A magical Mediterranean vacation THIS SECTION COMPLETED 8/9 - Page 20 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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.
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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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Oh wow...it's been so long since I was there. I think we got gelato in the square and that was expensive enough. I can't get over the prices. But the photos are amazing.
Looked like a great tour of the basilica and glad you had a private tour without waiting in that big line! I knew you'd be able to sneak in a few photos.
Judging from your views, that looks like the same cafe I went to! I too, roamed upstairs and got some photos. The views in the square from the cafe are priceless and worth it, even though expensive as how often will you do this! If it was a full course dinner, you may have had to finance it! I sat out here after dinner in Venice and just had an espresso and after dinner drink, while taking in the views with the band playing close by in the background!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Looked like a great tour of the basilica and glad you had a private tour without waiting in that big line! I knew you'd be able to sneak in a few photos.
Judging from your views, that looks like the same cafe I went to! I too, roamed upstairs and got some photos. The views in the square from the cafe are priceless and worth it, even though expensive as how often will you do this! If it was a full course dinner, you may have had to finance it! I sat out here after dinner in Venice and just had an espresso and after dinner drink, while taking in the views with the band playing close by in the background!
I did wonder from your description if it was the same place - cool!
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Friday 4 July – part nine: what no gondolier Mickey?
Our final stop was the altar to admire the 13th century alabaster columns, where the remains of St. Mark’s are kept. The final item we saw was the Golden Pall, which is only shown to the public during the most important celebrations. It’s considered one of the most precious objects in the world and was assembled at different times between 1000 and 1345. Oh wow, what an amazing thing this is! If only I had some photos to share with you… well, I don’t have any, but I did find this one online.
What I liked about this tour was that we got to see two places, the Treasures and the Altar, that between them would’ve cost €5 ($6.80) extra on top of your admission, and this tour was only €17 ($23). I thought that was a real bargain, especially as it saved us having to stand in line to get in here.
We were then left to our own devices, although we were warned that the Basilica was closing any minute. As loads of other people were taking photos, I decided to as well, as no-one was saying a word to them.
There was also a wedding just starting in here, and my goodness, the crowd to watch it!
We headed out of there with a few final shots…
Our next challenge was to find our way to the Rialto Bridge. While it’s something crazy like 20 minutes away by vaparetto, that’s because of how much the Grand Canal bends round, and walking there only takes about 10 minutes, so we set off down narrow streets, browsing the shops again, and getting a couple of fridge magnets. The shops here were much more reasonably priced, and understandably, were much busier…
By luck more than judgement, we found our way to Campo San Bartholomew, which is home to the Disney Store. However it took me a moment to spot it…
I was very disappointed by the selection of Italian and Venetian stuff in here. I was hoping for maybe a gondola Mickey or a Venetian Disney mask, but there was an ordinary Mickey in an Italian bag, and about three tops.
As we were near to the Rialto Bridge, we walked over it…
… and headed along the Grand Canal, finding what we thought was a restaurant to sit and have dinner. The server there asked what we wanted, and I asked for a menu, expecting to find food on it, but it was only drinks. I’m sorry, that’s not what we want, so we got up and left…
Just to say there may now not be any further updates until Monday, as we've got our second weekend in Glasgow for the Commonwealth Games and we fly up tomorrow morning. If I get a chance, I will update, but no promises...
Too bad about the Disney store - seems to be more the trend all over now. It used to be so much fun to have something different, and country-specific.
Maybe that cafe only offered drinks, as food was so expensive they never sold enough to warrant having the supplies on hand? It does seem to be pricey there!
Too bad about the Disney store - seems to be more the trend all over now. It used to be so much fun to have something different, and country-specific.
I remember those days very fondly. Shame it's changed now...
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Maybe that cafe only offered drinks, as food was so expensive they never sold enough to warrant having the supplies on hand? It does seem to be pricey there!
It certainly was. Mind you, I guess they can charge what they want pretty much, given the location...
Must find my thesaurus. So beautiful, every single one!
Glad you were able to sneak in some photos. Don't they also say no pictures of the Mona Lisa? (or just no flash photo) Yeah, everyone at the Louvre has that photo too....
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Tanya
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Sorry the Disney store was such a disappointment
It does seem silly that they wouldn't have some with gondolas or such - as the NYC store has so much of Mickey and Minnie with the Statue of Liberty or Taxi Cabs!
Have a great weekend at the games!
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Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
Love your photos within the Basilica. Great that you were able to catch a bit of a wedding there! It's funny with these vast basilicas all over Europe that there a number of smaller chapel areas within them!
Some great views from the Rialto and the area.
With this photo of yours, this is the direction I took to my hotel, instead of going off to the right side of the bridge ( which you can do, just as the bridge descends). Quite crowded to say the least and imagine going through all that with your luggage, as I did! Well. at least I learned the wrong and correct path to take!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Last edited by SuperDave; 07-31-2014 at 09:39 PM..
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I knew you'd be able to sneak in a few photos.
I sat out here after dinner in Venice and just had an espresso and after dinner drink, while taking in the views with the band playing close by in the background! 
there was an ordinary Mickey in an Italian bag, and about three tops. 
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