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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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After saving up points for a while, we are finally set to embark on an extended trip to France. We'll be two weeks in Paris (with my mom), then we'll travel through the Loire, Brittany, and Normandy, before flying to Amsterdam. DLP was not on the agenda for this trip, but I have succumbed to its siren call. I am rationalizing this decision as a nice Christmas gift for mater mea.
I have booked one night for my mom and I at the Hotel Cheyenne (hubs will stay behind in Paris) on a Monday night. Their new Texas rooms with the trundle bed look quite nice, and we'll have three beds if the spouse decides he wants to join us after all (a full is too small for us to want to share ). I bought two one park mini tickets on the UK site today (saved 22 dollars because the dollar is strong against the pound - minus a couple bucks to send them for printing on A4 paper at FedEx).
I think we will end up with two longish half days at DLP. Will probably buy another one day ticket for each of us, and take advantage of early entry on day two. Any strategies or tips?
Please also offer suggestions for dinner and eating in the parks. Is the Wild West show worth seeing? Any park eateries worth paying for? Thanks for any and all advice. It is our first time in France.
Oh wow, what an amazing trip you have planned - you'll love everywhere you're going to be visiting.
As far as Disneyland Paris goes, if I'm reading your countdown right, you're going to be there in early November, which is good as the British schools have a week off at the end of October, so it shouldn't be too crowded.
As far as strategies go, the only thing I would say is that if you want to ride Ratatouille, get to the Studios when the park opens and get there are ride it immediately or snag a Fastpass. That's the one really huge ticket ride I can think of. Also, aim for the rides/attractions that are specific to Disneyland Paris and make sure to plan in things like the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean, as they're very different there.
We did the Wild West Show for the first time on our last trip and absolutely loved it. I would thoroughly recommend it, it was so much better than we expected. We also love Walt's in the Disneyland Park. We've had three or four dinners there now and it's always delivered and it's the same story for Inventions at the Disneyland Hotel.
What a fun trip you have planned! Disneyland Paris is both similar to and completely different from the parks in the U.S. Similar in that most of the rides and attractions are the same and, well, it's Disney Different in that you'll find some unique attractions, you'll hear a lot of French, and you may encounter some rude behavior around you.
Let's see, tips:
Prepare for bad weather! November in Europe is often cold and rainy so try not to let it spoil your fun.
Like Cheryl said, hit Ratatouille early!
Considering you only have two half days, I'd focus on the attractions that are unique to DLP.
Also, since this is your first trip to DLP and you don't have a ton of time, I'd probably skip the Wild West Show. I'd rather spend the extra money on a meal at Walt's, for example.
If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask!
Do Crush's Coaster FIRST!
Have supper at Walt's - it's cheaper than a full meal but you still get to experience the wonderful service.
Don't bother dining at Ludwig's (in Disney Village) as it's overpriced and offers poor service. McDonald's is a zoo - forget that too! Purchase a snack in the parks to eat on the walk back to your hotel.
If you want photos with the princesses - book a fastpass as soon as you enter the park - they go fast.
The Character Flight offers amazing views but wasn't open for our entire visit. Check back often if it's on your must do list.
Wild West show was worth the wait/price but we also had 5 kids with us last visit so it was more for them (adults in our group would not have bothered as we have similiar shows like this at home).
Have fun!
Thanks for the tips! I think we will do Walt's. I got a promo from Disney Visa, 4% back on certain bills until August 31. Paying our crazy expensive health insurance premium for 5 months will net me nearly 200 disney bucks. Walt's looks up our alley.
We should have two nearly full days. It is a short train ride from Paris. I will focus on differences.
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My mom's 70th birthday is tomorrow. Today she messaged me...super depressed...she was convinced all of her 5 (geographically disparate) children were going to plan a birthday party. Long story short, we didn't. My mom and I are separated by 3,000 miles, and honestly, birthday parties have never been a big thing, so I didn't even think that she'd want a party.
I told her we'd have a grand celebration in France, which is the next time we'll actually see each other. I'd already decided we'd go to Walt's for dinner. Is there anything special we can do at DL Paris to celebrate? Private tour? Cake? Etc?
Also, anyone who knows Paris...a great place to have a cake or similar delivered to our apartment (or picked up in 7ème arr.?) Thanks for any help. I hate to hear my mom so sad.
She does not know about DL Paris. I think I am going to wait until we get off the train there to surprise her.
I remembered they did cakes, but I couldn't remember any further details, so I did a search on the Disneyland Paris website and this is all I came with: http://www.disneylandparis.co.uk/faq...-celebrations/ It confirms what I thought, that you can get a birthday cake, but nothing about costs. There is an email address, so you might want to drop them an email?
I did order a birthday cake at DLP years ago (for Cheryl, actually ). Back then, I was able to order it as part of my vacation package (we stayed at a Disney resort). I'd probably just call DLP's English-speaking hotline and ask about it. The same advice goes for any guided tours you're interested in. DLP changes around what they offer but they should have general guided tours through the parks, for example. Hope this helps!
I did order a birthday cake at DLP years ago (for Cheryl, actually ). Back then, I was able to order it as part of my vacation package (we stayed at a Disney resort). I'd probably just call DLP's English-speaking hotline and ask about it. The same advice goes for any guided tours you're interested in. DLP changes around what they offer but they should have general guided tours through the parks, for example. Hope this helps!
Oh my gosh, of course you did! The funny thing was, as I was answering the question, I had something in the back of my brain saying "you've done this before" but I kept thinking it was me who'd ordered it and I know I hadn't. I genuinely didn't think of anyone ordering it for me, as I'm the planner and surprises like that usually don't happen to me!
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). I bought two one park mini tickets on the UK site today (saved 22 dollars because the dollar is strong against the pound - minus a couple bucks to send them for printing on A4 paper at FedEx).
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Different in that you'll find some unique attractions, you'll hear a lot of French, and you may encounter some rude behavior around you. 
The funny thing was, as I was answering the question, I had something in the back of my brain saying "you've done this before" but I kept thinking it was me who'd ordered it and I know I hadn't. I genuinely didn't think of anyone ordering it for me, as I'm the planner and surprises like that usually don't happen to me! 
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