On the road (2) - beaches, chateaux and castles COMPLETED - Page 2 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Just joining in on the fun, Cheryl. The hotel looks gorgeous; what a treat to be footsteps to the MK. I am curious how the crowds were when you visited....with any luck, we will be visiting the same week next June.
danielle
They were very low on the Wednesday and Thursday, but noticeably higher on the Friday, which is what usually happens at Disneyland Paris. If you can visit during the week, then definitely do, as the weekends (and Fridays) see locals heading for the parks.
Wednesday 9 June – part eight: where did all this rain come from?
When we got out, it was just gently spitting with rain, but as Mark said, it was pleasant, as it helped to remove the humidity from the air.
We wandered through Frontierland and were just admiring hats when the heavens opened and I mean opened. My goodness, it poured down. We raced into the nearest shop, with just about everyone else in tow. Mark managed to find a new Grumpy top in there, which took up some time. I also found a fun pair of ears for Mark, but he didn’t seem too enthused – can’t imagine why?
When we came out, it was still raining hard. Still, as every Disney fan knows, you don’t let a little thing like rain stop you, so off we went, getting soaked on the way.
We ducked into one restaurant as we came into Adventureland, but as we stood there in line and I was finally able to read the menu, I realised there was nothing for me, so we decided to head back outside.
Fortunately, by now, the rain was a bit lighter and we didn’t get as drenched, heading to another counter service place in Adventureland, Colonel Hathi’s Pizza Outpost, where we both (surprise, surprise! ) got pizza, mine of the four cheese variety and Mark’s a more traditional cheese and ham. They weren’t bad pizzas and I loved the theming of this place, as we sat and ate and tried to dry out a bit.
We wandered through the rest of Adventureland, getting lots of photos as we did so. Although it was still raining, it was a heck of a lot lighter than it had been and you could live with being out in it and not getting drenched.
We made it to Pirates of the Caribbean and I was expecting a long wait for this one, as I thought everyone would be making a beeline for any ride, but not a bit of it. This was pretty much a walk-on, well after the half mile walk to get to the ride that was. We both love the Paris version of this ride. It’s superbly themed and all it could now do with is the addition of Jack Sparrow and Davy Jones, as in the American parks.
When we came out, we were able to get a guerrilla shot of the ride photo. Now how bored does Mark look in this?
We headed next into Fantasyland, wandering around the area and getting lots more photos.
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We parked up and unloaded the car, leaving the baggage with bell services, who helpfully brought it straight to our room, which was a lovely touch, not having to call down for it. Why can’t they do that at Disney World when your room is ready
They did that for me on my last WDW trip at Pop Century. I checked in after getting off the cruise.... checked my luggage (room not ready yet) and when I came back from the parks and got my room number...went to get my luggage and they informed me that they had already put it in my room
I think I've cheated Cheryl as I know I have to go back and finish up your last post or two of part one of this trip but i came upon this part first so I just had to start reading.
What beautiful resort, the theming does remind me of the GF but also I love the wonderful little character details in the rooms, really a wonderful touch.
Sorry that your first day decided to bring you rain, but does not sound like it is stopping you at all. Great shots of the BTMRR stuck up on the hill, it was strange seeing the CM just walking from car to car, glad that they got moving a while later.
Wednesday 9 June – part nine: a real treat from reception!
I decided to spare Mark from It’s A Small World, mainly because the parade had just ended and, as a result, the line was longer than I’d have liked for that one. Instead, we wandered back through Fantasyland, heading towards the castle. I love the castle here. It’s one of the things that they do much better than the American parks.
Why on earth dragons in the dungeon of every Disney castle can’t be introduced, I do not know. : We went in through the Christmas shop, then headed through the crystal shop and down to the dragon’s lair beneath. Finally, after many, many attempts, I was able to get some good shots of the slumbering dragon and the moments when he chose not to sleep...
We came out and the sky was exceptionally dark again. I had the feeling that another downpour was heading our way, so we got a few photos of the castle and headed back to Main Street.
We also got a few shots of Discoveryland, again somewhere that’s much better themed than at the American theme parks.
This time, we decided to walk through the Discovery Arcade, which runs along the other side of Main Street. As Mark said, it’s not a route we often take.
We deviated through shops on the way, with me finding an Eeyore bag and purse and a Disneyland Paris embroidered top, all of which I got. I then got to the cash till and realised that, because we were travelling light and I wasn’t carrying my bag, I didn’t have my individual credit card. Oh well, it’ll have to go on the joint account. Not what I was planning, but not much else I could do....
We walked through the rest of the Discovery Arcade, with Mark finding some hats on the way out, which he duly modelled....
I won’t share the other, as I think he bought it the next day and it can remain a surprise for the future....
I also found something that I’d love to buy for my nieces or nephews. Whether any of them would ever be seen dead in it is another matter.....
Again, it was such a luxury to just walk a few steps outside the park and then be heading into the hotel and back to our room.
When I walked back into the room, the first thing I noticed was two glasses, which weren’t there earlier. Hmmm, neither had the bottle of champagne that was there now been around earlier. There was no note on it, so we figured it must be complimentary, but we didn’t know for sure, so we rang reception and were told it was “from reception”. Cool! I guess the conversation we had with Kevin must’ve had something to do with that...
Of course, we wasted no time in opening it up and enjoying it.
Next: the Parisian version of the California Grill
Awesome trip report so far Sorry about the rain. We've had our fair share of rain at DLP in the past as well At least you didn't let it spoil your fun!
Now why on earth didn't Mark get the Piglet headband??? I looks perfect on him! And if he gets hungry, he could just chew a part of the bacon ears off!
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) got pizza, mine of the four cheese variety and Mark’s a more traditional cheese and ham. They weren’t bad pizzas and I loved the theming of this place, as we sat and ate and tried to dry out a bit. 
Cassie
Holly: 
: We went in through the Christmas shop, then headed through the crystal shop and down to the dragon’s lair beneath. Finally, after many, many attempts, I was able to get some good shots of the slumbering dragon and the moments when he chose not to sleep... 
I guess the conversation we had with Kevin must’ve had something to do with that... 
Sorry about the rain. We've had our fair share of rain at DLP in the past as well 
At least you didn't let it spoil your fun! 
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