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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Another gret update - just a note - do you think the ancient Egyptians had any other "style" for all the wonder and amazment of their construction - everything looks the same. Didn't they ever get tired of it? Kind of makes you wonder what the regular homes were like (since none survived) I would imagine they didn't have sphinxes or images of Ramses, etc...just a thought.
By the way, doesn't this sphinx look like it's wearing some sort of head dress in this photo???
That was exactly my reaction to that picture!!
The dinner that evening sounded great - with the more authentic Eygptian food & dress.
Will look forward to more on this trip next week - and now, heading over to hear about your Vienna trip. Then not much longer at all until you're stateside and at the World, and on the DREAM!
Another gret update - just a note - do you think the ancient Egyptians had any other "style" for all the wonder and amazment of their construction - everything looks the same. Didn't they ever get tired of it? Kind of makes you wonder what the regular homes were like (since none survived) I would imagine they didn't have sphinxes or images of Ramses, etc...just a thought.
There are some changes in style... better perspective, more natural, softer features on the figures, but yes Egyptian art style is more static than most cultures over long periods of time. Comparing this to the art of Greece is quite dramatic. The Classical Greek art is so different from the Archaic. The change in art corresponds to the changes in culture to more democratic government, more power to the individual citizen translated in more personal depictions in painting and sculpture. (Art History lesson over!)
Another gret update - just a note - do you think the ancient Egyptians had any other "style" for all the wonder and amazment of their construction - everything looks the same. Didn't they ever get tired of it? Kind of makes you wonder what the regular homes were like (since none survived) I would imagine they didn't have sphinxes or images of Ramses, etc...just a thought.
Although you're right, no workers' houses survived, we do go on to visit a village of the workers, where you can see the outline of the foundations and they look pretty ordinary, with no columns...
The dinner that evening sounded great - with the more authentic Eygptian food & dress.
Will look forward to more on this trip next week - and now, heading over to hear about your Vienna trip. Then not much longer at all until you're stateside and at the World, and on the DREAM!
I know - we fly out three weeks TODAY and I cannot wait!
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Friday 28 January – part one: what’s the road cordoned off for? Is it a demonstration?
Our day started at 3.00am, when I was conscious that Mark was awake and moving around. I asked him if he was alright and he told there was a mosquito in the room and he’d heard it buzzing by his ear. That is so not good news, especially for me, with my violent reaction to any bites I get. He figured he’d swiped it and I couldn’t hear any buzzing, and eventually I went back into a light sleep again, until the alarm went off at 6.00am.
At this point, Mark examined the room for evidence that he managed to get the mosquito and found debris on the bed, which seemed to point to some success. Mark seemed to escape, and had just the bites he’d had previously. As for me, well so far, it looks like at least one on my left arm, which will no doubt yet again swell to half the size of my arm. Time to try out the new relief from mosquito bites that I bought at the airport, that uses electrical current to help reduce discomfort and swelling. Here’s hoping it works...
I guess five days into a vacation and only one major bite isn’t too bad for me, although I did manage to acquire one earlier in the trip on my left eyebrow ( seriously), although fortunately that didn’t swell to my usual proportions...
We headed down to breakfast and both of us commented that we didn’t eat as much as the previous couple of days, but felt more full than usual. With the American students gone, you’d think perhaps it would be quieter, but of course not. As one group leaves, so more take their place. This morning there was a Japanese group, although much smaller than the one we flew in with on the plane from Cairo.
We met up with Miriam at 7am and signed the necessary paperwork to confirm that we were changing our plans today and going on another tour of the West Bank. We told her about the mosquito and she told us that the hotel can spray the room to stop them, which was a good hint, so we immediately went and asked them to do it.
Once again, as we travelled over to the West Bank, we saw more balloons, but it was a lot more hazy than the other day. I don’t think people today would’ve had such a good view as a couple of days ago.
As we drove along, we found one road cordoned off, and at first, I think we and Miriam had the same thought and wondered if there were protests here. Thank goodness : that wasn’t the case, it was cordoned off for the Egyptian Marathon, which seemed to be divided into various lengths, including half-marathon and marathon. I wouldn’t like to be running out here. Even though it was early, it was already starting to warm up.
There were even some people rollerskating the route. We couldn’t quite figure out how that worked...
We headed first to Deir-al-Medina, otherwise known as Valley of the Workers. This is where the craftsmen, servants and labourers who worked on the royal tombs lived. They were given special dispensation to live in the West Bank, which traditionally was only home to tombs, as it made life easier, rather than expecting the workers to transport everything across the Nile.
Here are the remains of the workers’ village. You can still clearly make out the outline of various houses.
Score for Mark...no more mosquitos! As much as I would love to take a Hot Air Balloon ride, I don't think I have enough courage to actually do it. I'm way to scared of heights!
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Mark seemed to escape, and had just the bites he’d had previously. As for me, well so far, it looks like at least one on my left arm, which will no doubt yet again swell to half the size of my arm. 
Time to try out the new relief from mosquito bites that I bought at the airport, that uses electrical current to help reduce discomfort and swelling. Here’s hoping it works... 
seriously), although fortunately that didn’t swell to my usual proportions... 
: that wasn’t the case, it was cordoned off for the Egyptian Marathon, which seemed to be divided into various lengths, including half-marathon and marathon. I wouldn’t like to be running out here. Even though it was early, it was already starting to warm up. 
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