A Dream is a Wish--Mini-TR [UPDATED WITH PIX posts 316 & 320] - Page 18 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
Last night DS reminded me that at WDW in 2014, we had a motto. I couldn't remember, but together, the closest we can come is "We have all the time in the world". Not as good this time since we are going to DisneyLAND, but we're going to resurect it. This motto reminds me to stop and smell the roses, and to take a freaking chill pill. Yes, I can have a cold at Disney and still have fun. Cold sore? Yup. Stomach flu? Ok, maybe not so much, but with 9 possible park days, we could roll with it if needed. I need to chill the *$& out! (Can you hear my anxiety? Yes, you can!)
I have all the time in the world to prep, pack etc too. Deep breaths.
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
I like that motto, but it could be something to do with the fact that song (Louis Armstrong) was one of the ones at our wedding, as we felt it summed up the start to our married love.. yeah, I know - slushy, but it is a very good motto.
As a New Englander, I would scoff at your need for a coat and gloves for those temperatures, but after having to buy coats and fleece in San Franciso this July, well.....I don't have a leg to stand on.
Hope you are able to meet up with your friend. How fun would that be!?! Quick side note, my BFF growing up (4 years old thru high school!) now lives on the west coast. We lost touch for decades, and I found her several years ago and sent a Christmas card. We keep in touch via Facebook and email now. We've seen each other once in 28 years, but she's one of us too! Living on the west coast all of this time, her "home park" is DLR. After tossing the idea around for a bit, we now have plans for a girls trip to WDW this August. Thank you, DVC points! I'm hosting her!
I'll post a real TR later, this will just be tiny "live" updates from the trip. I don't have a way to upload photos yet, so I won't be posting pics till after the trip.
11/28 Eugene OR to Stockton CA
The morning started a bit later than planned. We were going to be in the car at 4:45, but at 4:45 I woke up and Dad was in the shower. He was out, dressed, and puttering at about 5:15, and then realized he couldn't find his man-purse. We finally hit the road at 6:15, as his man-purse was located in the car under the driver's seat, finally. Everyone kept their cool and their sense of humor during the search. Happily, DS slept through the whole thing.
We took a lunch break at a great children's park in Redding, CA, that I had found via google maps. Had some conversations with some of Jehovah's Witnesses at the park, mostly about living in Eugene and sports, while DS played.
We arrived at the University Plaza Waterfront Hotel in Stockton at about 4:30. Stockton sure is a hole. Yuck. But the hotel is really nice. Kind of awkward, def. a 2 1/2 star hotel that looks like a 3-4 star on the outside and in the rooms. It's trying to be nice, and the outside courtyard is beautiful, but the inside feels like a college dorm lobby. Can't describe it, but it's awkward.
I think of myself with a poor person with good taste. I know what I like, even if I can't afford it, KWIM? So, I would never ever have paid for the rooms at this place, but I know that they aren't quite hitting the mark their going for. That said, it's not priced at the mark they are going for either. Rooms are under 100 for a night, just as they should be.
Now it's 6:45 AM. Dad and I are having coffee, August and mom are having a lie-in, and everything is mellow.
We are about 5 hrs to Anaheim, maybe 5 1/2. We're going to have a decent breakfast (in-room granola and milk) and then we're going to hit the road.
Our rental with VRBO has check-in at 4pm, but we're planning to head to DTD once we get in town. Whoo Hoo, I'm going to Disneyland, and I'm going to be there SOON!!!!
__________________
Themed environment junkie
Last edited by KimmyAnn1147; 11-29-2015 at 09:52 AM..
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.
I'll keep it brief. What should have been a 5.5 hr drive took us, basically, a lifetime. Left stockton at 8:30, with visions of parking and visiting DtD while we waited for our condo. Arrived, road weary, and with DDad being not so D... at just shy of 6pm.
Now, this is a good time to remind you all that while I'm traveling with my beloved parents and son, I'm also TRAVELING with my PARENTS. ALONE. Except my son. No buffer, no commiserating, just me and them. So all that crap I couldn't wait to escape as a teenager is right there in my face.
Background: I love my parents. I spend lots of time with them, practically more than anyone else I know, I love being at their house, I love their relationship with my adult nuclear family, I joke that I could live in a trailer on their property. Blah blah blah. I was also a 15 year old run-away. That's not a joke, that's real. The week after I turned 15, I decided I'd seen enough, and I was out of there. Whew. Never regretted it, even for a minute, even on a really bad day. I'm 38. I was ready to get the H.E. double-hocky sticks outta their house. Cause they have issues.
Anyways, enough with the trauma drama! DS and I passed a lot of car time playing a great ipad game I'm happy to recommend, "The Lost City". It's a really fun puzzle adventure game, no killing or monsters. I got it for free on a Black Monday download special, but I woulda' paid for it. I think it took us about 6 hrs to solve and it was totally fun.
We finally arrived at nearly 6pm, with my dad in grouchy but reasonably civil form. The rest of us held up better than he did.
I knew it would be better if we split up, so I suggested DDad take DS to DtD while Dmom and I did the grocery shop for the week+ we will be here.
After our grocery shop, Dmom and I walked over to DtD. Our condo is a block from the DL hotel, and as we walked I saw the front (North) side of the hotel for the first time ever. I didn't actually cry, but I was overwhelmed and really wanted to take it all in. Breathe in, breathe out. I'm HERE!!!!
There's a big but less ornate gingerbread in the lobby, BTW. I'm excited to check it out in detail on one of our non-park days.
We met up and went to Guest Services in the Esplanade to get our tix. Yay! They are still using paper tix here at DLR. No choice on what ticket you get either. I got Mater. DDad got Minnie Mouse (!?!?!). DMom got Pluto, and DS got Olaf. He was happy, even though he was bummed we didn't have the same tickets, he and I. (love!!!)
We trammed back to the Mickey and Friends lot, went to the top of the parking structure to catch DL Forever (without the music), then moseyed home. Ddad and I stayed up too late BSing, mostly about how great DL is, and now it's nearly 1am. I'm up in 5-7 hrs, depending on how life goes.
Tomorrow is our first day in the parks! We're rope-dropping Peter Pan's Flight.
G'night!
__________________
Themed environment junkie
Last edited by KimmyAnn1147; 11-30-2015 at 03:45 AM..
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
We finally hit the road at 6:15, as his man-purse was located in the car under the driver's seat, finally. 
Everyone kept their cool and their sense of humor during the search. Happily, DS slept through the whole thing. 
Linear Mode
