A Magical voyage across the pond TRIP REPORT UPDATED 12/31 - Page 19 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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Glad all four of you ended up together on this tour!
So far it's proven quite interesting. And quite beautiful!
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Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
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Nice views along the coastline and the village! Looking forward to your experience on this tour s sounds like the beginnings of a good one.
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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!
You all did have excellent weather for sight seeing in Maidstone! It does seem that Disney should have explained things about passports before arriving at the terminal. Somebody wasn't thinking.
You all did have excellent weather for sight seeing in Maidstone! It does seem that Disney should have explained things about passports before arriving at the terminal. Somebody wasn't thinking.
Not at all. It would have been such a simple thing to get right, but Disney failed big time on that count.
Monday 10 September – part four: meeting the Lord of the Manor!
We arrived at Minterne House and headed up the main driveway, having arrived after the other coach, as they had obviously left before we did. My initial reaction to this place was that it was stunning. We’d been told by Terry earlier that the original house on this site dated back to the Tudor era in the 16th century, but this one was from the early 20th century. It reminded me of Tyntesfield, a National Trust property near Bath we’ve visited before.
The tour we were on was described as an “exclusive tour at the ancestral home of England's prominent Digby and Churchill families.” We were told that we’d “meet the lord of the manor for a specially arranged private peek behind the scenes of the mansion that is not open to the general public.” It also promised that we’d “enjoy a 90-minute tour of this spectacular house, conducted by Lord Digby in person.” Now the latter wasn’t entirely true, but trust me, I was more than happy with what they actually did…
Let me first tell you a bit about Minterne House. As you’ll have gathered by now, it’s the ancesteral home of the Digby Family. Originally the site was owned by the wardens and scholars from Winchester College, but from 1660, the estate was leased for several generations to the Churchill family. In 1768, it was bought by Admiral Robert Digby, a younger brother of the then Lord Digy, who at the time lived in nearby Sherborne Castle.
Admiral Robert Digby was an officer in the Royal Navy, who was appointed Admiral of the Red and was given command of the North American Station in 1781. When he returned to Minterne after the American War of Independence, he brought key members of his crew back to help with the landscaping of the gardens.
The gardens date from the late 18th century with a rhododendron collection that was started in the late 19th century. The park has remained much the same since it was first laid out, which is why it’s attracted a Grade II listing status. It’s home to varieties of rhododendrons from around the world, as new species were introduced from Japan and China by famous plant collectors from the Victorian era. The 10th Lord Digby also travelled abroad to collect seedlings.
It was the 10th Lord who was also responsible for the current house, which was rebuilt on the site of the former one, between 1902 and 1907.
We were greeted at the door by the Lord of the manor, Lord Henry Digby, except I didn’t even realise it at the time. He was just so nice and down to earth and that’s how it continued the whole way through. On the way back, he spotted an elderly woman who was obviously having issues walking, so he offered to take her back down the drive in his car (and that was very down to earth as well) to the bus. Not many Lords who’d do that!
Palo looks fabulous! The Scallops sound wonderful!
I can't believe how great Signals looks now. I didn't recognize it at all and hadn't realized they changed it.
I loved traveling with you on your morning walk. It's been a few years since I have been on the Magic.
Minterne is a beautiful manor. The gardens are so pretty. I really like the little history lesson you give us. I learn something new whenever you do.
Liz
You had such a beautiful day for this! The building really stands out against that blue sky. Wow! I love that not only buildings are historic, but also the plants and gardens.
It's always nice to see people with titles that are just as normal as anybody else.
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Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
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And quite beautiful!
PassPorter Guide Author
He was just so nice and down to earth and that’s how it continued the whole way through. On the way back, he spotted an elderly woman who was obviously having issues walking, so he offered to take her back down the drive in his car (and that was very down to earth as well) to the bus. 
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