A Cottage, an Opry, and a Fairy Tale 10 Years Long and on to Forever - Page 2 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I'm sitting here not quite able to sleep (guess that too-excited-to-sleep feeling isn't for Disney trips only) & oh-dark-stupid is about three hours away. My DH, of course is snoring away no trouble at all. At least we're ready to go so won't have to be running around last minute packing. We've said our goodbyes to our DS & DD for the next couple of days. I'm swaying between glad to be getting our first real get-away alone together in ten years & worrying about every little detail of what will happen while we're gone. Having to remind myself that Grandma can get them to/ from school & we are going to come home to two incredibly spoiled, sugared-up kids.
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We're back, and sure enough it took awhile to get our two spoiled & sugared up darlings to bed. It was a good trip & a bit of an adventure. We ended up adding a couple unplanned stops, but it was fun overall. I will be putting up a trip report once I've sorted through our pictures & figured out how to post some.
I can't wait to hear about your trip. We're heading to Nashville March 11th for a wedding and will be staying at the Opryland Hotel. Hope you enjoyed your trip!
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Here goes. Still no photos, but I will add those later.
Day 1 (Part 1) - Morning Comes too Soon
There is just one little problem with being too excited to sleep; I, at least, always fall asleep within an hour or two of leaving. My DH says I gave the stereo a good run for its money on volume with my snoring . Of course I do not believe I could possibly be that loud. He keeps threatening to record me, but never does. I think someone is exagerrating. He's the one who snores all night, every night, at home.
The first thing I remember from the road was being poked in the shoulder & told to get out of the car for breakfast. Our breakfast stop was Cracker Barrel, and we were both too to get any pictures of breakfast. I do remember that my DH had what they listed as Grandpa's breakfast with chicken fried steak, hash brown casserole, grits, biscuits, & gravy. I had bacon, hash brown casserole, & a blueberry muffin with plenty of butter.
Back on the road, we pushed straight on through until Nashville. I did not take any pictures as the entire route is farms, cows, horses, & more farms. Maybe an interesting barn or two, but not much of anything until you reach Nashville.
This is where our plans hit the first snag. We had planned on meeting up with the cottage owner earlier, but he was delayed until 3:00 pm. My itinerary didn't have anything in it not involving hiking the nature trails around the cottage until Monday. So, we fell back to the old reliable of picking up travel brochures at a local motel. Problem - sappy people on an anniversary trip get way too tangled up in "I'll do whatever you want to do." 45 minutes later, we settled on touring The Hermitage (the estate owned by President Andrew Jackson where he lived from his marriage until his election & to which he retired)
Now this brings us to our arrival at the cottage, and another adjustment in plans. As soon as I can get the photos loaded I'll post them. Will be back in a day or two for Day One Part Two - Best Laid Plans Go Awry
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I'm going preface this portion of the TR & the next few portions of it. A lot is going to go wrong in the next couple of posts. However, my DH & I just rode the wave & considered it as "Just Another Day in Paradise" (title of our song, performer Phil Vassar) While in shape this was not the trip I planned in substance this was exactly the vacation we wanted.
That being said, on with the trip report (still working on pictures)
We made it to the cottage thankful we had taken the time earlier to locate it (not exactly the world's easiest place to find) Check-in was a breeze but then we hit the next snag. The owner's wife checked us in & despite the owner's assurance we could cook dinner for ourselves in the cottage's kitchen, she was heavily leaning toward us not cooking.
No matter. We wanted to get out to the movies anyway. Winding up at the Opry Mills, first order of business was finding dinner. We had been so busy sight seeing we forgot to eat lunch. As is usual for us, though, we got distracted along the way. We had the unexpected opportunity of seeing a presentation from some up-and-coming country artists. Our favorite of the bunch was Dillon Dixon - father of the toddler in the backseat in the video "Boots On" Apparently he's a very successful songwriter in his own right but is trying to break into the business as a performer.
There's not going to be any pictures of dinner either, because we were too busy eating. It didn't help that it took us a while to decide. We passed on the dining "adventure" at the Aquarium as we were afraid that as seafood snobs we would be disappointed in the food. We've travelled quite a few times to Savannah to meet up with my DB & have become extremely spoiled on fresh/ never frozen seafood. We've been able to experience dining on a patio literally on the beach, and not may seafood dining experiences have been able to compare ever since.
We passed on Rainforest Cafe, a mom & pop buffet, the food court & finally ended up at Chili's express. I don't think the food lasted anything more than 15 minutes. However, as it was quiet we got to sit enjoying lingering & talking. Dining out is definitely a different experience without the kids.
Rolling out of there, we made it over to the movies in plenty of time to catch a fairly early time of Valentine's day. Our day ended with sitting & watching the end of the Ice Dance Original Dance competition.
Next Up - Day 2 - Making lemonade of the lemon known as the Opryland resort
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At least we're ready to go so won't have to be running around last minute packing. We've said our goodbyes to our DS & DD for the next couple of days. I'm swaying between glad to be getting our first real get-away alone together in ten years & worrying about every little detail of what will happen while we're gone. Having to remind myself that Grandma can get them to/ from school & we are going to come home to two incredibly spoiled, sugared-up kids.
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. Of course I do not believe I could possibly be that loud. He keeps threatening to record me, but never does. I think someone is exagerrating. He's the one who snores all night, every night, at home.
to get any pictures of breakfast. I do remember that my DH had what they listed as Grandpa's breakfast with chicken fried steak, hash brown casserole, grits, biscuits, & gravy. I had bacon, hash brown casserole, & a blueberry muffin with plenty of butter. 
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