The CLQ Heads West - Even Eileen!! - Page 16 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Just getting caught up after my very brief staycation at OKW. I cannot believe that someone wasn't freaking out about losing that $$. I was headed towards the elevators at the Beach Club a few years ago and found a roll of $20s on the floor. I noticed that the father in the group ahead of me had his backpack unzipped and the money had probably fallen out. I was thanked profusely over and over again in the elevator. In German.
Great day at the parks and wonderful to get to spend some time with another PassPorter!
I just love seeing all your smiling faces all together!
You all look so wonderful and happy! Jeannie, I love the photos you took while walking backwards. And the one of the five of you! Just look at those smiles!
Tanya
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We all got up and ready (except Eileen, who was meeting us at breakfast), then headed up to the lounge for a little snack (we’d have breakfast later). I think Maddie was ready for Mary Devall to open her birthday presents right then, but Mary Devall wanted to wait until breakfast.
We set out for the park, taking the monorail. I have to admit it’s a little odd having to go through bag check and turnstiles to get to the monorail! We also had to show our room keys, because it was Early Entry. We wanted to get through as much of Fantasyland as we could before breakfast.
We started with Peter Pan first, and there was a bit of a line because everyone started with Peter Pan. This was fun because it’s been a long time since I’ve ridden Peter Pan at Disneyland.
Next was Alice in Wonderland, because it’s slow loading and the line tends to build up. I am not the biggest fan of the movie, but I just love the ride!
We headed for the Matterhorn next. Maddie had worked up her courage to ride, but when she saw that the seats are in single seats one behind the other, she changed her mind and didn’t want to ride. So Karen hopped off with her while the rest of us went for a ride.
When we got off, Karen, Zack and Mary Devall went to ride the Matterhorn (the rest of us thought once was enough ). Thom headed for the bathroom while Jill, Maddie and I went for Alice in Wonderland again.
Then Maddie and Jill went on the teacups (I wasn’t about to go on the teacups ). I played paparazzi while they rode.
Next we went on Mr. Toad. This is a must-do for me whenever I visit Disneyland. Mary Devall seemed a bit disturbed by the storyline. It is quite a dark tale. I don’t think Mary Devall is much of a fan.
Next was Pinocchio, which also happens to be a rather dark dark ride. And we followed it up with Snow White, which is much darker than the WDW version (that no longer exists). Of course, Maddie wanted no part of the Hag, so she didn’t ride. But after those three rides, I think Mary Devall wasn’t very impressed with Disneyland’s Fantasyland.
We needed something happy after that, so we went to ride it’s a small world. The girls were happy to learn that it’s just as happy and sunny as its WDW counterpart, and they had lots of fun finding all the characters in the Disneyland version.
Then we headed over to Space Mountain. Maddie was a little nervous about riding, but seeing there were 2 seats side by side made her confident enough to ride it. And she loved it! Mary Devall did too, but I think maybe we oversold how much better it is than the WDW version.
We got so much done! It was still so early – time for our breakfast reservation – Minnie and friends at the Plaza restaurant. Eileen was waiting for us at the restaurant. We checked in and had to wait a few minutes for a table inside. While we waited, we got a group photo (which Jill will post from the Photopass+).
The Plaza is different from most character meals. You pay first (which isn’t uncommon at Disneyland character meals), but you don’t have a server. You go to the buffet and get your own drinks. It makes it easier to pace your meals, I think. Anyway, when we were seated, there were characters nearby, so we got pictures before we got food.
The food was good, too. I had to have a Mickey waffle, of course. After we’d eaten, Mary Devall opened her gifts. Karen and I had both gotten her a Vinylmation (different ones), and all three of us had gotten her a gift card! It was perfect because before breakfast, Mary Devall had mentioned that she wanted to do some shopping on Main Street that day.
They brought Mary Devall a really cute cake in a treasure chest. I asked her to pose with it, and it fell on the floor! It actually fell face up, so it was fine.
Before we left, Captain Hook came back (he’d been to our table before). He and Zack were… I’m not sure of the right word. I’ll let the picture do the talking.
Zack’s all “Captain Hook!” and Captain Hook is all “Can you believe this guy?”
We went on Star Tours after breakfast (I don’t recall whether or not we used FP for it). I was sure one of our group would be the Rebel Spy, but it was someone else. Also, I got a scene that I’d never seen before, so that was cool.
Then we all rode Space Mountain. Even Eileen! The girls wanted to play in the arcade, but we were able to coax them out of there. Then we looked around for Zack, and he was in the arcade! We got him and moved on.
We hopped on the train and took it as far as Toontown. I believe this was the first time the newbies got to see the Primeval World and Grand Canyon scenes.
Once in Toontown, we first did Roger Rabbit. I didn’t want to ride with Zack because I was afraid he would spin me silly. It was fun getting to walk the queue – I haven’t done that in a very long time, and I was able to “rediscover” some of the gags.
Then we went out and explored Toontown. The girls really liked Disneyland’s Toontown (particularly after the death of WDW’s Toontown, which wasn’t as good anyway).
Then we went into Mickey’s house to get a photo with the Big Cheese.
Zack was really happy that he got Mickey to do the Dragonball Z pose
Then we went out and the girls checked out a few of the other residences in Toontown. Eileen headed back to the DLH to rest (and work ). I went in Minnie’s house with the group.
Zachary!
This is the face I got when I asked for a retake
With Toontown taken care of, the girls were ready for some shopping on Main Street. On the way, I had to get a photo of Sleeping Beauty Castle (complete with squirrels).
A horse and carriage were waiting near the hub, so we took a ride up Main Street. I had a look in the Emporium, but I didn’t make any purchases. Most of the people I make purchases for would be taking trips themselves very soon, so I figured I’d just let them pick something out in person.
Zack wanted to take care of an errand, so he headed off alone. The rest of us stepped outside and caught a cute live performance. I missed the first part of it buying a bottle of water, but I did see Minnie and Mickey swing dancing!
After Minnie left, Mickey decided to practice a little bandleading.
Then Karen and I went in to see the Voices of Liberty and Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.
They sang beautifully, as always, but I do miss the more intimate experience at Epcot (and the audience interaction). And I just love Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, so it was a treat to see that as well.
It was here that Karen learned what magic Zack was up to. But you’ll have to wait for the next update! In fact, two surprises will be revealed in that update!
Up Next: Surprises for all!
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
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Wow....you guys sure accomplished a lot before breakfast! When we were at DLR, we used to joke that everyone in SoCal must sleep in because it was amazing what you could accomplish in the first couple of hours!
Glad you enjoyed a delish breakfast and that the cake survived the tumble to the floor...
Hope you are coming back soon to reveal the surprises....I am a sucker for cliff-hangers!!!
danielle
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~Shoot for the moon, if you miss, you will land among the stars~
You definitely did get a ton accomplished in a short amount of time! I'm sad I won't get to see the differences between the two Snow Whites and Toontowns now. I wish I had taken more time to explore both on my last trip, but I was focused on things that were only in WDW and not DLR.
The group picture with Mickey is great! So were the ones at Minnie and Friends...I really do need to try a character breakfast at DL someday!
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Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
It looks like you guys had a full day already! I can't believe how much you packed in. I wish more buffets at WDW were like The Plaza, getting the bill out of the way and not having to wait for drink refills. It looks like Mary Devall enjoyed her Birthday breakfast!
The photos of Mickey and Minnie swing dancing are just too cute!
What a great birthday for Mary Devall! I love that breakfast at the Plaza. So many characters! I think Zack met a kindred spirit in Captain Hook. Toad is such a great ride, but I can understand Mary Devall being a bit worried by the story line-- and the heat!
Don't leave us hanging for too long on this cliff!
I'm catching up after losing 'net access for a couple of days while switching from my old, cranky laptop, to my new zenlike Asus Zenbook!
So,... I'll just say a couple of brief things:
It was FABU to meet Jeannie. Sharon had raved about her so much, I knew we'd like her -- and we did!! (But... oh, that sad and cranky horse. I so wanted to pet him, but he wanted nothing to do with guests.)
And... I don't think I went onto Space Mountain. I was having too much trouble with my knee on rides and I honestly think Screamin', the Little Mermaid, and the Cars ride were the only rides I rode the whole trip.
I can now die in peace: sleeping with Sharon was everything I had always dreamed it would be. Better even.
Wow, you've certainly managed to pack a lot in already! That's my mind made up - we're definitely going back to the Plaza for that character breakfast in December.
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And the whole deal with the $$ 
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). Thom headed for the bathroom while Jill, Maddie and I went for Alice in Wonderland again. 
Mary Devall did too, but I think maybe we oversold how much better it is than the WDW version. 
It actually fell face up, so it was fine. 
The girls wanted to play in the arcade, but we were able to coax them out of there. Then we looked around for Zack, and he was in the arcade! 
). I went in Minnie’s house with the group. 
When we were at DLR, we used to joke that everyone in SoCal must sleep in because it was amazing what you could accomplish in the first couple of hours!
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