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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Wednesday 26 January – part five: excavation in front of our eyes
We then entered into the small courtyard at the back and, here you could see how the temple goes right up to the sheer limestone cliff face.
The final area, which you can’t go into, is the Shrine of Amun, which is actually dug into the cliff.
As we went round, we discovered that much of the temple had been renovated by a Polish excavation team over a period of 40 years. It’s amazing the work that they’ve done and, even today, there was still a lot more restoration work going on, right in front of our eyes.
We finished our exploration of the second level, with some more colourful reliefs on them, meeting up with an American couple, who are currently stationed in Stuttgart, Germany. It’s nice to occasionally chat to people this trip.
We made our way back towards Miriam, getting more photos as we went.
By the time we made it to the cafe, where she was waiting for us, it was baking hot out there and I was very glad that I had caked on the suntan lotion earlier. This place is certainly much warmer than Cairo!
It was back on the little train to head for the parking lot...
Absolutely incredible!!! I cannot imagine how many people it took to do all of this.
How do those men work in that heat with those long robes on? It does not look like there are any ice cream stands nearby .
I agree, I'd not want to be doing any work at that site in all that heat! It's tedious work, too. Sometimes you're working with a very fine brush, just brushing away the sand to find the outline of buried objects without damaging them.
I just all the wonderful pictures you & Mark are taking. There are so many amazing & detailed things in Egypt ( I wish they would have let photos in some of the places you visited. I know I may never get to see these wonders in person, but I would love to see their rich history *sigh*).
Wow! I got so far behind! Luxor looks like it's absolutely beautiful! I love seeing the ancient paintings and all the work that is being done to restore the area!
Wednesday 26 January – part six: this is a beautiful place to stay!
We headed back to the van, once again, like at the Valley of the Kings, passing through a bazaar, also full of hustlers. You didn’t dare slow down for a second, as they would swoop on you straight away. I made the mistake of slowing down to look at the fridge magnets and I was pounced upon. Just as well I didn’t see any I liked, as I was totally put off with the reaction!
We saw yet more tombs on the journey back, just standing there, relics of the past, but no pomp and circumstance about them, they were just by the roadside. It was a bit surreal.
The Ramesseum, built by Ramses II
Our final stop on the way back to the hotel, we went to see the Colossi of Memnon, which mark the funerary temple of Amenhotep III. It’s a massive site and much of it is being excavated. I wonder how much of a find this will be when they finish their work here....
We drove back, crossing the River Nile...
... then taking the Mobaruk Tourist Road, seriously that’s what it’s called!
We saw some tourists out in horse drawn carriages, but none of them looked like they were having that great a time!
Soon we were back at the hotel and headed for our room to upload photos and photograph the view in the daylight. It wasn’t fantastic, but there you go...
We were starting to get hungry, so we went exploring, first out by the River Nile, taking lots of photos as we went. The pool area looked lovely and nowhere near as busy as I thought it would be....
The River Nile – we later found out that the Sheraton is the only hotel in Luxor actually positioned on the Nile
We asked where the Italian restaurant was, as we fancied trying that and it was out at the front, so we headed that way, exploring the shopping centre....
... then finding the second swimming pool out by the bungalows.
Finally we wandered back to the Italian restaurant, but it was dead in there and the music they were playing didn’t really inspire a quiet atmosphere.
I was several posts behind, but I'm all caught up! Gorgeous pictures as usual; I love all the ones in Luxor - it looks like a beautiful city (for the most part anyways). The pool area at your hotel makes me want to go swimming now - however, the several inches of snow we have right now makes that a little impossible
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Stacey
Why do these kids look so pathetic?
Find out in: A New Grade, A New House, and A Surprise!Final Thoughts 01/30
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Pixie Dust
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all the wonderful pictures you & Mark are taking. There are so many amazing & detailed things in Egypt ( I wish they would have let photos in some of the places you visited. I know I may never get to see these wonders in person, but I would love to see their rich history *sigh*).
Deb
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