Forever Young: A Disneyland Trip 50 Years in the Making COMPLETED 1/16/16 - Page 16 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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The monorail was something I didn't learn much about before we headed to California, but Luke filled me in as we rode. We got on in Tomorrowland from where the track took us outside the park around to the front and then on to DTD. There is a station at DTD where we could have gotten on or off, but we stayed on as we wanted to stay in the park. Lots of folks boarded to head into the park after clearing a bag check. From DTD, the track leads to the Grand Californian where it passes twice through the resort. Then the monorail takes a track through California Adventure (that was my first glimpse into this park). Eventually, the track back is parallel to the track coming out. Before the monorail returns to the Tomorrowland station it makes a figure 8 through Tomorrowland among the trees. We were dropped back off exactly where we started.
I had totally forgotten the route until you asked or I'd have included it in the update last night. Luke had to take me through it all over again using Google Maps.
We have a backdrop photo from WDW in 1999(?) that has my DD fighting the Malifent dragon. and a whole bunch of villians in a forest type setting. it's the only one we have like that. Seems like it was before PhotoPass days started. Now I'm wondering how we got it.
That would be such a cool backdrop if they still had it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Oh gosh I am so with you about the fun, cool factor. Even as an adult who hears all of that rational reasoning about slow ride time and low guest capacity, I'm still like "but why not keep it going?", it's so much fun!
Definitely! Especially for those of us who aren't really into the big thrill rides. We need fun, too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jackid2
Can I just say, You and Luke are the most adorable couple! I love all your pictures so far!!
I was very pleased with all the great PhotoPass photos we wound up with.
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Such great pics Cam! The weather looked perfect. I totally forgot about the submarine voyage and we weren't able to ride SM on our last trip because the line was so long. Adding both to our upcoming plans! Wasn't it surprising how much smaller the monorail in DL was?
Really looking forward to your next update.
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Your excitement, not only in your commentary, but in all your picture taking is infectious! I'm so happy that you enjoyed everything about DL and look forward to another trip back there! I love WDW so much, and since we're planning our trip out to DL next October, we won't be going to the F&W in Epcot for the second year in a row which was making me sad, but after reading your trip report I'm getting very excited for DL! The PP pictures climbing the mountain are so perfect for your scrapbook! We loved it when you could ride the 20,000 leagues ride in WDW and were so disappointed when they removed it, so it will be extra special to have that to look forward to in DL! I'm glad to hear that you got to use your DVC discount at the counter service restaurants as that will help keep food costs down somewhat for our trip. You and Luke are such a cute couple It's so nice to have a spouse that enjoys Disney as much as you do. I'm so lucky to have a husband who has the same love of Disney too.
I love all of your beautiful pictures! It's almost like being there, because you documented so much!
The Frozen backdrop is very "cool"! I don't think that one was there when we went. We did get our pictures with the Matterhorn backdrop. That was so fun!
Autopia is one ride that we never got around to doing. I'm not a big fan of that type of ride, but I think I would have enjoyed it just to see the scenery. (I rode the Tomorrowland Speedway once in WDW, and I think that ride is just wasted space that could be put to much better use. But Autopia looks a little better.)
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I am so enjoying your TR; it's making me want to plan a trip there now! DH & I were there for a day back in 1990 during their 35th Anniversary celebration. We are hoping to do a big trip to Hawaii (and Aulani) next year, and I would love to stop at DLR on the way with my (now) big kids. I think I'm going to have to insist...
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First trip DW--Nov. 1975; Senior Class Trip DW--Oct. 1979; First trip w/kids--Oct. 1995; Halloween at DW--Oct. 2002; Spring Break at DW--April 2004; Christmas/Pop Warner Nationals-POR--Dec. 2005;Cruisin'--April 2008; Mom/Son trip-POP--March 2010;Taggin' along w/DD on DH's conference-BWI--Oct. 2011; 50th birthday with the Gartner Geeks--Adults only!--BWI--Oct. 2012; The Trip That Almost Wasn't--BWI--Oct. 2013; We climbed The Summit (National Cheer Competition)--ASMovies--May 2014
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Glad you were able to finally ride in the submarine ride! I'm not a huge Space Mt. fan, but I think the Ghost Galaxy overlay is really cool. Love the photopass pictures, especially the Matterhorn ones.
I love all the photos, especially the Matterhorn. Too funny!
Such a cool Disney idea!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lindawdw
Your excitement, not only in your commentary, but in all your picture taking is infectious! I'm so happy that you enjoyed everything about DL and look forward to another trip back there! I love WDW so much, and since we're planning our trip out to DL next October, we won't be going to the F&W in Epcot for the second year in a row which was making me sad, but after reading your trip report I'm getting very excited for DL! The PP pictures climbing the mountain are so perfect for your scrapbook! We loved it when you could ride the 20,000 leagues ride in WDW and were so disappointed when they removed it, so it will be extra special to have that to look forward to in DL! I'm glad to hear that you got to use your DVC discount at the counter service restaurants as that will help keep food costs down somewhat for our trip. You and Luke are such a cute couple It's so nice to have a spouse that enjoys Disney as much as you do. I'm so lucky to have a husband who has the same love of Disney too.
I was afraid I'd miss F&W so much that it would put a damper on DLR, but no way. Once I was there I was totally immersed. We were very happy with our food cost savings using the DVC discount everywhere whether eating or shopping. You are so right about the benefits of a spouse who also loves Disney.
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I love all of your beautiful pictures! It's almost like being there, because you documented so much!
The Frozen backdrop is very "cool"! I don't think that one was there when we went. We did get our pictures with the Matterhorn backdrop. That was so fun!
Autopia is one ride that we never got around to doing. I'm not a big fan of that type of ride, but I think I would have enjoyed it just to see the scenery. (I rode the Tomorrowland Speedway once in WDW, and I think that ride is just wasted space that could be put to much better use. But Autopia looks a little better.)
For me the photos are my best form of documentation, and they don't require pausing the fun as writing in a notebook does. Autopia is so much better than Tomorrowland speedway.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cubfancolleen
Love those backdrop pictures!! And I don't think there's such a thing as "too many pictures" in a TR, so keep it up!
My photos decrease at the end nears, but there are still plenty.
I am so enjoying your TR; it's making me want to plan a trip there now! DH & I were there for a day back in 1990 during their 35th Anniversary celebration. We are hoping to do a big trip to Hawaii (and Aulani) next year, and I would love to stop at DLR on the way with my (now) big kids. I think I'm going to have to insist...
I think a stop at DLR before flying on to Hawaii is the perfect idea. In fact, I've told Luke if we ever get to go to Hawaii, we are going to do exactly that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
Glad you were able to finally ride in the submarine ride! I'm not a huge Space Mt. fan, but I think the Ghost Galaxy overlay is really cool. Love the photopass pictures, especially the Matterhorn ones.
The Ghost Galaxy overlay is really cool. It was a lot of fun getting some different sort of PhotoPass photos.
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From DTD, the track leads to the Grand Californian where it passes twice through the resort. Then the monorail takes a track through California Adventure (that was my first glimpse into this park). Eventually, the track back is parallel to the track coming out. Before the monorail returns to the Tomorrowland station it makes a figure 8 through Tomorrowland among the trees. We were dropped back off exactly where we started. 
Luke had to take me through it all over again using Google Maps. 
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DH & I were there for a day back in 1990 during their 35th Anniversary celebration. We are hoping to do a big trip to Hawaii (and Aulani) next year, and I would love to stop at DLR on the way with my (now) big kids. I think I'm going to have to insist... 
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