A Baltic boating adventure TRIP REPORT COMPLETED 11/19 - Page 29 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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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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Tuesday 7 June – part two: watching the Hot Glass Show
Eventually, around 2:40pm, we figured we’d make our way back upstairs to deck 15…
We were there for this…
… which was due to start at 3:00pm. Disney has us well trained to show up early for shows, as we had the pick of the seats. I don’t know if I did the wrong thing, but I went for the stools at the back, as I figured that I could take photos over the top of the glass they have around the show to protect people. If you were in the front row, you’d have a great view, but it’s tricky for photos, given you’re shooting through glass and reflections in it.
There were there people in this, Michael, Kay and Tom, if I remember right, and they were all expert glass blowers, although we didn’t know that when the show started. Michael was the first to create something with Tom narrating, and he did a vase. We’d later learn that this is in fact Michael’s first cruise, and he literally boarded with us in Southampton, and this was only day two of him being in the show. You wouldn’t have known it, if they hadn’t told us.
He created a vase, which we were told was quite simple, although of course to us it looked exceptionally complex. We learnt how they get the glass from one furnace, then once they’re working on it, they have to regularly re-heat it, otherwise it will literally just crack. They explained that when they get the glass out of the first furnace, it’s like “honey on chopsticks”, which I loved as an analogy. If you stop turning the rod for any length of time, it will just drop off. They explained that after a while, it becomes second nature to just constantly turn it. Apparently, it takes about six to eight years to become a skilled glass crafts person.
We also learnt about the Corning Museum of Glass. You probably all know where it is, but I didn’t. It’s located in upstate New York, between NYC and Niagara. Sadly, we won’t have time to visit it on our September trip. They’re not for profit, which means they can’t sell any of the amazing glass creations they make on the cruise. So what do they do with them? Well, apparently at some of the shows, they give out raffle tickets, and then it’s just pot luck. With the other remaining seven pieces, they auction them all off on the final day in the lobby, so we’ll keep an eye out for that – not that I plan on bidding for them, but it could be fun to watch. The sale of six of the pieces goes towards their scholarship fund, while the seventh piece is sold off for the World Wildlife Fund.
Next up was Kat with Tom assisting and Michael now the narrator, and they did warn us that she’d be doing a much more complex piece, a platter. I don’t think either of us really realised what this meant, but my goodness, they weren’t kidding. She worked on it for ages and ages, and look at the beautiful designs in it:
This was them putting the base on it, and look at the concentration on Kat’s face!
After this, as Michael said, it was a painstaking process with lots more reheating, and shaping, and he wasn’t joking.
However, the amazing thing was the final re-heat she did, as suddenly the piece changed shape completely, from what it had been before, into this:
When Kay had finished her platter, we decided to call it quits, although there was still another hour to go, and we hadn’t seen what Tom was going to create, but the stools weren’t the most comfortable.
I've been to the Corning Glass Museum - it's excellent! They do the same show there that you just watched. I've always wanted to try my hand at glass blowing. Someday, perhaps.
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Great pictures. That show must have been quite interesting to see, but rather long. Interesting that they don't sell their products, but rather auction them for charitable purposes.
I am always amazed at glass artists. We have watched an artist create at Busch Gardens Williamsburg and at Disney and it is always fascinating to watch the beautiful pieces of art that are created.
I wonder if they can do this on days that the seas are too rough? It's absolutely amazing. I guess I can see why/how it has to be such a long show, since it's such a long process. But.... yeah, that's kind of a long time to sit and watch that.
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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 am always amazed at glass artists. We have watched an artist create at Busch Gardens Williamsburg and at Disney and it is always fascinating to watch the beautiful pieces of art that are created.
I've had very few opportunities to watch this, although I have pictures from when my parents took me to Mallorca in Spain when I was a youngster (I don't remember it) and I'm watching the glass blower with an expression of complete and utter fascination! I guess nothing's changed in the intervening years...
I wonder if they can do this on days that the seas are too rough? It's absolutely amazing. I guess I can see why/how it has to be such a long show, since it's such a long process. But.... yeah, that's kind of a long time to sit and watch that.
We wondered about what happened on rougher days at sea. We never got to find out, as every time there were any slight seas, there were never any glass shows programmed. I guess maybe they keep an eye on the forecast and ensure they only do them on calm days?
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She worked on it for ages and ages, and look at the beautiful designs in it: 
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