Springtime Jaunt to Disneyland: Final Days and Final Thoughts: COMPLETE 6/11/08 - Page 2 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Hi everyone! I've been back for awhile but brought back bronchitis so I'm just getting back to normal. I'll be getting an update out in the next couple of days!
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
Day 1, Part 1: Travelling West and We Have Arrived
Day 1, Part 1: Travelling West & We Have Arrived!!!
We got up around 4:00am as the cab was picking us up at 5:00am. We were both moving kind of slow as we had a later night than expected as we went to the Lousiville Bats (AAA team for the Reds) and then enjoyed Thunder over Louisville (Air Show). We did leave before the fireworks or we wouldn’t have gotten home until close to midnight. Anywho…we packed the tolietries and got all the luggage downstairs. We ran through the last minute checklists for the townhome and the cab arrived right on time.
We made it to the airport without an issue. The cab driver talked about the NASCAR race the night before and his extreme dislike of Dale Jr. (Anyone who knows me, knows he is my driver!!) Chuck played it off and was actually egging him on which made for a funny beginning. He dropped us off and we headed in to check in at American Airlines. They were still having to deal with some of the after effects of the cancellation of AA flights earlier in the week, but we checked in without a problem and even upgraded to 1st class for our flight to Dallas!
I made it through security without an issue but they had to search Chuck’s laptop bag. Apparently all of his cords that were just stuffed into his bag raised a red flag. After getting his bag organized, we headed twoard our gate. Of course, we stopped at StarBucks for his Iced Mocha something or another. I grabbed a coke a little farther down. We found some seats and just chilled until they started to board the plane. Chuck read the paper while I took a happy nap with my head on his shoulder. Eventually, the announced boarding for first class and off we went. We were at the gate, and the captain announced that the needed to get the generator fixed. Luckily, we had a 2.5 hour layover in Dallas so we weren’t worried. They got us fixed and we were off. Can I just tell you that I really like 1st class!!!! I rarely fly 1st class but the extra room is so totally worth it in my opinion. We had a nice continental breakfast of some cereal, bagel, raisins, OJ, and water. Definitely hit the spot. We arrived in Dallas without issue and headed for the SkyLink to our gate.
Now as we were in Dallas, Chuck was having issues with his iPod, and he was getting cranky about it. It wouldn’t shut off and the battery was just draining. I told him he needed to reset it or restore the defaults as the last resort. We found an outlet and he went to town trying to fix it. I decided to call my mom since I was unable to talk to her the night before. We talked for about 20 minutes about this that and everything. Chuck got his iPod situation worked out so he was happy again. Chuck and I were making light of some college spring breakers that looked a little worse for wear. I couldn’t help but remember my spring break trip to Panama City my junior year and could totally relate to that feeling.
We eventually boarded our flight to LAX and were in the back of the plane this time and it was a full flight. I watched Enchanged on my iPod and fell asleep about 15 minutes into it. Chuck jostled me awake when we had to turn off all electronic devices so I got a nice little nap in which was going to be helpful as it was gonna be a late night. Once we landed, we made our way to baggage claim and retrieved our bags. I got my voucher for the Disneyland Resort Express and found the area where we needed to wait. And we waited. And we waited. And we waited. If I hadn’t already pre-purchased the round trip, I would have hopped another shuttle service. It was about an hour before one of the motor coaches arrived. After getting checked in, we were finally headed to Anaheim and DL!
We arrived pretty quickly at about 3:30 which was a little later than hoped but no complaints. Chuck handled getting the bags as I dealt with getting the return voucher. Once all that was taken care of, we headed into the Disneyland Hotel and the check-in lines. We were the only ones in line so we were called up to the front desk in quick order. Kimberly kindly told us we had been upgraded to a pool view room in the Dreams tower. Our room was ready so we headed out the back doors of the lobby and made a quick left to the Dreams tower. We were on the 8th floor and had the room two doors down from the elevator.
We walked in and immediately turned the thermostat down cooler as it was really warm in the room. We had a great view and I hurried to take some pictures before Chuck crashed on the bed for his happy nap before dinner that I promised him.
Chuck doing his beached whale impression. (His words, not mine )
I got us unpacked while Chuck took his happy nap. I woke him up at 5:00pm as we had a PS at Yamabuki at the Paradise Pier hotel. He freshened up (I had prior to waking him up), and we walked over to the hotel. We got there faster than anticipated and had time to look around their gift shop and then decided to have a drink to start off our trip right! We headed to the Surfside Lounge there in the lobby and cozied up to the bar. Chuck went with a Corona while I indulged in the infamous Blue Glowtini!
We finished up our adult beverages rather quickly and headed out the front doors of the hotel as the entrance to the restaurant was outside. Of course, we realized this after walking around the first floor aimlessly. Chuck wanted a picture of me with the Goofy statue in the lobby so I gave in and let him try out the Nikon.
It was right at 5:30pm, and they had not opened the doors yet. And one of my proudest moments came when chuck pointed out a Hidden Mickey in the wall. And he says he’s not a Disney lover like me.
They finally opened the doors and got us checked in. Since we were the first of two groups, I didn’t think the wait would be that long. They called our name within minutes and led us to a quaint table for two in the main dining room. Now this was not a restaurant for me as I am not a huge fan of Japanese cuisine. This was all for Chuck, but I will tell you I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed this meal very much.
We started off splitting the Yakitori (Marinated Chicken Grilled on Bamboo Skewers with YAMABUKI Teriyaki sauce). And this is where I learned to use chopsticks. It wasn’t a pretty sight but I eventually conquered them and became quite good by the end of the night. I was even using them for rice. YAY for me!
For our entrees, Chuck went with the Sashimi Moriawase (Masterfully prepared using Ahi Tuna, Pacific Salmon, Hamachi Yellowtail, Halibut, Scallops, Tako and Ebi), and I went with the Gyu Rosu Yaki (Terikyaki Grilled New York Steak, accompanied by Vegetables of the Season). Chuck loved everything on his entrée except the octopus. My steak was so tender with just the right amount of teriyaki sauce. In addition, Chuck ordere some California rolls that he enjoyed all to himself as I don’t partake in sushi.
The receipt for dinner is still in a heap of paperwork so I will come back with the total cost, but we both truly enjoyed this dinner and it was a great beginning to our vacation. I learned that Japanese cuisine is not all bad and can now impress those with my skills of eating with chopsticks. On the way out, we grabbed some pictures of the restaruant.
Coming Up: Trying to Complete the Trifecta of nighttime shows at DL!!
Great update, Dawn! Glad you made it to the Disneyland Hotel safe & sound, despite the wait for transportation. Sounds like you had a great meal. Can't wait to hear more
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
What a day! Glad that you arrived safe and sound - - and that Chuck was able to take a quick happy nap! Thom will have to borrow that phrase as he loves a happy nap himself.
Thom recently discovered (as of this week) a love for sushi, so he would love your dining experience (your meal sounded yummy!).
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Welcome back, Dawn.
PassPorter Guide Author
Your meal at Yamabuki brought back great memories - we loved eating there. 
Love that Blue Glowtini 
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