A special birthday, a diamond anniversary and a west coast adventure COMPLETED - Page 10 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Incredible bathroom, delicious looking food, but was it really worth all that money?! I couldn't personally justify all the money, I'd rather buy DVC points and have more holidays.
Incredible bathroom, delicious looking food, but was it really worth all that money?! I couldn't personally justify all the money, I'd rather buy DVC points and have more holidays.
I can justify one meal at that cost - as that's roughly what Victoria and Albert's cost, but I couldn't justify the membership. I'm with you, I'd rather have more holidays. If you got to the stage where you couldn't travel for some reason, then I could maybe justify buying in, but it's irrelevant anyway, as I'll never have the money unless I win the lottery.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Tuesday 8 September – part twelve: please, can we just photograph the castle at night
Both Mark and I opted for tea to end the meal, and while I’m not cheap (good grief, you can’t be eating here ), I was a bit shocked to discover when the check arrived that we had been charged $10 each for the tea. That wasn’t what I expected… still, never mind, live and learn…
By now, the park was well and truly closed, as it closed at 9:00pm, and it was past 10:00pm now, so I went outside on the balcony to get some photos of a deserted New Orleans Square, which was very cool to see, but also a bit weird.
And there were also Cast Members rehearsing for a Tiana styled event. We only know this, as we were told later on the way out of the park, at which point, we were also asked not to photograph anything, as we were now effectively backstage. Ooops!
We settled the check, which came to $250 for both our meals and my wine pairing, plus the teas. Now I didn’t realise until I’d already done the gratuity, but that appeared to include a members’ 20% discount, as I noticed there was $50 taken off the check. Yes, it’s a lot of money, and Terrie Jo did get a very good tip for her sterling work, but was it worth it? You bet it was. It’s on a par with Victoria and Albert’s in terms of food quality, but the atmosphere here is very different. It is a lot more fun and laid back, which I really liked.
Would I come again? Oh my goodness, yes, in a heartbeat and I hope one day we do get to. I honestly cannot thank Jim and Dave enough for their generosity in sorting this out for us, and Mari was mentioning it (very casually I have to say ) in the first place that she had friends who were members. It was a truly stunning night, a lot of fun, and some of the best food I’ve ever had.
We made our way out, with me taking every opportunity to get shots of the now deserted restaurant…
Mark of course had to get his shorts back, so went off to change, while the rest of us took our time heading out.
Now I can show you what the courtyard and the stairs leading up to Club 33 look like…
Samantha, who took us out, kindly took some photos of us, although Jim had had to leave, so he’s not in shot. That’s why you can only count five, not six of us.
I then got some photos in the entrance area, as I just hadn’t had the chance to earlier.
The entrance to Club 33….
Club 33:
First course 9½ 9½
Second course 10 9
Third course 10 10
Fourth course 10 10
Cheese course 8½ N/A
Dessert course 9 10
Service 10 10
Atmosphere 10 10
Value for money 10 10
Average score: 9.74
Now, at this point, Samantha told us the bit about being backstage, so no photos being allowed, well except for this one of us being shown out of the premises.
It was weird to walk through the park, and know we were literally the last guests in here, and every single other person you saw was a Cast Member. I felt very privileged.
When we got to the castle, I did turn round and gave my best puppy dog eyes impression to Samantha, and asked if please, could we just photograph the castle at night, as it looked so magical, and heck we’d never see it again like this with absolutely no-one else around. She told us that was fine, so long as it was the castle only, and I was good…
I didn’t see it for myself, but Mark later told me that he and Raleigh had seen the top off the Matterhorn and some guys working up there, which must’ve been surreal.
We headed to the park entrance, and I’d noticed Samantha had been carrying a set of keys. They were seriously the keys to the park gates! I couldn’t believe it. There was a padlock on the gates, and she unlocked the padlock, and that was it, we were the last guests to leave Disneyland that night. Now how cool is that?
We said our farewells to Mari and Raleigh, as they were heading back to the parking structure, and continued back to the Grand Californian with David.
When we got there, we ended up chatting to a guy on bell services, who saw me photographing the lobby and wanted to offer some advice on the best angles to get it from, and then it turned out he used to have a girlfriend who was British, so that was it, we were chatting away after that.
Finally, we got back to the room, and I think we eventually turned in about 11:00pm. It had been a long day, and heck of a day, but wow, what a start to the Disneyland portion of our trip!
The weather today was hot and sunny with temperatures reaching 100 degrees. The best thing today was Club 33. The worst thing today was the traffic getting from the airport to the park. Today we tried going to Club 33 And the result was it’s an absolutely amazing experience, and if you ever get the chance, you should give it a try. The most magical moment today was being able to photograph the castle at night with no-one else in the park.
Ok, that's it from me for a few days, as we're off to see my parents and I won't be updating this while I'm gone. We're back late on 29 December, so there will be another update on 30 December.
I just caught up and read all about your Club 33 adventure. My first thought was who would pay that amount of money but after I thought about it it seems to me very similar to joining a private country club, tennis club or perhaps even some swim clubs.
Do you have to be nominated to join?
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! Definitely an experience! Glad you went back with your camera!
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Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
I couldn't justify the membership. I'm with you, I'd rather have more holidays. If you got to the stage where you couldn't travel for some reason, then I could maybe justify buying in, but it's irrelevant anyway, as I'll never have the money unless I win the lottery. 
That wasn’t what I expected… still, never mind, live and learn… 
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