First Ever Disneyland Trip Updated 10/13 - Page 11 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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Just found this Cam! What a great birthday trip this is going to be for Luke! Congrats on getting a one bedroom at GCV and the Halloween party tickets! Sorry getting the ADRs has been so frustrating! . More please!
I hope those ADRs cooperate soon!
Yay on Mickey's Halloween party! Can't wait to hear what you think about that!
Me, too. I tried again today and still no availability.
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Originally Posted by dutchdisneyfamily
That was crazy about booking the party. No one has time for that nonsense! I am glad you were about to get tickets after all of that. I am so glad you will be able to see the Paint the Night parade!
Thank goodness we are retired or neither of us would have had time for this silliness.
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Originally Posted by chezp
Good grief, I can't believe you were on the phone that long to get tickets to the Halloween Party! Nothing seems to have been easy for you as far as planning for Disneyland goes.... but I'm glad you were successful in the end.
Luke is exceptionally patient so I was glad he didn't mind dealing with it, but still that is a long time to wait. I'm sure this will all be worth it once we are there.
Bring back MDE all is forgiven. Sounds like the DL website is even worse.
No kidding! I'm finally getting a handle on MDE, but this DL website is a new sort of beast.
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Originally Posted by DMA
Oh my! What a pain, waiting on the phone! I'm glad you were able to get tickets finally! Hoping you can get reservations for the dinner packages you want soon.
No dinner packages yet, but soon hopefully.
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Originally Posted by lindawdw
Congrats on receiving your MNSSHP tickets!!! Sounds like an extremely frustrating experience to order them but so glad that you were able to get through on the phone for the discount! Every discount helps
I've no idea why the wait for the tickets was so long, but a lot of us must have been interested in that discount.
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I love the Halloween Party at Disneyland! My sister and I had so much fun. I just realized that you and Luke are actually going to be visiting at the same time that my sister and her family are going to be there!
The Halloween party is one of the things I'm most excited about. How neat that your sister and fam will be there, too.
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Originally Posted by KimmyAnn1147
Glad you got your tix! If you feel up to it, you should post a pic!
I should have thought of that. I'll take a pic tomorrow and post it.
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Originally Posted by SuperDave
I can't believe these planning woes! It doesn't have me considering a DL trip at this time with all the problems you're having with this! I hope things improve shortly!
I never imagined we've have this difficult a time, but we are plugging away.
Just found this Cam! What a great birthday trip this is going to be for Luke! Congrats on getting a one bedroom at GCV and the Halloween party tickets! Sorry getting the ADRs has been so frustrating! . More please!
Welcome aboard! Luke is pretty excited about all the current plans, so much so that he is even looking for ADRs, something I usually do.
So happy you did get your MNNSHP tickets. Celebrating Halloween where the Mouse began is going to be an awesome experience. I can't wait to hear this part of your TR with pictures added!!!! The 1 thing I never would have expected is that at 180 days Mark and we only were able to get 1 ADR out of the 3 we wanted, is amazing. I check every day and still nothing. Wishing you luck on the ADR you are trying for.
Glad you were able to get Halloween party tickets. Lots of pixies on getting you ADRs when they finally open up.
We'll keep getting on daily until Disney gets those dates open.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roxie2006
So happy you did get your MNNSHP tickets. Celebrating Halloween where the Mouse began is going to be an awesome experience. I can't wait to hear this part of your TR with pictures added!!!! The 1 thing I never would have expected is that at 180 days Mark and we only were able to get 1 ADR out of the 3 we wanted, is amazing. I check every day and still nothing. Wishing you luck on the ADR you are trying for.
I will definitely have loads of Halloween party pics. I hope your perseverance on the ADRs scores the ones you want.
Now when Luke and I first began discussing this trip to Disneyland a year ago, we were totally unaware of the 60th Diamond Anniversary celebration that would be going on. But once we starting getting e-mails, reading information on various Disney sites, and in the D23 magazine, we were so excited to have this bonus event added to our vacation. So what are we most looking forward to?
For the event, Disney has imagined a whole new nighttime parade, Paint the Night. We’ve watched videos of the imagineers developing their ideas, Disney released videos of it (which are quite good), and now even videos that folks have taken who have taped it firsthand. Disney describes the parade as the biggest, brightest, and most vibrant parade in the history of Disneyland. Supposed it the floats and CMs in the parade are covered in a million colorful lights. Unlike, the Main Street Electrical Parade, the music for this parade is beautiful or as Disney describes it “high energy.” A lengthy list of favorite characters make an appearance during the parade. Because of the Diamond Celebration this parade will also be shown on Halloween party nights. So we should manage to see it at least two times, maybe three while there.
World of Color has also undergone changes for the Diamond Celebration. New surprises have been added along with special effects. Neil Patrick Harris and Mickey Mouse sharing the hosting honors. Again we’ve watched several videos that have me very excited about this 22 minute nighttime extravaganza. Now if Disneyland’s website would just open up the dates for the rest of October so I can make a dining package reservation to guarantee priority seating. I’m trying to talk Luke in to doing the tour Holly mentioned so we could actually get good spots to see this twice while there.
Of course, Disney knows where the money can be made, so there is a load of 60th Anniversary merchandise. I’ve been eyeing this letter carrier Dooney & Bourke bag since they were first announced, but I’ll have to see if the blue is okay. I’m not a big fan of blue.
I know I’d also like a long sleeve t-shirt and/or a jacket as a souvenir from this trip to where when I get back home.
Pandora has also created a few charms for this special celebrations. I like both, but I will be choosing just one. Now there may be a few smaller items, e.g. a coffee mug or notepad, that one or the other us decides to pick up, but these are the big choices.
Our first trip with Stefanie to Disney World was during the 25th Birthday Celebration there, and now our first ever Disneyland trip will be during the 60th Anniversary Celebration.
PS I forgot to take a photo of our Mickey's Halloween Party tickets so that is on my to do list for tomorrow.
It is funny you mention the parade and World of Color. We sat down and watched them on YouTube last night. Tim especially was blown away. I love your souvenir ideas! I can't wait to see what you end up with. Have you watched the fireworks show on the Disneyland side yet?
It is funny you mention the parade and World of Color. We sat down and watched them on YouTube last night. Tim especially was blown away. I love your souvenir ideas! I can't wait to see what you end up with. Have you watched the fireworks show on the Disneyland side yet?
We have watched the fireworks videos, and I can't believe I forgot them as I wrote this update. We are looking forward to seeing them live.
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Nothing seems to have been easy for you as far as planning for Disneyland goes.... but I'm glad you were successful in the end. 
It doesn't have me considering a DL trip at this time with all the problems you're having with this! 
I hope things improve shortly! 
Luke is pretty excited about all the current plans, so much so that he is even looking for ADRs, something I usually do. 
I'm pretty excited about going to the party. 
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