Finding Walt: a DL TR: Update 2/23/12 - Page 14 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Oh my goodness, you poor thing. What a way to start your vacation - you were a real trooper that first day. I hope from here on in, you shake that fever.
That little soda fountain is so cute! I can't believe I missed out on looking for all the Disney "stars" when I was out there so many years ago. Duh.
Mmmm, grilled cheese and tomato soup. Is there anything better to eat when you're sick? I think not! I'm so sorry you had to suffer through that, but you definitely made a good call by going to bed so early.
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The little soda shop looks neat! How fun that you found that.
To me there are few things worse than being sick while away from home! I'm glad the hotel staff was accomodating and you were able to get some (yummy!) comfort food.
Can't wait to read about your adventures in Disneyland!
Oh my goodness, you poor thing. What a way to start your vacation - you were a real trooper that first day. I hope from here on in, you shake that fever.
I felt much better after some sleep, but the aspirin bottle got a workout for the duration of the trip--I finished the box of mixed daytime/nighttime sinus meds as well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
What a terrible night! I'm glad the hotel room service was so great-- perfect choice of comfort foods.
for that cold. It's definitely stayed with you way too long.
The number of hours I've spent at work since my return has been the culprit of the staying power of the cold--I came back to 3 back to back doubles and I just finished 2 doubles this week. So if you are wondering what that means--I've worked 24hrs in 2 days.
Quote:
Originally Posted by disney_duke
That little soda fountain is so cute! I can't believe I missed out on looking for all the Disney "stars" when I was out there so many years ago. Duh.
Mmmm, grilled cheese and tomato soup. Is there anything better to eat when you're sick? I think not! I'm so sorry you had to suffer through that, but you definitely made a good call by going to bed so early.
Definitely walk the walk of fame from end to end to find lots of stars that have Disney History.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Sorry you weren't feeling so good Heather! Great pics from Hollywood Blvd and the Disney store!
I get better--and the stars are just so cool.
Quote:
Originally Posted by shnewell
The little soda shop looks neat! How fun that you found that.
To me there are few things worse than being sick while away from home! I'm glad the hotel staff was accomodating and you were able to get some (yummy!) comfort food.
Can't wait to read about your adventures in Disneyland!
The hotel staff at the Renaissance Hollywood were all top notch!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Coop
Feed a fever. Hope it worked. Sounds like you needed that sleep too! Love the little Disney Store/soda shop and all the stars!
I always forget which to starve and which to feed . . .
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Originally Posted by cubfancolleen
Comfort food is the best - glad you could find some at the hotel! Love all the stars you found!
More stars are coming in the near future!
Quote:
Originally Posted by pamcarey
Oh my, you really were sick! What a lousy way to start your vacation. I hope the sleep helped!
I really was--I tried to hide how crappy I was feeling for the rest of the week, but I fear my early nights may have given me away.
In the morning I woke up very early--perhaps the time change has something to do with that. I showered and made myself a cup of tea. I swear I ate something, but it might just have been a package of peanuts from the flight the day before.
I programmed LaTonya to take me to the Anaheim Marriott and boy was I glad I did. There are so many splits in the LA highway system that I would have gotten lost if I didn't have someone telling me where to go. I didn't hit any traffic and I was in Anaheim in two shakes of a lamb's tale. I gave the Valet manager my keys while I checked in--because I decided to save $3 by self parking. I should have spent that $3 dollars.
I was surprised to find that my room was ready at 8amish. I grabbed my car back from the valet folks and drove to the self park. I walked about a 1/2 mile back to the main lobby and the elevator with all my stuff. My room was tiny, but clean and well appointed. I did have to walk into the bathroom and step to the side to be able to close the bathroom door. I had zero view, so I didn't take any photos--my room was directly over the porte couche and looked into the Hilton across the street. I washed my face, dropped my stuff and headed out to meet Sharon, Karen and Zack at Disneyland.
I decided to walk rather than take the shuttle or drive. The Anaheim Marriott is listed as being a mile from DL. I took the short cut and I can tell you that it is at least a 1.5 mile walk to the gates. It might be a mile from DLR property, but it's much further to the gate. It took me a good amount of time to actually get into DL and I was not surprised to find that Karen and Zack were on a ride, but I met a smiling Miss Sharon with her cup of coffee or cocoa waiting for me outside Buzz Lightyear.
I did stop to take a shot of the train station as I was walking in!
I was immediately amazed at the scale of Main Street USA and Sleeping Beauty's Castle compared to WDW. Holy cow it's small!
It was also super crowded as I entered Tomorrowland--where I would spend almost no time during the entire trip. The walkways are much smaller than at WDW and it just feels super congested even if it isn't as crowded as it seems. The proximity of Star Tours to Buzz Lightyear and the location of the FP machines for ST make the entrance to TL really difficult.
Karen and Zack soon joined us and we actually exited DL and headed to Disney California Adventure. We lined up for rope drop for Toy Story Midway Mania, but we were foiled because they change the line configuration for opening. Usually you enter the ride from the left--which is the longer walk in the morning, but where we were lined up. In the morning they reroute the line and you enter from the right, which is the shorter walk. By the time we made it around the standby line was crazy, we passed. I didn't actually ride TSMM at DL, because the parks ended up being busier than I anticipated and there are no FP at DL.
We headed for California Screamin instead and were on in just a few minutes. Then we went over to the Swings and had a ride. We hit Goofy's Sky school next and got some photos with Goofy!
It's amazing how little the castle looks the first time you see it! No matter how many maps I look at I can't get comfortable with the layout at DCA. Have they finished the construction at the entrance?
Just got all caught up with you first few updates! Sorry you had to start out your trip with a cold. You're so brave the way you navigated those roads in LA. I would have been way to nervous to drive there by myself. The state of the carousel in Griffith Park was so sad. Glad you got your room right away and were able to sleep for a while. I've been to DL a few times and it is amazing how small the castle looks compared to DW! Glad you were able to meet up with Sharon, Karen and Zack. Can't wait to hear about your adventures together.
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What a way to start your vacation - you were a real trooper that first day. I hope from here on in, you shake that fever. 
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Great pics from Hollywood Blvd and the Disney store! 
I'm glad the hotel staff was accomodating and you were able to get some (yummy!) comfort food.
The state of the carousel in Griffith Park was so sad.
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