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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I've searched through a bunch of threads but haven't really found what I'm looking for. I'm looking for a reasonably priced hotel/motel in SD. We plan to go to Legoland, Sea world, and either the zoo or the safari park. Any good hotels/motels not too far from those attractions?
I've searched through a bunch of threads but haven't really found what I'm looking for. I'm looking for a reasonably priced hotel/motel in SD. We plan to go to Legoland, Sea world, and either the zoo or the safari park. Any good hotels/motels not too far from those attractions?
If you go to the following link, it will help you find hotels and motels down here is San Diego.
As far as Legoland goes, it is about 30 miles north of Sna Diego along Interstate 5 and there as some hotels and motels up there but the above link should hlp you with those as well.
We stayed at the Island Palms (Best Western) on Shelter Island on our trip to SD. It was a little over an hour to LEGOland. The SD Zoo was maybe 20 minutes. We found it very easy to get around San Diego!
I don't think you need to stay at Legoland. We left Anaheim early, hit Legoland when it opened (We actually had time to kill and ended up having breakfast at Marie Callendars) , then drove to our hotel in San Diego that night.
I wouldn't recommend our hotel in SD. though. It was nice enough -- a recently refurbished Holiday Inn Express -- but the traffic pattern into the place was awful and the parking garage really cramped.
If you do a search for "hotel circle san diego" you will find a group of hotels that are conveniently situated between Sea World, the Zoo, and the Animal Park. Most of them are reasonably priced, and the parking there will be easier than if you stay "in" town...the hotels in Old Town San Diego especially have really tight parking and one way streets (but walking around there is a lot of fun).
I agree with the others, though, I wouldn't stay near LEGOland, especially if you're planning on spending time in San Diego. I'd make San Diego your hotel home base.
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I wouldn't recommend our hotel in SD. though. It was nice enough -- a recently refurbished Holiday Inn Express -- but the traffic pattern into the place was awful and the parking garage really cramped.
Was it the one near the Sports Arena and Sea World? If so, that's the one we always stayed at when we'd go down and I agree the little parking "garage" underneath the hotel was ridiculously small. Overall, the place wasn't bad but the way you have to drive to get in there and the parking situation was enough for all of us to make a change in location. Anymore, since DH is military, we stay at the Navy Lodge on base and I have to rely on my parents who are frequent visitors to give advice on "civilian" hotels.
I agree that you might do better staying at one of the places on Hotel Circle . . . you'll be right by Sea World and not too far from the Zoo. Only 35 minutes from the "Safari Park" and 30 minutes give or take a couple from Legoland.
My parents go "home" (it is where I grew up, so it is our second home ) a couple of times a year and they have stayed at the Sheraton on Harbor Island several time and LOVE it. It's a little spendy (especially in peak season --- they recently quoted my mother $350 for a bay view room for Spring Break and $475 for the same room this summer ) but some of the views from the rooms are GORGEOUS!
They are headed down in March and will be staying at the Holiday Inn - Bayside again (I believe they'll be staying there in August as well while we're at the Navy Lodge). It's right near the airport and downtown, close to things like the Star of India, USS Midway, harbor cruises, etc.
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Was it the one near the Sports Arena and Sea World? If so, that's the one we always stayed at when we'd go down and I agree the little parking "garage" underneath the hotel was ridiculously small. Overall, the place wasn't bad but the way you have to drive to get in there and the parking situation was enough for all of us to make a change in location.
I couldn't find any records from our trip, so I searched around the HI website. I think we stayed at the HIExpress "Mission Bay." The rooms were freshly redone (they were working on them in Feb 2009 so should still be fairly new) but I wouldn't want to park a large car there.
I don't think you need to stay at Legoland. We left Anaheim early, hit Legoland when it opened (We actually had time to kill and ended up having breakfast at Marie Callendars) , then drove to our hotel in San Diego that night.
I wouldn't recommend our hotel in SD. though. It was nice enough -- a recently refurbished Holiday Inn Express -- but the traffic pattern into the place was awful and the parking garage really cramped.
This is what I'd recommend doing - hit Legoland on the drive down.
There are some hotels that have a great kids room setup - the kids get bunk beds in a "separate" room (it closes off with a pocket door, but isn't really it's own room). However, this is a place where we've had good luck with Priceline. We pick the Mission Bay area and bid only on 5 star places - we got a great place on Mission Bay for about $100/night. However, you'll need to anticipate parking fees and consider that when placing your bid. By limiting it to 5 star places, I feel comfortable that I won't get stung by a flea-bitten, bad-service, horrible location place.
I don't use Priceline for DLR, because I can't narrow the location focus enough, but since there aren't really hotels that are walking distance from the SD places (and each park is in a separate location), I'm more OK with ending up in a central location.
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) a couple of times a year and they have stayed at the Sheraton on Harbor Island several time and LOVE it. It's a little spendy (especially in peak season --- they recently quoted my mother $350 for a bay view room for Spring Break and $475 for the same room this summer 
) but some of the views from the rooms are GORGEOUS!
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