Double the fun : East & West coast Disney & Universal parks during the holiday season **COMPLETE 7/11/11** - Page 3 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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.
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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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What a great day - I loved the sound of the VIP helicopter tour. I'm a sucker for any helicopter tours, as it's great to see cities - and especially one as big as LA - from the air.
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
What a great day - I loved the sound of the VIP helicopter tour. I'm a sucker for any helicopter tours, as it's great to see cities - and especially one as big as LA - from the air.
This was the first helicopter tour we had ever taken, and we absolutely loved it! On future trips, I know I wont be able to leave the cities we travel to, until we've taken a helicopter tour of them all! On the agenda for next time, are helicopter tours of San Francisco and Vegas - I simply can't wait!
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Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
What great pictures from the helicopter tour! Sounds like a great time at US as well!
Thank you so much! We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Universal Studios. It was actually Nest's most favourite leg of the trip.
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Originally Posted by scrappyjae
Sounds like you guys had a great helicopter tour. I've never done one, but would love to one day.
We certainly did! I thoroughly recommend the one we went on, and hope you get to go on one in the not too distant future .
Quote:
Originally Posted by ilovedisney247
What a great day! I loved the shots from your VIP tour!
Nest and I thoroughly enjoyed our stay in the Universal City Hilton, and will definitely be returning there to stay during our next visit to the area. All the staff we had dealings with, were professional, friendly, and non-judgmental (what with it being a posh hotel, and us only ever wearing casual clothing.) All areas were clean, and we had no problems what-so-ever with our room. Room service was outstanding. It was also in an awesome location, allowing us to walk to-and-from the park and City Walk with all its shops and variety of restaurants within minutes, not having to bother with crowded shuttles.
While the park is small when you compare it to its sister park in Orlando, it still remains one of our favourites, as all the attractions are of a high quality, making you want to experience them over and over again, including the world-famous tram tour which has been updated with the fantastic King Kong 3D, and the appearance of Norman Bates at the Bates' Motel.
The only thing we didn't get done that we had definitely been planning to, was go and see a taping of Ellen over at Warner Bros Studios, due to our VIP Helicopter Tour of LA being delayed. We weren't so worried about missing out on a walk through the Hollywood Hills or visiting Santa Monica Pier, as they were only back-up activities if we had had enough of the park (fat chance of that happening! )
Next visit, we plan on doing more of the same, with the addition of a visit to the La Brea Tar Pits, the Shambala Reserve (for big cats) situated in the nearby mountains, and a tour of Paramount Studios (despite reading very mixed reviews. I'm willing to risk it though, as I'm a huge MacGyver fan . I'm not sure what Nest will think - I'll probably have to pay him off big time )
Please click here to follow our adventures at WDW (Nest's first ever visit!)
__________________
Little Brother & Big Sister
Cruising the Pacific Coast on the Disney Wonder
September/October 2012
Last edited by Big Sister; 07-11-2011 at 11:39 PM..
Reason: Adding hyperlink
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
Great to see you updating again! Fabulous ending to the LA portion of your trip! The Warner Brothers tour sounds amazing, and the helicopter tour sounds great too! Can't wait to read about your adventures at WDW!
WOW! What exquisite detail you provided. I was mesmerized by your tours and all the photos. Felt like I was there with you on the rides. Great job! Thanks for taking the time to relay it to us.
Love the helicopter tour. Great sights!
Glad your flight wasn't delayed hours! Yay for getting to WDW!
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Wht an amazing room, I loved all the pictures from Universal, and I love all your food pictures. The VIP tour sounded great and the views from the helicopter....amazing.
**First up, apologies I've been absent from my TR for so long - I had lost my writing mojoGood news is, I just happened across it last weekend, and have a brand new WDW entry ready to post during my lunch break tomorrowToday's lunch break is being devoted to catching up on my responses.**
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Originally Posted by chezp
Great wrap-up to this part of your trip!
Thank you
Quote:
Originally Posted by pamcarey
Great to see you updating again! Fabulous ending to the LA portion of your trip! The Warner Brothers tour sounds amazing, and the helicopter tour sounds great too! Can't wait to read about your adventures at WDW!
Thanks Glad you enjoyed reading about the LA leg of our trip - it certainly was loads of tremendous fun for both of us! Stay tuned for our WDW adventures!
Quote:
Originally Posted by elisa1006
WOW! What exquisite detail you provided. I was mesmerized by your tours and all the photos. Felt like I was there with you on the rides. Great job! Thanks for taking the time to relay it to us.
Love the helicopter tour. Great sights!
Glad your flight wasn't delayed hours! Yay for getting to WDW!
Many for your comments! I always try to write in as much detail as possible, to help readers picture for themselves what I'm describing, without the aid of photos. Also, memories start losing details here and there over time, so it's great to be able to have a detailed account to read back over the years
Glad you liked the photos we took from the helicopter!
We were massively glad our flight from LA to WDW wasn't delayed for hours too , like our one from Sydney to LA was
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcc0313
Wht an amazing room, I loved all the pictures from Universal, and I love all your food pictures. The VIP tour sounded great and the views from the helicopter....amazing.
The room we had at the Hilton Universal City Walk, was our most favourite room we stayed in during our holiday It was so big, had a fantastic view, and an awesome mini bar/snack cupboard, and it wasn't even concierge level! Nest says we have to stay concierge level next time, purely for research purposes, to see how it differs
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Sounds like a great time at US as well! 
My normal everyday computer routine!
This was the first helicopter tour we had ever taken, and we absolutely loved it! 
On future trips, I know I wont be able to leave the cities we travel to, until we've taken a helicopter tour of them all! 
It was actually Nest's most favourite leg of the trip.
.
)
Good news is, I just happened across it last weekend, and have a brand new WDW entry ready to post during my lunch break tomorrow 
Nest says we have to stay concierge level next time, purely for research purposes, to see how it differs 
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