Adults only – sampling southern England COMPLETED - Page 55 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Some amazing rooms in Longleat House. Loved the bedrooms and dining rooms especially! Funny, that you mentioned Meissen as I visited there in 1996. Can't beat some of the porcelain there, even though quite pricey.
This view of the Saloon Room, reminds me of the Wilderness Lodge for some reason.
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
All caught up again. Cheetahs are beautiful creatures!
I can't get over the ceilings in that place. Wow! And what a beautiful wedding gown.
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Tanya
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We walked through the gardens, which had some amazing peacock topiaries in it…
… then we walked up to the Orangery, which is now a café…
We then found the secret garden (not so secret if it’s marked on a map! )
They even have their own version of the Jungle Cruise!
This takes you over to Gorilla Island, but we didn’t have time to do this. Instead, I wanted to see the penguin area, so we headed that way…
We were admiring how cute they were at first…
… then we noticed these two characters. They seemed to be almost out of their enclosure, as certainly the glass with the water in ended, but they were on rocks beyond that. I started to get very concerned when they started to walk to the edge of the rocks, and look down. The last thing I wanted was them jumping, as they were pretty high up, and my goodness they could do themselves some damage. I did my best to try and urge them to turn around, but obviously I don’t speak penguin very well.
Mark headed out and managed to find a member of staff. She tried all sorts to try and encourage them back down…
One came back down, but was on the rock nearest the water, then decided to start heading back the same way again!
In the end, she had to take more drastic action…
Finally they were safely back in the water again.
We headed outside to visit the stingray area, which was very neatly done.
The whole way round, we got the feeling that perhaps Longleat had taken some inspiration from Disney, as things were very well themed. I must admit, from reading their website, and looking at the map of the place, I thought it might be a bit tacky, but not a bit of it. I was really impressed with the way they did everything, much more than I thought I would be.
We saw the train go past…
… then headed past the new Walk with the Penguins attraction. Here, the penguins decide if they want to walk with the humans, and they can pass through penguin shaped entrances into the walk through area, so you may luck out, or you may have to wait a while. Of course, the staff are on hand to give a little push if needs be…
Sweet African penguins! I think their enclosure needs a bit of a re-design so they don't get hurt! Boy, I looked at the Longleat website and you're right---very tacky and makes you expect something totally different. If the website were all I knew about the place I'd probably skip it and that would be a shame.
Scary about the penguins who were trying to make a break for it. I'm glad Mark found someone to shoo them back in. I agree, I think they need to improve the enclosure a bit for sure.
Oh my goodness! You have me so close to hopping a plane and crossing the "pond" to come visit so you can take me on a tour!!! To be so close to those big cats . - AMAZING!!! I am checking out the website now!
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Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
Yay, I'm all caught up again on this TR! What an interesting place Longleat is! Interesting combination of an historic estate and an animal park/drive-through safari! But it seems to really work!
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Sweet African penguins! I think their enclosure needs a bit of a re-design so they don't get hurt!
I hope by now they've done that.
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Boy, I looked at the Longleat website and you're right---very tacky and makes you expect something totally different. If the website were all I knew about the place I'd probably skip it and that would be a shame.
Indeed - what you get when you get there is very different and much better than you expect.
Oh my goodness! You have me so close to hopping a plane and crossing the "pond" to come visit so you can take me on a tour!!! To be so close to those big cats . - AMAZING!!! I am checking out the website now!
Well, let me know when you're headed over here and we'll see what we can do!
Yay, I'm all caught up again on this TR! What an interesting place Longleat is! Interesting combination of an historic estate and an animal park/drive-through safari! But it seems to really work!
It is an odd combination, but you're right, it does seem to work.
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Funny, that you mentioned Meissen as I visited there in 1996. Can't beat some of the porcelain there, even though quite pricey.
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Instead, I wanted to see the penguin area, so we headed that way… 
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