September Mediterranean Magic Trip Report updated 10/25/2017 - Page 16 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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It looks like my old photobucket photos have come back so I'm going to give this a try here (although I do have a flikr account set up now for backup just in case!) Thank you all for sticking with me so long!
Day 5 - Will we ever win at trivia?
After we filled our tummies we headed over to trivia to have some fun before our main dining room dinner for the evening. Tonight was Disney Villains trivia which sounded like something we’d be good at… nope! But of course we still had a blast!
Of course there were cocktails involved!
Next up we headed off to dinner for our meal in Carioca’s. We weren’t starving at this point of course since we’d had a nice little “snack” when we got back from our excursion.
First up was bread, our appetizers and soup. Empanadas for me and ahi tuna for mom!
Empanadas Panzudas de Carne – Argentinean Beef Empanadas with Red Chimichurri
Ahi Tuna and Avocado Tower – With Red Pepper Wasabi, Chopped Patacones, and Caviar
honestly I don’t remember what soup was ordered…
Everything was fine but not really memorable. The meal progressed on with more of the same, fine food but nothing that stood out as awesome. We were of course also a bit worn out from our day so we just weren’t feeling it tonight.
Grilled Rum-marinated Swordfish – With Black Bean Muneta, Roasted Corn, and Boniato Fries
Slow-roasted Pork Belly – With Crushed Sweet Potato, Creamy Grits, and Collard Greens
De la Costa Cream Cheese Flan – With Caramel Bananas and Pedro Ximenez Reduction
Carioca’s Ice Cream Sundae – Dulce de Leche Ice Cream, Caramelized Apples, and Churros
I wrapped up the evening doing a little more of Anna’s hunt and picking up a DVC gift.
Day 5 (Naples)
Location: Naples (Pompeii)
Activities: Pompeii Tour, Mt. Vesuvius Hike
Weather: hot and a little overcast
Highlight: seeing history come to life
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Glad you got the TR going again! Dinner looks good but not great as you said! Good news with the PB photos as perhaps they're changing things with the photo hosting.
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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!
Ok, moral from this instalment is that maybe don't try Disney trivia - it sounds tough!
Tough, but fun!
Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperDave
Glad you got the TR going again! Dinner looks good but not great as you said! Good news with the PB photos as perhaps they're changing things with the photo hosting.
Today was an up and early one once again, as we had booked a full day tour for our port, Civitavecchia! We would be heading into Rome to tour the Vatican, The Colosseum, and The Catacombs. Lunch was included on this tour, free time really wasn’t.
We started the day as usual, getting a good breakfast in and some caffeine before heading to the meeting spot for the tour. We ordered a room service breakfast but had time to head to the buffet for a few extra bites as well.
The tour started with a long bus ride to get from the port to where we needed to be. That is the major downside to this port, all the tourist sites are close to two hours inland so it creates quite the long day. Today we would start with the Vatican with St. Peter's Square and Basilica.
After our bus ride we arrived on the outskirts of the Vatican City and walked into the heart of the excitement. It was shaping up to be a beautiful day in Italy and we tried to take in all the details of the exterior of the buildings here.
To say this place was crowded would be a very serious understatement. It was mobbed with people! Our tour guide was good though and quickly we were going through the tombs and getting some facts about those that were buried here. No photos allowed in the tombs but he was providing facts and info but we kept moving the whole time.
Then we worked our way up to the main basilica and this is where photos were allowed. There was a brief tour in here and then we all had to meet. We got a little info on how the next little bit of time would go and were set free.
This was our only real free time here. We had time to renter through the Mercy Door which only opens once every 25 years I think they said, so we chose to get in line (very quick moving) and reenter that way. Then we had another 15 mins to shop and tinkle. Very very crowded in all areas. Of course we took even more photos…
The shop they sent us too was clearly connected to the tour in some way but it was fine. We didn’t see anything we loved and I ended up getting some ice cream from a cart vendor. It wasn’t the best by any means but it was good for what I wanted at the time!
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Great pictures of the Vatican! I find it hard to look at the Swiss guards’ uniform, and believe how well trained they all are Those pantaloons just make me laugh. But I’d never laugh in front of them - they could snap me in half!
Oh it looks like a beautiful day weather wise. I'm fascinated to hear what you thought of your day, as we never got off the ship when we docked for Rome, as we'd spent four days in the city and I couldn't see the point in going all that way for a long day and trying to cram sight seeing into one day.
Looks like a nice start to your day in Rome! This was the first city I ever visited in Europe and that was 22 years ago. Haven't been back to Rome since but hope to. St. Peter's Basilica, Square and Vatican City are truly amazing. It's recognized as a European country as it has it's own central government.
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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!
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