First Ever Disneyland Trip Updated 10/13 - Page 14 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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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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Me, too. I'd just like to have that part of the planning done and closed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DMA
The fireworks show sounds great! And how can you go wrong with a new song by Richard Sherman?
I was so excited when I first read that he had composed the new song. So special!
Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperDave
Can't believe, you can't get a dining package yet as that is just ridiculous! Love the quote of being tomorrow,,,,and a great big beautiful tomorrow from Carousel of Progress in TL in WDW! Perhaps, one of my favorite Disney songs and always gets me in the mood for a WDW trip!
The minute I typed the word tomorrow the song just started going through my head.
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We just got home from DLR last night, and you are going to LOVE it! It is very different from WDW, but it is wonderful in its own way. In many ways, I liked it better than WDW. Paint the Night, Disneyland Forever, World of Color, and Fantasmic are all amazing. Don't miss any of them! Cars Land is incredible. Be sure to rewatch Cars before your trip, so you will really appreciate how great Cars Land is. I think you will love the Grand Californian. The location sure can't be beat! I was in love with how close together and walkable everything is at DLR, and guests of the GC are right in the middle of things. We flew Southwest into LAX and it was easy. A short walk from the gate to baggage claim, and then right out the door to ground transportation. Hopefully your dining package issues will be resolved soon. My guess is that they haven't finalized the park hours for those nights, and therefore don't know the show times. I'm sure they'll get it set soon.
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I am glad you have watched the fireworks. I cried! I am a huge fan of Ashley Brown. We saw her as Mary Poppins. That song she sang was perfect. But what got me was the Nemo part of the show. Absolutely breathtaking.
There are viewing areas for “Disneyland Forever” fireworks along the Rivers of America and near “it’s a small world,” in addition to Main Street, U.S.A. and Sleeping Beauty Castle. Each area lends a different feel to the show, so Disney suggests that guests consider trying them all!
I hope the song is to my taste (I hated the music for Believe in Holiday Magic...too cheesy and tuneless). I'm a huge fan of the Sherman Bros musicals, I hope it has similar pep and catchy-ness!
I had not read about the different viewing areas. I tend to catch them from the Monorail platform in Tomorrowland. I kind of think it's not allowed, but we've never been stopped before! There are a few benches up there, you can hear the music, and no craning to see it all. Nobody is up there!
Listen Cam, be sure to be well prepared for the amount of candy you will be able to collect at the Halloween party. We are used to the WDW one, where there is usually one treat cart per trail. Well, at D/L last year, there were 2 or 3 treat carts per trail, and each one of them gave us a large handful of treats! We ended up with a backpack crammed full as we had to keep emptying our treat bags into it!
There were little bags of carrot sticks, as well as lots of branded stuff. Our favourites were the Fruit Crisps (dried apple), some sort of cheesy puffs of clouds, and Cheezits - wow, where have they been all my life??
Yum!
__________________
Silvercat
(Enjoy reading trip reports? Why not try my books, "Tiggerific Travels Parts 1, 2, 3 & the new volume 4" - available now as e-books)
When looking at all the videos of the fireworks show right after the Anniversary celebration started, it was clear that several viewings are needed to see it all! You definitely would miss all the projections on Main St if you just went up to the hub to watch! I kind of liked the projections better than the fireworks, at least from the videos. It all looks fantastic.
I've been to DL twice in the last five years but I still have never seen the fireworks or Fantasmic there. We usually stay mid-week to keep the points cheaper and the crowds smaller. We usually go during slow seasons so they only have them on weekends. This next trip I am coming in on Saturday just to see the fireworks. I can't wait to hear all about them in your report to get me even more excited!
We watched the fireworks from two different locations last week, and I would have watched them from another location if I could have convinced the family! If you watch the first showing of Fantasmic, you can stay in your same location for the fireworks (seated if you had a dining package), and they project the projections onto a water screen. You can see the fireworks just fine from there, you can see a bit of Tink flying, you can see part of something special that happens at the Matterhorn, and another special something also happens there. We also watched the fireworks from the IaSW area. They project the projections onto IaSW. You could see the Matterhorn if you turned around and craned your neck. I don't know if Tink was visible from this area or not. We never did get to see the fireworks from Main Street. The crowds for the early parade were just too overwhelming there.
Definately watch the fireworks from Main St as one of your viewing locations! We watched from near the flag pole and had a great view of all of the projections on the MainSt. buildings. In this case, closer to the castle is not necessarily better.
We just got home from DLR last night, and you are going to LOVE it! It is very different from WDW, but it is wonderful in its own way. In many ways, I liked it better than WDW. Paint the Night, Disneyland Forever, World of Color, and Fantasmic are all amazing. Don't miss any of them! Cars Land is incredible. Be sure to rewatch Cars before your trip, so you will really appreciate how great Cars Land is. I think you will love the Grand Californian. The location sure can't be beat! I was in love with how close together and walkable everything is at DLR, and guests of the GC are right in the middle of things. We flew Southwest into LAX and it was easy. A short walk from the gate to baggage claim, and then right out the door to ground transportation. Hopefully your dining package issues will be resolved soon. My guess is that they haven't finalized the park hours for those nights, and therefore don't know the show times. I'm sure they'll get it set soon.
Thank you, thank you! Your excitement is fueling more of my own. I figured it was park hours that was causing the dilemma. Thanks for the reassurances on LAX, too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dutchdisneyfamily
I am glad you have watched the fireworks. I cried! I am a huge fan of Ashley Brown. We saw her as Mary Poppins. That song she sang was perfect. But what got me was the Nemo part of the show. Absolutely breathtaking.
Disney fireworks always make me cry. I'll be watching for the Nemo part.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Good to know about the fireworks - I'm going to make a note of that for our trip.
I got an email yesterday and ordered it through the Disney Store website. There is lots of great merchandise!
I hope those dining packages get released soon. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you that its sooner rather than later!
I got an e-mail today about 60th Diamond Anniversary merchandise. I am so tempted.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HollyH
Definately watch the fireworks from Main St as one of your viewing locations! We watched from near the flag pole and had a great view of all of the projections on the MainSt. buildings. In this case, closer to the castle is not necessarily better.
Thanks for the info on fireworks viewing as I might have tried for closer. I'm wondering about bringing my tripod for one night as I won't have as far to carry it, so further back would work better with it.
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Love the quote of being tomorrow,,,,and a great big beautiful tomorrow from Carousel of Progress in TL in WDW! 
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