Wine, friendship, crème brulee and dinner on the Seine! COMPLETED - Page 21 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Nice photos from underneath the shopping area of La Defense. I was there some years ago and it looks a lot different in your photos! Too bad for the deluge of rain and hail! Love your photos of L'Arc de Triomphe with your zoom! Made my day! What a great perspective!
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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!
I have no idea what time I woke up, as I lay there for some time, but once I heard people moving around downstairs, I looked at my watch and it was 7:15am. Not bad – about 10 hours sleep. I guess I needed that!
I got up, showered and headed downstairs, where I found Hazel having her breakfast. She reeled off a list of things that I could have for breakfast, including the option of Graeme going to the bakers to get more croissants, but I was fine with toast. Gradually, everyone else emerged – some in a better state than others. Let’s just say I didn’t get the impression that either Peter or Rory were particularly morning people…
All too soon, it was time for Hazel to head into work and we had to say a sad goodbye to her. I hope it all works out and we’re able to spend new year with her, as I can’t see us getting out to Australia to visit them there (thank you for the kind offer!), not with all the plans I’ve got in mind. I was thinking it just after she left for work, and I have firm plans in mind for the rest of this year and next year and by the time you get to the end of 2015, she’ll be half way through her posting to Australia. My goodness, when you say it like that, time really does fly by!
Graeme headed out shortly afterwards to cycle with Rory to school, with Peter also heading off on his bike. We took the opportunity to get everything packed away. This must be the first break we’ve had in a long time where we haven’t bought a single thing while we’ve been away. That being the case, why on earth did it take so long to stuff everything back into the case?
When we got back downstairs, Scott was waiting to be let in… I can’t work out whether he learnt this tactic from Sid the cat or vice versa…
Once Graeme got back, we chatted a while, before we headed out. I had one priority for this morning, and I’m sure some of you can guess what it involved. If you said “macaroons”, you’d be spot on. Graeme needed to get some bubble wrap for packing some of the stuff that was going back to their house in Scotland with Hazel later this week, so he figured that a local shopping centre would suit both our needs perfectly.
It was a fascinating drive there, passing through various small villages and towns, all of which seemed very proud of themselves, proclaiming what you could see and do there. It was nice to see places being so proud of their heritage.
The Seine meanders its way all around here as well, and it’s amazing how wide it gets in place, complete with islands in the middle of it in places.
Then we were into the centre commerciale or shopping centre, which was on both sides of the road. I was fascinated by the fact that there was a pedestrian crossing between the two complexes. In the UK and America for that matter, I can’t see that happening. Usually it would be a case of moving the car from one car park to another.
I have to say the more we travel to continental Europe, the more I come to the conclusion that culturally the UK is so much more similar to the USA than the rest of Europe. Take Sunday shopping for example. With the exception of Hazel and Graeme’s village, the majority of Europe just shuts down on a Sunday, whereas everyone is open at home, much the same as it is the USA.
We parked up, and Graeme headed over the road to stock up on bubble wrap, giving us very good directions to McDonald’s. We headed inside the complex, which looks like this outside…
… so it was quite a surprise to see this inside:
It really was a beautiful place…
We turned right and there was McDonald’s waiting for us, with macaroons laid out in the McCafe section. Using my best French, I ordered a box of 12, asking for two of each flavour.
That sorted out, we headed back to the car. I would’ve popped into C&A, as apparently there was one in here somewhere, although I couldn’t see any sign of it, and without a directory, I didn’t know how far away it was. We didn’t want to keep Graeme waiting.
We were back at the car for maybe five minutes before we saw some walking bubble wrap coming towards us, and we knew it had to be him!
We headed back to their house, and after a quick fuel up for the car, we headed back to the house, dropped the bubble wrap off, and collected our cases, and we were off again.
That bubble wrap was great it got my two TVs safely to Scotland where they are now on the walls entertaining my boys. Glad my hubby looked after you guys once I had to go to work.
Lazy mornings are great. Awww, Scott looks so cute! I'm guessing it was Scott who showed the cat how to ask to come inside....
I still think it's funny to go to McD's for macaroons!
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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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Too bad for the deluge of rain and hail! 
Love your photos of L'Arc de Triomphe with your zoom! Made my day! 
What a great perspective! 
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Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
I hope it all works out and we’re able to spend new year with her, as I can’t see us getting out to Australia to visit them there (thank you for the kind offer!), not with all the plans I’ve got in mind. I was thinking it just after she left for work, and I have firm plans in mind for the rest of this year and next year and by the time you get to the end of 2015, she’ll be half way through her posting to Australia. My goodness, when you say it like that, time really does fly by! 
Graeme needed to get some bubble wrap for packing some of the stuff that was going back to their house in Scotland with Hazel later this week, so he figured that a local shopping centre would suit both our needs perfectly. 
As I said when we went to pack, it was a weird feeling not to have bought anything and definitely a first for us! 
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