A Scottish right Royal time! TRIP REPORT COMPLETED 1/10 - Page 13 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Quite the show and what a finale with the lights, fireworks and even a heli!
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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!
Saturday 26 August – part fourteen: I would not like his job!
We went into a rendition of the National Anthem, which was lovely, although I must admit the crowd didn’t seem to be much into it. However, it could be explained by the fact that a lot of the crowd were foreign. At the start of the show, they’d gone through all the different nationalities, and although the vast bulk were Scottish, then English, you literally had people here from all over the globe, including Canada (a lot too!), Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, South Africa, Scandinavia and all over Europe.
Finally it was into Auld Lang Syne, although I refrained from taking part, and took photos instead.
We had a few more fireworks at this point, although to be honest, the way they went off, I thought they were perhaps accidental, shall we say?
At around this point, everyone was told to remain in their seats, and to wait until after all the massed bands had left, and then the ushers would tell us when it was safe to leave. Despite this, obviously some people couldn’t understand that, as they headed down the stairs, only to be stopped by the ushers, and told to sit on the steps and wait. So much for their plans of getting away early.
On that point, we were shocked at how many people did leave early. I know it happens all the time, but at something like this, where there is no natural break, and it’s truly a one-off, we were shocked to see so many people leaving.
We also thought a lot of people came as part of a tour group on a tour bus, as that’s where the majority of the crowds appeared to disappear after the show finished. I’m not sure that’s how I’d want to see the Tattoo…
The final part was where they asked everyone to remember all those who have fallen in war, and they broadened it out to essentially anyone who’s lost anyone, so pretty much the whole crowd. Everyone fell silent, as everything fell dark, and attention turned to the lone piper. Now I would not like his job!
He was so far away that I wasn’t sure I’d get any good shots of him, but I persevered and got there in the end!
Then it was time for all the massed bands to leave, and I could see why everyone was told to wait…
Finally, once they were all gone, as we were right by the aisle, we were amongst the first to leave, although I was pretty much pushed out of the way by a very rude guy. When he got to the bottom of the steps, he realised the rest of his party were nowhere with him. Thanks for pushing mate… for nothing!
We got rid of him, and Mark went to get a fridge magnet from the shop before we made our way out. We got rid of all the coach parties, but discovered we couldn’t turn left, which was frustrating, as that’s where we needed to go. We then found all the little courts we’d seen earlier on were also cordoned off with people standing in front of them, and I started to wonder how far down the Royal Mile we’d be pushed before we could turn left, but fortunately it wasn’t that bad.
We found a court that we could go through, presumably because it was lit, and made our way back to the hotel. It was well after midnight by now, and it was a bit surreal to see pubs with people still drinking outside. It was also one of those nights, where we clearly smelt one or two illegal substances along the way, shall we say?
We made it back to the hotel, and found two girls there, waiting to get in. Fortunately, someone came to the door not long after we got there, and we headed up to our room. We loved our view of the castle all lit up, which I did photograph, but I managed to do it without having a memory card in and just as I got one put it, the darned lights were turned off.
Oh well, it was lovely anyway. It was 1:00am, and high time we went to sleep…
The weather today was a mix of some rain, cloud and some sun with temperatures with highs in the low 60s. The best thing today was the Edinburgh Royal Military Tattoo. The worst thing today was the rain. Today we tried going to Gladstone’s Land And the result was it was very interesting, albeit the tour was a bit too long… The most magical moment today was being able to see Edinburgh Castle from our bed at our hotel room!
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What an amazing show! It reminds me a bit of an Olympics opening ceremony. Whenever I make it to Scotland, it will have to be in August so I can see this show!
What a great ending with the bagpiper. Very well done!
The mad rush to exit always amuses me. I don't know why some people think they're going to get out so much faster than anyone else.
I'm sure your view of the castle was really cool! But wow, what a late night!
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Tanya
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What an amazing show! It reminds me a bit of an Olympics opening ceremony.
It is a bit like it - except performed goodness knows how many times during one month - twice on Saturdays and at least nightly for the rest of the week, except Sundays, if I remember right.
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Whenever I make it to Scotland, it will have to be in August so I can see this show!
What a great ending with the bagpiper. Very well done!
The mad rush to exit always amuses me. I don't know why some people think they're going to get out so much faster than anyone else.
I do get it. We were lucky. We were at a hotel in walking distance from the castle, but I did that quite deliberately, so we didn't have to rush to get a train, bus, taxi or, as it turned out, coach, as a lot of people were on coach trips. Mind you, I can't imagine those leaving without anyone - unless it was an hour or so after the show finished and there was still no sign of someone....
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I'm sure your view of the castle was really cool! But wow, what a late night!
Nice ending to the show even though so late! Glad you enjoyed it so much! Seems like Edinburgh was quite active on the walk back to your hotel and makes sense being a weekend!
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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!
Nice ending to the show even though so late! Glad you enjoyed it so much! Seems like Edinburgh was quite active on the walk back to your hotel and makes sense being a weekend!
Oh it was, but then again, it was a Bank Holiday weekend in England (not Scotland, we later found out) and with the Fringe and the Tattoo, it was packed in the city all weekend.
Sunday 27 August – part one: I like this strawberry preserve!
We both woke up around 8:30am, which was earlier than I’d have liked, given the late hour we’d got in. We are so not used to late nights.
We got going and headed down for breakfast, and got literally the last table down there. I guess everyone was sleeping in today! In fact, one group of people had to wait to be seated who came in just after us…
They had a very good spread…
… although I only got as far as having some cheese, before I discovered the toast they brought out to us, which was excellent, as was the strawberry preserve. Oh wow, that was so good! In fact, it was that good that I went on to Tesco (our online grocery provider) and ordered some for our deliver when we get home tomorrow…
I went for the scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, and that was excellent, although my goodness, there was way too much scrambled egg for me and I just couldn’t finish it.
Mark had the full breakfast, made up of back bacon, roast tomato, mushrooms, butcher sausage, and egg.
We enjoyed the toast so much that we got a second round, I got some more strawberry preserve (I told you I liked it! ) and as I opened one, and barely used it, then I ordered some more toast just for me to use it up. Oh well, I’m on vacation…
Once I was finally done with all my toast, we headed back to the room until checkout time of 11:00am, and just vegged in the room.
Finally it was time to leave, and we made our way out, getting some photos as we walked along.
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We were heading for the National Museum of Scotland, and on the way we took a route that we’d never walked along before. We happened to stop at a couple of points to look over, and discovered just how far above we were from the road below. Edinburgh really is a city built on so many different levels.
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Totally blown away by this, wow! Do the tickets sell out in like 1 hour? Because I could very much see that happening. It's amazing!
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and just as I got one put it, the darned lights were turned off. 
Usually if I make it to 10:00pm, I'm doing well....
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