Return to Disneyland - Final Thoughts - TRIP REPORT COMPLETED - June 10 - Page 5 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Return to Disneyland - Final Thoughts - TRIP REPORT COMPLETED - June 10/07
After this, my second trip to Disneyland in an eight month period, I would heartily recommend to anyone who has never been there before to give it a try - at least once. I can pretty much guarantee that even one small taste will leave you wanting more. Much as I love WDW, there is something about Disneyland that WDW has not been able to duplicate. I don't know if it's Walt's spirit or the fact that Disneyland is the original happiest place on earth but there's an atmosphere to be found here that just about takes your breath away. There's a quaint charm to Main Street, U.S.A. that makes it feel more like a real street in a small town at the turn of the century than does its bandbox-new looking counterpart at WDW. I've heard many people adversely compare Sleeping Beauty's Castle to Cinderella Castle at WDW, referring to Disneyland's version as a pale imitation in contrast. I beg to differ. Certainly, it's not as big nor impressive but to me, it actually looks more like a castle you would find in a fairy tale whereas Cinderella Castle is more reminiscent of an actual real-life castle to be found in Europe.
The character interaction at Disneyland is far superior to that to be found at WDW. Not that there are any more characters out and about but I love the way so much of the interaction is spontaneous. Characters jump on the attractions with people or pop out when you least expect it. And Toontown at Disneyland is such a delight. It truly feels like a place where the characters live and play.
I love the attractions that you can only find at DLR and not at WDW - Indiana Jones, Mr. Toad, Alice in Wonderland, Pinocchio, the incomparable show at the Diamond Horseshoe Saloon and the list goes on and on. Does this mean that I prefer DLR to WDW? Actually no. I could never pick one over the other as it would be like comparing apples and oranges. So for any of you out there who had been a little reluctant to try visiting Disneyland for fear that it just wouldn't hold a candle to Walt Disney World, lay your doubts and fears to rest. For me, a trip to Disneyland is a little like going back in a time machine to a kinder, gentler era where it was so easy to find magic in even the simplest of things.
I've now stayed both on and off site at Disneyland and which one do I prefer? Honestly, for the HUGE difference in price, it's a no brainer. I definitely would recommend staying offsite, particularly if it's one of the hotels right across the road from the walkway to the parks. It's not like at WDW where I wouldn't even consider staying anywhere but on site. With a plethora of nice hotels within walking distance of Disneyland, it only makes sense to save your dollars for creating other Disney magic.
The one thing I do recommend people splurge on is transportation from the airport to your hotel. If you're not going to be touring anywhere else but Disneyland and won't need a rental car, then the way to go is a limo. Yes, it will end up costing you about $200 for the return trip for your party but the difference it makes in comfort and convenience is tremendous. The shuttle buses from LAX to the hotels around Disneyland are inconvenient and it can end up being a very time-consuming process.
My biggest piece of advice for anyone visiting Disneyland during the more crowded times of year is to arrive early (the parks are fairly deserted for the first two to three hours), then take a midday break and return in the evening when the crowds have thinned out a bit.
For the time being, I don't have any immediate plans for any return visits to Disneyland but I love this place so much that I'm sure that sooner or later, I will be returning to WDW's older yet smaller and still so very enchanting sibling.
Joy
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1968 - Disneyland
1976 - Offsite
1984 - Offsite
February, 2003 - All Star Music
August, 2003 - Animal Kingdom Lodge & Wilderness Lodge
December,2003 - Wilderness Lodge
December, 2004 - Beach Club Villas
August, 2005 - Port Orleans, French Quarter
November/December, 2005 - Old Key West
July/August, 2006 - Disneyland Hotel
January, 2007 - Boardwalk Villas
Great job, Joy! I just read the whole TR in one go, and enjoyed it all. You certainly got a liberal sprinkling of on this trip (but that's not unusual!). Thanks for sharing it with us.
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
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Sounds like you had some fun shopping, though. 
Nothing like a little retail therapy.
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on this trip (but that's not unusual!). Thanks for sharing it with us.
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