Dreaming of a Disney spring break - part three COMPLETED - Page 41 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Nice pics of SoG. Brings back lots of fond memories--the rooms are ginormous(e) and very affordable (the food was never that great, though...) Can't wait to see how you did with your 9 holes. And what a cute topiary of Minnie! Looking forward to more.
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Can't wait to see how the golf outing went! I'm sorry that your meal at Sanaa wasn't super. As for the spicy--you might try having the salad sampler as your entree the next time you visit! What didn't Mark love about it? I'm glad breakfast was a success!
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I'm looking forward to hearing how you did & seeing the pictures. My DH & both DSs will probably be playing that course next time. Don't worry about how you did (well or not), think of how many people (like me) don't even try! I think getting out there is worth a prize in itself!
I used to play golf all the time, but then I got pregnant and I haven't played since. I wasn't that great, but I was getting to be pretty decent before I had Hope. Now I'd be afraid to pick up a club again. I can't wait to see how you did. I remember when I first started playing, and I would make that first swing at the driving range or on the 1st hole, and feel people watching me...it would always mess with my head, and sure enough I would wiff. Golf just messes with your head in general...it's that kind of a game.
Can't wait to hear how you did!! Breakfast sounds lovely! I haven't eaten yet, so now I'm wishing I could just pop on down to Boma for some eggs. *sigh*
Now wouldn't it be amazing if we could do that everyday?
Can't wait to see how the golf outing went! I'm sorry that your meal at Sanaa wasn't super. As for the spicy--you might try having the salad sampler as your entree the next time you visit! What didn't Mark love about it? I'm glad breakfast was a success!
Maybe he'll answer that himself, as I know he does keep an eye on this and chirps in every now and then...
I'm looking forward to hearing how you did & seeing the pictures. My DH & both DSs will probably be playing that course next time. Don't worry about how you did (well or not), think of how many people (like me) don't even try! I think getting out there is worth a prize in itself!
Sorry for the very late update today, but I couldn't get on the boards this morning our time, so here goes now...
Thursday 21 April – part two: our first ever nine holes of proper golf!
We had a wait while the family in front, who seemed to know everything from the way they dressed and the way they had behaved in the shop, set off. Well, all I can say is that they were not as good as they thought they were, as we frequently caught them up.
We got chatting to the father and son behind us, while we were waiting for the family to move on and when it was our turn, Mark suggested that we ask them if they wanted to join us. They were Colin and Rowan from Edinburgh in Scotland and they were both great. Rowan looked about as terrified as we did, while his father was very calm. It turned out that, although he hadn’t played in years, he had been playing since he was five and once had a handicap of five!
We set off and I was quite pleased that I, at least, managed to hit the ball but nowhere near as far as anyone else. I just didn’t have the power to drive it very far. I ended up on about 10 shots by the end of the first hole and things didn’t improve from there. I got 10 at hole two, 13 at hole 3 and 14 at hole four. The others all tried to give me tips, but whatever I tried, it just didn’t work and things got worse and worse for me. By the time we got to hole five and you couldn’t see the flag on the green, that was it for me. I gave in gracefully and decided to just watch the others play. I had learnt that golf was not for me. :
It was to be a wise decision, as then the water hazards started. Mark was very pleased with himself to get his ball over the first one first time but that’s where his luck ran out. I think the next hold claimed two of his balls in the water hazard, while Rowan lost three. I was very glad not to be playing now!
I figured it was about time to get some slightly staged shots of me playing to prove I had!
However, by the time we got to the last hole, Mark was really finding his stride and managed to do the hotel in the intended par three, which he was delighted with. He did really well and did improve as he went round, whereas sadly I had gone backwards.
On the way round, we saw various glimpses of wildlife, which I wasn’t expecting:
We sat for quite a while when we finished, as it was a heck of a lot of walking and had taken three hours. There was no way we could play anymore than nine holes. : We said goodbye to Rowan and Colin. I’m glad we paired up with them, as we both said if we hadn’t, that we’d have given up by about hole four. It was a lot of fun, but exhausting in the heat and we were very glad to get back to the car and the air conditioning.