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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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So, I haven't posted a trip report in years! I used to do them all the time, when our trips to WDW were sporadic and rare. Now, as DVC members, we go down annually, especially since WDW is an easy drive from Atlanta. However, a trip (albeit a very short one) to Disneyland Paris is probably a good reason to contribute, and I hope it helps those of you who might be contemplating a visit!
So, this trip to Paris was booked a few months back with flights from/to Atlanta and an AirBnB rental in Le Marais district of Paris. We also booked Eurostar to London for the weekend to visit and stay with a friend, but Disnayland Paris was always on the list. We bought advance one-day, one-park tickets online for $53 each, with the stipulation that they could be used only on off-peak dates (e.g. weekdays, no holidays, lower attendance periods, etc). On our way back from London, we decided to make Monday 6/27 our day in DLP.
That morning, we got up early and got ready. We purchased transit passes from central Paris to Marne-la-Valeé, each of which costs between €7 and €8 one way, and is MUCH cheaper than a taxi or an Uber. The primary train line serving DLP is a branch of the Réseau Express Régional, referred to as the RER, specifically the RER A line. Marne-la-Vallée is the eastern terminus of the RER A. If you want more information about riding trains in Paris, I highly recommend the website parisbytrain.com - it was invaluable to me.
From Gare de Lyon, where we boarded the RER, the journey took less than 40 minutes. We walked across the street from the station, passed through bag check and metal detectors (DLP appears to be taking no chances), and headed toward the Disneyland Hotel, where the entrance to Parc Disneyland is located.
I'm going to pause here and give a little background on this trip. Our original plan was to stay one or two nights at at Disneyland Hotel as a side trip from Paris. I looked at hotel rates, possible discounts, booking options, etc. I also did as much research as I could on DLP, with particular interest in American perspectives and experiences. The conclusion was that our enjoyment of DLP might not be the same as WDW. I found many indications that DLP is very different from WDW. To be blunt, I got the feeling that this was a comparatively odd place. So, we were hesitant to lay out what would have been a huge amount of money on such an uncertain and unknown experience. We decided to get the one-day, one-park passes and give it a try. It was the absolute best decision we could have possibly made!
We passed underneath the hotel, had our tickets scanned, and were now in the park. The entrance plaza was a bit different from WDW's, but walking onto Main Street USA was eerily familiar...
TO BE CONTINUED, as soon as I have time. We have just two more days in Paris, and it's time to get moving!
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Walt Disney World has become a touchstone for me, a constant in a world where everything changes. Again and again I have come back to this place, grounding myself, communing with all the people I've been.
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Great start! As someone who's been to Disneyland Paris a number of times, I think your initial assessment of the resort is spot on and I suspect you'll conclude you did the right thing saving money on not staying the night there, but I may be wrong.