The Walt Disney World/Disneyland Double Dip Trip! - UPDATED 7/11 w/FINAL THOUGHTS - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
The Walt Disney World/Disneyland Double Dip Trip! - UPDATED 7/11 w/FINAL THOUGHTS
The Walt Disney World/Disneyland Double Dip Trip February 17 – March 4, 2007
Hmm … where shall I begin? This is a vacation in two parts. I’ll start with the WDW portion.
Walt Disney World in February is an annual trip for me. My parents have a timeshare at Mystic Dunes in Kissimmee that they use every year at this time. They always invite me to come along, which I appreciate very much. I always do all the planning for it, which they appreciate very much. My DB and his family live in Tampa and they usually drop in for at least a portion of the trip. That’s really all there is to say about that.
Here’s the roster for the WDW portion:
Me, PrincessSharon DF Ed DM Mable DB Eric and DSIL Jackie, who live in Tampa, will make a brief appearance DN Brooke, 15, will be around a bit longer DN Erica, who will be turning 19 during the trip, will make a special appearance
So where does Disneyland fit in? Well, just before my April 2006 solo trip, I was searching the Backyard board for meets and stumbled upon loobyoxlip’s post about a possible girls trip to Disneyland. Well, it didn’t take long for me to decide I wanted in! When the dates were set, it was official: I would be hitting both U.S. Disney parks in one long trip!
The PassPorter Girls Disneyland Trip officially begins on February 27. Look for a lot of action on the Disneyland TR boards very soon! And let me say right now that the final roster is loaded with a bunch of awesome TR writers! I’m excited just to read the TRs.
The Official PassPorter Girl Trippers are
Tina (loobyoxlip) Dawn (DawnDenise) Janine (FanOfMickey) Terri (DrDolphin) Sarah (DopeyGirl) and her DD Emilie Crystal (crystalloubear) and her DH Doug (who may or may not be wearing a dress ) Robin (RobinKay6573) Cindy (Lumieregirl) Liz (EmpressLizBunny) Eileen (Caldercup) Karen (zacksmom_1993) and yours truly
Sounds like fun, huh? I have NO doubt that it will be! As much as I love my family, I vacation with them a lot, so I’m looking forward to the DL part a bit more. OK, a lot more. I’ll probably come back with a sore face and split sides from laughing so much.
Up Next: Making Plans
__________________
Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
Woo-hoo...didn't even have to wait more than a day for the end of one TR and the beginning of another! Sounds like you girls will have a blast!
danielle
__________________
~Shoot for the moon, if you miss, you will land among the stars~
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Ok, I was jealous enough about the Disneyland trip and now you're going to Disneyworld too?? Well at least when I read your trip report I'll feel like I'm tagging along!! That is quite a list of characters joining you on both your trips!! Definitely can't wait to read all about it!!!
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
I'm so excited for another Sharon TR!!! I recently finished your last one and look forward to hearing all about your adventures with your family and the PP girls. Can't wait to hear about your plans.
If you think there’s a lot to do when planning a trip to Walt Disney World, try planning for both Walt Disney World and Disneyland at once. Throw San Diego in the mix and it gets even more complicated! I decided that since there was a bit of a gap between the end of my WDW stay and the start of the Girls Trip, I would squeeze in a trip to San Diego, a city I’ve wanted to visit for a very long time.
Planning for the WDW part was easy. I had my resort taken care of (Mystic Dunes, thanks to the parents), and I have an AP (though it would have to be renewed halfway through the week). My DDE card is good through the end of May, so no worries there. I didn’t have to do much research because I already know most everything about WDW. (Boy did that sound conceited – I didn’t mean it to!) I did have to find out park hours (off property, so no EMH), plan out which park on which days, then make my ADRs.
When I learned about the new Pirate and Princess Party, I got a ticket for that. I still haven’t decided whether I want to be a or a , but I’ve got my “Pirate Princess” Mickey ears. I’ve heard good things about the Party, so I’m looking forward to it.
Because we’re staying off property, we’ll need a rental car, so I took care of that. When it was time to book airfare, I got that done without much trouble. I had free tickets to use on Southwest (thanks in large part to my BOGO trip in April), so that one was easy (on the wallet anyway). I had to book three separate one way tickets for myself, and two round trip tickets for the parents. DM converted her AMEX rewards points and they got free flights too.
I needed to book a hotel in San Diego. That one was easy too. I get an employee discount at Loews Coronado Bay Resort, which is in Coronado (obviously). I just had to wait until 90 days ahead to see if there was availability. When the 90-day mark arrived, I booked it and that was set.
I definitely wanted to see the San Diego Zoo, Balboa Park, and the Maritime Museum, and I wanted to do a Harbor Cruise, so I did a lot of research and ended up getting a San Diego Passport. The Passport has a ticket for either Old Town Trolley Tours or SEAL Tour, admission to the San Diego Zoo, admission to the San Diego Museum of Art, admission to the Maritime Museum, a one or two hour Hornblower Cruise on two consecutive days, $10 off at San Diego Wild Animal Park, $2 off a whale watching cruise, $6 off admission to Legoland (and a free child admission) as well as some other restaurant discounts. So my itinerary will revolve around the stuff in the Passport.
I’ll be having dinner on Saturday with fellow Girl Trippers Terri, Sarah and Emilie, and Crystal and Doug since they are visiting San Diego (and Los Angeles) before DL. Our time in San Diego overlaps, so we’re meeting up.
Planning the Disneyland portion was somewhere in the middle of those two extremes. I’d been to Disneyland recently, so there wasn’t as much research involved. Having the Disneyland PassPorter for this trip helped a lot too. (By the way, I wish I could get a double-wide PassPorter Deluxe binder.)
Because I plan to drive to Anaheim from San Diego, I rented a car. I’ll return the car once I get to Disneyland and use the airport shuttle to get back. Many of the Girl Trippers wanted to stay at the Grand Californian. I’d stayed there before and loved it, so that was good for me. Karen and Eileen invited me to room with them and it took a lot of arm twisting and begging to convince me.
I considered getting an AP until I learned of an amazing deal for a 5-day park hopper and got that instead (Everyone plays for the kid’s price). It was only $159 for a 5-day Park Hopper Bonus Ticket. (The AP is $229 with blackout dates.) The ticket came with a coupon for 20% off a purchase of $100 or more (which I’ll have no trouble meeting) at many DL gift shops, including WOD, where I’m planning to use it. We made some plans for meals together as a group, and most of us are taking the Walk in Walt’s Footsteps tour. Tina and Karen took care of making the phone calls. ladies! I was disappointed to learn that quite a few attractions will be down for refurbishment, but that’s one of the drawbacks of the off-season.
Up Next: The Itinerary
__________________
Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
About This Page: 
The Walt Disney World/Disneyland Double Dip Trip! - UPDATED 7/11 w/FINAL THOUGHTS
My DB and his family live in Tampa and they usually drop in for at least a portion of the trip. That’s really all there is to say about that.
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
or a 
ladies! I was disappointed to learn that quite a few attractions will be down for refurbishment, but that’s one of the drawbacks of the off-season.
Linear Mode
