National parks, natural beauty and a bit of Disney wonder! DISNEYLAND SECTION COMPLETED - Page 30 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Love that monorail slide! The Aulani studio looks very nice, and you're right, it must be a nightmare to the CMs there showing the rooms but unable to sell the memberships! Must have had something to do with the snafu about Aulani pricing. I guess they're probably straight on it now.
As far as I understand it, that's what the issue was. I think they're now able to sell it again....
That meal was so much! it looks like a great place though...I know Claire would love it. Is it a fixed price meal? Or are there cheaper options to get?
The monorail slide is just too cool!
The Aulani rooms are gorgeous!!!
Sadly, it is a fixed price meal, so there's no cheaper option.
Sunday 28 August – part eight: it’s no better in the daylight
By now, time was getting on, so we headed out. I don’t think Mark realised how quickly the time had gone by, as he would’ve happily stayed there chatting and, to be honest, had I not checked my watch, I wouldn’t have had a clue either. I guess it’s true when they say that time flies when you’re having fun!
We made it back to the Grand Californian by about 3:20pm and bell services told us that it would take about five to ten minutes to get the luggage. Fortunately, it wasn’t that long and, as soon as they arrived, we loaded up our additional goodies. Everything fitted and the cases seemed to be in the weight limit, so all was good...
Our luggage – complete with donkeys!
We also got some photos...
We didn’t want to miss the bus, so we headed outside early on to wait for it. Sadly, where they arrive, there was very little shade, although we sought some out behind a golf cart that was conveniently parked there. As Mark said, Disney don’t care, now you’re leaving them...
We stood there in the blazing sun, waiting for the next bus, but I couldn’t take more than a couple of minutes of it and quickly retreated back to the cover of the golf cart. The sun was just far too hot for me. We kept an eye on our suitcases, as they waited as well.
Soon, the bus turned up and we said a very sad goodbye to Jeannie. Even though we had only met a couple of hours earlier, already we were very sorry to see her go. The next time we come back to Disneyland, we will definitely hope to see her again.
We made it to LAX faster than the predicted one hour, just the same as our outward trip. I wonder whether, like the airlines, they pad their time a little bit, so they’re always sticking to the schedule or whether we were just lucky with the traffic? I’m guessing as the buses can use the carpool lanes, it could be the former rather than the latter.
It was interesting to see LAX in the daylight, but it’s still a sprawling, ugly mass either by day or by night.
We were lucky and were the second group to be dropped off at terminal two, right outside the Air Canada area. We couldn’t see where to go for just dropping off bags, but to be honest, it really didn’t matter, as there was no-one waiting in line, so we just walked through the ordinary check-in line and dropped our bags. Two were getting close to the 50lb limit with our latest acquisitions, but at least come the Alaskan cruise, we would start dropping off some of the bits and pieces we’d brought with us.
We took our bags to the TSA check-in screening check and then headed through security ourselves. It was a bit odd, as you show your passports and boarding passes on the ground floor, then head upstairs for security itself. It was pretty painless for me, but not for Mark. Neither of us got selected for any special treatment, but he ended up with a huge group of cabin crew going through before him. As if that was bad enough, he was furious with them, as they just pretty much pushed his stuff out of the way, without a word of apology. He wasn’t surprised to learn they were Air France staff.
We had a quick look in the shops, but to be honest, there wasn’t much selection here, either for shops or eating. I managed to find a mozzarella sandwich from La Brea Bakery, as I wasn’t sure what options they’d have for me on board, but that was tough, as a lot of the stuff was meat only.
We found our way to the gate and settled down to wait for our flight. I thought it was pretty packed when we got there, but quickly realised that it was something to do with the fact that there was a flight to Mexico City, departing at 6:00 pm. Once they kicked out, it was a lot quieter. I even managed to find a powerpoint, where I was able to connect up the laptop to sort out the photos (one job saved for later in the evening and was able to charge up the camera a bit, as I’d kind of run it down, taking one or two photos...
Thanks for more photos of the Grand Californian! I'm getting very excited for my stay in December. I'm sad to hear that you are leaving DL, but I cannot wait to hear about the cruise!
Sad that your DLR stay is over, but there's still so much to come! I'm hoping to meet up with Jeannie next summer-- she could have a full-time job greeting visiting PPers.
As if that was bad enough, he was furious with them, as they just pretty much pushed his stuff out of the way, without a word of apology. He wasn’t surprised to learn they were Air France staff.
Air France...don't you just love them? They're motto should be "It's All About Us" because they really don't care about anything else. Glad I'm not the only one who feels this way.
Sad that your DLR stay is over, but there's still so much to come! I'm hoping to meet up with Jeannie next summer-- she could have a full-time job greeting visiting PPers.
Oooh... whenabouts in 2013? Maybe if our December 2012 plans don't work out, that could be a fallback option for us...
I was hoping to stay there on the way home from Japan! I figured since I'd be passing right over it, I may as well give it a look. It will also break up what would be a really long flight home, especially considering the time difference!
Sorry to see this portion coming to an end, but it's good to still have so much to look forward to!
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
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They're motto should be "It's All About Us" because they really don't care about anything else. Glad I'm not the only one who feels this way.
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