PTR: [Roamin' Through Italy for Gelato, then Dancing it off Through France & England] - Page 7 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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UGH...just got the notice that our connection in Dallas is now only 45 minutes! and we are departing almost an hour earlier from home. So much for getting lunch. Not sure what we are going to do...maybe carry something with us. Longer connection in Chicago, which will be nice not having to worry about passport checks and such!
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Somewhere last week was our double digit dance day...yep, I missed it! I have been so drowning at work with end of the year stuff along with the kids end of the year activities that I have really not done a good job keeping up with this PTR or really even thinking about the trip! But we did make a few finalizations to plans and now really all I need to do is sit down and plug in the other things...
This week:
1. Booked private tour guide for Vatican
2. Booked private tour guide for Ancient Rome...Colosseum, Forum, P. Hill
3. Booked pizza making class for 1st night
4. Booked private tour guide for Pompeii
5. Cancelled hotel room on Capri.... and rebooked a room in Sorrento instead
6. Booked fishing trip (not exactly what dh wants, but he can say he fished in the M. Sea now...surprising him for his birthday next month with this for a gift) for the boys (yep, he gets to take the boys with him while Ab and I explore Sorrento)
7. Booked Private Capri Island Tour
So things are coming together, but now I am getting stressed out that we are less than 100 days out and I don't have it altogether yet!
I know I started to read this, didn't comment, and since forgot about it. So I'm playing catch up here....
Just a thought regarding the plane situation in Chicago. Have you checked on your exact itinerary (or close to the similar times anyway) for today's travel? Or any day's travel between now and then? See what gate it lands in, and then see what gate the Chicago - Rome flight departs from. Do that for a few days, figure out the airport layout there, and you'll be quite familiar. I want to say that at Ohare on American, you don't need to use the international terminal (because it's a hub for AA). Most international flights on AA fly out of either T2 or T3, not the International one. The International terminal requires a little train ride from the other terminals. I'm 99% sure you will stay in the main terminal area for that connection.
I love Rick Steves' Europe shows! You made a great choice by using his information. And another great choice in your apartment location!
Regarding London, a bit on the pricey side, the Royal Horseguards hotel will hold 3 in a room. I stayed there with my parents. Excellent location too.
You'll get there, you still have time. And you can often find last minute discounts on things too. No need to worry just yet!
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Tanya
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