National parks, natural beauty and a bit of Disney wonder! DISNEYLAND SECTION COMPLETED - Page 17 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Saturday 27 August – part four: you can get a cell phone signal in here?
We wandered slowly around the Rivers of America, getting more photos.
Then it was on to Pirates of the Caribbean and this was another walk on! This has to be one of the best Pirates rides anywhere. I love the way that it’s themed around New Orleans, it just really adds something to the start and end of the ride and, of course, there’s something very special about floating past the restaurant at the start as well. I was intrigued to see that Blackbeard is now appearing in place of Davy Jones and, when we rode with Mari later, she told me that’s a new addition.
We came out and wandered through New Orleans Square. This holds a special place in my heart, as it’s a departure from what we’re used to at Disney World. I also remember the last time we saw this in late October 2008, they were starting to put the Christmas decorations up, which was slightly freaky. However, having said that, there was Halloween merchandise already in the shops now.
When we came out of there, we decided to do a complete loop on the Railroad.
After our wander through, we headed on to another of our favourites, the Haunted Mansion. Just as we entered the stretching room, the cell phone rang and it was Mari. I quickly turned it off, so that didn’t happen again during the rest of our visit. Can you believe you actually get quite a good cell phone signal inside the Haunted Mansion? I was so not expecting that! :
When we emerged, I called Mari and they were already waiting for us for Breakfast in the Park at the Plaza, so we started to head that way, photographing as we went.
I'm finally all caught up! It doesn't surprise me that the park is that empty. We were there in September 2005 and had the same pleasant experience.
I agree, I thought the huge letters in front of the California Adventure park were great and I really don't see how the new design is supposed to be an improvement.
I swear, it looks like you photo-shopped the people out of the pictures!
I love the ambiance of New Orleans square. Blue Bayou is my favorite place to eat at DL.
Can't believe they don't block cell signals in HM!
I still can't get over how empty the park is. I also love their version of POTC. I would have loved to see their version of HM, but sadly when we went it was down for some reason and I never got to ride it.
I also love POTC at DL! Although, on our 2nd ride, my friend and I were in the front, me on the left, and another guest on the right of my friend -- it was a loaded boat. And I got completely soaked!! Soaking wet all up and down the left side of my body!! I got more wet on POTC than on Splash Mountain! How weird is that?!! Still love it though. Great ride!
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I swear, it looks like you photo-shopped the people out of the pictures!
I love the ambiance of New Orleans square. Blue Bayou is my favorite place to eat at DL.
Can't believe they don't block cell signals in HM!
I know, but fortunately I didn't have to go to that trouble...
I also love POTC at DL! Although, on our 2nd ride, my friend and I were in the front, me on the left, and another guest on the right of my friend -- it was a loaded boat. And I got completely soaked!! Soaking wet all up and down the left side of my body!! I got more wet on POTC than on Splash Mountain! How weird is that?!! Still love it though. Great ride!
I don't think getting wetter than on Splash Mountain is possible : - that story is still to come...
oh, those pictures of new orleans square are making me homesick! royal street is my very favorite street in the real french quarter. my sister just planned her family's first visit to disneyland for the same time we are at disneyworld. your pictures are making me want to plan a little mini-vacay to disneyland!
I'm finally caught up. Don't know how I got so far behind. Thr park is really empty and I not used to seeing a Disney park like that. I love all your pictures. It's nice to see the differences in the parks.
Liz
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