A Little Trans-Atlantic Magic - The (somewhat) LIVE TR! -updated 07/03/13 - Page 11 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I had a bit of a laugh today I was explaining to Rory about you coming next weekend and telling him about Meri. i was explaining that you came from Tennessee and that you lived near Graceland expecting to get a wow out of him. but instead i got what is Graceland? and who is Elvis? Oh dear his education has been neglected. funny how i assume my kids would be excited by that.
I had a bit of a laugh today I was explaining to Rory about you coming next weekend and telling him about Meri. i was explaining that you came from Tennessee and that you lived near Graceland expecting to get a wow out of him. but instead i got what is Graceland? and who is Elvis? Oh dear his education has been neglected. funny how i assume my kids would be excited by that.
Oh my goodness - I wouldn't have expected that either.
Your port calls sound just wonderful! Yeah, those sea days are spectacular, but nothing beats seeing a new country!
I so love the 'Til We Meet Again show and getting the chance to meet so many characters and extras. What a great way to end a Disney cruise! But I hear you...tears! Big time!
I'm thinking DCL is the way to go with our hop over the pond when we do Europe in a few years!
I had a bit of a laugh today I was explaining to Rory about you coming next weekend and telling him about Meri. i was explaining that you came from Tennessee and that you lived near Graceland expecting to get a wow out of him. but instead i got what is Graceland? and who is Elvis? Oh dear his education has been neglected. funny how i assume my kids would be excited by that.
Oh, my! You must educate that child!! Who is Elvis! That's sinful!!
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Hazel I will let you know if I need to take you up on that! LOL!
So today we were quite busy, and I'll get to all that eventually (lol) but I have to tell you, we went to see the Magic Fountain, which is this fountain that does a light and water show, set to music... and imagine our complete surprise that of all things, 90% of the songs were DISNEY songs! *tear* Mom was like, "You have GOT to be joking... of all things!"
So that was a special treat!
We also hit the beach, Montjuic and Las Ramblas. Phew! Tomorrow is La Sagrada Famiglia (probably butchered that spelling), the zoo and the aquarium. Tuesday is Montserrat, Wednesday is likely the beach again and then whatever else, and Thursday we are outta here at 10am for our flight to Paris... then Friday we're going to meet Cheryl and Mark and Hazel at DISNEYLAND PARIS! Woo hoo!
I told mom we did this backwards. We need to do the Westbound TA cruise, and do Europe first, THEN take the cruise home so we can relax totally, lol!
Sounds like you're really covering ground in Barcelona. If I ever do this cruise I'll do the Westbound for the reason you stated, but also because you keep gaining an hour's sleep as you go!
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Laurie you are so spot on. Gaining an hour every day or two is MUCH better than losing one. We hated having to set the clock forward all of the time!
I wish I could get back on a cruise ship to home. *sigh* We miss the Magic. We bought a set of the Disney characters that comes with a cruise ship, on board, and today at the beach, Meri mistakenly brought the Magic into the ocean with her, and a wave took it away, and it was gone just like that. She cried and cried and cried. Poor kid. She told me, "But that's all I have left of the Disney Magic, and now it's gone, and the ship is gone from Barcelona!" Bless her little heart. She almost made ME cry! We're going to have to search for a new Magic cruise ship for her now. I told her we'd find the set online and purchase it, and then she'd have two "friends" and a new boat. And I reassured her that the fish in the Mediterranean would LOVE having the Disney Magic to play with. That helped a bit.
Meri is asleep on the futon tonight. I made a tent for her. We're right beside a bar (we literally share a wall) and while you can't hear anything in the bedroom (in back of the apt), it can get a little noisy in the living room with all of the people hanging out outside. Last night it was SO loud, Meri slept in with me (there are two twin beds in the bedroom, that are pushed together). Needless to say, THAT was VERY uncomfortable and I didn't get much sleep. Tonight she's asleep in the living room. It's quieter next door, probably because people have to work in the morning.
I'm uploading photos to Photobucket and hoping to start the TR tomorrow. Initially I thought it would be today but it's 11:35 tonight and I'm beat. Plus I'm two days behind in typing up the TR, so I need to get on top of that before I start forgetting details! Thank heavens I take a TON of photos. They help me remember what the heck I did!
Poor Meri! We had a similar experience when my DS was about 2 or 3, and lost his favorite dinosaur (from the Disney movie Dinosaur) when a wave hit him in NC - he'd been swimming with the dinosaur! He cried and cried, and then decided it would end up in Barcelona, and maybe a boy there would find it and play with it! LOL! So, maybe Meri will find that to replace the Magic! Is 13 years enough time for something to travel the ocean from NC to Barcelona?!
Sounds like a great day and how neat about the fountain show!
You did fine with the spelling of La Sagrada Familia - I hope you love that as much as we did, it's a stunning building. You've certainly got a lot to pack in before you head out on Thursday - so looking forward to it!
Love love loving this trip report. Spent the last 2 days reading your pre trip and now this read we have booked the westbound next year. It's our first cruise and I now can't wait the magic will have had its refurb too so looking forward to a fresh ship. I just hope the seas are as kind to us as they have been to you.
Hope you are enjoying Europe, should've added in a trip to Edinburgh...see the castle
Oh my gosh, that cathedral... Gaudi was a genius, as well as nuts. The interior is stunning. The ceiling, the columns... I couldn't stop looking around, and I probably took 150 photos of the cathedral alone! I also took some video (which I'll try to post from home at some point) just to try to give an idea of the place... of course there's a spot where mom walks up and starts talking and you probably hear this hissed "SHHH" from me, before there's silence again, lol! Poor mom. The exterior is lovely also, but strange. Fruits and things... just odd. But still very interesting.
We also hit Parc Guell, and then we came back to the apartment around 7pm and cooked dinner here. Tomorrow we've got to be up and out fairly early (for us) so we can head up to Montserrat! I can't wait to see that!!!
Again, not starting the TR tonight, but I'm sure you all understand, lol. I thought I'd have more time and energy, but I used my down time tonight to finish a book instead. Had to find out whodunnit!! I know, I know, no rush. I just love doing trip reports, so I'm excited to get started, lol, but it will likely have to wait until I get back to reality.
Hard to believe I will be in Disneyland Paris in just three and a half days, and hanging out with Cheryl and Hazel! But I won't think that far ahead - tomorrow is Montserrat! YAY! We're really starting to get used to Barcelona, and I really like our little neighborhood. It's cute. And the bar next door is MUCH quieter on weeknights than on Saturday nights. Phew!
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Oh, my! You must educate that child!! Who is Elvis! That's sinful!!
Dreams, Wishes, Hopes... these are the parts of childhood we should never lose.
We bought a set of the Disney characters that comes with a cruise ship, on board, and today at the beach, Meri mistakenly brought the Magic into the ocean with her, and a wave took it away, and it was gone just like that. She cried and cried and cried. Poor kid. She told me, "But that's all I have left of the Disney Magic, and now it's gone, and the ship is gone from Barcelona!" Bless her little heart. She almost made ME cry! We're going to have to search for a new Magic cruise ship for her now. I told her we'd find the set online and purchase it, and then she'd have two "friends" and a new boat. And I reassured her that the fish in the Mediterranean would LOVE having the Disney Magic to play with. That helped a bit.
You've certainly got a lot to pack in before you head out on Thursday - so looking forward to it! 
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