The trip of many changes... TRIP REPORT UPDATED 4/25 - Page 37 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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It really is amazing when people feel that the rules don’t apply to them ! The caves were beautiful. I’m glad everyone made it ok on the stairs as Disney didn’t put that info into the description.
Yes, that was a relief. I was glad I got out without falling over, especially with the then ongoing problems I was having with my ankle....
The caves are beautiful and an amazing array of colors! Especially, when the natural light from outside shines through the openings on the various rocks. It amazes me that some people can't follow directions and do what they want to regardless of how many times they're told not to do it. I don't know if they're just ignorant, stubborn or just plain stupid. Perhaps, all three!
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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!
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The caves are beautiful and an amazing array of colors! Especially, when the natural light from outside shines through the openings on the various rocks.
Yes, I loved that aspect of it as well.
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It amazes me that some people can't follow directions and do what they want to regardless of how many times they're told not to do it. I don't know if they're just ignorant, stubborn or just plain stupid. Perhaps, all three!
Thursday 18 January – part six: talk about hurtling through!
We had a quick restroom break, then it was back on to the bus, where there was more trauma, as someone had changed seats and split a couple up in the process. People, what is wrong with you?
Maravla pointed out these fast food trucks, which open at 9:00pm and close around 4:00am, as apparently the restaurants “close early” (this is what she told us) – at 1:00am. Wow, that sounds quite late to me actually!
Next we headed over the Queen Juliana Bridge and enjoyed magnificent views to Punda (the colorful “city side”) and Otrobanda (the rustic “other side”) – the two bits of Willemstad. Despite the fact we were on the other side of the bus, I don’t think I did too badly and I got some half decent shots of the town way beneath us.
We carried on and found even more beautiful pastel buildings – they are literally everywhere.
This was our final stop…
Oh my goodness, talk about hurtling through here. We were told we had 15 minutes and I think five of those was about the production of Curacao liquor and the other 10 minutes were for shopping, although by that point, we’d had a chance to try the liquor and I wasn’t about to buy any.
The bottling process All the different flavours they have…
… and the final product!
It was a shame we were so pushed for time, as I’d have liked to have spent more time there, learning about the production process. Annoyingly, Maravla said they often have that criticism from tour guests – well in which case, you need to lengthen the tour, surely?
We bumped into Mark and Julia while we were there and they seemed to be having a great time. They’d gone independently to take a tasting tour and unsurprisingly were able to take things at a much slower pace.
We made our way back through the suburbs of Willemstad…
… and back over the Queen Juliana Bridge, this time getting some views of the Disney Wonder.
Then the tour was over. You had the option of being dropped back at the ship or downtown and we opted for the latter, as I wanted to wander around and get some photos and some souvenirs.
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I find caves just fascinating and you were able to get some nice pictures even when following the rules. I would not have been to happen with the bat situation but I would have been able to continue with the tour. We have bats flying around our neighborhood at dusk in the summer time when we take our nightly walks. Too bad you couldn't take more time at the end of the tour and learned a bit more about the production of the liquor.
I find caves just fascinating and you were able to get some nice pictures even when following the rules. I would not have been to happen with the bat situation but I would have been able to continue with the tour. We have bats flying around our neighborhood at dusk in the summer time when we take our nightly walks.
I didn't mind knowing they were there. To be honest, I'd be more scared if they suddenly appeared. Part of that is the shock of something like that where for a second you think "what the heck is that?"
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Too bad you couldn't take more time at the end of the tour and learned a bit more about the production of the liquor.
I guess education wasn't their main aim. They just wanted people to buy...
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Too bad everyone wasn't doing as they had been asked. Shame on them! 
It amazes me that some people can't follow directions and do what they want to regardless of how many times they're told not to do it. 
I don't know if they're just ignorant, stubborn or just plain stupid. 
Perhaps, all three!
Wow, that sounds quite late to me actually! 
I'm sure I've seen it listed as an ingredient.
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