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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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Location: Originally from Massachusetts now living it up in Key West
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Trip report - our magical DLR Christmas
- Our Party (mom, dad & 3 kids - ages 32, 34, 7, 5, and 3)
- Our Journey (December 24-December 29th, flew Alaska Airlines)
-- Our Lodging/Stateroom (Ramada Main Gate North---- I don't recommend it.)
- Our Special Plans - Ariel's Grotto surprise for the kids
MY ADVICE - read your reservations well and ask questions from those who have been there before prior to booking, it may save some heartache and tears.
We surprised our kids with the trip on Christmas Eve. Santa was gracious and came a day early to our house allowing us to fly out on Christmas Eve. We found a Mickey Christmas Snowglobe and had the kids open it from us as a gift after all of Santa's gifts were open and we sprung the news on them. Our oldest went crazy. The little ones said they'd rather stay home and play with all of their toys. Oh well, as that was not an option, we coaxed them out the door and finished packing and drove the few hours to PDX. We had a great crew on Alaska Airlines and I mean really attentive. My younger daughter spilled orange juice all over herself and the seat and they were super quick to assist and very kind when I was about to be very flustered and upset. They helped me stay sane on the short trip as my kids were driving me and my husband batty. We arrived at SNA around 10 minutes to 11pm.
Our shuttle took a few minutes and for some reason we weren't in the system (even though we had paid already) that was annoying. That was fixed and off we drove to our hotel. Wait...we just passed our hotel. My husband spoke up and the driver insisted we hadn't. He said it's just up ahead. We clearly passed the Ramada Main Gate. We knew he'd figure it out, apologize and turn around...or so we thought.
He didn't. We arrived at Ramada Main Gate North. Apparently I booked the WRONG hotel. I had no idea there were two Ramada Main Gates (with slightly different names). I was livid with myself and not pleased at all (even though in the end it was my fault). I was already super cranky from traveling and this took the cake. My husband seemed upset too because of the distance from the parks, but I don't think he'd dare say anything to me because I was already really upset about it and trying everything to get it fixed. The hotel rep said, oh it's just a 15-20 minute walk. I reminded him we had three small children. THANKFULLY, in Southern CA, as you know, there is the regional transit bus available through City Pass. PHEW!!! After we checked into our room, which was less than appealing, I sat in the bathroom and I cried my eyes out. I know, childish, but I can't believe I goofed so badly on the hotel and didn't pay better attention. If you are looking for luxury or even remotely nice accomodations--run from this place because it's the exact opposite of that. The quarters were a bit cramped for our family of 5 and not well maintained and the shower apparently didn't ever put out hot water. We had another scare, at first we heard that this hotel didn't have a complimentary breakfast, as the original hotel we planned (panic moment for budgeting), but thankfully it did!
We tried to change hotel reservations, but apparently this hotel was nonrefundable and nothing else was available closer to the parks.
Fast forward to Christmas morning. We were bound to start fresh and hope for the best.
Christmas Day - We headed straight for It's a Small World. It was AMAZING! We loved it. The kids were in awe. We loved this attraction at WDW and we were not disappointed at DLR.
We swung by Tarzan's Tree house which killed my thighs and the Pirates ride (which is always fun) and spent some time in Toontown, but it was so busy, we didn't stay there long. We lucked out and got front row/street side seating for the Christmas parade. Of course, we waited for an hour, if you don't get there early, you don't get a spot as it turns out. So, we stayed put. People were fighting over spots and arguing with the cast members, it was ridiculous. We had fun on the Teacups, my younger daughter spun that thing like crazy while the rest of us tried not to enjoy our lunch for the second time. Oh, earlier in the day we saw the reindeer too, which made Christmas seem complete!
This was a max capacity day. You could barely walk--just so many people everywhere. We didn't leave the park until dark when it started to rain and then everyone else had the same idea as us and it was all during the fireworks. Talk about a chaotic mess. We should have just stayed inside somewhere and waited.
Dec. 26th - We started our day with a special surprise breakfast for the kids at Ariel's Grotto. They were elated to be greeted by Ariel upon walking down the stairs. They took the photo with her (which we did not purchase as it was $29.50, but I really wanted to, just couldn't justify the price when we took our own too, although our photo was not as good). Breakfast was awesome--absolutely delicious! The staff was so attentive and the princesses were great. They all came out except for Jasmine, but I'm not sure if she is ever there, though she is shown on the Ariel's Grotto button we all got. The price was a bit steep, but we knew that in advance. Oh, and they did sing happy birthday and have a mini cake/brownie for my daughter who is turning 6 this week.
We hung out at CA for most of the day and really enjoyed meeting Woody and the Green Army Men and Jessie at different times. We rode King Triton's Carousel and visit A Bug's Land. Toy Story Mania was a wicked hit with my kids! At one point one of my girls took off the 3D glasses and exclaimed "It's all real, you can take off your glasses and see we are really in a game." LOL
Later on, we dance a bit at Disney Channel Rocks. We took our picture with Lighting McQUeen and Mater of course. After that we headed back to DLR. Ariel was the first character in the gates for us to meet and she recognized my daughter from breakfast, which I thought was remarkable since she sees so many people in a day.
The Rose Bowl Press Conference was finishing up as we neared the Castle. I think my husband was a bit disappointed that he missed it, but a cast member told us it had been so packed with people chances are we would not have seen anything. Our next thing was to enjoy (after a 75 minute line) "Nemo's Underwater Voyage", which was uber cool in my opinion. I was really impressed and so were the kids who honestly thought we were way under the sea. My little boy fell asleep early and the girls and I went on the Pooh ride and saw Tigger too.
December 27th - a down day, we opted out of the parks today. The weather was nice and we hung out at Downtown Disney for the most part.
December 28th - our last day in the parks. We started out at DLR and it was packed again. We were forewarned they might close due to max capacity again. Toontown at Mickey and Minnie's houses is where the little ones and I went while my husband and our oldest daughter went to the Roger Rabbit ride. Lost the lens cap to my camera, so I was bummed, but the weather was so beautiful it really lifted my spirits. We lucked out and got a table right near the Jedi Training Star Wars show. We ate lunch there. One of the characters with the red face, he was scary---can't remember his name, scared the daylights out of my son and had him hiding under the table when he came over to him and shot frightening looks.
We rode on Pinnochio's Ride and Snow White's Scary ride too. Later on, we took some family photos in front of the castle and just then Snow White excused herself from walking in the way. I'm a Snow White super fan so I got all giddy and practically chased her down. The cast member with her told us to follow though so we could take photos with her. She talked to my girls who were beside themselves to see her again. Just as we were doing that, I look to my husband and son and see someone crouched down next to the stroller deep in coversation with my 3 year old. It was Peter Pan!!! They talked for about 10 minutes about the raccoons in our yard apparently and Captain Hook and other bad guys. Then the girls and I came over and he told the girls to tell stories to my son all about him and Never Land. It was so great!
We rode on the ship Columbia, which was nice and relaxing. Then we headed to CA and enjoyed the Aladdin Show. We all LOVED it. Very modern and cute.
Phew....there was so much more, but you get the idea. Our flight home was incredibly awesome with getting us in early and the crew and flight being great. Our landing was the smoothest ever!
If I had to compare, I would say I prefer WDW to DLR and I would go to WDW again in a heartbeat over DLR. The cast members, in my experience at WDW, were so much happier and things seemed to run more smoothly. I am sure the crowds had a piece in causing the chaos and more business/not as happy appearnace of the cast at DLR, but it was a bummer to see so many that didn't seem thrilled to be there. Literally we scratched our heads at a few cast members. It was sad because we had such a ridiculously over the top happy cast experience with the folks at WDW. Oh well.
Thanks for all of our ideas, tips and hints in planning this trip. I love the Passporter community. I am eager to plan the next Disney trip, but it will be just my husband and I next time.
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Last edited by WhiteSnow; 01-01-2011 at 11:38 PM..
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With the exception of a less than magical experience iwth your hotel, your trip at the parks seemed full of the Disney magic. Especially with the characters. Thanks for the report.
OH MY GAWD Snow, didn't look at my web site very good, did you? We have stayed at the Ramada In Maingate NORTH a couple of time and each time it got worse, that is why I listed it with the note TRASHY behind it. I thought you had said you were staying at the Ramada Inn Maingate, at 1650 Harbor. If I had known this before you have left, I would have told you to cancel that reservation and try for another. I am sorry I didn't think to ask, otherwise I could have spared you the horror of it all. Let me include this in this note TO ALL WHO READ THIS....DO NOT STAY AT THE RAMADA IN MAINGATE NORTH - 921 HARBOR BLVD,,,,,The place is bug infested, peeling paint, mold around the tub, worn out carpet, I could go on and on but I think you get the idea.
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For what it's worth, I didn't think to look beyond Ramada Maingate to see if there was any other because honestly, who would think there were two hotels with almost the same name. My fault, yes, but hey, I've never been there. I booked what I thought was the "right" hotel even after checking out your website w-steele, which is great by the way and very helpful.
The hotel wasn't bug infested or any mold that we saw, at least our room. So, I guess we lucked out! LOL. The paint was peeling and the rugs could use a redo for sure. If it was unhealthy or not safe, we would not have stayed there with our kids. I just want to make sure everyone is aware of that. It wasn't the worst place on earth, trust me, I've seen those places in New York City. However, it certainly could use a serious upgrade and probably brand new management.
Our major problem was that we have been really spoiled in other hotel and timeshare accomodations that we haven't stayed in such a crappy place since we were broke as joke barely drinking age single folk. So, no I don't recommend it, but if you end up there, foolishly like us, you will not likely perish on the spot. Hopefully.
For what it's worth, I didn't think to look beyond Ramada Maingate to see if there was any other because honestly, who would think there were two hotels with almost the same name. My fault, yes, but hey, I've never been there. I booked what I thought was the "right" hotel even after checking out your website w-steele, which is great by the way and very helpful.
The hotel wasn't bug infested or any mold that we saw, at least our room. So, I guess we lucked out! LOL. The paint was peeling and the rugs could use a redo for sure. If it was unhealthy or not safe, we would not have stayed there with our kids. I just want to make sure everyone is aware of that. It wasn't the worst place on earth, trust me, I've seen those places in New York City. However, it certainly could use a serious upgrade and probably brand new management.
Our major problem was that we have been really spoiled in other hotel and timeshare accomodations that we haven't stayed in such a crappy place since we were broke as joke barely drinking age single folk. So, no I don't recommend it, but if you end up there, foolishly like us, you will not likely perish on the spot. Hopefully.
Thank you for the kind words about our Disneyland web site. Either they 'debugged' the place and did some painting or you did luck out. lol. The place was so bad that when we got home I wrote a nasty to the Ramada Inn Corp office and complained to them and sent them photos I had taken, in return, Ramada Inn Corp. refunded all of our money plus. I knew there were two named nearly alike but the one we wanted was booked so we went for 'second best' and ended up in a rats hole. lol and as Forrest Gump would have said, "and that is all I have to say about that."
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Oh well, as that was not an option, we coaxed them out the door and finished packing and drove the few hours to PDX. We had a great crew on Alaska Airlines and I mean really attentive. My younger daughter spilled orange juice all over herself and the seat and they were super quick to assist and very kind when I was about to be very flustered and upset. They helped me stay sane on the short trip as my kids were driving me and my husband batty. We arrived at SNA around 10 minutes to 11pm. 
We loved it. The kids were in awe. We loved this attraction at WDW and we were not disappointed at DLR. 
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I'm glad you guys had a great time despite the rocky start! 
Hopefully.
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