Returning to Roman times… COMPLETED - Page 4 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 can just picture in my mind the roads you went along today and can't wait to see the photos. I can't believe that in the days when I was there I travelled without a camera, but the images are still there in my mind. Hope you have good luck getting off to an early start tomorrow!
Sorry there was no update yesterday - would you believe I couldn't find any WiFi when we got to Naples airport?
Anyway, we got out of the hotel in plenty of time to miss the Giro d'Italia and were at Pompeii not long after opening, which meant the place was deserted. We literally had bits of it to ourselves, which was amazing. Well worth the early start!
We toured Pompeii under the early afternoon, so covered a lot of ground - about three or four times as much as we'd done on our cruise excursion. We were shocked at how little we actually saw during that visit.
We then headed to Herculaneum, which was similar, but very different. It's hard to explain, but you'll see when I get to that part, and you have photos to compare.
The flight back last night was fine, and we got home about 10:20pm. We are absolutely shattered, but had a wonderful weekend and really enjoyed it.
I'll have a "bonus" pre-trip report update coming up, then I'll start the real thing tomorrow. I hope you're prepared for lots of photos... I think we took about 1,000 photos each day yesterday and Sunday.
Friday 3 May – part one: why is there an instalment about the day before your vacation?
I wasn’t planning on writing anything for today, as the holiday doesn’t start until tomorrow morning, and we’re not even heading up to the airport tonight. So why have I decided to add an instalment?
Well, the first reason was when I went to log on to check in online and get our seats. The way it works with British Airways is that you can pay an additional £10 per seat to book your seats prior to 24 hours out or you can wait until 24 hours out and do it for free, which is what I usually do. Now previously, the flight’s been early enough that I could do it before I went to work. Well, not today, so I came home at lunchtime and logged on. I was horrified at what I found. There were only about 10 seats left by the time I got into it, and the only seats left together (we’d be allocated aisle seats across from each other thank you!) were the final row, right in front of the restrooms. Not ideal, but we were left with no choice, so I quickly grabbed those. At least we’d be together.
The other problem I encountered today was a report on the BBC News about the Giro d’Italia, something I’d vaguely heard of. It’s a cycle race, but what caught my eye was the fact that it was due to start in Naples tomorrow. we’re flying into Naples tomorrow!
I managed to find a route map of the various stages of the race and we’d be fine tomorrow, as the tour was all around Naples, and nowhere near the airport. We’d literally be flying in, picking up the car and then heading down to Sorrento. Sunday wasn’t a problem either, as they’re actually on one of the islands off the Amalfi Coast, but Monday could be an issue, as the race is going from Sorrento along the Amalfi Coast, and right through Positano, which I’d hoped to visit that day.
Now, try as I might in the morning, I couldn’t find any timings for this at all. That wasn’t helpful…
Eventually, TripAdvisor came to my aid, telling me that the race would leave Sorrento around 8:30am/9:00am, although someone else then said that, in their experience, the race wouldn’t leave until more like 11:00am. OK, not that helpful then! I think we’ll try and head out along the Amalfi Coast sometime on Saturday, to try and avoid the mayhem…
I also cannot believe the weather forecast. After weeks of perfect weather, now they’re saying thunder storms on Sunday and Monday. Not what I wanted to hear. Ok, so I guess that maybe we’ll be packing an umbrella after all then…
As I write this, it’s now Friday evening, and Mark is upstairs packing… the immortal quote I’ve just heard is “I don’t have many T-shirts”. I did point out that he managed to find plenty for our trip to the States for a mere 28 nights, while this is just two nights… enough said!
Just found this because I've been so behind on all of my TRs lately. I saw some of your photos on FB which lead me to believe you may have started a TR for it, and lucky for me, I was right. This is such a beautiful area of Italy, and the history is amazing there. Pompeii was a highlight of my trip to Italy, and I can't wait to see all of the pictures you took there.
Just found this because I've been so behind on all of my TRs lately. I saw some of your photos on FB which lead me to believe you may have started a TR for it, and lucky for me, I was right. This is such a beautiful area of Italy, and the history is amazing there. Pompeii was a highlight of my trip to Italy, and I can't wait to see all of the pictures you took there.
I'm just going through them now and there will be plenty of them, I can assure you of that!
So all that Giro business was last minute news! Yikes, glad you sorted it out before you left! Maybe Mark means he doens't have many non-Disney shirts....
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thank you!) were the final row, right in front of the restrooms. Not ideal, but we were left with no choice, so I quickly grabbed those. At least we’d be together. 
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