Two4Disney’s Bountiful Birthday, Baseball, and Beach Bash--Completed 10/4 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Kathy: Soft Tacos Monterrey – Fajita-Style Beef topped with Cheese and served in Flour Tortillas. Rich:Carne Asada & Red Chile Enchilada Platter – Succulent Beef cooked to perfection served with two Cheese Enchiladas.
We have eaten here many times before because it is one of our favorite counter service restaurants in Disneyland. However, this was the first time we’ve been here since it was redesigned. There are two separate walk-up serving areas – one for tacos and burritos and the other for the platters. Then it’s through the check-out (we got an AP discount here) and into the courtyard. We found a table by the tracks of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and enjoyed our thoroughly delicious meal. The food here is quite good and the courtyard atmosphere is quick striking and pleasant.
After dinner, it was getting dark and everyone was claiming their spot for the parade. That told us it was time to go. The park would be closing at 8:00 p.m. anyway, just an hour away.
As we headed down Main Street, we decided to stop in the Emporium to browse for souvenirs, not sure if we’d find anything interesting. But before long, Kathy spotted a great picture frame with Mickey standing next to the Disneyland sign. We had to get this. At the checkout desk, we also grabbed a Pirates of the Caribbean mouse pad for one of our computers. We got our AP discount and used Reward Points to pay for our goodies.
After shopping, we walked back through Downtown Disney for – you guessed it – more shopping. At World of Disney we purchased two travel coffee mugs (Minnie and Mickey) and some shortbread cookies to have as our dessert (AP discount and Reward Points here again).
We were back in our room about 8:00 p.m. to rest up from travel day and all the fun we had already crammed into our first day. We snacked on our shortbread cookies while watching the Dodgers on TV (they beat the Padres)! Then off to sleep to rest up for Day 2.
Kathy Says: When we heard they were remodeling the old Casa de Fritos turned Casa Mexicana into a combo Mexican/Barbecue place, we were a bit alarmed. But it seems that plan was short-lived and while the design has changed from cafeteria-style to walk-up made-to-order Mexican food, it is deliciously authentic and located in a Mexican Rancho Courtyard. You can't beat the atmosphere at night listening to the crowds screaming on BTMR next door.
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Thanks for posting pics to the early Disneyland Hotel. The first time I stayed there in the 1980s, the Neverland pool was a big lake with boat dock and miniature boats that you controlled - like in these pics. This was replaced by the Neverland Pool in the 1990s, I think, and the mini boats have been moved - in fact, they're Jungle Cruise boats and located in the back of the resort. The Fantasy Water Show is gone, too.
In the overhead view, numbers 10, 11, 12 is the area where Downtown Disney is now and that Olympic-sized pool is gone. No big loss - it was rather boring. The towers have also been renamed to Dreams, Magic, and Wonder.
During this trip, it was nice to have smaller crowds due to the slow season. However, the trade-off is that many attractions are being “refurbished.” This can mean everything from updating an attraction, fixing a problem, changing the theme for a holiday, or replacing the attraction.
Here are the refurbishments we noticed:
Haunted Mansion – changing to Christmas theme. We love this ride and really missed riding it this time. We can’t wait to ride it again during our Dec. trip and see the Christmas theme for the first time.
It’s a Small World – OK, so the song can be annoying, but it’s still a cute ride. It’s been down since January and won’t be open again until late Nov.
Sailing Ship Columbia – won’t be sailing again until late Oct.
New Orleans Square Railroad Station – while we were hunting for lunch in New Orleans, we had hoped to jump on the train and travel back to Main Street Station, but this station was closed.
Aladdin Show – this is supposed to be a great show, but we have never seen it. Hopefully it will come back, but, with the updating of DCA, it might be replaced.
Golden Dreams – we’ve heard the soundtrack for this interesting California history movie, but we’ve never seen it. Now we won’t get a chance – it’s closed for good. We’re guessing it will get replaced with Mickey’s Philharmagic.
And we learned about this upcoming refurbishment from our bellman:
Disneyland Hotel – will be refurbishing their rooms, including replacing the French balconies with windows.
[Aladdin Show – this is supposed to be a great show, but we have never seen it. Hopefully it will come back, but, with the updating of DCA, it might be replaced.
Last time I was there in Aug, they were closed because they were only showing on weekends---are you sure they are closed all the time now---OK just checked the DL website, looks like Aladdin show will be on again on Dec 12---- Whew!!!
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Kelly -- Disneyland Annual Passholder
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Sorry about all the rehab going on but I guess it has to happen sometime. Interesting about the Disneyland Hotel--what do y'all think about it?
I have always been intrigued by the overlay for the Haunted Mansion, but I guess we'll never see it in Florida. Given that it has taken 13 years to get back to WDW for the holiday decorations, I won't speculate about getting to California for that! But I am determined to get there again sometime. I was last there in 1972....
[Aladdin Show – this is supposed to be a great show, but we have never seen it. Hopefully it will come back, but, with the updating of DCA, it might be replaced.
Last time I was there in Aug, they were closed because they were only showing on weekends---are you sure they are closed all the time now---OK just checked the DL website, looks like Aladdin show will be on again on Dec 12---- Whew!!!
Looks like we'll miss it again since our December trip is the week before.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LLaffinPlace
Sorry about all the rehab going on but I guess it has to happen sometime. Interesting about the Disneyland Hotel--what do y'all think about it?
I have always been intrigued by the overlay for the Haunted Mansion, but I guess we'll never see it in Florida. Given that it has taken 13 years to get back to WDW for the holiday decorations, I won't speculate about getting to California for that! But I am determined to get there again sometime. I was last there in 1972....
Rich Says: We enjoyed the DL Hotel and would stay there again - especially during pool weather. Nice lobby, shops, comfy rooms, great service, convenient access. The only downsides were the separate towers and the opening windows (which they're going to fix).
Kathy Says: People would open the doors and yell to people down below or you could hear people up really late talking. I suppose that could happen at any Disney hotel with balconies but DL Hotel seems to be more of a party hotel. People stay here for reasons other than going to DL. Still, we really enjoyed it.
That is quite a bit of rehab and we're going to have similar issues when we visit next month. The Aladdin show will still be down then and that was one of the things I really wanted to see. Still, I guess it's reason for yet another future visit out west?
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---OK just checked the DL website, looks like Aladdin show will be on again on Dec 12---- Whew!!!
Jingled by Southern Belle, Lorraine 515, Omd, Rob DVC and i am grumpy--thanks
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