USA - live in it? From there? Please read this! :o) - Page 3 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 live in Savannah, which is quite a wedding destination in the US, but I don't know how familiar people are with it outside the US.
That's just the kind of thing I want to bring to the attention of people here - I would say that the majority of Brits have only very sketchy knowledge of anywhere other than the tourist hotspots of Florida, California, New York, Vegas and Hawaii (of course I'm generalising - there will also be people like chezp who know everywhere inside out! ). Pointing out even those five popular places on a map would probably test a lot of us, let alone the less-frequented states!
I'm not criticising my fellow countrypeople - we're just not taught US geography (or history, really) in school and most people never really have a need to find out about it so they don't bother. Or they scoff about America only being a few hundred years old ("that's not history, my house is older than that, ha ha" etc etc). I so want to share the amazing variety, beauty and history with people and make them more aware.
Sorry about the lengthy speech - it's just that the more I think about this whole thing, the more I want to do it and it be a success!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ashli
Good luck with your book!
very much!
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Tinkerboo (or in the real world, Toyah) Reading Challenge 2015: 0/84
Follow my journey from sweaty panting mess to running goddess (I hope!) Out walking with The Boy...
That's just the kind of thing I want to bring to the attention of people here - I would say that the majority of Brits have only very sketchy knowledge of anywhere other than the tourist hotspots of Florida, California, New York, Vegas and Hawaii (of course I'm generalising - there will also be people like chezp who know everywhere inside out! ).
Glad to know I don't fall into that category...
Perhaps you should have a look at the major holiday brochures for the US - for example Virgin and concentrate on their destinations. That would give you a way of limiting the scope of this project. Their brochure is very expansive - a lot of New England, New York, DC, some of the southern states, Florida, Vegas, a lot of California, Chicago, Seattle, Portland, Hawaii - that's what I remember off the top of my head. It might be worth checking out the other big operators like Thomas Cook, Thomson and First Choice to see what other major brochures cover the States exclusively...
Although I live in one of the major vaca destinations - Florida - and most people think of Mickey Mouse and Miami - Florida is SO much more than that with many many unique destinations for marriage options, all of them very different from each other.
For instance - my husband and I were married in a 1920's country club that is now a state park in NE florida on St. George's Island north of Jacksonville. I know people who live in Jacksonville who could not tell you where it was. I hope your boo will expand some of the destinations in Florida away from the "beaten path tourist" locations and include some of our gems as well.
One of my all-time favorite places to visit is also a great spot for a wedding (we honeymooned here) is located in Wisconsin. Door County is like a slice of New England in the midwest. It is the small peninsula which shoots up between Green Bay and Lake Michigan and is quite gorgeous! The background of the area is very artsy. You can find more information on Door County here.
I would love to look through your book when it is complete!
Chez - I have that Virgin brochure (partly for this, partly as vacation window shopping...sigh ), but I hadn't thought of focusing on the places within it first. So thanks for that idea!
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Tinkerboo (or in the real world, Toyah) Reading Challenge 2015: 0/84
Follow my journey from sweaty panting mess to running goddess (I hope!) Out walking with The Boy...
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
However, my husband and I married in Mackinac Island. It is a couple hours north of Traverse City in the Straits of Mackinaw. The Island is a National Historic Landmark. There are no cars on the island, it moves to the pace of the 1800's, horse drawn carriages, bikes, or simply walking. I LOVE this place! Greetings from Mackinac Island, Michigan
I am from Massachusetts. My husband is from New Jersey. But we got married in Jamaica.
That being said, I know that Massachusetts has so many great places for weddings...across the state. From Boston with all it's history, to Cape Cod and Cape Ann with all their beautiful waterfront areas and then if you head to the western part of the state there is so much green because of the Berkshire Mountains. We also have several islands off the coast that are simply amazing - Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard are probably the most well known and are very popular for local weddings.
I grew up in a small town, Uxbridge, which is beautiful in it's own right. It is an old mill town right along the Blackstone River and Norman Rockwell actually has family in the area. It is a very picturesque New England town with a town common and old buildings (churches, the library) that just bring you back.
There are just so many beautiful parks all around Massachusetts and New England. And with the four seasons, you almost can't go wrong planning a wedding here. Although...the weather can sometimes be unpredictable, so you have to be flexible and not plan an outdoor wedding without a backup plan. (For example, tomorrow is April 1 and they are talking about a snowstorm.)
We got married in Massachusetts, then flew into San Fransisco for the first of our 2 week honeymoon. Did the Wine Train in Napa Valley and toured some vineyards, spent an entire day in San Fransisco (loved China Town and had dim sum for the first time there!), then we drove south with the intent on going to San Diego zoo, but didn't realize how long the scenic coastal highway took and only got about 1/2 way at San Simeon and toured Hearst Castle, then drove west toward Las Vegas staying in Mohave overnight along the way. In Las Vegas besides the casinos the Hoover Damn is close by 25 min or so by car. And a bit farther are parts of the Grand Canyon.
Good Luck!
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
Thanks so much Angela531, kelleigh1 and Irish Family...more great info for my file!
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Tinkerboo (or in the real world, Toyah) Reading Challenge 2015: 0/84
Follow my journey from sweaty panting mess to running goddess (I hope!) Out walking with The Boy...
Rhode Island - check out Newport and Block Island. Probably two of the most beautiful areas in the state of Rhode Island and I know they host a number of weddings in both places. Galilee and Point Judith are also nice areas of Rhode Island, right on the coast.
Providence has Roger Williams Park Zoo which is a very large, beautiful park with a zoo. I do a 5k walk around the park every October and I don't think we even see half of it during the walk.
Has anyone talked about Maine yet? We are heading up to Ogunquit, Maine in June for our anniversary. That is a very popular spot for visitors, especially those of us from New England who are looking for a nice place that we can drive to. We are staying at a gorgeous inn - the Gazebo Inn. That would be a fabulous place for a honeymoon or romantic getaway.
Rhode Island - check out Newport and Block Island. Probably two of the most beautiful areas in the state of Rhode Island and I know they host a number of weddings in both places. Galilee and Point Judith are also nice areas of Rhode Island, right on the coast.
Providence has Roger Williams Park Zoo which is a very large, beautiful park with a zoo. I do a 5k walk around the park every October and I don't think we even see half of it during the walk.
Has anyone talked about Maine yet? We are heading up to Ogunquit, Maine in June for our anniversary. That is a very popular spot for visitors, especially those of us from New England who are looking for a nice place that we can drive to. We are staying at a gorgeous inn - the Gazebo Inn. That would be a fabulous place for a honeymoon or romantic getaway.
Thanks very much! I feel a real draw to New England (perhaps because I'm from 'Old' England?) - I'm probably idealising it a lot, but it seems like an ideal place to live, I just love the image of it.
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Follow my journey from sweaty panting mess to running goddess (I hope!) Out walking with The Boy...
Rhode Island always makes me think of the Family Guy episode where Stewie and Brian do a big musical number (hats, canes, costumes, the lot) on a train called "We're on the road to Rhode Island".
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Tinkerboo (or in the real world, Toyah) Reading Challenge 2015: 0/84
Follow my journey from sweaty panting mess to running goddess (I hope!) Out walking with The Boy...
I've been in Massachusetts pretty much my entire life. (I was born in Texas, but only because my Dad was in the army and that's where he was stationed.) My family has been here since the beginning, so it is home. My husband and I are actually taking about moving to Arizona, mainly because we can't afford to buy a house here and we're getting sick of the cold, miserable winters, but there isn't really anywhere else in the US that I'd want to live.
The US has so many amazing areas to visit and I feel lucky to live here.