kids up late to see all the holiday decos and especially these two you have mentioned!
Not long now, and getting more and more excited....
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