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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I met up with Cheryl & Mark again and we ventured into Fantasyland. There wasn’t much of a wait for Storybook Land Canal Boats, but it was in the blistering sun, so it seemed like a longer wait than it actually was. I was glad to get a chance to ride, though.
I’ve never actually ridden that train before – I think I’ll have to on my next trip!
Then we did NOT ride the teacups. Cheryl and I went on Alice in Wonderland while Mark stayed out and took photos.
You get great views of the Matterhorn from here
I said goodbye to Cheryl and Mark again (this was actually bonus time for us – we hadn’t planned to meet up today) and then headed off to the Matterhorn SRL. I adore the new Yeti – he’s so lifelike! It makes riding the super-bumpy ride worth it. Just kidding – I think the Matterhorn is a fun ride but bumpy.
Then I headed over to Tomorrowland to hopefully get on Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy.
Look who I spotted roaming around Tomorrowland
The ride was up and running thankfully and I was glad to have a FP, because the standby was longer than I would’ve been willing to wait.
Honestly, I felt a little let down. It didn’t seem to be all that special. Especially considering the ride went down to install it. But I guess it didn’t matter, because fundamentally, it’s Space Mountain. Aww yeah!
After that, it was sadly time for me to leave. I walked back to the DLH, taking every bit of magic in that I could. I picked up my stuff and headed to the rental car office, which was right across from the DLH in Downtown Disney.
Up Next: You’re going to Hollywood!
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
Oh it definitely was a real bonus that we got to spend more time with you that day. I was so glad we all got to do the Haunted Mansion Holidays, it's always so much fun.
Haunted Mansion Holiday is so cool that I'd go back to DL just for it. We were so lucky to get to ride it 3 times last October. What a fun morning before you had to vacate the premises.
Looked like a fun day for your last few hours in DL! Even better as you got to spend some more time with Cheryl and Mark! Great photos as always!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
I loved seeing all the pictures and video of the Haunted Mansion!!! I'm guessing that we'll get a chance to see it in September since we're going the same week that you did So sad that your TR is coming to an end. Are you heading to WDW in August for your family trip?
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Oh it definitely was a real bonus that we got to spend more time with you that day. I was so glad we all got to do the Haunted Mansion Holidays, it's always so much fun.
We so often end up in the same place without planning it!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
Haunted Mansion Holiday is so cool that I'd go back to DL just for it. We were so lucky to get to ride it 3 times last October. What a fun morning before you had to vacate the premises.
I do love HMH! So well done!
Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperDave
Looked like a fun day for your last few hours in DL! Even better as you got to spend some more time with Cheryl and Mark! Great photos as always!
It was great to share some final magic with them!
Quote:
Originally Posted by mommapants
all caught up. i'm loving the report. the photos are great and it is getting me excited from my trip in November.
Thanks!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lindawdw
I loved seeing all the pictures and video of the Haunted Mansion!!! I'm guessing that we'll get a chance to see it in September since we're going the same week that you did So sad that your TR is coming to an end. Are you heading to WDW in August for your family trip?
Yes!! 45 days to go but who's counting
Quote:
Originally Posted by cubfancolleen
Glad you were able to see both holiday-themed rides, even if Space Mtn was a bit of a letdown.
I guess after HMH, my expectations of an overlay were raised. At least the ride's fun!
Quote:
Originally Posted by MayraLR
Glad you were able to squeeze in some fun at DL before leaving!
When 2 of my favorite rides are opening back up, I just have to ride them.
I'm going to continue with the Hollywood portion of the TR right here, since many people who visit DL also go to Hollywood.
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
The car rental place only had one other person renting, but it took a bit of time to get my car. There was only one agent, and the group in front of me had a lot of questions.
I got in my rental car, programmed the GPS and drove to the California ScienCenter. I parked the car and as I got to the entrance, I stopped to get a photo. It was then I realized I had a low battery on my camera. I decided not to go back and dig through my luggage for the spare and just take pictures with my phone instead. Sorry in advance!
The main thing I wanted to see was the Space Shuttle Endeavor, but I took some time to explore other exhibits along the way.
Next stop was the La Brea Tar Pits. I know this is weird, but I was really excited to see them. I’d heard about them before, but it was something I just couldn’t picture in my head, so it got me curious about the place and then I decided it was something I needed to see for myself. Only I could have the La Brea Tar Pits on my bucket list.
I feel like saying “finally seeing it in person lived up to my expectations” kind of oversells it just a bit, but at the same time, I certainly wasn’t disappointed. It was more like a sense of happy satisfaction, if that makes sense? Anyway, I was very pleased to get to finally see it in person, and I liked what I saw.
It was pretty late and the museum was due to close in about 20 minutes, so I decided not to visit. I did, however, go in and buy a few items from the gift shop to commemorate my visit.
I drove the short distance to the Loews Hollywood Hotel and checked in. I schmoozed the front desk agent and he told me I’d gotten a nice upgrade. Sweet! I had no idea how sweet it was until I got to my room, though. It was HUGE!
And of course, with all those windows, the view was phenomenal!
You can see that the hotel is in the Hollywood & Highland Complex
As much as I adore the DLH (especially club level ), I kind of wanted to live in this room. I loved looking out the windows at what felt like all of L.A.
I had a partial view of the rooftop pool which I later visited, but only to look, not to swim.
The bathroom was great, too.
I love the variety of snacks at the Loews, but I rarely buy anything (even though I can get an employee discount).
I was hungry and ready to do some sightseeing, so I headed out to Hollywood Boulevard.
Grom – I tried it later that day and I can say the gelato is almost as good as it is in Italy
I remembered from my last stay that there was an In-N-Out Burger just a couple of blocks from the hotel, so I took a walk to get a burger for dinner. The line was literally out the door of the place, but it actually didn’t take long to order.
When I got my food, I found a table outside to enjoy it. Normally, I don’t take photos of burgers, but this was a really nice-looking fast-food burger, so I had to snap a pic before digging in.
How’s that for a beauty shot?
Then I did some sightseeing as I returned to the Loews. The short walk to/from In-N-Out goes right past Hollywood High School, and there was a football game going on that night. Back on Hollywood, I did some window shopping and people watching.
I stopped in Ghirardelli even though I’d just been to San Francisco where their flagship is. It used to be the Disney Soda Fountain (which I’m so glad I got to see), but some Disney touches remain.
The CM in there jokingly asked me if I didn’t want to make a purchase and I told him I’d just been in San Francisco. I’m good, dude!
Back on Hollywood Boulevard, it was getting dark, so I could enjoy the neon.
Then I headed back up to enjoy my room for a while. I love the trend in hotels to have lots of places to charge the many electronic devices people tend to travel with these days. I thought where one USB port was pretty clever…
That’s the base of the lamp on the night table, where a lot of people keep their phones. Someone was using his or her head.
I loved my nighttime view possibly more than the daytime one. I am quite the little city mouse, you know.
I turned in for the night, for the last time this trip. I’d be heading home the next evening, but not until after my VIP tour at Universal Studios.
Up Next: Behind the Scenes
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
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Cheryl and I went on Alice in Wonderland while Mark stayed out and took photos.
and I was glad to have a FP, because the standby was longer than I would’ve been willing to wait. 
But I guess it didn’t matter, because fundamentally, it’s Space Mountain. Aww yeah! 
I walked back to the DLH, taking every bit of magic in that I could. I picked up my stuff and headed to the rental car office, which was right across from the DLH in Downtown Disney.
PassPorter Guide Author
I was so glad we all got to do the Haunted Mansion Holidays, it's always so much fun. 
Holly: 
45 days to go but who's counting 
Anyway, I was very pleased to get to finally see it in person, and I liked what I saw. 
Normally, I don’t take photos of burgers, but this was a really nice-looking fast-food burger, so I had to snap a pic before digging in. 
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