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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Our Party: me, Cam (57; 21 trips to WDW, but first to DLR) and Luke (54 until day 3 of the trip when he turns 55; 21 trips to WDW, but first to DLR)
Our Journey: Tuesday, October 6 through Monday, October 12, flying on Southwest Airlines Our Resort: Grand Californian, using DVC points for a one-bedroom villa Our Special Plans: Luke has made two requests for his birthday that I’ll share later, but the whole trip is at his request for his 55th birthday. We will also be attending Mickey’s Halloween party. Truthfully, the whole trip feels special since we’ve never been before. As little kids while watching the Mickey Mouse Club and Wonderful World of Color, Luke and I dreamed of one day traveling to California to visit Disneyland. But sadly, neither of our parents could afford that kind of cross country trip. Neither of our families traveled to Disney World either, so our first visits there were in 1980 on our college spring break. We traveled down to Orlando together, but did not visit WDW on the same day. We often suggested to Stefanie that we could skip WDW one year and fly to California to visit Disneyland. But she didn’t want a thing to do with DLR. We thought she’d be more interested after Cars Land opened. Unfortunately, it opened too late for her to go with us. Luke and I have continued to toss around the idea of going, so this past spring he decided this was the year and that what he most wanted for his 55th birthday was a trip to Disneyland/California Adventure. In all honesty, at first I was disappointed as fall is my favorite time to visit Disney World. But Luke never asked for much, so within seconds my answer was yes. And a new trip was born.
After 21 trips to Disney World, my planning is rather easy and simple. Disneyland is all new to me. Several times I’ve almost panicked as I feel I’ve not done anything to prepare. The most obvious example is dining reservations. Normally, I’ve made those before we even leave for our May trip, but ADRs can’t be made for DLR until 60 days prior to the trip, and then only one day at a time. My word, I felt I had stepped back in time to my early days of planning our WDW trips. So I’m going to start this PTR a little differently than I would my WDW PTRs because finally yesterday I could begin making dining reservations. That simple fact has gotten me excited about this trip because up until now all the plans had been done by Luke (flights/resort – these are his usual jobs). I had done nothing, so I just wasn’t feeling the excitement I usually do. So I’m beginning these updates with each dining locations as it is booked. We both separately perused the PassPorter, Disney’s website, and several boards to pick where we wanted to eat. Then we combined our lists. Actually, we had picked out the exact same restaurants, which is very typical of us. Last week, I took our choices and plugged them in to each day of our stay. Luke checked over it, and we tweaked it because I had forgotten about the time of our flight home. With the revised list, I was ready, but had to wait a week before I could book the first one online. We’ve been told that reservations quite possibly aren’t needed, but we’ve agreed that we like the security of knowing that we have a place to eat each day.
Yesterday, I booked Tortilla Jo’s for our first night, Tuesday, October 6 at 6:00 PM. We both love Mexican cuisine so this one was a no brainer once we’d looked over the menu.
Today, I booked Café Orleans for Wednesday, October 7 at 3:30 PM. Currently, only lunch times are available. I’m thinking that might be because there is a Mickey’s Halloween Party this night. A funny story on this one, Luke and I both love Monte Cristo sandwiches and beignets, so it’s no surprise that we selected this one. A few days ago I was reading an article on the Top 10 Food Items at Disneyland on Disney Parks Blogs or some other board. The Monte Cristo was mentioned and I quickly wrote down the restaurant name. Then laughed at myself when I realized we already had it down. Newbie mistake!
I think you'll love DLR. DH and I actually prefer DL to MK at WDW. Maybe because we spent so much time there when we lived in LA? Not sure, but it is a great park. We've only been to CA twice, as that opened after we moved to DC.
Looking forward to hearing all your plans!
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Oh boy, do I hear you about how different planning for Disneyland is than planning for WDW, as I've been having that problem over the last couple of months and I hear you about not feeling the excitement you usually do. I still can't believe we miss each other by about four weeks.
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.
We also loved Disneyland at least as much as WDW and certainly much more than DLP. I find it hard to compare with Orlando as they are both so different.
I hope you love The Grand. I can't wait to stay there next week.
For meals we really liked the storytellers cafe and we like the look of Ralph Brennan's. We also like the way DTD was situated between the parks and the hotels.
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.
YAY - so excited that you started your PTR!!! I felt the same way about planning for DL 10 years ago as I kept reading Steve Birnbaum's DL book over and over again but I would imagine there is a lot of Disney websites with more information now! We're planning on staying at the Grand Californian too so I'm so looking forward to your thoughts on it!
I haven't been to DL since I was younger & my parents took me. I really don't remember too much about that trip except the castle & IASW.
Your upcoming trip definitely sounds a lot different than your WDW trips. I don't like the ADR process there at all. You have to wait a longer time to get excited about the trip especially since you can't book dining 180 days in advance. I can't wait to read more about your planning!!
I've been looking forward to this PTR, Cam! I never really had to do much planning for DLR because my trip in 2012 was with ABD. Naturally, I looked at maps and webstes and PassPorter obsessively for months before the trip, but I still got disoriented frequently when things weren't where they were "supposed" to be. It all looked so familiar, but so different at the same time. I absolutely loved DL, loved DCA much more than I expected to, and loved the short distances between parks, hotels and DTD. I'm looking forward to the planning process in this report!
Can't wait to read this. DL is DH's request too. It's a few years out but I'm looking forward to hearing about your planning steps since it's so different.
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I still can't believe we miss each other by about four weeks. 
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