A return to Switzerland – land of mountains, museums and moos! COMPLETED 12/4 - Page 68 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 can't imagine saying I live in a castle. Can you imagine giving directions? You know... the second castle on the left at the top of the hill. Not in this day and age anyway.
That is a very neat looking castle! I love that shot you took looking through the cross in the bricks. I wonder how cold it gets for those who live in the castle. I suppose if they added an elevator, they've added a furnace.
__________________
Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
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.
I can't imagine saying I live in a castle. Can you imagine giving directions? You know... the second castle on the left at the top of the hill. Not in this day and age anyway.
That is a very neat looking castle! I love that shot you took looking through the cross in the bricks. I wonder how cold it gets for those who live in the castle. I suppose if they added an elevator, they've added a furnace.
Very neat looking castle! I can't imagine having visitors at my house most days. I think that would feel a bit strange, but I guess they get used to it.
Nice views along the lakefront in Lugano. Loved the Italian style architecture here as some of the buildings reminded me of the villas I visited in Lucca in Tuscany back in 2006. Sorry to hear that Lugano is so expensive and a bit stuck up!
Great photos of the castle in Bellinzona. Funny how there are those who still live in these. Must be quite cool in temperature in here as anything made of rock or stone will do that! That's why wine is stored in basements made of stone or concrete to keep the temperature quite cool!
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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!
Ok, we have a bit of down time, so I thought I'd post another instalment for you...
Thursday 5 September – part five: where does this come out?
We headed to have a look at the battlements…
… then we saw a car drive out, and I figured we could walk back down. We got some lovely views over Bellinzona…
The square we started out from..
… and of the castle.
At first we just went down and round and round, then Mark pointed out we didn’t know where the car would come out, and whether it would be anywhere near the car park. Ok, so we’ll take the steps instead. All I can say is I’m glad we were going down. They were a bit uneven, and it wasn’t fun going down, never mind coming the other way. Add to that the heat (by now it was in the high 80s ) and at times, it was unbearable.
I was very glad when we got down to the old town and into some shade. We saw the beautiful Chiesa Santa Maria delle Grazie, a 15th century church with some beautiful frescos.
I saw an ice cream place and fancied getting some, but at the first place, I got so annoyed by people barging me out of the way, while at the second place, the guy carried on talking, so I figured he didn’t need our business. We finally made it third time lucky and found a place with more than 100 years history. However, again this wasn’t cheap. We both had two scoops of ice cream on a cone (I went for mango and coconut) and it came to 10.40 CHF. Poor Mark got a 10 CHF note out, only to discover it wasn’t enough.
We had our ice creams and took a few more photos…
… then we headed back to the car. We filled up the car on the way out. She hadn’t done badly – about 460 miles on a tank of fuel, and that had done us since Colmar on Saturday. You see, Switzerland really isn’t that big.
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.
Sometimes going down stairs is just as bad as going up! Just hurts different muscles. I hope that ice cream was really, really good! Or was it gelato?
__________________
Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
More great photos of Bellinzona. Didn't think you'd have a chance to do this while in WDW!
I really liked this photo as it gives you a great perspective of how far up one must go to reach the castle and how steep it really is with those steps.
__________________
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!
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That's why wine is stored in basements made of stone or concrete to keep the temperature quite cool!
) and at times, it was unbearable. 
We finally made it third time lucky and found a place with more than 100 years history. However, again this wasn’t cheap. 
We both had two scoops of ice cream on a cone (I went for mango and coconut) and it came to 10.40 CHF. Poor Mark got a 10 CHF note out, only to discover it wasn’t enough. 
I hope that ice cream was really, really good! Or was it gelato?
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