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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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Well that's better news on the airfare. Maybe because it's around the holidays it's high.
I think if we go we'll fly into San Diego as my aunt lives there and home from LAX.
The GC is a beautiful hotel-- I loved the decor as well. Don't get me wrong, I'd stay there again, but the service level was very disappointing.... a torn and dangling shower curtain, non-working phone, over 2 hours for bell services to bring up my luggage.... not good for a hotel of that caliber. Several people who were there during my stay had issues as well, but I've not heard since of any problems so maybe there was a temporary staffing problem. Aside from that, though, I just like the idea of visiting the ORIGINAL park and staying in the ORIGINAL hotel!
I will keep it on my list of someday! We definitely plan on checking it out while we are there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OhToodles!
Well that's better news on the airfare. Maybe because it's around the holidays it's high.
I think if we go we'll fly into San Diego as my aunt lives there and home from LAX.
I think the holidays have a lot to do with the cost. We really enjoyed flying to San Diego, the airport was very easy to navigate.
I have heard a lot of people saying that the level of service at DL was not at all what it is as WDW. I did come across a couple of CM that were not as happy and helpful as I had expected. But everyone has an off day.
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Yup, airfare was outrageous! Imagine me and my family. There's 5 of us flying from Puerto Rico. Add the cost of the Disney hotel (I refused to stay off-site), tickets, and... you get the picture. The plan was axed quickly.
Definitely a steep price for flights, glad you were able to use your points to cover most of the cost. We are thinking DL next year and the girls have their hearts set on the Disneyland Hotel as well....I think if we are going to make the coast to coast trip there is no better choice
So glad that your BIL and SIL will be able to enjoy Disneyland with you.
We had thought of going there this past summer, but like others, the airfare is what held us back. I think you made a great use of your points, flying 3 people out to CA for $345 is a fantastic deal!
I can't wait to hear all about your DL adventures!
I have heard a lot of people saying that the level of service at DL was not at all what it is as WDW. I did come across a couple of CM that were not as happy and helpful as I had expected. But everyone has an off day.
I have heard that too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by stardust190
Sounds like a fun trip in the making. Glad you were able to use points for your flight. That would have been so expensive.
Thank you!
Quote:
Originally Posted by MayraLR
Yup, airfare was outrageous! Imagine me and my family. There's 5 of us flying from Puerto Rico. Add the cost of the Disney hotel (I refused to stay off-site), tickets, and... you get the picture. The plan was axed quickly.
I can't imagine the cost for you!
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcc0313
Definitely a steep price for flights, glad you were able to use your points to cover most of the cost. We are thinking DL next year and the girls have their hearts set on the Disneyland Hotel as well....I think if we are going to make the coast to coast trip there is no better choice
So glad that your BIL and SIL will be able to enjoy Disneyland with you.
Thank you! I can't wait to stay at the Disneyland Hotel.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JKnott17
A trip to DL sounds like fun!
We had thought of going there this past summer, but like others, the airfare is what held us back. I think you made a great use of your points, flying 3 people out to CA for $345 is a fantastic deal!
I can't wait to hear all about your DL adventures!
Even though we are renting a car, Brian and Whitney insisted on meeting us at the airport. Justin is 11 years older than Brian and Brian really looks up to him, so I think Brian is pretty excited for us to get there. I figured since they are driving 2.5 hours to meet us at the airport we may as well make a day of being tourists in LA. I am open to any suggestions on things to do in or around LA. I did make some Disney plans while we are there. I checked to see what was playing at the El Capitan theater and it just happens to be Lexi's new favorite movie, Frozen. I got on the website and purchased tickets for the 1:00 showing. Before the movie they have a Live on Stage show, "Images In Ice", which is a live ice carving performance. That should be really neat! I figured before we head to the theater we can check out the Ghirardelli Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop (formally the Disney Soda Fountain) and also the Disney Studio store.
I like your idea of going to see Frozen (loved it!) and the ice show at El Capitan. That whole mall area is very neat. If you go upstairs you get a good view of the Hollywood sign and the Oscars are held there. The Soda shop is right across the street (I had no idea they renamed it!). Make sure you check out the stars on the sidewalk in front-- they're Disney ones. The sidewalk area in front of the theater is pretty scuzzy-- lots of people in fake Disney costumes trying to get you to pay money for a photo. I found it a bit difficult to navigate in the scooter and there were a lot of iffy-looking characters around plus lots of tourists blocking the sidewalk looking at the stars. Hang onto Lexie around there!
I like your idea of going to see Frozen (loved it!) and the ice show at El Capitan. That whole mall area is very neat. If you go upstairs you get a good view of the Hollywood sign and the Oscars are held there. The Soda shop is right across the street (I had no idea they renamed it!). Make sure you check out the stars on the sidewalk in front-- they're Disney ones. The sidewalk area in front of the theater is pretty scuzzy-- lots of people in fake Disney costumes trying to get you to pay money for a photo. I found it a bit difficult to navigate in the scooter and there were a lot of iffy-looking characters around plus lots of tourists blocking the sidewalk looking at the stars. Hang onto Lexie around there!
My girls were really shocked that it wasn't all glamorous. I had warned them that it is pretty scuzzy and to stay close to me. There are all kinds of people trying to get you to take tours of the stars homes. It gets really annoying. We were so tired of it, that we didn't make it down to the Chinese theater. We did see the El Capitan though and saw a whole lot of the Disney stars.
I like your idea of going to see Frozen (loved it!) and the ice show at El Capitan. That whole mall area is very neat. If you go upstairs you get a good view of the Hollywood sign and the Oscars are held there. The Soda shop is right across the street (I had no idea they renamed it!). Make sure you check out the stars on the sidewalk in front-- they're Disney ones. The sidewalk area in front of the theater is pretty scuzzy-- lots of people in fake Disney costumes trying to get you to pay money for a photo. I found it a bit difficult to navigate in the scooter and there were a lot of iffy-looking characters around plus lots of tourists blocking the sidewalk looking at the stars. Hang onto Lexie around there!
I was wondering about the area. Thank you for the advice!
Quote:
Originally Posted by disneydreamer33
My girls were really shocked that it wasn't all glamorous. I had warned them that it is pretty scuzzy and to stay close to me. There are all kinds of people trying to get you to take tours of the stars homes. It gets really annoying. We were so tired of it, that we didn't make it down to the Chinese theater. We did see the El Capitan though and saw a whole lot of the Disney stars.
Nothing more annoying than people pestering you when you are clearly not interested.
My girls were really shocked that it wasn't all glamorous. I had warned them that it is pretty scuzzy and to stay close to me. There are all kinds of people trying to get you to take tours of the stars homes. It gets really annoying. We were so tired of it, that we didn't make it down to the Chinese theater. We did see the El Capitan though and saw a whole lot of the Disney stars.
It is nasty around there, isn't it? I wouldn't want to be in outside in that area after dark.
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Disney Magic - Oct 2015
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