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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We set off for Downtown Disney and decided that Earl of Sandwich would hit the spot for dinner. The line was very short with just one person ahead of us. We timed it right because as we were ordering, the line grew. I found a spot for us to sit inside as it was getting chilly outside and Justin went to fill our drinks. Soon our buzzer was going off and we enjoyed our yummy sandwiches.
I had the holiday turkey sandwich.
Lexi had the kid's grilled cheese.
Justin had the original 1762. (sorry pics were taken with my phone and this one is terrible)
I finished eating before Justin and Lexi and I had left my cardigan in the room, so I was going to run back and get it. Then I decided instead of running back to the room I would check out the sweatshirts at World of Disney to see if I could find one I like. I set off with plans to meet Justin and Lexi when they finished eating.
It didn't take me long to find a really cute gray hooded zip up sweatshirt with Mickey on the back. I found my size and headed for the check out. On my way I saw a display of necklaces and decided to pick one out for my jewelry loving little girl as a surprise. She had done so well today, even with getting her arm stuck, that I felt she deserved something special. I found the prefect one that I knew she would love. I took some pictures of my sweatshirt when we got home.
Back:
Close up of Mickey on the back:
Front:
Close up of pocket:
Lexi's necklace:
After my purchase I headed outside to wait for Justin and Lexi. They had made a detour to the restroom so it took them a bit longer. I was already wearing my sweatshirt as I had the CM cut the tags off at the register, so I handed Lexi the bag and told her I may have found something for her, too. She loved her necklace and wanted to wear it immediately.
With that accomplished we headed for Disneyland to meet Brian and Whitney at Indiana Jones Adventure to use our FP. We walked up to the line and we were stopped by a CM that wanted to measure Lexi. She just reached the bar, but he wanted to double check on a bar farther up in line. He put her under the second bar and another CM could slide a plastic card between her head and the bar, so she could not ride. You have got to be kidding me! I know this is for safety reasons, but she fit under the first bar. Ugh! The CM was very apologetic and offered to give us a child swap, but I turned him down and sent Justin, Brian and Whitney on the ride. By this point my early morning had caught up with me, the crowds were really irritating me and I could tell I was about to cry. I hate crying. I hate crying in public. I tried to sneak off, but the CM stopped me and again said that he was very sorry. I told him that I was not upset over the ride, it was just the events of the day added up and that is why I was upset. He asked me what happened, so I explained to him the situation with Lexi at the carrousel and he immediately got on the phone. He came back to me with a FP good for six people at any FP ride at either park (excluding Radiator Springs Racers, darn!) for the rest of the evening. I thanked him profusely and told him he made my night. I wish I could remember his name as I included what he did in my email and wish I could have complimented him by name.
With new FP in hand, Lexi and I headed off to a gift shop to look around while we waited. Lexi found some animal heads that were meant for wall hangings, but she decided they made good masks.
Kind of creepy if you ask me. We browsed for a bit longer, but it was too crowded, so we left Adventureland and found a bench to rest. After waiting close to 30 minutes, I started to get concerned that something had happened as I had not heard from Justin. I saw some firemen walk by and followed them to the ride. Then the cast members started to turn away riders and we were told the ride was down. I asked a CM how long he thought it would take for someone already on the ride to exit and he asked what time they got on the ride. I told him at least 30 minutes ago in the FP line, so he said they were probably stuck on the ride and they would give it 15 minutes to get it up and running. If it was not running in 15 min they would give those on the ride a FP to return. Lexi and I sat by the exit to wait and 15 minutes goes by....20 minutes....25 minutes....finally they opened the line back up and said the ride was up and running. It took another 15 minutes before I saw Justin, Brian and Whitney coming off the ride. He told me they were almost on the ride when it went down and they were sort of stuck in a spot that wouldn't be easy to leave so they waited it out.
Justin said he heard some other guests talking and the rumor is that someone unbuckled while the ride was going, not sure why there were firemen. While I love firemen and appreciate how hard their job is, I did not want to see another one for the rest of our vacation. Our first experience at DL was laughable at this point and we just made the best of the rest of our evening.
The first order of business was to use our FP. We gave Lexi the choice of rides and she chose Space Mountain, so off to Tomorrowland we go. We tried to get some photos of the castle lit up, but it was very hard with the crowds.
Looking back down Main St.
Heading in to TL.
We made it to SM and with a little bit of searching found the FP line. I liked this version MUCH better than the version at WDW. It was a lot kinder to my neck and I didn't feel like I was holding on for dear life. Also, instead of the single file ride vehicles they have at WDW the DL ride vehicles have 3 rows of side by side seats. Lexi chose to ride with Uncle Brian, so Justin and I got to ride together, which is rare these days with Lexi.
After SM Lexi requested a spin on Buzz. The wait was 30 minutes, so we got in line and enjoyed our ride. We all stunk at the DL version. Usually Justin kicks my butt on this ride, but I wasn't too far behind him this time. There was an option to email your ride photo home, but my photo was unavailable (I must have been doing something inappropriate ). I sent the other two ride photos to my email address and we moved on.
Whitney and Lexi
Justin and Brian
Next, we decided on the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. On the way Lexi spotted this giant ball floating on water that you can touch and rotate. It was pretty cool. I looked it up online when we got home and apparently the ball weighs 6 tons.
The wait time for the Submarine Voyage was 25 minutes and while we were waiting in line the fireworks started and we had a pretty good side view.
Soon we were descending into our submarine, I enjoyed the ride but I can see why it was in need of a refurb.
It was now almost 11:00pm and all five of us were spent. Since we were right by the monorail in Tomorrowland we said goodnight to Brian and Whitney and took the monorail back to DtD and then walked back to our room.
One last picture of the night. I loved the Disneyland Hotel sign lit up. Sorry the picture is blurry.
It was a very long and emotional day and while at the time I wasn't sure what I thought of DL, writing this TR and looking back through our pictures I realize I have a lot of wonderful memories from this day and I would love to go back...when its less crowded.
Up Next: An early morning at California Adventure!
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Yikes! The fire department is just following you around! I can understand your mixed feelings about DL at this point. Love your purchases, though, and I think the photo of the castle lit up is really good.
Yikes! The fire department is just following you around! I can understand your mixed feelings about DL at this point. Love your purchases, though, and I think the photo of the castle lit up is really good.
Thank you Laurie! It took us quite a few shots of the castle to get a good one. We finally propped the camera up on a trash can to stabilize it and used the night time setting.
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I love that sweatshirt! Isn't it funny how after a long say and series of bad events, something that shouldn't matter much just sets us over the edge? I'm sorry you got upset at Indiana Jones, I would have too being that she measured up at the first bar! I'm glad that the CM did try to make things better by giving you that FP!
Wow, that was one long and emotional day. I'm not surprised you got to the stage of not wanting to see another fireman this vacation - I hope that was the case, by the way. I loved your purchases as well - they looked excellent.
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Love the sweatshirt!! I too love SM at Disneyland better!
Thank you!
Quote:
Originally Posted by MayraLR
Love the hoodie!
Thank you! It is very comfortable too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JKnott17
I love that sweatshirt! Isn't it funny how after a long say and series of bad events, something that shouldn't matter much just sets us over the edge? I'm sorry you got upset at Indiana Jones, I would have too being that she measured up at the first bar! I'm glad that the CM did try to make things better by giving you that FP!
It is so true and Justin can attest that I do this quite a bit. I just let everything build up and then one tiny little thing sets me off and I explode, even while at my Happy Place. I am trying to work on that though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Wow, that was one long and emotional day. I'm not surprised you got to the stage of not wanting to see another fireman this vacation - I hope that was the case, by the way. I loved your purchases as well - they looked excellent.
I am happy to report no more firemen the rest of our trip.
Quote:
Originally Posted by shazza
You had more adventure than you needed on this day. But, it does sound like you accomplished a lot. Cute sweatshirt and necklace.
It was an adventure for sure! Looking back the day was long, but we still had some wonderful moments.
We had early entry to California Adventure this morning and we were not going to miss it. Brian and Whitney would be meeting us later since they did not have early entry. I set the alarm on my phone for 5:30 the night before and I awoke and got ready before waking Justin and Lexi. I woke them up around 6:00 to get ready and we were out the door by 6:30. Downtown Disney was pretty much vacant with just a few families here and there heading to California Adventure.
We timed it just right as we weren't too far back from the gates and after we got in the line, the crowd really grew.
I spent the next 20 minutes people watching and studying the map, so we knew just where to go when the park opened. Soon it was 7:00 and after a guest led countdown, the gates were opened. We had to show our room keys with our tickets and then we headed straight back to Car Land. I noticed the line for Radiator Springs Racers fast pass next to "a bug's land" and I could not believe that people were already getting in line since they do not open up the FP machines until 8:00am. Why you would waste an entire hour of early entry to wait in line is beyond me. We happily passed up those people and headed to the Radiator Springs Racers line which seemed to be huge, but we were assured by a CM that it would be about a 20 minute wait.
A quick picture of the CA Christmas tree as we sped walked by.
I spent much of our time in line taking pictures of Cars Land. I was in love! The themeing (is that a word?) is spectacular! This little guy was at the entrance of Cars Land he is was so darn cute.
Tower of Terror peaking through in the background.
Lexi became obsessed with cactus while we were at Joshua Tree NP, she wanted her picture taken in front of Disney cacti.
The line moved at a steady pace and we were soon loading into our car.
Our wait time was just at 20 minutes. All three of us loved this ride, even though our car lost the race.
A few pictures I snapped while on the ride.
Next we moved on the Luigi's Flying Tires which had a 5 minute wait. It took us a second to figure out how to get our tire to move, but once we did we were flying. Wheeeee!
We had to wait a few minutes for the group ahead of us to finish their run, so I took a few pictures while we waited.
Ready to go! Look at Little Miss Toothless.
Lexi was now complaining that she was hungry (we had skipped having breakfast in the room), so I suggested we eat at Flo's V8 Cafe for breakfast.
We were handed a menu while we waited to order and Justin and I decided to share a breakfast platter while Lexi ordered a kid's waffle meal. Lexi and I left Justin in line and went to find a place to sit.
Photos in the lobby area.
The temperatures were in the 50s this morning, so we found a table inside near the windows with a wonderful view of Radiator Springs Racers. This breakfast is one of my favorite memories of our entire vacation. I took a picture of our view and posted it on facebook.
Taken with my phone.
Tired girl.
I loved the table top so I had to get a picture.
Took me a few tries to get a photo with the cars racing by.
There was a giant rear view mirror on the wall that I was obsessed with.
We spent breakfast watching the cars race by and just enjoying each others company. As far as the food goes, it was just okay, but I am not a huge fan of breakfast food either. Justin and Lexi really enjoyed the food.
The American Breakfast platter that Justin and I shared.
Lexi's adorable waffles with turkey bacon.
When we went in for breakfast the place was pretty dead, but by the time we finished eating the place was hopping and the sharks were circling for our table. We quickly cleaned up and got out of there. It was after 8:00 by this point and the park was open to general public as well. California Adventure did not seem as crowded as DL, I think it absorbed the crowds much better and there was no need for the ride lines to take up precious walkway space.
I snapped more photos on the way out of Cars Land.
Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater would would have their meet and greets here, but Lexi was never interested in stopping.
I forgot we did stop in Sarge's Surplus Hut to look around. Lexi found a trophy for Justin.
And one for herself.
We didn't stop to ride Mator's Junkyard Jamboree this morning, but we do ride it later in the day and it becomes Lexi's favorite ride at CA.
Glad you got to ride RS with a very short wait. Crazy how those people would wait in an hour long line for fastpasses instead of just riding it first thing.
Cars Land is so great, isn't it? I loved it so much and didn't even ride anything. I agree it's perfectly insane that people line up to wait over an hour for the FP machines when the ride itself is nearly a walk-on in the morning! I had no idea they had Cars waffles at Flo's-- adorable! And speaking of adorable, that toothless smile is very, very cute!
Catching up. What a day you had the day before! Poor Lexie! I am glad the CM made up for it later. Your Carsland and pics are great! The waffles caught my eye! I know the crowds are higher during that time of year. Since we are also going during that time, do you have any tips for me regarding that? I love the sweatshirt by the way!
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.
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Our first experience at DL was laughable at this point and we just made the best of the rest of our evening.
). I sent the other two ride photos to my email address and we moved on. 
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I'm not surprised you got to the stage of not wanting to see another fireman this vacation - I hope that was the case, by the way. 
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