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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 Coast to Coast Christmas Phase Two – Disneyland December 17 – 21, 2011, Disneyland Hotel
Visiting Disney at Christmas time is one of my very favorite things. In fact, I consider it a “must do.” Ever since my very first visit during the holiday season, back in 2005, it’s been a tradition for me to go to WDW. But this year, I decided I wanted to see what Disneyland was like at Christmas. One problem: I didn’t want to give up my trip to WDW. So what’s the solution? Come on, like you don’t know. This is me we’re talking about!
So now I had to choose dates for two Disney vacations. Luckily, that part was fairly easy. One day my BFF, Eileen (Caldercup) sent me a message that a CLQ trip was being planned, my presence was required and the dates were not negotiable. Or something like that. Well then, that takes care of that! I didn’t have to think any longer about when to go to WDW. In fact, I didn’t do a thing in the planning of the trip. My job was just to show up.
That left me with plenty of time to plan for my very first trip to Disneyland during the Christmas season. I wanted to visit before Christmas and be home to celebrate with my family, and I wanted some time at home leading up to Christmas, so I decided to choose December 17 – 21. I also invited my BFF Karen (zacksmom_1993) to join me, being that she lives in California and will be celebrating her 40th birthday on December 20, it was a no brainer.
I’m going to stop here (momentarily). Obviously, with one WDW trip and one DL trip, I need to post each in the appropriate spot. If you’re going to read along with both of them, and I hope you will , you don’t want to read my ramblings more than once (unless you’re crazy), so what I’ve posted so far is the same in both. The next post will be specific to the trip it’s in. Got it? I feel like that was a lot more complicated than I meant it to be. Don’t go away!
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.
After selecting my dates, I figured I should choose where to stay. I thought it would be nice to stay at the new Villas at the Grand Californian, but by the 7-month window, they were full. Well, they were full for Saturday night and Monday night. There’s no way I was going to change rooms every night, so I waitlisted. I have no luck with the waitlist, so of course it never came through.
Then I decided to stay paying cash at the Disneyland Hotel. Why the Disneyland Hotel? Well, believe it or not, it’s my favorite. It’s so Disney (without being in-your-face) and it’s got Walt’s fingerprints on it. Plus! They’re in the final stages of a huge refurb, which looks AWESOME. I can’t wait to see it!
I checked flights on Southwest. I considered for a moment flying a different airline where I could get a non-stop flight, but I didn’t want to give up the convenience of the small airport near me, and I felt like a layover would help break up a fairly long flight. I checked rates for both LAX and John Wayne Airport, and surprisingly, John Wayne Airport was actually cheaper. I would’ve been willing to pay a little more for convenience, but now I didn’t have to! My layover both ways is in Chicago, so I’ll wave to all those Chicago PPers out there!
I mentioned that Karen would be celebrating her 40th birthday, so obviously, she’s joining me. And we couldn’t celebrate without her son Zack, so he’ll be with us too! In the early stages of planning, I got a PM from Heather (ilovedisney247) asking my opinion. She was thinking about doing the ABD Backstage Magic trip and wanted to know if I’d recommend it. Well, sure! Except. I think the tour is absolutely fabulous, but I really think you need to experience regular Disneyland a little more than it allows you. Much of it is backstage, only-on-the-tour stuff. Because it would be Heather’s first DL trip, I told her she should either add a few more days on her own after the ABD to experience DL or just do DL on her own. And it just so happened that the dates she was looking at were the same as mine. That gave her another excuse to skip the ABD! But she ended up not losing out entirely on the ABD experience, which you’ll know from her TR (which you’ve been reading, of course!).
I had a number of things on my must do list, and right at the top of it was the World of Color show. My last visit was two weeks before the soft opening. I was on an ABD trip and they told us they had a surprise for us, which I was hoping would be a special showing of WOC, but it wasn’t. Of course, getting into the Dream Suite was a pretty cool consolation prize.
I know it can be challenging finding a decent spot for WOC, so I wanted to book the dinner package. It’s available at both Ariel’s Grotto and the Wine Country Trattoria. I’d eaten at Ariel’s Grotto before and enjoyed it, but I ended up choosing the Wine Country Trattoria. I wanted to try something new, and Zack is a vegetarian and I thought the one lone vegetarian option on the WCT menu looked a little better than the one lone vegetarian option on the AG menu.
I also booked us on the Holiday Tour on Karen’s birthday. It’s a couple of hours long and tours the decorations in the park. Plus, you also get priority access to both Haunted Mansion Holiday and it’s a small world holiday. And perhaps the best benefit is a special seating area for the Christmas Fantasy Parade (including actual seats ). That should be a lot of fun. Karen had actually booked it on her birthday last year, but it was rained out. I’ve promised to try to work my weather mojo for her this time.
We had a few other meals to think about. I really wanted to try breakfast at the Plaza, because I’ve never done that one before. Karen wanted to try Steakhouse 55. Heather didn’t really have any particular requests (though she’s staying longer than we are, so she’ll have a chance to try something on her own (which should totally be Napa Rose, just sayin’)). I’ve done a meal at Goofy’s Kitchen on every DL trip I’ve taken so far, and that’s as close as I’ll ever get to a tradition, but I decided I didn’t really need to do it again this time. Karen had good things to say about dinner at Storytellers Café, so we’re doing that. I’ve done breakfast there a few times, but this’ll be my first dinner there.
I also had a moment of inspiration when thinking about dining at DL. There wasn’t a lot there to get me really excited (after Club 33, everything else seems kind of mundane ). The things I was most looking forward to were mostly snacks. So I figured I’d make this trip all about the fun food options that are either exclusively at Disneyland (like Mickey-shaped beignets for example) or that are seasonal (like the yule log cake). I’ve got a pretty good list going, but if anyone out there has a particular treat they can recommend, I’d love to hear about it!
A few weeks ago, I got a PM from Dlandmom2 and I hope to be able to have a PPer meet with her. I’m not bringing my laptop, so there won’t be real live updates to this, but I do plan to pop in a few times to post a quick update. And you can read about the Walt Disney World portion of the trip here. That part's already over and the TR is underway.
__________________
Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
Have a wonderful trip, looking forward to reading all about it when you return. Curious to know what your thoughts will be regarding the holiday fireworks in comparison to Magic Kingdom fireworks. If you haven't seen it before, Small World is nicely decorated for Christmas. It's been cold here this last week, hope it warms up some before you all arrive.
Sounds like a great DL trip in the making. DL was my first taste of Mickey and Walt at the ripe ole age of 10mos (I think) I know I could stand up because my mom has a pic of my on IASW and I am standing in the seat holding the rail in front of us. I love, love, love it. I can't wait to take my girls to see where mommy got her addiction!!!
It all sounds perfect! It's great that you'll be there for Karen's birthday and for Heather's trip as well. I hope you get to have a meet with Jeannie, too-- I'm hoping to meet her next summer.
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.
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.
Y'all are going to have so much fun!! I agree that the dining options at DL are much more limited. Naples has become a favorite for us (in the 2 whole times that we've traveled west for our Disney fix).
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.
About This Page: 
Come on, like you don’t know. This is me we’re talking about! 
Luckily, that part was fairly easy. One day my BFF, Eileen (Caldercup) sent me a message that a CLQ trip was being planned, my presence was required and the dates were not negotiable. Or something like that. 
I wanted to visit before Christmas and be home to celebrate with my family, and I wanted some time at home leading up to Christmas, so I decided to choose December 17 – 21. I also invited my BFF Karen (zacksmom_1993) to join me, being that she lives in California and will be celebrating her 40th birthday on December 20, 
it was a no brainer.
, you don’t want to read my ramblings more than once (unless you’re crazy), so what I’ve posted so far is the same in both. The next post will be specific to the trip it’s in. Got it? I feel like that was a lot more complicated than I meant it to be. Don’t go away!
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
There’s no way I was going to change rooms every night, so I waitlisted. I have no luck with the waitlist, so of course it never came through.
My layover both ways is in Chicago, so I’ll wave to all those Chicago PPers out there! 
I think the tour is absolutely fabulous, but I really think you need to experience regular Disneyland a little more than it allows you. Much of it is backstage, only-on-the-tour stuff. Because it would be Heather’s first DL trip, I told her she should either add a few more days on her own after the ABD to experience DL or just do DL on her own. And it just so happened that the dates she was looking at were the same as mine. That gave her another excuse to skip the ABD! But she ended up not losing out entirely on the ABD experience, which you’ll know from her TR (which you’ve been reading, of course!).
I was on an ABD trip and they told us they had a surprise for us, which I was hoping would be a special showing of WOC, but it wasn’t. 
Liz 
Can't wait to hear all about it! 
PassPorter Guide Author
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