PTR: [Roamin' Through Italy for Gelato, then Dancing it off Through France & England] - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I think I mentioned that Ab earned her Girl Scout Gold Award recently (the equivalent to a Boy Scout Eagle). Well Saturday she was honored by her troop (which is connected to a Boy Scout, Venture Scout and Girl Scout dance group) with a special blanketing ceremony during the Winter Season Finale Show...
Here is my beautiful Ab in her Winter Dance Regalia along with her Kwa blanket and feathers.
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What a neat bit of history for your kids to participate in and share with others.
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Originally Posted by chezp
How great that your children take part in that - it sounds fun and educational at the same time.
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Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
What a great group to be involved with!
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Originally Posted by Russi01
Yay. I found your trip! I can't wait to follow along. Love the pictures of the kids. How cool it is for them to be doing this and learn some interesting information along the way.
It is really a great organization, but a HUGE TIME commitment! It is very scout and family centered. The goal is to get every member to Ranger, Eagle or Gold Awards. So you have that time on top of the dancing and regalia building. We just finished winter show season and now working on the summer shows which officially begin in June for 2 months. That also means I need to get to work on Goo's regalia in a major way...ugh more beading.
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As we started looking at the show schedule and itinerary, we decided that as a family we wanted to do and see more than what the tour was going to allow. With that in mind we decided that we would leave a week earlier than the group.
Here is the basic itinerary...
July 21-July 29 Family Time in Italy
· Vatican & Catholic Rome
· Ancient Rome (for my Latin loving oldest child...thinking she could be the tour guide)
· Nettuno or Assisi
· Capri, Naples, & Pompeii
July 30-August 17 Show Tour
July 30-Florence, Italy (Show)
July 31-Venice, Italy
August 1-Cesena, Italy (Show)
August 2-Forli, Italy (Show)
August 3-Geneva, Switzerland (Show)
August 4-Paris, France
August 5-Normandy, France (Part of a USO Show)
August 6-Chunnel to London
August 7-London *Jeff, Goo and I leave Tour
August 8-Urmston, UK (Show) *Jeff, Goo, and I tour London
August 9-Bramhall, UK (Show) *Jeff, Goo, and I tour London
August 10-Hessle, UK (Show) *Jeff, Goo and I fly home
August 11-Norwich, UK (Show)
August 12-Devizes, UK (Show)
August 13-Dorset, UK (Show)
August 14-Plymouth, UK (Show)
August 15-Salisbury, UK (Show)
August 16-Frylands, UK (Show)
August 17-Ab and Boo Fly Home
Thank you...mom's should get something too! Her project caused way too much drama at our house until it was finally over with and the paperwork was submitted! I am so glad that is behind me...now to start harping on Boo to get some Eagle badges done. I want his Eagle done before he turns 17, just like Ab...that gives a few years but he seems to not get badges done in a timely manner....
Wow, that is quite an itinerary! I was fascinated by the dates for the shows. When you went through Italy, France and Switzerland, I knew where all those places were. How ironic then that I had to look up Hessle and Frylands in the UK! Fortunately I did at least know where the other places were, so that's something....
Okay, spring break is here and the trip just about 4 months away and I need to do some SERIOUS planning this week while I have time because the next 2 months are extremely busy.
I bought yet another travel book this weekend...
Already been reading and taking notes...so maybe I will have some plans for you in the next few days!
And wow! What an itinerary!!! That is going to be amazing!!!
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Originally Posted by Cam22
Awesome itinerary!
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Originally Posted by rhinohunter
Amazing trip. The kids look great in their dance costumes. Looks like a lot of fun and very educational.
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Originally Posted by chezp
Wow, that is quite an itinerary! I was fascinated by the dates for the shows. When you went through Italy, France and Switzerland, I knew where all those places were. How ironic then that I had to look up Hessle and Frylands in the UK! Fortunately I did at least know where the other places were, so that's something....
LOL...most of the places in UK are at Scout camps...any of them near you?
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Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Looks like you'll be seeing lots of sights!
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Originally Posted by Russi01
Awesome itinerary!!! you are going to be moving!!
Thank you...and it is a crazy itinerary...So glad I am not planning it all. In fact the man in charge left for Italy last night after dance practice to work on more stuff for the trip. I can't imagine putting this size of a trip together...secretly I think he is enjoying going to Europe at least once a month and doing the leg work.
The trip planning has not been going well, simply because I have so many questions that need to be answered and so afraid of dealing with the language barrier...
I need to qet my questions organized and start writing them down in 1 place...