A special birthday, a diamond anniversary and a west coast adventure UPDATED 9/7 - Page 14 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Haunted Mansion - it is closed because they will be putting in the overlay of Jack Skellington. I've yet to go on the DL version of this ride because it's always closed during the Half marathon weekend! For your last day, it should be all decked out for the holidays.
I thought that might be the case, but I was surprised it was opening so early in the season, but I guess Halloween starts earlier each year. So long as it reopens on the Friday morning and we get to see it, I'll be very happy!
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Roger Rabbit's toon car - I only rode it once and don't remember it spinning much. At all. I don't do the teacups either, so I remember not wanting to spin. But it was a fun ride and I don't remember much spinning at all. Maybe we got lucky? I don't know!
From what others are saying, maybe not - I guess I had some bad information there.
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And we did see Minnie Mouse greeting at her house! So who knows?!
Squeeee.... (sorry Doctor Who reference there ) - maybe she'll be out as it's the 60th anniversary and her costume for that looks very cool!
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Mickey's Wheel of Death? Ummm, no thank you.
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The stationary ones are fine, but yes that mesh fencing makes it impossible to take photos!
Would you and Mark ever mind riding apart from each other? Because Radiator Spring Racers does have the single rider line. I think the longest I waited in that was 40 minutes, shortest like 15 minutes. 40 is still really long, but it's better than 100!
We have done single rider before, so we'll keep that in mind.
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This will be my third trip to DL and there's still some things I haven't experienced there. Your list makes me realize I should get going on a list of my own!
I found it really helped me...
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Your flight home actually works out pretty great for sleeping. That should help get you back on schedule fairly fast.
Fingers crossed, given that we fly back to the States just 11 days after we land!
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 list of must do's! HM is indeed closed for the installation of the holiday overlay (Space Mountain, too (a Halloween-themed overlay), but you guys aren't riding that one).
Oh gosh no!
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I avoid the Teacups, but I will do Roger Rabbit. It does spin, but not a whole lot. I'm trying to think of something similar and all I'm coming up with is it's sort of like when you change scenes on Toy Story Mania. I think you definitely need to give it a shot, at least once! It's a really fun dark ride, and I do think you'll both enjoy it.
If it's like Toy Story Mania, we can do that...
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I think that flight time is going to work out perfectly for you guys. And perhaps LAX won't be as busy later in the evening? At least I hope not, especially because I'll be flying home from LAX almost exactly 24 hours later than you guys!
Fingers crossed for both of us then!
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Also, I heard a rumor that the new Star Wars land is going where Critter Country is, so I'm not sure what that means for Pooh and friends. Hopefully it won't be your last chance to ride it at DL.
Oh no! I'll be sure to get one last ride on it, just in case...
Great list! I really do love DL more than MK. There's something about it.
Your flight home does sound like perfect timing, in terms of trying to get your clocks back on UK time - at least for the short while you're back home!
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 list! I really do love DL more than MK. There's something about it.
There's definitely something about Disneyland, and I always say that it's the fact that it's the only park Walt saw in his lifetime, but as for picking between that and Magic Kingdom... hmm, I don't know that I could. I don't have kids, but I'd imagine it's a similar choice to having to pick your favourite child.
Great list! Sounds like you'll have lots of fun rides and great dining experiences to enjoy! Good luck with getting that reservation at Club 33 you're hoping for!!
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Oh how I agree with you on so many of the rides there! Pirates, Alice, and so many of the ones WDW doesn't have. Roger Rabbit reminded me of Buzz light Year honestly. Not spinning really and it is on a track.
Oh I really, really hope you manage a spin on Roger Rabbit!!!! He is my absolute favorite & I would LOVE to see pictures of it! The BEST part of my High School Senior trip to FL was seeing Roger in Epcot. It was back when the characters road around on the double decker bus & all piled on & off for meet & greets. My friends & I were literally just kind of wondering around when I saw him bound off the bus. I think I actually screamed & cried. One of those magical moments for me
Oh how I agree with you on so many of the rides there! Pirates, Alice, and so many of the ones WDW doesn't have. Roger Rabbit reminded me of Buzz light Year honestly. Not spinning really and it is on a track.
Ok, I think everyone's persuaded me now to put it on the list!
Oh I really, really hope you manage a spin on Roger Rabbit!!!! He is my absolute favorite & I would LOVE to see pictures of it! The BEST part of my High School Senior trip to FL was seeing Roger in Epcot. It was back when the characters road around on the double decker bus & all piled on & off for meet & greets. My friends & I were literally just kind of wondering around when I saw him bound off the bus. I think I actually screamed & cried. One of those magical moments for me
Sounds wonderful! I'm not sure about photo from the ride - is it the sort of ride you can photograph, never having been on it? Is it dark for example?
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Pre-trip report – part ten: now which films to watch
Ok, so those are all our plans for this trip. I’ll move on now to talk a bit more our preparations actually leading up to the trip and also some of the things we’ve been doing since the start of August, so it’ll be a bit of an actual trip report, including visits to attractions and days out, as we have done a fair bit…
Saturday 1 August
We’ve actually started with some packing today. Ok, so it’s only a few things at this stage, such as our waterproof gear, a semi-formal dress for me, binoculars, CDs to back up all the photos we’ll take, and that sort of thing, but it’s still a start! And you know what else? I can finally say we’re heading out on this vacation this month!
The films are out for our flight to San Francisco too, and there’s a pretty good selection. We should easily be able to fit in three or four movies, given it’s something like an 11 hour flight. My first choice is definitely Disney Tomorrowland – A World Beyond, as I wanted to see that, and never got around to it. It was the same story with the Theory of Everything, which will probably be my second choice. Recently, we’ve also seen the Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, as it’s now out on pay per view films on our TV system over here, and given that we enjoyed the first movie, that might be my third choice. Now it gets a bit tougher after this, as there are so many other great films to choose from. I’m ruling out anything we’ve already seen, so that takes out American Sniper, the Imitation Game, and Taken 3. I think maybe choice number four may be Interstellar, although others in the running include the Age of Adaline, Big Hero 6, Danny Collins, Fifty Shades of Grey (although is a plane really the best place to watch it? ), Foxcatcher (the idea doesn’t appeal to me that much, but I’ve heard it’s an amazing film) and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb. If anyone’s seen any of those and feels that one is better than the others, do shout, as I feel I need some help here…
However, the biggest news of the day came when the mail finally arrived. Honestly, I swear our postman (I assume it’s a he, I never usually see them) have a competition to see how late they can deliver our post. One of the items that arrived was our Disney Cruise Line documentation! Mark had been asking when we could expect to receive these, and I have to say I was slightly alarmed to see in Sharma’s trip report that they’d got theirs. I started to wonder where the heck ours were, and figured maybe I’d email Sara on Monday to ask her, but thankfully I now don’t have to.
Isn’t this cool?
Even the envelope is neat…
We had Mark’s family over for a barbecue later on in the day, and as the day wore on, and I was sitting outside enjoying the weather and our garden (a novelty, given the weather in July had been distinctly on the cold side ) thinking that four weeks from today, at around this time, we’d be in the air to San Francisco, and probably only a couple of hours out from our destination. Now that is a nice thought!
I also just wanted to share a few photos with you of our garden, as I don’t think it’s looking too shabby right now. Some of you may have already seen these on Facebook, but for those who haven’t, here you go…
My fuchsias are looking wonderful in their hanging baskets…
The view as you come out of the kitchen – not bad…
Our patio – with garden furniture ready for the family barbecue we had later that day
Trailing lobelia
In case anyone is wondering, the wire all around the plants has been to protect them from being dug up by our neighbourhood cats – they devastated the garden last year and I wasn’t prepared to have it happen again this year
To think, these marigolds were nearly killed by the garden population of slugs (since eradicated ) at the start of the season…
The view from our patio – very pleasant!
Our amazing Commonwealth Games roses, looking the best they ever have – they date from 2002, when the Games were held in Manchester
Begonias in full bloom
The best of our wall baskets, made up of a begonia, along with trailing lobelias
Our budlia tree – most budlias are like bushes, not this one! It’s been massive ever since we moved here…
Our stunning double begonias
Now here I do need to say that I owe the look of our garden to my parents. My mum always provides the fuchsias for the baskets, while my dad provides all of the annual plants you see in these photos, so begonias, geraniums, marigolds, lobelia etc. My mum bought the Commonwealth Games roses for us, although in fairness, we do occasionally buy our own plants for the garden, as I just realised that it sounds as if we don’t do anything.
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) - maybe she'll be out as it's the 60th anniversary and her costume for that looks very cool! 
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At least I hope not, especially because I'll be flying home from LAX almost exactly 24 hours later than you guys! 
I'll be sure to get one last ride on it, just in case... 
I don't have kids, but I'd imagine it's a similar choice to having to pick your favourite child. 
My first choice is definitely Disney Tomorrowland – A World Beyond, as I wanted to see that, and never got around to it. It was the same story with the Theory of Everything, which will probably be my second choice. Recently, we’ve also seen the Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, as it’s now out on pay per view films on our TV system over here, and given that we enjoyed the first movie, that might be my third choice. Now it gets a bit tougher after this, as there are so many other great films to choose from. I’m ruling out anything we’ve already seen, so that takes out American Sniper, the Imitation Game, and Taken 3. I think maybe choice number four may be Interstellar, although others in the running include the Age of Adaline, Big Hero 6, Danny Collins, Fifty Shades of Grey (although is a plane really the best place to watch it? 
), Foxcatcher (the idea doesn’t appeal to me that much, but I’ve heard it’s an amazing film) and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb. If anyone’s seen any of those and feels that one is better than the others, do shout, as I feel I need some help here… 
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