Free Disneyland Paris tickets? On y va! COMPLETED - Page 36 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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A nice, uneventful trip home-- just the way a travel day should be. I love Mark's warning to the birds. I do appreciate that you made this TR last a lot longer than the trip! Thanks!
Good luck with all the pre-trip tasks. Looking forward so much to seeing you both next month!
Can't wait! And how cool that we can now say that!
I'm sad your trip has come to an end, but I can't wait to hear about the next one. The boy in the background of one of your pics kneeling on the chair, is he the one that hit you? The meal looks bad, but the characters look fun.
I'm sad your trip has come to an end, but I can't wait to hear about the next one. The boy in the background of one of your pics kneeling on the chair, is he the one that hit you? The meal looks bad, but the characters look fun.
He's the one you can see as Dale moves in towards me....
I will be honest and say now that I wasn’t planning on having any final thoughts on this trip report, but the more days I was posting it, I realised that it was a pretty substantial trip and it didn’t seem right not to wrap it up properly so now, a few weeks on, I’ll attempt to do that to the best of my abilities.
As always, Eurotunnel continues to be a very enjoyable way to travel to continental Europe, although we were surprised by how busy it seemed to be this time. I guess maybe its popularity is increasing, which is no bad thing for the company…
Again, as we always comment, the drive to Disneyland Paris is more painful than we remember. It’s about three and a bit hours, but for much of that time, there isn’t much to see, and that’s what we say every time we do it. The weather on our departure day didn’t help, and was certainly a nasty shock to the system, given that the forecasters didn’t believe Northern France would get rain that afternoon. The drive back was better, but as I say, it’s never going to be a whole heap of fun, and it is a lot to do in just three days. I think we’d ideally want at least another day in the future in between the long drive from and to home.
I’d read some very good reviews of our hotel, and it certainly lived up to those. I had no complaints whatsoever about the room, the breakfast or the location, which was just perfect for the station, and very easy to get to Disneyland Paris. I wouldn’t hesitate to stay here again, especially as it’s so much cheaper than the Disneyland Paris resorts. Catching the train was very straightforward and not that expensive.
Full kudos to Sky, our TV provider. I know we pay a fair bit for their satellite TV service each month, but when you get deals like this, it’s worth it. I was very sceptical about whether the tickets were genuine and until we actually had them in our hands, I remained sceptical. I was very happy when my scepticism was proved mis-founded! It allowed us to have a wonderful, albeit very long, day in both parks.
The Disneyland Park was decked out just as wonderfully for Halloween as it had been in previous years, which was a definite bonus, as that was one of the main reasons for deciding to visit when we did. I just wish the American parks would do something along these lines as well. Sigh.
The Studios, by comparison, did look a little dull, and the Toy Story Playland addition really didn’t do much for me at all. It seems like a lost opportunity. Let’s just hope that their next addition of the much rumoured Ratatouille dark ride doesn’t fall into that category, as that sounds like exactly what this park needs.
So what of our time in the parks? Well, it was certainly a long day, and sadly too long for us to enjoy the night-time show, which was a shame, but we definitely made the best of it! Ironically, one of the highlights for me was what happened on Pirates of the Caribbean, as that gave us a unique chance to see backstage, without any Cast Member telling us not to take photos. What a treat that was! I was also pleased we got to enjoy some of our favourite unique attractions, such as Alice’s Curious Labyrinth, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, Stitch Live!, Animagique and Cinemagique. We may not have been on much, but what we did get on were some of the rides we really come here for. Stitch Live! in particular was just superb. I just loved the way he picked on Mark and Mark picked back on Stitch. A real classic!
As far as dining went, this trip was the first that I genuinely felt wowed by the food, and that was at Walt’s. Up until now, we’ve had very nice meals, but then again, this is France, and I don’t just expect nice meals, I expect to be blown away by the cuisine! I would return to Walt’s in a heartbeat, it was just such a wonderful experience, and a great way to spend the evening. Agrabah Café was also a great revelation, the only disappointment being the food at Café Mickey, although at least the characters helped to partially make up for that!
I loved the changes they’ve made to the Disney Village, and especially the arrival of the new World of Disney store. Wow, what a beautiful place that is! Unfortunately, the one downside is that it now does make the rest of the complex look a little tatty by comparison. As we walked through it, I couldn’t help but think that really this is in dire need of a major makeover, as it’s looking tired and old, which is a great shame.
The weather did play its part in this trip, with the continuous rain for much of the day on the Saturday, and then the glorious day we had on the Sunday. If only they could’ve been reversed!
All in all, it was a wonderful break, and I say this every time we go, but Disneyland Paris grows on us a little bit more with every visit. It’s never going to have the same place in our heart as say Florida or California and a lot of that has to do with where they located it. Anywhere where you get a lot of rain and cold weather just isn’t going to endear it with me as a perfect Disney park.
However, with the arrival of the new area in the Studios in 2014, I hope we will head back then to see what that’s like. It certainly sounds like a good addition to me and I can’t wait to try it for myself!
Thanks for a wonderful trip report, Chez! I'm glad you had a great short trip. I agree that the weather is a major drawback - I'd take the Florida sun at WDW over the rain at DLP any day
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Thank you so much for taking us along on your weekend trip to DLP. I thoroughly enjoyed all of your wonderful descriptions and photos! You have helped to bring back so many happy memories.
I look forward to your next TR!
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"Esprits et fantômes sur vos fièrs destriers, Escortez dans la nuit la belle fiancée." -- Madame Leota in Phantom Manor, DL Paris
Thanks for a wonderful trip report, Chez! I'm glad you had a great short trip. I agree that the weather is a major drawback - I'd take the Florida sun at WDW over the rain at DLP any day
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I wish we could say we'll be there Friday night, but I guess I'll have to be content with WDW three weeks on Thursday! 
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I do appreciate that you made this TR last a lot longer than the trip! Thanks!
And how cool that we can now say that! 
so now, a few weeks on, I’ll attempt to do that to the best of my abilities. 
The weather on our departure day didn’t help, and was certainly a nasty shock to the system, given that the forecasters didn’t believe Northern France would get rain that afternoon. 
The drive back was better, but as I say, it’s never going to be a whole heap of fun, and it is a lot to do in just three days. I think we’d ideally want at least another day in the future in between the long drive from and to home. 
What a treat that was! I was also pleased we got to enjoy some of our favourite unique attractions, such as Alice’s Curious Labyrinth, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, Stitch Live!, Animagique and Cinemagique. We may not have been on much, but what we did get on were some of the rides we really come here for. Stitch Live! in particular was just superb. I just loved the way he picked on Mark and Mark picked back on Stitch. A real classic! 
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