Disneyland December 2013-First Disney Adventure as a parent! - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Home Base in Anaheim: 3+ BR vacation rental (airbnb) with pool, hot tub, outdoor kitchen and dining area. 1.5 mi to DL main gate. 6 nights. 4 day park hopper passes.
Me (36) - Mother to one, wife to one. Confirmed Disney parks junky, but somewhat in remission. This is my first trip since 2007.
DH (49) - A penny pincher. Has never been to a Disney Park but has worked in theme parks in Korea (Lote World) and Japan (Huis Ten Bosche) as a juggler/stilt walker. Originally was going to stay home, but he's going along for the ride 'cause he wants to go to Tiajuana to get his tooth repaired for cheap. States he might go to the park one day, but isn't making any promises.
DS (5) - Excited but does not know what to expect.
DMom - (64) Lives in Eugene also. Had her knee replaced last summer. Likes Disneyland. Went once as a kid (from Oregon), took us to DL 2 times as kids, and then took my sister and I without DDad to WDW when we were 19 and 21.
DDad - (63) As much a junky as me, and in the same ways. Splurged on the rental house. An extreme running enthusiast, likes to live the good life (see rental house description!)
Dsis - (34) A junky like me. Has been to parks more times than I have. She planned this trip, and is our unquestioned leader, at least to start off.
DBIL - (36) A good sport, along for the ride.
DNeph - (6) Excited too. First trip to a Disney Park. He and DS have a cousin rivalry going that can erupt. This is my biggest concern for the trip.
Up Next: The trip report!
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Themed environment junkie
Last edited by KimmyAnn1147; 02-12-2014 at 10:59 AM..
OK, I'm not a photographer, I can't stand to carry more than I need, and I have never got in the habit of taking pics. Last night I had my dad put his pictures on a thumb drive. I'm of to figure out how to resize and hopefully post a few with a part 1 TR this morning.
Update: OK, what do you all use to resize photos? Photobucket requires a million clicks, tinypic makes me watch a video ad before resizing? Ack!!! I think I'll have to start the TR without photos.
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Themed environment junkie
Last edited by KimmyAnn1147; 02-13-2014 at 10:07 AM..
DH, DS and I left our SIL's house on Friday after thanksgiving (in Portand) and drove the 2 hrs south back to Eugene. Plan was to leave with DMom and Dad EARLY Sat morning, so we were already all packed and ready to go before we went north for the holiday. Arrived at DMom and Dads, had a quick night's sleep, and the next morning at 4am the 5 of us piled into DMom's Prius, and we hit I-5! We stopped in Weed, CA for gas and snacks. This place is a favorite photo destination for college kids (guess why?) and the weather is always great, with a nice view of Mt. Shasta. We bought some fruit and cheese and such, piled back in, and continued on.
After a few bathroom and quick play breaks, and a whole lot of Angry Birds and Cut the Rope...we arrived at Dfriend Debbie's house (Fresno) in time for dinner. Here we met up with DSis, DBIL and DNeph, who had gone via San Fran a day earlier. Debbie graciously put us all up at her place. We had a pleasant early night and were up and at 'em again at 6 the next morning. DH hopped in the car with DSis's family and we all headed South.
GRAPEVINE: Those who have traveled to LA via I-5 South will know what I mean. Once you come out of the San Joaquin and start climbing the Grapevine, it's like you are already there. For me, there is nothing more exciting than seeing those mounains get closer and closer and all of a sudden you are climbing and you know it's real. YOU ARE GOING TO DISNEYLAND AND YOU ARE ALMOST THERE!!!!!!
We arrived in Anaheim at about 2pm. Check in time at our vacation rental (private home just south of DL) was 4, so we found Stoddard Park on 9th st thanks to google maps. DSis and I were responsible for food, as Mom and Dad were covering the cost of the rental. We left the rest at the park headed to the Food 4 Less on Katella. We got all the fixings we needed, including margarita mix and tequila (thank you for having liquor in the grocery stores, California!) and headed back to the park. Just a little more time there and we were ready to check in.
Two folks drove the 2 vehicles, and the rest of us walked in the glorious Anaheim sunshine the 3 blocks to the rental, on Robert Lane off Wakefield, a short 1.5 miles to the entrance gates and just a few blocks to the delightful palm-lined walks of Disneyland Drive.
You've made it! As far as resizing photos goes, I cannot for the life of me remember what programme I downloaded to do that. I used to use Photobucket, which I use to store my photos for my trip reports, but they made resizing so difficult. Sorry I can't help any more with that.
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