Willowwind's Disneyland Trip Report 2/11-2/14 **Updated 2/15** - Page 2 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
Day Four (Saturday 2/14): Once again I’m up at 1am and can’t get back to sleep, but today it wasn’t so bad. I finished packing up the rest of our stuff so that we would be ready to check out at 4:30. After standing at the window for awhile overlooking the sleeping Kingdom I said goodbye a little teary eyed. Erik and I left the room and headed down to the lobby for check out. Everything went smoothly and we made our way outside to the bus stop to catch our ride.
The bus driver was very sleepy and curled up in a chair with his eyes closed until it was time for the bus to leave. It didn’t give me great confidence, but we stayed onboard. He bobbed and weaved across the expressway the whole way to the airport, I seriously thought that we were going to die. Greyline will be getting a terse letter from this family, because that drive to the airport was just crazy. We finally arrived at the airport and I could have kissed the ground. When we checked in our e-tickets it asked us if we wanted to upgrade to first class. Our flight out was really miserable and after a short but difficult discussion we decided to upgrade our tickets to first class.
As soon as we boarded and sat down on the plane I knew that we had made the right decision. We weren’t crammed into rows like sardines, the seats were comfy, the staff was attentive, and we would be fed. I must admit that as horrible as I felt our flight out was, the trip home was equally as wonderful. The flight was early out of the gate and quick in the air. The pilot kept us informed of “sight seeing” out our window. Breakfast was tasty, the movie was cute, and I was comfortable enough to catch a nap. It was a lot of money to upgrade, and I don’t know if I think the cost would be worth it on a short flight, but next time I’m headed back to California we will totally discuss flying first class ahead of time. Geordon and Katie picked us up at the airport and we drove the 1.5 hour home. All the kids cheered over their gifts and we relaxed for the rest of the night. It’s nice to be home.
This was a fabulous vacation. Doing Disney without the kids was a completely different experience. We enjoyed California so much we decided to go back in 2011.
My top picks of the trip:
Best Meal - Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen
Best Character Breakfast - Storyteller’s Cafe’
Best Service - Yamabuki
Best Land - New Orleans Square
Best Ride - Indiana Jones Adventure
Best Room - Disneyland Hotel, Dreams Tower 2837 (best room there from any trip)
Best Souvenir - Enamel & Crystal Mickey Mouse Ring from Arribas Brothers
Do’s / Don’ts for next time:
Stay 5 nights rather than 3
Do stay in the off season, mostly Sunday - Thursday
Don’t have to check out at 4am
Don’t worry so much about a schedule
Do make sure that all the camera equipment is in good repair and none of the cables have been left behind.
Do make sure everyone will be warm enough
Now, only 16 more days to go until Walt Disney World!
Great finish! Sounds like a smooth finish, other than that bus ride to the airport! I think upgrading to first class was a wonderful choice. for sharing your TR with us! I have enjoyed reading it! Hope you have a magical time in WDW!
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
:appluase:
I think upgrading to first class was a wonderful choice. 
Linear Mode
