DrDolphin's Great California Adventure *COMPLETED* - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Sounds like an awesome trip!! Can't wait to hear all about it
I know, RIGHT?!
I am slacking . . . I have notes . . . just need to make them into actual sentences and paragraphs. I am hoping to get mine started by this weekend. HOPING.
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Part 2 - Hurdles and Challenges
Next – challenges and hurdles… And lots more details
Then things get interesting… About 3 or 4 months ago - my boss walked into my office and tells me I need to make sure that I have the International Sea Turtle Symposium in Myrtle Beach, SC on my calendar. I ask her when it is as I open my calendar. She says Feb 26 – March 2… Uh Oh. I told her I could not go since I had my vacation scheduled for that time. She told me I had to go since I am the District’s sea turtle Coordinator… I see a major problem quickly developing. Right then – my turtle partner in crime (some of you may remember him from previous TRs and posts) Eric chimes in and says “Marie – I will go for the District. I know better than to get between Terri, Jeff Gordon and Mickey Mouse!” I have trained him SO WELL
Bullet Dodged – whew. Now where was I?
We were making more plans of things we wanted to do. After the NASCAR race on Sunday – we would have 2 days to kill before all of the other Passporter girls arrived in LA. So – how bout a trip to Universal Studios? Never been there before. So I search online for hotel options and noted that there is a Hilton hotel DIRECTLY across the street from US. As most of you know – I travel WAY too much for work – and I tend to try and stay in Hilton Properties. This means I get LOTS of points in the Hilton Hhonors rewards program. It worked out that I had enough points to book 2 nights at the Universal City Hilton for our stay there. In addition to Universal Studios – Crystal suggested a tour of Hollywood – and we picked the same tour that Cheryl (ChezP) and her DH Mark had done.
As soon as Southwest opened their reservations for our dates – we hopped online, booked the free ticket from Norfolk and booked my plane ticket. We held off on booking Emilie’s hoping that a cheap fare on DING would come up.
More time passed (think kids – we started this 11 months before the trip… and we have 20 days to go!!! …) and as the details fell in line – I had the ability to extend my trip by a day. Bad news though – I really could not afford another day at the DLH. However – I remembered that Cheryl (Running Buddy) and I hung out at the Hilton Anaheim 2 years ago and I checked to see if they had rooms available. BINGO!!! 1 room – 2 queen beds - $100.00 a night. On top of that I got a great cheaper fare that saved me about $100.00 to be able to make the stay. I let Sarah know and offered up the room. I also hoped that I would have enough travel over the next few months to get another free room (if they had availability when I finally had the points).
I ordered my DL tickets online – with the “Everyone plays for the price of a child ticket” – I got a 5 day parkhopper for $159.00 plus a coupon from Disney for shopping!!
The only other real hiccup that has materialized is that I have a trip to Key West that I must take for the 3 days before I leave for DL… So I had to figure out how this was all going to work. I thought about taking all my clothes for the 10-day trip to Key West, book a flight from Key West to Fort Lauderdale the night before the trip and then fly from FLL to SD…. Well that would mean that I would have to drag 2 suitcases of clothes, my laptop case as well as all my park stuff…. Nope – I don’t think so :
Plan 2 – Take a small suitcase to Key west, fly home on the last flight from Key West to JAX. Land at 1030pm. Drive home – get home about midnight. Sleep until 4am – get up and be out of the house by 5am for my 655am flight to San Diego. UGH!!! That sounds AWFUL!!
Plan 3 – Pack all my suitcases – put the California stuff in the trunk and leave it there. Take the small case to Key West. Fly back to Jax on the last flight out – land at 1030. Get car and drive to Hilton Garden Inn at the airport by 1100pm. Sleep until 5am. 530am head to airport for the 655am flight. Leave Key West bag in trunk and take SoCal stuff with me. I think plan #3 is the way I am going at this point. Seems the easiest.
Just got all caught up Terri - I'm glad my trip report's been able to help you out and I can't wait to hear all about your travels. I'm sure you'll love San Diego and I hope you also enjoy the tour of Los Angeles - I know we did!
(think kids – we started this 11 months before the trip… and we have 20 days to go!!! …)
That is crazy!! I can't believe it! 3 weeks from today I will be in sunny Southern California I think I may have to just add my comments into other's TRs. I am not big on writing them (and finishing them )
__________________
*~*Tina
Picking up our Brasilian exchange student at the a/p
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Plans and Dining
Dining and Touring
Tina had been kind enough to book the big meals where almost all of us – so that just left meals that we weren’t eating with everyone else – and any special tours we wanted to do. I called Disney Planners and booked the Walk in Walt’s footsteps tour for myself and the Family Magic Tour for Sarah, Emilie and I (which we just found out they won't be doing due to rehabs in the park - bummer ). We also booked Ariel’s Grotto for a Princess Lunch, Carnation Café for breakfast and Wine Country Trattoria and Ralph Brennan’s Kitchen for dinner. In addition we are planning a party for a couple of young ladies birthdays!!!
Schedule
Feb 23 – Friday – Everyone arrives in San Diego. 1st me, then Crystal and Doug, then Sarah and Emilie. Hotel – Hampton Inn San Diego – Downtown.
Plans – Go to the base to buy tickets for DL, Harbor cruise, San Diego Zoo, and Universal Studios.
Take a Harbor Cruise
Dinner at the Old Towne Mexican café
Feb 24 – Saturday
Plans – San Diego Zoo
Dinner at the Corvette Café (I read about this in Meggra’s TR and the place sounds FUN!) Princess Sharon will be joining us!!!
Feb 25 – Sunday
Up early in the morning – drive to California Speedway for the race (Go Jeff!!!)
Drive to Los Angeles
Check into Hilton Los Angles/Universal City – Across the street from Universal Studios - FREE HOTEL!!!
Dinner – Bubba Gumps at City Walk
Feb 26 – Monday
Universal Studios
Dinner – Bucca de Bepo at City Walk
FREE HOTEL!!
Feb 27 – Tuesday
Grand Bus Tour (Starlines) of Hollywood (another idea borrowed from ChezP’s TR)
Check in to Disneyland Hotel
Dinner at Tortilla Joe’s with all the Passporter Girls!!
Feb 28 – Wednesday
MK - Walk in Walt’s Footstep Tour
Birthday party for Emilie and Crystal (video camera WILL be present!)
Dinner at Granville’s Steakhouse
March 1 – Thursday
DCA
Lunch at Ariel’s Grotto
Spa Appt for Swedish Massage in the afternoon
Napa Rose for dinner with the Girls
March 2 – Friday
MK
Lunch at Blue Bayou
Two and A Half Men Taping
March 3 – Saturday
Storyteller’s Character Breakfast
DCA
Wine Country Trattoria for dinner
March 4 – Sunday
MK
Carnation Café for Breakfast
Ralph Brennan’s for dinner
Transfer to the Anaheim Hilton - FREE HOTEL!!!
March 5 – Monday
Catch Super Shuttle to LAX
1015am flight to JAX via Nashville
Arrive JAX 655pm
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I told her I could not go since I had my vacation scheduled for that time. She told me I had to go since I am the District’s sea turtle Coordinator… I see a major problem quickly developing. Right then – my turtle partner in crime (some of you may remember him from previous TRs and posts) Eric chimes in and says “Marie – I will go for the District. I know better than to get between Terri, Jeff Gordon and Mickey Mouse!” I have trained him SO WELL 
In addition to Universal Studios – Crystal suggested a tour of Hollywood – and we picked the same tour that Cheryl (ChezP) and her DH Mark had done.
…) and as the details fell in line – I had the ability to extend my trip by a day. Bad news though – I really could not afford another day at the DLH. However – I remembered that Cheryl (Running Buddy) and I hung out at the Hilton Anaheim 2 years ago and I checked to see if they had rooms available. BINGO!!! 1 room – 2 queen beds - $100.00 a night. On top of that I got a great cheaper fare that saved me about $100.00 to be able to make the stay. I let Sarah know and offered up the room. I also hoped that I would have enough travel over the next few months to get another free room (if they had availability when I finally had the points). 
:
PassPorter Guide Author
I think I may have to just add my comments into other's TRs. I am not big on writing them (and finishing them 
). We also booked Ariel’s Grotto for a Princess Lunch, Carnation Café for breakfast and Wine Country Trattoria and Ralph Brennan’s Kitchen for dinner. In addition we are planning a party for a couple of young ladies birthdays!!!
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