A special birthday, a diamond anniversary and a west coast adventure COMPLETED - Page 12 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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You have to move up on a wait list that is LONG. Most people wait years and years for an opportunity to buy in.
Yes, that bit we did discuss - I seem to recall they were on the waiting list for about six years maybe.
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You are right, that the cost is equivalent to a country club or racquet club, but you don't have anything but the restaurant to make use of (even though it is a spectacular restaurant).
Cheryl, I was in awe today just hearing you were the last guests in the park, and being let out through the padlocked gate! How is that?!
Oh it was just beyond belief. We were telling my parents about that and even their eyes were almost popping out of their heads and they're not even big Disney fans.
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And your castle pictures are amazing!! I'd be framing one of those!
Hmm.... now there's a thought.
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Enjoy your time at your parents'! (And Mark must be happy - Liverpool just got a win!)
He was very happy with that and even more so that we visited Liverpool yesterday and he got to go to the Liverpool FC Store.
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Oh. My. Word. That bathroom is crazy!! The faucet is hilarious.... I mean, it's so very nicely done but...... wow! Chandeliers above each toilet. This is just too much for me!!!
It's totally crazy, isn't it?
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The restaurant itself is also very nicely done, very victorian (I think?) so it fits appropriately. And the piano! So cool.
Yes, I'd say a Victorian style.
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Soooooo amazing to be the last guests out of the park! That's something not everybody can say. You literally had the gates locked behind you after you left!!
I know!
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Very glad she approved you to take a photo of the castle as that is a most amazing shot!
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The Club 33 restroom is quite opulent. I think I'd feel rather like nobility using it. Sweet touch on Mark's dessert! So cool to be the last guests out of DL! You got so many great photos of Club 33 that I feel I've almost been there.
Oh I'm so glad you said that, as that's always my aim with these reports, to make people feel like they've been there themselves.
That wasn't just a meal, but an experience, and one I'm sure you won't forget anytime soon.
You are right - it really was an experience.
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You got some amazing photos of Club 33, including the bathroom. And that was a beautiful shot of the castle as you were leaving the park. It is a rare opportunity that you find yourself in the park with no other guests to get in your way!
I don't think it's ever happened to us before and I'm sure it will only ever happen again if we pay for perhaps an exclusive tour that gets you into the park before opening....
Just starting thread as I fell behind during the holiday season!
Well, at least you'll have time to catch up, as we've been away for the holidays as well.
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Nice breakfast at the airport, which looked good! It's amazing how slow they are at Vancouver Airport as they take forever to do everything! I guess they're in no hurry! Loved the Disney figurines and that is quite a display!
Wonderful, isn't it?
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Great photos from the air and a nice find in spotting DL!
Glad you made it to the Grand California, with no problems! Your villa is absolutely beautiful and as you said a villa is the way to go! That was nice of Sharon and Karen to meet up with you at the hotel for a bit!
It was lovely.
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That is just crazy with DL's Photopass system. You'd think they could make it much easier as WDW's is!
He was very happy with that and even more so that we visited Liverpool yesterday and he got to go to the Liverpool FC Store.
Funny - when I saw the pictures on Facebook that showed you were in Liverpool, I figured Mark would find a way to get to the FC Store! I've only ever been to the Tottenham FC Store, and that was amazing - DS & DH would've spent a year's salary there if I'd allowed it!
Funny - when I saw the pictures on Facebook that showed you were in Liverpool, I figured Mark would find a way to get to the FC Store! I've only ever been to the Tottenham FC Store, and that was amazing - DS & DH would've spent a year's salary there if I'd allowed it!
The funny thing is he was saying he was fine and didn't need to go there and it was my parents who insisted. They regretted it, after he spent ages in there. My mum and I went to look in the Disney Store opposite, but we took one look at the line in there - it was nuts - and gave up and came out again.
Wednesday 9 September – part one: it doesn’t look busy…
Perhaps unsurprisingly, we didn’t surface until about 7:40am this morning today, after our late night last night. Thank goodness early opening today was only at 9:00am in the California Adventure.
We got going, and headed over to the park entrance through the hotel, but as we got there, I could see the size of the line, and I heard the Cast Member telling people it would be quicker through Downtown Disney, as there were only two bag checkers at the hotel entrance. I’ve had experience of this before, and quite frankly, it usually is quicker the other way, so I had no hesitation in turning tail, and heading out through the hotel. The only reservation I had was that it meant having to walk through Downtown Disney, and it was already really hot outside. I was so glad I’d coated myself with factor 100 earlier.
The only problem with this entrance into the parks is that there is just no shade. We were through bag check with no wait, but then this was the line that confronted us…
Although we waited no more than five minutes, frankly the heat was just sapping. It didn’t help that there wasn’t much explanation of who could get in on early entry, as some days it’s just hotel guests, like today, and other days it also includes those with a certain number of days on a multi-day pass. I think it’s maybe four days minimum. We saw so many people turned away and dejectedly heading off to join the line for Disneyland, which didn’t open for another hour.
As soon as we were in, we made our way along Buena Vista Street…
… past Carthay Circle…
… and over to Cars Land…
These are not the greatest photos, as I didn’t stop to take a single one. They were all taken while walking, as we just wanted to get out of the sun as soon as we could.
When we got into Cars Land, I did have little alarm bells going in my brain, as I saw a couple of people walking out, and I thought there was no way they’d already ridden Radiator Springs Racers, but heck, maybe they were the only ones who didn’t want to. It also didn’t seem overly crowded. Sadly, I was right. The darned thing was down, with no time as to when it might be back up again.
I’d been texting with Sharon and Karen, who were also heading into the California Adventure and just as a very dejected Cheryl was heading away from the one ride she really wanted to do today, we ran into them, which cheered me up. Karen asked me what I wanted to do and I told her two things – breakfast and air conditioning.
She suggested Soarin’, so we headed that way.
I really love the theming of this area now. It feels finished to me, whereas before it just felt like a bit of a mish-mash of styles. Now you actually walk in here, and feel like it is all one land, which is a good change.
Next: how can you be selling Halloween stuff in 100 degree heat?
Aww man! Not a good way to start the day. Lines and the best ride is down.
At least you found your PP buds to cheer you up!!
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I have enjoyed your other DL trip reports, but this time is so different because now your photos make me feel like I'm going home. Seeing the park for myself now makes all the difference. You may have been walking as you shot photos, but that just made me feel like I was walking along with you.
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And the piano! So cool.
They were all taken while walking, as we just wanted to get out of the sun as soon as we could. 
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