The Disneyland, San Diego, and Vegas, oh my! Trip Report - COMPLETED!! 2/18/11 - Page 12 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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.
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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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Got all caught up!! Great updates!! I know the weather in Cali has been very odd this summer and I was very annoyed as it made it very hard to plan for. I hate being cold and really hate when my boys are cold. Ty is more like Kent and does not get cold easily but my little Ethan is like me and is miserable when cold or wet! We did lots of layering this summer.
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WDW - August 1997 Off Property
WDW - January 2005 AKL
WDW - May 2006 Pop Century
WDW- november-dec 2007 pop century
WDW- dec/jan 2009/2010 pop century
WDW- oct/nov 2012 art of animation
WDW- sept 2013 port Orleans riverside
WDW- july 2015 beach club
Sorry is was so cold for you. I am very rarely cold, but I've made plans to pack jeans and a sweatshirt "just in case". I love the Mickey pretzels! I'll definitely have to make sure I get one of those.
WDW - August 1997 Off Property
WDW - January 2005 AKL
WDW - May 2006 Pop Century
WDW- november-dec 2007 pop century
WDW- dec/jan 2009/2010 pop century
WDW- oct/nov 2012 art of animation
WDW- sept 2013 port Orleans riverside
WDW- july 2015 beach club
I guess we had all of the warmer weather the next week. Sorry it was so cool there during your stay. Doesn't that mean that you just have to go back again...wink wink
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WDW - August 1997 Off Property
WDW - January 2005 AKL
WDW - May 2006 Pop Century
WDW- november-dec 2007 pop century
WDW- dec/jan 2009/2010 pop century
WDW- oct/nov 2012 art of animation
WDW- sept 2013 port Orleans riverside
WDW- july 2015 beach club
Hi Marnie, Just finished up with your last few updates! I agree with you about the line cutting at DL. My DH and I have been there three times and we both get very frustrated with all the line cutting that goes on and the cast members never say anything about it. I'm not sure that you'll be finishing this TR since you mentioned that you stopped taking notes but I wanted to say thanks for writing about your adventures together up until this point as I've really enjoyed it.
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Just getting caught up! I always love your TRs and this one is no different. I really wanna go to Disneyland someday. You look like you were having an awesome time despite the cold. More please!!!!!!!
Thursday, July 22, 2010 – The cold weather is starting to get old, early morning magic hour, and our last day at DL. Or was it?
Sorry for the delay in writing this trip report. I really have no other excuse other than I lost interest, and life got in the way! I also have no real notes from the rest of this vacation, so it’s mostly going to be a picture tutorial, and whatever musings I remember along the way. Since we’re headed to Alaska in June, all I have been doing the last 3 weeks is researching Alaska 24/7, so this is a nice break (as well as I’m at my inlaws with nothing else to do). So without further ado…..
This was an early morning day at DL, which we had as an option on our tickets, so we were up early today as the park was opening at 7. That said, it was the coldest morning we had encountered, but at least we knew at this point how to dress for it! First up was Space Mountain. We finally got Colin to ride.
We were disappointed the Indy cars were down (that’s what the kids really wanted to do). Not sure what else we did at this point, but I do have these pictures.
We ate breakfast at Tomorrowland Terrace (I think it’s only open for breakfast on early magic mornings). It was absolutely delicious though! I know I had hot chocolate as I was so cold.
I guess It’s a Small World was next.
I thought we also rode Peter Pan during early hour as well but didn’t get there until 7:45 and had at least a 30 minute wait (no pictures). Autopia was finally open so we headed over there after.
Next up a ride on the train to the front of the park as we were headed to California Adventure.
California Adventure………
I think we first got FPs for California Screamin’. Then headed to TSMM. We rode the Sun Wheel (in a car that didn’t move). Alexa freaked out due to the height. Not sure why as heights never seemed to bother her before!
Alexa and Matt rode Screamin’. Not sure if I rode with Alexa after. I’m pretty sure Colin didn’t ride again.
Lunch was Boudin Bakery. Colin had the kids meal (yogurt/cheese stick). Alexa had shrimp. I had chicken salad. I think Matt had clam chowder.
We went back over to Redwood Creek so the kids could climb and run around again. At least the sun made another late afternoon appearance.
We headed back to Ho Jos for naps/pool time. Then back to DL for the night. We first stopped at the Disney Gallery to look at all the cool stuff in there.
Apparently we got a funnel cake along the way, and saw the “voluntear” parade.
We saw Captain EO. Eh….a bit cheesy for me. And then found our way into Innoventions.
We rode Roger Rabbit again (the kids loved this for some reason).
And that is the end of my pictures for the day. I’m pretty sure this is the night we tried to see Fantasmic. Can you say nightmare? People were squatting for seats at 6 PM already. No thank you. By the time we got over there for the show, there was nowhere to stand. Nowhere. And we weren’t allowed to stand either, we had to keep moving. I saw one altercation between a CM and an older gentleman about the nowhere to sit policy. We ended up walking back and forth for a bit, and then were able to get on top of the brick wall outside the Haunted Mansion. Until we were “discovered” by a CM and had to keep moving again. Frankly, this is one area that Disneyland needs serious improvement on (also included would be the excessive line jumping). Really not a show worth waiting 3 hours for! After that was done, I believe we took the train to Toontown, as I recall passing the “boat” with all the characters on it in the dark. Maybe we rode Roger Rabbit after this? I recall being back on the train by the time the fireworks were going off, amazed that the train kept on going (doesn’t it stop at MK for the fireworks)? Anyhoo, after reaching the front of the park, I believe we exited back to HoJos to pack up our stuff as we were heading to San Diego and LEGOland tomorrow.
Coming up next: Who’s sick? Change of plans, and what a great hotel!
Friday, July 23, 2010 – Who’s sick? Change of plans, and what a great hotel!
We woke up and checked out of the Ho Jo. Breakfast was going to be at McDonalds, but we had to go down and turn around, as it was a few buildings before the hotel on the one way street. Then DH decided to park and go inside, instead of going thru the drive thru. 25 minutes later, we had our food! Back in the car to eat, and we were on our way to LEGOland. About halfway there, the hotcakes didn’t sit well in Colin’s tummy, and he was sick. At least we had the bag from breakfast, and he realized it was going to happen, so there was no spillage. At this point, I wasn’t sure if he was getting sick (he had complained of a sore throat earlier in the week) or just exhausted (which we all were quickly becoming). We decided to change plans, and instead of heading to LEGOland, which I was afraid Colin wouldn’t be able to enjoy being sick, we headed for the Wild Animal Park (which has since changed its name to San Diego Zoo Safari Park but it’s WAP to me). It was another 40+ minutes to get there, but actually not too far out of our way (we passed LEGOland along the way).
Once there, DH paid the extra for premium parking, as it was on top of a big hill, and we didn’t know how Colin would do. And we rented a stroller for him. He also got his own water. I had a coupon I had gotten online, so we saved some money there. Forgot to mention, the sun was finally out. For good at least for today. And it was a nice 78 degrees, not too hot, but still hotter than we had experienced at DL. We just picked a path and went around. Here are all the pictures.
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