Dreams do come true **Updated 7/24** THREAD 2 *COMPLETE* - Page 13 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Thanks forthe beautiful pics and explanantions of Florence. I am sorry you didn't have enough time there...just another reason to plan a trip to Italy!
danielle
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Just getting caught up with your report, and all I can say is WOW! DH and I have been discussing the possibility of taking the med cruise if Disney returns...and you're sure making it hard to resist. I was wowed by your photos of Pompeii, charmed by the tea at Palo, and just amazed by each new and exciting day. This is definately getting bumped up on the "to do" list. College for the children, nah. Kitchen re-model, nah. Visiting the relatives in the midwest, nah. Disney's Med Cruise? Oh, yeah! Thanks for all your beautiful photos and interesting commentary!
Saturday 2 June – part four: 25 seconds for photos!?
Our next stop was the Piazza della Repubblica, which was rebuilt in the late 18th century and it was clear that our guide wasn’t impressed with what had been done here, but I quite liked it.
We walked down towards Ponte Vecchio and this is somewhere I could easily have spent five or ten minutes more. It was built in 1345 and was the only bridge in Florence not blown up in World War II. Originally, it had butchers here, but today it’s filled with goldsmiths and today it’s also full of tourists. This place was just thronged with people everywhere you look. I asked our guide if we had time for photos and he said yes, about 25 seconds! I took him at his word and grabbed as many as I could very quickly, because trust me he wasn’t far off with his timings. :
On the way down to Ponte Vecchio
We also grabbed a couple of postcards, as I had earlier checked with our guide and been told that there would be no free time for shopping in Florence, which did annoy me, but there would be time in Pisa. Great, all I wanted was a guidebook and some postcards, so would they have merchandise from Florence in Pisa, would they? Maybe not was the answer I got. Great!
Well now I know to watch Hunchback of Notre Dame before we board any Disney Cruise. How magical that Beast and Belle came dancing into the dining room, too bad you missed them but I appreciated the photo of Beast's arm. You've taken the most awesome photos of the ship, Cheryl, and of the cathedrals, and who couldn't spend a lifetime in Tuscany. I was sorry to read that the waters once again cut short your fun, but still loving every minute of your TR!
Saturday 2 June – part five: an outdoor sculpture gallery
We walked along the riverfront and managed to get a guidebook and fridge magnet at a nearby stall and, although our guide moved some distance away from us while we were buying those, we were still able to find him, as we were all on an audio tour. We walked through the courtyard of the Uffizi, which was built in 1560 as a set of offices for Duke Cosimo I’s new administration. After he died, the treasures of the Medici family were displayed here. The statues that line this courtuard are quite something, with every name familiar to you.
A view of Ponte Vecchio In the Uffizi
From there, we walked into Piazza della Signoria, which is really an outdoor sculpture gallery. There are statues everywhere you look. Originally people gathered here for public meetings when they were summoned. Today you find the replica of David and also the Neptune fountain, which shows the Roman god surrounded by nymphs. It commemorates Tuscan naval victories.
We stood here for quite some time, learning about the history of Florence and this square, but I felt that we could’ve spent five minutes less here and five minutes more elsewhere.
Saturday 2 June – part six: football did not start here! :
Our next stop was the Santa Croce church, which has the tomb of Michaelangelo and Galileo. It dates back to 1294 and Marco tried to claim that football was first created in this square in front of the church. We weren’t having any of that. Everyone knows that us Brits started football!
From here, we were given 15 minutes shopping time, as we had got everything done so quickly. Typical! Then it was a short walk back to the bus and off for lunch.
The view from where the bus was parked
We had been told a number of times that the restaurant where we would be eating had superb views over Florence but I wasn’t sure how good the views really would be. I can tell you that they were amazing. I ended up taking photos for ages with Megami from Treasure Ketch, who was on our tour. I loved her camera. She told me it was new on to the market in April in Japan and that probably means that it hasn’t even been released in the rest of the world yet, as usually Japan gets all the photo equipment first before anyone else.
Just started checking this out today. I really must thank you for all the wonderful photos! You two have some real photography talent!!! It's very nice of you to share you trip!
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Pixie Dust
Sorry they wouldn't let you in the Disney Store 
MEANIES!!
Thanks for all your beautiful photos and interesting commentary!
PassPorter Guide Author
I took him at his word and grabbed as many as I could very quickly, because trust me he wasn’t far off with his timings. 
: 
How magical that Beast and Belle came dancing into the dining room, too bad you missed them but I appreciated the photo of Beast's arm. 
You've taken the most awesome photos of the ship, Cheryl, and of the cathedrals, and who couldn't spend a lifetime in Tuscany. I was sorry to read that the waters once again cut short your fun, but still loving every minute of your TR!
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