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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Hi all! We are planning a trip to California in the spring and have Disneyland and San Diego penciled in. I'm hoping to explore 1-2 other cities or major attractions during the week and was hoping for some suggestions! Thanks
San Francisco has a WONDERFUL interactive science museum called The Exploratorium fun for kids and adults both. We had a tremendous time there doing all sorts of little experiments..
If you like garlic, The Stinking Rose--A Garlic Restaurant is both unusual and excellent. Most likely the only place you'll ever eat garlic ice cream which sounds disgusting but is deeeeelicious.
For dim sum, there's none better than Yank Sing. It is real dim sum with carts that circulate constantly. You may think you'll have only a few things, but everything looks and tastes so fabulous, you can easily spend 3-4 hours there. Save up for this one; it's a bit pricey but soooooo worth every buck. We ate there nearly twenty years ago and can still get each other drooling by mentioning the curried chicken stuffed avocado halves. There are no words to explain how incredibly fresh and delicious those avocados were!
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If you haven't been to Southern California before, I recommend a bus tour of Los Angeles, including Hollywood. That way, you'll see all the sites without battling the horrible traffic, plus you'll see things like stars' houses that you'd never find on your own. The tours are pretty reasonably priced, I thought.
If you haven't been to Southern California before, I recommend a bus tour of Los Angeles, including Hollywood. That way, you'll see all the sites without battling the horrible traffic, plus you'll see things like stars' houses that you'd never find on your own. The tours are pretty reasonably priced, I thought.
I was going to suggest that. It depends what else you fancy. Yosemite and San Francisco are great suggestions and of course San Francisco is home to the Walt Disney Family Museum, which is a must-see for any Disney fan.
However, there are other options and it also depends on the time of year you're visiting. One trip, we headed out to Palm Springs and saw the Joshua Tree National Park. Then we went on to Death Valley, which was amazing, before rounding out the trip in Vegas. It worked perfectly, as it was in December, so Death Valley wasn't too hot then. It really is a spectacular place.
If you're doing DL & San Diego, you'll be pretty far from San Francisco.
I'd recommend a trip to Catalina Island - you get there via ships sailing from Long Beach. Any of the beach towns in LA are fun - Venice has the most character, but we spent a lot of time in Santa Monica when we lived in LA. If you want to head up the coast just a little, I love Santa Barbara. Cambria was one of our favorite places to spend the weekend - go tide-pooling on Moonstone Beach!
Thanks so much for all the suggestions everyone! I think we are going to try to stretch it out to end the trip in San Fran! Any suggestions of where to stay in Santa Barbara? It seems to be one of the few areas out there without a plethora of Hilton product to choose from (and the two that are there are close to $300 a night which isn't worth it to me right now!)
We are going in early March if that helps any additional recommendations. I'm so excited that this trip is starting to come together!!
Right now here is what I have... I went a little planning crazy this morning
Thursday - arrive in San Diego
Friday - Sea World
Saturday - spend time with Jimmy's family who lives in Del Mar
Sunday - Long Beach? LA exploration day?
Monday - Disneyland (we did a day in Sept, this is just to see the 60th fireworks basically as we had to leave for the airport before them last time!)
Tuesday- Universal Hollywood
Wednesday - Santa Barbara/Vineyard Tours
Thursday - Drive up the coast/Hearst Castle/Big Sur
Friday - Monterey Bay Aquarium
Saturday - San Fran/Walt Disney Family Museum
Sunday - fly home
I'd seriously allow more than one day for Disneyland, unless you've been loads of times before. Two days, for me, would be a minimum. Apart from that, it looks good...
If it were up to me and me alone we'd have 3 days at Disneyland, but that just isn't the case. We did manage to get a LOT in in September, so it will be a full day in the parks but it will be okay if we miss one or two things, just not the fireworks
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It depends what else you fancy. Yosemite and San Francisco are great suggestions and of course San Francisco is home to the Walt Disney Family Museum, which is a must-see for any Disney fan. 
Hearst Castle/San Simeon!!
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