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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Hello all - although we are WDW veterans, I am a total newbie when it comes to DL. Planning this trip late b/c we got great airfare. We are traveling from NJ and are arriving on Sat June 18 about 11am at LAX and heading home on Tues June 21 at 4:20pm. That gives me two half days and two full days. We're staying at Paradise Pier and we do NOT have Park Hoppers.
I have read that DL's EMH days are shared with anyone holding a 3+ day park pass on Tues/Thurs/Sat - is it better to avoid those days? I also read that while weekends are the worse times to visit DL, Sunday is better than Sat, so that seems to fit with avoiding the early mornings schedule. Also DCA's EMH days are Sun/Mon/Wed/Fri.
Trying to figure out where to go when we arrive on Sat afternoon as well as other days. I'd like to make a few ADRs, especially for preferred viewing for evening parade and World of Color - even though I keep reading it's not as necessary as with WDW but I'm worried all the same
Does this sound like a good plan?
Sat afternoon (arrival day) - DCA
Sun day/night- DL (including Paint the Night/DL Forever)
Mon day/night - EMH DCA (including World of Color)
Tues - DL (even though it is an early morning, hopefully not as bad as on a Sat)
That sounds fine, but I strongly recommend upgrading to the hopper. The resorts are a stone's throw from eachother, and if you get swamped at DL, it's so great to be able to hop over to DCA.
You are going to have a fabulous time! Are you planning any ADRs?
Keep posting questions and such over here, the Passporter DL threads are few and far between, and I just love talking about my "home park"!
We ventured to the West Coast last summer after numerous trips to WDW. We took advantage of dining/reserved viewing for both World of Color (Carthay Circle) and Fantasmic(Blue Bayou) and enjoyed them both. Glad we did them.
Remember that Disneyland/California Adventure are both on paper Fastpass and we found that not many people use the system. We also found more "single rider" lines at Disneyland/California Adventure than at WDW.
We did not have Park Hopper, but we had 7 days in the park.
Extra Morning Hours for California Adventure are ONLY for Resort guests, but Magic Mornings/Extra Morning Hours for Disneyland are open to those with tickets and staying at Good Neighbor Hotels as well as on site guests.
We stayed at both Disneyland Hotel and Paradise Pier and found that we enjoyed Paradise Pier more. It was a breeze getting in and out of California Adventure using the "back door" entrance just across the street from Paradise Pier. And, we enjoyed watching the Disneyland fireworks from the pool deck and we could see World of Color from the upper floors.
Enjoy your trip!
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Thanks to you both!
I would love to have park hoppers but I don't think we can swing them. We usually hop all the time in WDW and it would seem so much easier out there - I hope I won't miss them too much
As for ADRs, I think I would like to do a reserved viewing package for both Paint the Night and World of Color. I was super surprised to see that there are lots of time still available (I still can't believe that the park schedule is not up yet for my dates!). I guess we can get FP for World of Color but I figure we have to eat and I'd rather have an ADR for dinner so any recommendations?
I'm also second guessing the arrival day plan. My family has been going through a list of all the attractions at both parks and it seems like we have a lot more that we want to see at DL vs. DCA. I have 2 teens - am I wrong in thinking that a Bug's Land is definitely for younger kids? Anyway, which park would work better for us when we arrive sometime early Sat afternoon (arriving at LAX at 11am)? I'm afraid that DL would be crazy in the afternoon but what we would be able to do in DCA at that time of day without FPs or long waits? I appreciate any advice you might have. Thanks for any advice you might have for me
Hopping is soooo easy out there! You only have to go through Bag Check one time (when entering initially). You can walk back and forth as often as you like. You can also get fast passes for both parks at the same time (I have gotten to the point where I'd rather walk next door than wait in a line more than 20 min!)
Don't forget to download the app for Disneyland. Not only are the hours posted but they post the actual wait times for the rides. I tell all my clients (I'm a travel agent) to do this. Why waste time walking across the park only to find your desired ride has a massive wait time? Makes planning your day so much easier.
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