Disney World to Disneyland: Our First Christmas Back--COMPLETE 1/13/09 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Woohoo! Can't wait to hear about your trip. I am so excited to hear that Napa Rose is on the agenda. It is one of the reasons I want to make my own visit!
We loved Toy Story Midway Mania! We managed to get in a last (third) ride before we left DHS at WDW, and got to experience Mr. Potato Head. Our other forays were via the FP line.
I hope you are enjoying the snow in Las Vegas and are not seriously inconvenienced. Safe travels and a wonderful visit--we'll be thinking about you and anxiously awaiting all the details.
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You'll love Disneyland at Christmas! The fireworks show ends with this really magical snowfall in different areas of the park. I have so many memories of listening to their beautiful version of "White Christmas" over the loudspeakers while watching Zack frolic in the California "snow" (and then running over to stop him before he tries to catch too many "flakes" on his tongue. ) In my opinion, that moment is the most magical holiday experience anywhere, even beating WDW at Christmas. Have a great time! I'm actually heading down tomorrow for a weekend trip; I'll tell Disney to keep the lights on for you.
__________________
Karen, aka Zack's Mom - Lover of all Things Disney and the San Francisco Giants!
Just be happy that you're not going during white asparagus season. (Apparently, it's kept under cover during the day and only harvested at night! Heeeee!)
If only Bob and Larry could be there with you -- I'm sure it would be a blast.
Eileen
Thanks, Larry. We're looking forward to Napa Rose. Karen - not sure we need snow on Main Street now (grin) but I'm sure it'll be magical. Even better than WDW? Wow - I can't wait. We haven't been to Disneyland for Christmas in years! Enjoy your trip (btw, we used to live near San Mateo - in Redwood Shores). And Eileen, yes, we wish B&L could be with us, too! It would be nice to see you all at the Passporter Events next year.
Anyway, the snow was quite a shock - 30 years since a storm like this hit Las Vegas - only after we moved here. Just like the flurry of hurricanes that hit after we moved to Florida.
But the snow made the Las Vegas Valley a beautiful thing. Here are a few pics:
Tourists pose with famous Vegas sign 24/7
The Luxor - snow and palm trees - what a funny mix!
View of Red Rock Canyon from work
If you look closely, you can see Minnie and Mickey decorations in the top window
Yeah, Kathy, great pics. We took the kids up to Red Rock today and got some photos like yours. It's unbelievable! Our snow melted with the rain that came in (we are close to Summerlin South), but my dad says there is still "enough to make a good size snowman" at his house in Seven Hills! And this is 2 snow storms in 3 days....that's completely unheard of!
So, my DD is 8 and in 3rd grade. We had a SNOW DAY today (we do not have contingencies for this, so I'm curious to see how we make it up). The last time we had a Snow Day? As Kathy mentioned, it's 30 years ago (almost to the date) - I was in second grade. "Once in a generation" (as Matt Lauer put it) is certainly correct!
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I would LOVE some snow. I guess it is a real rarity here, too. We just moved here from VA, and I am missing the lovely, consistent weather and snow. This is the most abnormal weather I have ever been in.
Anyway, have a great time at DL. I can't wait to read all about it. Post lots of pics!! Merry Christmas!
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Even though it's New Year's Eve day, we thought we'd get started with the trip report. Happy New Year's everybody!
On Our Way At Last
We’d been watching the weather between Las Vegas and Anaheim and the Cajon Pass looked like it was going to be clear. High winds might be the only issue. We packed our bags and left instructions for a new pet sitter since the previous one had not been working out and the last thing you want to do on your Disneyland vacation is worry about your "kids" and house back home. But from all we had seen so far, we were feeling more confident and comfortable leaving all in her care.
With the gas tank full, we left our house at 9:30 a.m., stopped at Barstow for more gas and lunch at Del Taco, and arrived at the Disneyland Hotel at 1:30 p.m. The hotel decorations and the valet attendant greeted us - the latter included a caution that our room may not be ready. Having had good luck here before with early check-in, we approached the front desk with a positive attitude.
Overhearing conversations around us that other guests’ rooms were not ready, we were ecstatic that not only was our room ready, but we were being upgraded to a water view on the tenth floor in the main tower called Magic. WOO HOO! Pixie dust strikes again! It helped that we were a couple and had booked a king room – less popular especially at Christmas with families needing the extra beds. The CM was very helpful and we appreciated her personal attention, and we can’t help but wonder how this new online check-in is going to work at WDW.
This room was even better than the one we had on our last trip. Both were king water view rooms, but this one was larger with chair and ottoman, and had a very comfortable bathroom area with separate counter space, separate sink and shower, and separate water closet. This was the first time we had stayed in the main tower, which was nice because it has two gift shops and free morning coffee in the lobby.
As soon as we unpacked, we headed for DCA for some wine tasting at the Golden Vine Winery. We chatted in line with a woman who worked in Anaheim, but lived in Apple Valley (on the other side of the San Bernardino Mountains) so since it was a Saturday, she was extending her day by enjoying some wine and relaxation before heading home. She reassured us she wasn’t going to drink and drive, but had other things to do before getting back on the freeway.
We chatted with our usual wine server – I keep not noticing his name – just that he’s from Huntington Beach – one of my childhood beaches.
Rich chose a glass of Peter Franus Cabernet Sauvignon and I chose the Rancho Zabaco Zinfandel – both delicious. The Zinfandel tasted fruity (as in grapes) and the Cab was bold in flavor. We sat down at a table next to the woman we met in line and chatted a bit more. She’s a mortgage broker so she cited the excellent mortgage rates available.
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) In my opinion, that moment is the most magical holiday experience anywhere, even beating WDW at Christmas. Have a great time! I'm actually heading down tomorrow for a weekend trip; I'll tell Disney to keep the lights on for you. 
At Disney World I can visit Japan. Please check-out my web site for wheelchair travel, 
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