Going north, south, east and west! **Updated 1/25** - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Great pictures of the resort and inside the parks! That's my fear of going to DL.....the kids would be up so early due to the time change, and things seem to open later out there!!
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Nice start to sunny California. Love the picture of you two with Tink in your hand.
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Oct '99: CSR ~ May '02: CR ~ Nov '04: SOG ~ May '06: SOG ~ Dec '07: Solo @ Pop ~ May '08: Pop w/friends ~ Oct '08: SOG ~ Dec '09: Pop w/LeAnn ~ Sept '10: Solo @ Pop ~ Spring '11: AKL ~ Jan '12: Pop for 1/2 Marathon ~ Sept '12: 1st trip for DL 1/2 Marathon? ~ Feb '13: Pop w/pals? ~ Mar '13: Tokyo Disney w/PP's?
Hah! It looks like Donald is going for Tink, but doing the "are you watching me?" thing with Mark...
Beautiful pictures of the Grand Californian. It's always reminded me of the Wilderness Lodge (though it's more "Arts and Crafts" style according to Samantha Brown). Those who go to WDW regularly may disagree, but that's what I've always seen...
Aw, this is making me think back to our DisneyLand trip in Oct. 2003. I want to go back so bad. Can you believe my dad only lives 30 minutes from DL? And you're right, GC does look alot like WL. . . . . . Can't wait for more.
Glad you both got to CA and Mark wasn't detained in Chitown! As always your pictures are great! Your pictures from the Grand Californian brought back some nice memories. DH and I had to go there to check in for the repo cruise last August. We now know that a return trip to Disneyland will happen someday and hopefully soon!
It's kind of funny to see you guys unbundled after all the pics from Chicago and your DLP trip. And then Chicago was already Christmasy. I guess that way you didn't forget where you were!
It was definitely quite a change between the weather in the two cities!
Aw, this is making me think back to our DisneyLand trip in Oct. 2003. I want to go back so bad. Can you believe my dad only lives 30 minutes from DL? And you're right, GC does look alot like WL. . . . . . Can't wait for more.
Wow, the Grand Californian Hotel looks beautiful! I love the WL at WDW so this hotel would be right up my alley. I hope we'll get to stay there once the DVC units are finished. The Halloween decorations at the Disneyland Park are great, too! I love the Mickey pumpkins Can't wait to read more about your DL part of your trip.
Monday 27 October – part two: a very surreal ride on the Storybook Canal Boats!
We walked up to see how far we could get and they were herding everyone in front of the castle, so with 20 minutes to opening, we decided to head back down Main Street and got in line to see Mickey in his Halloween costume. We timed it well, as we were the last ones before they cut the line. And didn’t we know that over the next 20 minutes or so… the poor Cast Member ad to repeat that continuously to everyone who tried to get in line behind us. Sometimes, people got it the first time, but sometimes, it took 10 or more goes to get the message across.
Once we had had our photos with Mickey, we headed as fast as we could up Main Street and we didn’t do too badly, with getting to the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage within a reasonable timescale. By the time we got in line, it was showing a 15 minute wait, which was good going. About halfway through the line, we saw Karen, Zack and Sharon ahead of us. My goodness, they must’ve raced over here!
The wait was probably about 15 minutes and there was lots to see on the way, with the submarines going out and the new monorail above us, along with the seagulls with their famous “mine, mine, mine” line.
One of the new monorails
And when we got on board, we were in for a real treat. Words just cannot describe how good this attraction is. It also goes on for a lot longer than I expected it to. The way they have Nemo and his friends underwater is just breathtaking and I lost count of how many times I said “wow” during this. You each sit on a seat facing one way or the other and I guess you get the same experience both ways. In front of you is your own porthole and you lean forward to see everything. As I say, words fail me to describe it much more, except to say that if you come to Disneyland, this ride is on that you simply must do.
When we came off, we met up with Karen, then Sharon and then, the biggest shock of all, Zack. Oh my goodness, we couldn’t believe how tall he’s grown since we last him two and a half years ago.
We headed for the Storybook Canal Boats, which I knew delighted Mark and Zack, but actually it was the funniest ride ever, thanks to our guide. Let’s just say we all came there feeling that perhaps he had a little too much pixie dust for breakfast! His voice really went up and down and just cracked us up. Zack did such a great impression of him.
Mark showing just how much he’s enjoying this ride!
When we came off there, we went our different ways. We were going to go on Alice in Wonderland, but it was showing a 20 minute wait and, with 25 minutes until lunch at 11.40, I thought that might be cutting it a bit too fine. So instead, we went round the corner and almost walked on Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, which was a lot of fun, but my goodness, it was hot in the final couple of scenes.
Another ride with no wait was Pinocchio’s Daring Journey, so we went on that next and were able to have a car to ourselves, it was so quiet.
From there, we started to head towards the Blue Bayou, stopping off not long after we got into Frontierland to look at Woody’s Halloween area, which was a lot of fun. I got some photos of the lovely cow there and then we spotted the carved pumpkins, which were awesome. They had Eeyore, which first caught my eye, unsurprisingly, Goofy, Mickey and Minnie and other characters, as you can see.
Next: the Haunted Mansion will never be the same again! :
Wonderful, wonderful pics! They really capture the fun we've had on our recent DL trips. And I agree about the GC - while we have really enjoyed the DL Hotel, the GC captures the experience of a WDW resort - perhaps a cross-between WL (for the architecture) and the GF (for the level of luxury).
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I want to go back so bad. Can you believe my dad only lives 30 minutes from DL? 
And you're right, GC does look alot like WL. . . . . . Can't wait for more. 
Danny and I at Epcot 8/14/08
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