Forever Young: A Disneyland Trip 50 Years in the Making COMPLETED 1/16/16 - Page 3 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I am excited to read your DL report! Looking forward to the great pictures that you always take. I would love to visit DL one day. It is not in the plans right now, but I can enjoy your report and dream.
We are already conspiring when we might be able to return.
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Originally Posted by KimmyAnn1147
Climbing aboard!
for coming along!
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Originally Posted by phoebec
I'm so excited to read your report! We made our first trip in June and I just fell in love. I was afraid I would be wishing I was in WDW the whole time. Now I'm actually thinking I'll be missing DL the next time we go to WDW. It's funny you mention the reflective things because I remember seeing those when we flew in as my son asked me what they were. I still don't know!!!
They were probably a solar field/farm.
I love both DLR and WDW now. I didn't feel at all like I was missing out.
Tuesday, October 6 – Experiencing Los Angeles or What can be seen from LAX
After landing, we were among the first off, making a beeline to the restrooms. With that little business taken care of, we followed the signs to baggage claim on the lower level. SWA was to the left as came down the escalator. Neither carousel was currently operating, but soon #2 began spewing luggage for a SWA flight from Phoenix. Only a few minutes later, an announcement was made that our flight’s luggage would be coming off #1 carousel. We moved to the back side as the front was already crowded, but once folks realized the bags came down the back first, our empty side became quite full. I held both carry-ons while Luke got our 2 cases, which happened to be some of the first off the conveyor belt.
We quickly read over the directions for catching the Disneyland Express included with our vouchers when we pre-booked. That led us outside to the traffic island for pick up. Very interesting and somewhat scary watching LAX traffic from our little island. The next shuttle was not due until 2:45, and it was now 2:15. Of course, I took a few photos, but the camera battery alert now said I was down to 12%. Yikes!
I was fascinated by the Bob Hope USO across from our little traffic island as you will see in the photos below.
The motor coach was a smidge late but only by five minutes. We were the only ones on our little island to board.
Then we were off on a lengthy trek to pick up other passengers. When we boarded, we were the only two, and had our choice of seats.
By the end the bus was pretty much full. I did attempt to get a photo of downtown LA and of the Hollywood sign, but the interstate we were traveling was quite a distance from both plus the bus was not the stablest ride. I zoomed in with my big lens though and gave it my best shot. I think I took two or three of each, getting one of each that was somewhat decent.
Neither Luke nor I checked the time once we were on board, so I am clueless as to the time it took from LAX to DLR and the Grand Californian. We were both very glad we’d chosen this mode of transport to the resort as even at 3:00 – 4:00 in the afternoon, traffic was horrendous. It wasn’t even rush hour yet. The scenery and three adorable kids kept us entertained for the entire trip.
I missed the Disneyland Resort signs on the interstate until Luke pointed them out to me, saying, “We’re here!” And we were. The first bus stop was Disneyland Hotel where our tickets were taken and scanned. No one on board got off here. Next a mom and her kids were dropped off at Paradise Pier. Finally, we were at the Grand California, which we had seen to our left as we’d pulled into Paradise Pier. Now my excitement really took hold. We were the only ones getting off, and I commented to Luke that I was a very happy DVC member. We merrily rolled our suitcases into the lobby. I had a quick glimpse of the front door and squealed, but poor Luke totally missed it.
We were immediately directed to Cast Member Paige at an open registration desk. She quite efficiently took care of us, asking if we were celebrating anything. Luke was so cute as he said, “My Birthday.” She also exchanged our ticket voucher for real Disneyland/Disney California Adventure tickets. I got Olaf and Luke got Mickey.
I did take a few photos as Luke dealt with the paperwork. Cool fall decorations.
In these photos, the Grand Californian reminds me so much of Wilderness Lodge and even Animal Kingdom Lodge. GC now ranks with these two as my favorite resorts.
Finally we were officially checked in, Paige gave us directions to our room and we were off again, now to room 2522 in the DVC building and down three short hallways to the very end.
NEXT: What does room 2522 look like and do we have a view?
Hate to tell you this, Cam, but rush hour starts around 3 these days, especially through downtown LA as you went. There's hardly ever a light time to drive around LA these days!
I'm so delighted to hear the excitement of your first visit!
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Great start! Love the sunrise pics (I'm not a morning person either so I miss seeing those) Grand Californian looks wonderful. I also immediately thought of AKL and WL too! Can't wait to see more!
The Grand Californian is beautiful. I wish we had been able to visit while we were at DL, another reason to go back! I can't wait to see pictures of your room.
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Oooh, how awesome that you've arrived! I didn't even notice that you could see the Hollywood sign when leaving LAX.
It isn't easy to see, especially with smog. My photo is zoom in to the max with my biggest lens.
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Originally Posted by dutchdisneyfamily
Awesome to see you arrived relatively easily!
I was quite happy with how easy our flight in to LAX was.
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Originally Posted by Dlandmom2
Hate to tell you this, Cam, but rush hour starts around 3 these days, especially through downtown LA as you went. There's hardly ever a light time to drive around LA these days!
I'm so delighted to hear the excitement of your first visit!
That explains so much! We'll have less traffic on the ride back. We're already plotting another trip, though it's probably 3 years in the future.
I love the fall decorations in the lobby of the Grand Californian - it makes it look even more beautiful than it usually does.
I'll have more later, but when Luke was done we were both ready and excited to see our room.
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Originally Posted by Coop
Great start! Love the sunrise pics (I'm not a morning person either so I miss seeing those) Grand Californian looks wonderful. I also immediately thought of AKL and WL too! Can't wait to see more!
The Grand Californian was as beautiful as I thought it would be.
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Originally Posted by lexiemom
The Grand Californian is beautiful. I wish we had been able to visit while we were at DL, another reason to go back! I can't wait to see pictures of your room.
It was so nice to wander the lobby each evening on our return home.
I remember how horrible the traffic is in LA. It was a good thing I didn't do any of the driving there, because I had my eyes closed most of the time when we were on the interstate! The Grand Californian looks beautiful.
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The scenery and three adorable kids kept us entertained for the entire trip. 
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