National parks, natural beauty and a bit of Disney wonder! DISNEYLAND SECTION COMPLETED - Page 31 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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For a short trip to DL you fit so much in. What a wonderful stay and I loved all the pictures. Sorry that the Princess Meal was so overpriced and not so amazing. That is quite the steep price for a lunch...I liked the look and sound of your character breakfast much better, and it seems the interaction was better as well.
I saw the Aulani rooms at WDW - they really are beautiful (and the CM told us the balconies are bigger as well) but they did not let us take any pictures. One person took out her camera and the CM made us put them away. So glad you were able to get some shots. The one bedroom is beautiful.
It was so much fun walking around DLH with you! I'm really glad we did it as it took me to places I don't think I'd been before! As a local, I hardly ever walk through the resorts (in fact, I'd say it's been a good 10 years or more since I set foot in the Paradise Pier Hotel). The Big Thunder model was really interesting to look at.
The heat was definitely unrelenting that day. I remember complaining about the heat myself, and you and Mark both said that I should be used to it. Sure, I'm used to it, but that also means I would normally be finding a way to stay inside with a/c on days like that!
Even though we had a few hours together, it did go by too quickly. I would've loved to have spent more time with you, and hopefully we'll have that chance the next time you're in town. In the back of my head, I'm planning a trip with the kids to England some time in the next few years....
And as a slight hijack, my parents are visiting my brother in Hawaii right now. My bro was able to get a "Kamaina" (locals) rate at Aulani and got them a 1 night stay there to try out the hotel. He said the rooms seemed a little small, but everything looked great since it was brand new. He tried the two pool slides (one is just a body slide, the other you go down on a floatie) and really enjoyed them. He said there were character meet and greets in the lobby every few hours. The only restaurant he tried was for breakfast (of course he couldn't remember the name...guess I didn't train him well enough!), and he thought the buffet was good (he said it wasn't the character buffet restaurant) but a bit pricey (about $27). I asked him if he took pictures, but he was busy managing my 2 year old nephew, so he left the picture taking to my mom. My mom gets back later this week, so I'll have to find a way to get a hold of her pictures and post some when I can. He also complained about the daily parking rate of about $25-30.
By the way, he got the impression from the CM's that the resort was pretty booked, so I'm guessing the hotel's a hit so far.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
Sad that your DLR stay is over, but there's still so much to come! I'm hoping to meet up with Jeannie next summer-- she could have a full-time job greeting visiting PPers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
What a great job that would be!
Oh my goodness, I would LOVE that! Being a native Californian, I love my "home" Park and really enjoy sharing it with visitors. I hope I get to meet a lot more PPers when they visit! Laurie, I can't wait to see you next summer. Heather and Sharon, I'm looking in your directions as well, as I would love to meet you guys! By all means, anyone visiting DLR, let me know!
I can't wait to read about the rest of your trip, Cheryl, as I remember sitting at home after meeting you guys and wondering how you were enjoying the rest of your trip!
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It's always sad to leave Disney. But it's good to know you will soon step on floating Disney! Despite the heat, I think you guys sure made the best of it!
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I was hoping to stay there on the way home from Japan! I figured since I'd be passing right over it, I may as well give it a look. It will also break up what would be a really long flight home, especially considering the time difference!
I don't blame you. Obviously it won't be on our way home, so that's not an option for us...
I saw the Aulani rooms at WDW - they really are beautiful (and the CM told us the balconies are bigger as well) but they did not let us take any pictures. One person took out her camera and the CM made us put them away. So glad you were able to get some shots. The one bedroom is beautiful.
Wow, I'm really shocked by that. I've never heard of Disney doing anything like that before.
Even though we had a few hours together, it did go by too quickly. I would've loved to have spent more time with you, and hopefully we'll have that chance the next time you're in town. In the back of my head, I'm planning a trip with the kids to England some time in the next few years....
And as a slight hijack, my parents are visiting my brother in Hawaii right now. My bro was able to get a "Kamaina" (locals) rate at Aulani and got them a 1 night stay there to try out the hotel. He said the rooms seemed a little small, but everything looked great since it was brand new. He tried the two pool slides (one is just a body slide, the other you go down on a floatie) and really enjoyed them. He said there were character meet and greets in the lobby every few hours. The only restaurant he tried was for breakfast (of course he couldn't remember the name...guess I didn't train him well enough!), and he thought the buffet was good (he said it wasn't the character buffet restaurant) but a bit pricey (about $27). I asked him if he took pictures, but he was busy managing my 2 year old nephew, so he left the picture taking to my mom. My mom gets back later this week, so I'll have to find a way to get a hold of her pictures and post some when I can. He also complained about the daily parking rate of about $25-30.
By the way, he got the impression from the CM's that the resort was pretty booked, so I'm guessing the hotel's a hit so far.
Well, if those plans for a trip over here materialise into something more concrete, let us know and we can return the favour!
How great that your family are enjoying Aulani - I think I'd be complaining about that parking fee too. Thank goodness DVC members staying on points don't have to pay that, that's pretty steep.
As we're now at the end of our time in Disneyland, this trip report is moving over to the Globetrotting trip report forum to cover our time in Vancouver. Hope to see you all over there!
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I'm finally all finished with your Disneyland part of the trip. We didn't go on Splash Mt. last week, and after reading your report, I'm glad we didn't! Also, you were lucky, we didn't see any Photopass photographers in California Adventure. Ok, off to read the next part of your trip!
Finally all caught up here! You sure did accomplish a lot in your short time at DLR. I hope to get back there sometime soon. Moving over to Globetrotting now.
Just finished up your DL portion and I really enjoyed seeing all your pictures! My DH and I are hoping for a DL trip in 2013 when the construction is suppose to be totally completed by then. The monorail slide looks like a lot of fun! Love the pics of the new Aulani Hotel in Hawaii. Thanks for sharing them with us.
So I am pretty far behind. But enjoyed your report on Disneyland. A few comments:
I am wondering if all the extra red white and blue was due to 10 year 9/11 anniversary.
I was surprised by how many different rides there are at DL that aren't at WDW.. I'd love to get out there some day. BUT not sure if that'll happen or not.
GREAT photos! Cant wait to get to the next part... on my way now.
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So I am pretty far behind. But enjoyed your report on Disneyland. A few comments:
I am wondering if all the extra red white and blue was due to 10 year 9/11 anniversary.
I was surprised by how many different rides there are at DL that aren't at WDW.. I'd love to get out there some day. BUT not sure if that'll happen or not.
GREAT photos! Cant wait to get to the next part... on my way now.
That's certainly possible and something that I hadn't thought of. on getting out to Disneyland - every Disney park around the world has a variety of rides that are different to WDW, that's why it's worth experiencing every single one if you're able to.
Thanks so much for sharing, enjoyed reading your report and all your pictures. I just love the front door at Grand Cal, I just always have a hard time getting a good picture. Looking forward to reading the next portion of your trip.
Yes, I am a little late reading this. But I did enjoy the TR and all your wonderful pics (as always). We probably won't never go to DL, so I visited it through your TR. Thanks!
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Thank goodness DVC members staying on points don't have to pay that, that's pretty steep.
But enjoyed your report on Disneyland. A few comments:
on getting out to Disneyland - every Disney park around the world has a variety of rides that are different to WDW, that's why it's worth experiencing every single one if you're able to. 
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