A 40th celebration to end the world! COMPLETED 6/24 - Page 64 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Thursday 27 December – part one: I don’t think Warner Bros is a good idea today…
After a late night last night, it’s perhaps no surprise that we didn’t even surface until after 6:30am. Mark did ask if I wanted to go to Warner Bros, but at that point, we had an hour before we needed to be there, and according to my notes, it was a 45 minute drive. No, I think that’s far too tight. Ok, so we lost the money we paid for it, but I think the most important thing was having Mark in a fit state. We decided sticking close to the resort today would be the best plan.
We texted Mari quite early on, as she’d told us last night if we were here to let her know, as she could come and join us. She asked how long we’d be in the parks, and we said we’d be there “for much of the morning”. Little did we know…
We headed out at around 7:45am…
…. and entered the California Adventure through the Grand Californian entrance, getting some photos of the park on the way.
We got a Photopass pic done…
… and paused to hear the opening of the park, before crossing the plaza into the Disneyland Park.
When we got into Town Square, there was a multitude of vintage vehicles, just waiting to take us to the castle, so what would you do? Well, heck of course, we jumped on to one!
We got some photos of the castle all decked out for Christmas…
… and then got a Photopass shot done, although I was squinting in the sun.
Then we headed through the castle…
… and into Fantasyland.
My first order of business was to ride Alice in Wonderland, as that had been insanely busy yesterday, and I wanted to make sure I got a ride on it before we left. Mark wasn’t going to risk this, after yesterday.
Even at this hour of the morning, it was already a 5-10 minute wait, which is a lot for this. It’s so much fun to do.
Next: the Matterhorn doesn’t seem to be very well…
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Good idea to skip going to Warner Brothers and staying around the hotel. Nice to get in some Fantasyland rides before the crowds build up. Beautiful early-morning shots of Main Street!
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Sounds like a good choice to stay close to your resort. I just love DL's Fantasyland! So charming. Glad you got the Alice ride in, it's so much fun!
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Dinner at Steakhouse 55 looked great! It sounds like you made the right decision to stay close to the resort today. Glad you were able to get on the Alice in Wonderland ride!
Thursday 27 December – part two: the Matterhorn doesn’t seem to be very well…
I noticed when I got off that the Matterhorn was down, and Mark had already got some photos of it…
We figured, as we were in the area, we’d have a look into Mickey’s Toontown. Sadly I couldn’t talk Mark into another ride on this…
Sadly Toontown wasn’t open yet, which for the Christmas week I thought was very odd. Instead, we decided to take the Railroad round to New Orleans Square, which was very cool, as you get to go past It’s A Small World…
… then see the Grand Canyon and Primeval dioramas, which I love.
We passed through Main Street…
We got off at New Orleans Square and walked through this area of the park…
When we got off, our priority was breakfast, but there weren’t many options, which surprised me, considering you’ve opened up the park so early. We were directed to the River Belle Terrace, and as soon as I saw Mickey pancakes on the menu, and they were making them right of us, I just had to have one:
If you’re wondering what happened to his nose, it was a cherry, so I couldn’t have it…
Mark got the Mark Twain, which consisted of scrambled eggs, country style potatoes, bacon, and a biscuit:
We’d been texting with Mari since she said she’d be joining us, and we told her where we were, and just as we were finishing up breakfast, she met up with us.
When we were done eating, we headed out…
We thought about going on the Jungle Cruise, but the line was insane. It was saying 30 minutes already and it was only 9:45am.
Instead, we headed off to the hub to get some Photopass pics done:
We got some of our own shots as well…
We also saw the reason that the Matterhorn was down!
Sometimes just strolling around and soaking in the atmosphere is the best thing to do. Especially at DL/MK. Kind of strange that there wasn't much to choose from for breakfast - I always though DL had more to choose from for breakfast... oh well. A mickey pancake sounded like a good plan. Cute photopass pictures too!
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I agree that the my favorite thing to do at the parks is just to wander, and stop here and there for a closer look at things. This park is just so packed with detail, it's fantastic. Breakfast looks so yummy!
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I'm really surprised that Toontown wasn't open yet and there weren't many places open for breakfast. Your Mickey pancake looked so good That poor family stuck on the Matterhorn!
I'm getting caught up again, since I've been in WDW. Love the Alice in Wonderland ride! We have great memories there. I was reading "Vault of Walt" last night, which I know you've read too. I was at the part where Walt had his 30th anniversary celebration on the Mark Twain, for part of it. There it was in your TR!
Sorry Mark wasn't up to Warner Brothers! Great pictures from your morning in the park, and of Alice in Wonderland. It was down when we were there so I wasn't sure what we were missing! Cute!
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No, I think that’s far too tight. Ok, so we lost the money we paid for it, but I think the most important thing was having Mark in a fit state. 
We decided sticking close to the resort today would be the best plan. 
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Instead, we decided to take the Railroad round to New Orleans Square, which was very cool, as you get to go past It’s A Small World…
That poor family stuck on the Matterhorn!
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