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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Sunday, 5/16/10 (Arrival)-Left Pahrump, NV, forgot sandwiches, had to turn around and go back home. Thank goodness we were only 10 minutes into our drive. It roughly takes 4-5 hours to drive to Anaheim from Pahrump. We stopped for a break in Baker, CA & for directions once we got lost in CA. Map Quest didn’t give very good directions and none of the adults (my mom and me) remembered a map. We got back on track and finally pulled into the Residence Inn-Maingate. http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/snaah-residence-inn-anaheim-maingate/
Upon check-in we were told that there had been a gas leak on Saturday. The gas was turned off and would hopefully be fixed on Monday. We would have no hot water and 24 Fitness across the street was offering Residence Inn guests the use of their shower facilities. It was very disappointing and though they were offering discounted rates at 25% off for the inconvenience, it wasn’t enough. They gave us a free night instead. My mom still wasn’t happy and the desk staff called Extended Stay America next door per their suggestion that they were willing to try to find us other accommodations. Extended Stay did not have a large enough room for us. The hotel manager overheard us trying to call other hotels and to keep us gave us a penthouse suite for the same price as a two queen bed studio we booked. With AAA, the room was $169 a night. The penthouse, with no discount, goes for about $240 a night. So, we got quite a bargain. It was a lovely room and I’m kicking myself that I didn’t take pictures. It slept 8. A king bed upstairs in a loft area with a bathroom. Two queens downstairs in their own room with another bathroom and a pull-out sofa. We had a kitchen and a fireplace with a log waiting to burn. Considering it was cloudy and cool, we burned the log once we got back from Downtown Disney that night.
Monday, 5/17/10 (Magic Kingdom)-We woke to a rainy morning. Nothing heavy, put the parking lot was wet and there were puddles. Residence Inn has a free breakfast for its guests so after COLD showers, we helped ourselves to pancakes, sausage, waffles, cereal, eggs and fruit.
Despite Residence Inn being less then a mile from Disney, we decided to drive. We wanted to save our feet for the park and I didn’t have a stroller for my 3 ½ year old until we got to the park. We paid the $14 parking fee and my mom has a handicap plaque, so we parked very close to the tram. My toddler, Nick, was excited about the tram. It was his first Disney “ride”. We did the Give a Day, Get a Disney Day. Upon turning our tickets in, the CM saved us some money. Instead of using our free day and then buying a 1 Day Park Hopper for the next day, she upgraded our free day. She applied the price of the 1 Day-1 Park ticket to a 2 Day Park Hopper and saved us almost $240. Nothing to sneeze at! She gave us our Voluntear pins and Nick got an Honorary Citizen of Disney pin so that he wouldn’t feel left out. We were also able to rent a stroller when we purchased our tickets for $15. Didn’t save us any money, but it did save us time as we were just able to walk up to the stroller area and show our receipt. We didn’t have to wait in a separate line to pay.
Upon entering the park about 20 minutes early, we headed to Town Hall to get Nick a 1st Visit pin. I was surprised at the rudeness of the CM. No one was in Town Hall and he appeared busy doing something behind the desk. So busy he didn’t even acknowledge that we had entered the building. He could have at least told us he’d be right with us. When he did call us forward, it was as if he was doing us the biggest favor in the world. I told him why we were there and he handed over the pin. I then asked about the Voluntear Parade and where we should be if we wanted to try to get into the parade. He told us to be on Main Street about ½ hour before the main parade started. (He was wrong. Will explain later.)
We visited the bathroom, rented a locker and hit the park. Dumbo was our first official ride. While I rode Dumbo with Nick, Thomas headed over to Indiana Jones to fast pass that ride. (I’m thankful he did, because when it came time to ride IJ, the stanby line was ½ hour wait!) Onto the carrousel after Dumbo and then to Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. By the time we got off the Toad, Peter Pan’s Flight was a ½ hour wait! We skipped Pan and just did our own touring. Nothing eventful happened. All the rides that were dark, like Mr. Toad’s or Pinocchio and even Pirates of the Caribbean, Nick had his hands over his eyes or ears. He claimed to like them though.
We tried Haunted Mansion. Nick was fine until the stretch room. I think it was more because it was loud than anything else. Once we left the stretch room, he saw the green exit sign and said, “Exit! Exit!” I clarified he wanted to leave and was met with a resounding “YES!” We took the chicken exit shown here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2wdZNwbAwo
We had lunch at Hungry Bear. I’ve been going to Disney since before I can remember and I’ve never eaten at this restaurant. It was pricey. 2 bacon cheeseburgers w/ french fries, 1 cheeseburger (w/out bun) and apple slices and 3 drinks cost $37.34. I had no bun because I’m on a gluten free diet. The cashier told me that if I wanted fries, they would have to do them in a dedicated fryer. She also told me that Village Haus in Fantasyland has gluten free hamburger buns. I never got a chance to sample them, but something I’ll remember for the future. You pay; get your receipt and step up to the food counter where another CM takes your receipt to get your food. Yet another CM fills the drink order. I was told off the bat that the order might take a while. I didn’t understand this as nothing out of the ordinary was ordered. People who ordered after me got their food. Finally my order came out. The only thing I can think of now is that the fries on the other 2 orders came out gluten free after all. The food was okay and the atmosphere very peaceful. It was hard to get the stroller out after people ate and didn’t push their chairs back in, but we made it thru the maze and rode The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Nick made his first pin trade there with a CM. My 15 year old, Thomas, noticed her pins first, but it was Nick who traded. He covered his eyes thru this ride too, but having a treat from the candy store, Pooh Corner, made him feel better. Tigger was stationed outside of the ride/store, but the line was too long to wait in to meet the character.
Right by here is a store called Briar Patch. Nick picked out a pair of red and black Mouse Ears. The CM stitched his name quickly (all computer done, of course) for a $3 fee and we were out of there in no time flat. It is here you can also buy rain ponchos. Splash Mountain was closed, but if you don’t want to get wet, stop by Briar Patch first, located near Splash Mt.
We decided to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad after walking Pirate’s Lair on Tom Sawyer Island. (A toddler must!) Nick measured up to the 40” easily. While he was tall he enough, he wasn’t thick enough. He rode with me. I’m 5’9”, 173 lbs. Not skinny, but not huge. Still the lap bar only comes down as far as the biggest person. Nick was left without any security. Even with my arms wrapped tightly around him, I could feel him flying around in the seat. If I didn’t hold him, I honestly believe he could have been thrown from the car. Even though I was concerned, he giggled throughout the entire ride. Was definitely a favorite of his. I probably should have said something to the CM about the safety concern.
Dinner was at Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port for gluten free pizza. After explaining to a person at the counter who did not speak very good English, she finally directed me to a chef. The chef asked if I wanted cheese or pepperoni and in 6 minutes or so, I had a personal size, gluten free pepperoni pizza. My pizza cost me $6.49 (w/out tax.) 1 slice of regular cheese pizza was $6.99. My mom and Thomas had a regular slice and they said it was cold and tasted old. My pizza, which fed me and Nick, was hot and fresh. My mom and Thomas tried it and they said it was way better than their slices and cheaper!
The pizza wasn’t the only thing old and cold. Thomas had a churro earlier in the day and he said it wasn’t very warm and it was hard. We also noticed how dirty the restaurants and bathrooms where. I’ve never seen such a mess at Disney! Paper on floors, multiple toilets not flushed, etc. I suppose Disney has made cutbacks in this economy as well and it shows!
We tried to hit Space Mountain afterward Redd Rockett’s, but was closed. We ventured to Autopia instead. Nick loved driving the car, though it was hard for him to steer. My mom said that he kept bumping into the guide track and cried, “Help! Help!”
At 6:15pm we were back on Main Street where we were told to be if we wanted to be part of the volunteer parade, the pre-parade Cavalcade. We asked another CM on the street and were told to look for people dressed in crazy construction gear. He was right! In neon colors there were painters and construction parade people pulling people from the crowd. The only problem was they were pulling them from the other end of the park at It’s a Small World. This made no sense because the parade was starting from Main Street. Long story short, they already pulled all the volunteers needed to be in the parade. If the CM at Town Hall had the proper information, we may have had a chance.
The park was open to 9pm, but we called it a night just after 7pm. Nick had a temper because he was over tired. So much so, he cried and threw a fit as we left. Riding the tram back to the parking lot calmed him down.
Thankfully the gas leak had been fixed while we were away, though there was a note under all the doors stating they had turned off the gas between 10am and 4pm for new construction. Still, Nick had a warm bath and we cooked in our kitchen for dinner. (The front desk printed directions for us to the nearest grocery store.) For an extra $5, we called for another fire log since it was promising to be a very cool & rainy night again.
Tuesday, 5/18/10 (Magic Kingdom/California Adventure)-With a wake up call at 6am, we showered and had another breakfast provided by the hotel. This time there were country potatoes and ham instead of sausage. The morning was rainy and we drove again. I assume it was because of the rain that we were directed to park in the garage instead of the outside parking lot. It was a little further walk to the tram and Grandma had a harder time coming back to the car at the end of the day.
Since California Adventure didn’t open until 10am, we headed to Magic Kingdom which opened at 9am. Went straight back to Peter Pan and though we entered the park just after opening, the line was already a 20 minute wait! If Peter Pan is a must for your vacation, hit that ride as early as possible! Also, if you have little ones riding with you, be sure to take them by the hand as you exit the flying pirate ship. This announcement was made special just for us. Upon exiting, Nick decided that he should climb over the side of the ship instead of following me out of the proper exit. I can’t blame him. While there is no ship “door” to exit from on his side, there is a little walkway there for the CMs. I caught him with 1 leg already out and the CM decided to embarrass us all by making the announcement while I was struggling to get Nick to exit the right way.
Since I didn’t get to ride Haunted Mansion the 1st day, Thomas & I headed over there while Grandma took Nick to Star Tours. (Nick’s favorite ride-rode it 4 times!) Once in the Haunted Mansion, they crammed us into the waiting room (not the stretch room) where we stood for at least 10 minutes. Not a bad wait, but when you have someone’s butt shoved to your front and you can’t move around because it’s so crowded, the wait seemed like forever! The CM played his part well and it helped to pass the time.
We met back up and headed over to CA. We hit Soarin’ Over California first. The wait was only 10 minutes. Despite the ride being there many years, there was still applause when it ended. As we exited, we hit a character meet just right. Goofy was dressed as a pilot and there were only 2 groups ahead of us in line. After taking the picture, we ventured by Grizzly River Run. Thomas was the only one who rode that. Nick wasn’t tall enough and Grandma and I didn’t want to get wet. I shopped at Rushin’ Rivers Outfitters while Grandma and Nick snacked on food we brought in.
A lot of CA was under construction. From high atop Mickey’s Fun Wheel, you can see Carsland and the red car, McQueen. I think it was because of Carsland that you could not get to Tower of Terror thru Bugsland. There was another attraction/show(?) called The Little Mermaid Undersea Adventure, coming 2011. Part of the lagoon was drained and being worked on for World of Color. The restaurant Wine Country Trattoria was closed along with the wine tasting booth. They did have a set up with a CM stationed that explained World of Color. I took the time to ask the CM about Carsland. He told me that ride that we could see would be similar the Test Track ride at WDW only more and better.
Grandma and I rested in front of the closed Trattoria while Thomas took Nick into Bugsland. After the kids got back, Thomas & did some pin shopping at P.T Flea Market (located right across from Trattoria.) We headed towards Tower of Terror after hitting the Monster’s Inc. ride.
Nick did go on the ToT ride. He wanted to leave once we left the introduction room, but the way out is by the elevators/ride. So, we had to climb all those stairs, me with a 36 pound child on my hip. Talk about a work out! Along the way he got to peer into one of the elevators and decided to go on the ride. I had my hand on his leg the entire time and my head by his. I could feel him coming out of his seat and at the end, his legs were shaky, as were mine. He said he liked it, but refused to ride it again. He was also very concerned for the people in the ride that got struck my lightning. He wanted to know what happened to them and asked about them multiple times the rest of the day. It was hard to explain it was pretend. He thought it was real.
Turtle Talk with Crush was cute, but Nick was antsy sitting on the floor with me. We didn’t hit any of the other activities in the animation building. It was about 4:30pm at this time and the park closed at 6pm. We decided to head back to the hotel after we bought more candy treats from Greetings from California on the way out.
Nick fell asleep in the car and took a good nap. We wanted to get back to Magic Kingdom, which was open until 9pm, around 6pm, but Nick was hard to wake up. Grandma decided her feet hurt too much to go back so instead of driving, we purchased Disney shuttle bus tickets. For Nick, Thomas and I it was $9. The shuttle stop was right outside of our room and ran every 20 minutes on the hour. There was a sign at the stop that said kids 3 yrs and under was free. On the bus the sign said 2 yrs and under. Nick’s ticket was only $1 so I didn’t argue, but it was confusing. We arrived back at the park around 6:15pm and you could see the mass exodus from California Adventure into Magic Kingdom. We re-picked up another stroller and rode as many rides as possible until 9pm. The last shuttle was 9:30 pm, but we made it without a problem, though it was FULL! Thankfully 90% of the shuttle emptied at the 1st stop, Peacock Suites. http://www.shellhospitality.com/hotels/peacock_suites/index.html
Wednesday, 5/19/10 (Departure)-Breakfast was had again in the dining room of the hotel. All the same food, except the meat of the morning was bacon this time. After breakfast, we packed the car and checked out. While 2 days seems like plenty of time at DLR, we could have easily spent more. I’ve learned that with a toddler like Nick, he’s only interested in the rides whereas Grandma and I wanted to shop more. I will plan better next time and we already have a savings jar set up for our next Disneyland vacation. Maybe next time will be cruise?!
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