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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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DD (13)is attending a summer school in St Andrews in July so since we're already paying Delta the exorbitant fare, we're going to spend 5 nights in London before we fly to Edinbrugh.
I was last there in (cough, cough) 1986 so my memory isn't so clear...
I don't want to overwhelm her but would like for DD to see a few representative things-so far I've come up with:
London Eye (cause it just seems fun)
The Tower (I skipped it in '86 to shop at Harrods, uh yeah...)
one of the Museums (don't want to overwhelm her-did I mention that?)
So any thoughts?
Oh, and she's uber picky basic junk food kid so any suggestions re: UK equivalents would be appreciated-we're NOT foodies (well...not when she and I travel).
Your choices so far look good to me - it's hard to know what to recommend, as it depends on different people. I'm not sure when the summer opening is this year for Buckingham Palace, but that might be one for you and to see the Changing of the Guard?
If you like cathedrals, Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's Cathedral are both worth a visit and show off our country's (reasonably long ) history.
As far as museums go, there's no shortage. You've got the National History Museum in Kensington, which is a lot of fun, the British Museum to the north of London, which covers a lot more than just British history.
There's also the replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. Windsor is an easy trip away on the train and the Castle there is stunning.
That's literally straight off the top of my head - if you give me some ideas of what sort of things you're interested in, I can probably come up with more.
As far as food goes, pretty much whatever places you've got in the States, we've got them here - McDonald's is everywhere, Burger King etc.
There are a variety of guided walks on different subjects as well...ghosts, Dickens, Jack the Ripper, literary, historical...all sorts! This website is really good: London Walks Timetable Weekly Schedule of Walking Tours
I can recommend Shakespeare's Globe, having done that last June. Although the tour itself wasn't very long (literally she told us some stuff in the waiting area, then took us outside and told us some more stuff), we DID get to creep in (silently!) and watch about twenty minutes of a rehearsal, which was brilliant. I really want to go and see something live now, the acoustics are amazing!
Also, if you travel into the city by train (maybe you are, from the airport?) then you can pick up a booklet from pretty much any station with loads of 2 for 1 offers in it - if you present your train ticket along with the voucher then you can save money at the attraction. This is what we did at the Globe. This website has the details: Days Out Guide - 2FOR1 London
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Tinkerboo (or in the real world, Toyah) Reading Challenge 2015: 0/84
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