Back to Bath and my donkeys… COMPLETED 7/25 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Gorgeous! Wow, that place is just beautiful, everywhere!
It is. I was really taken with it, especially given we paid so little for it!
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Finding new Disney friends is always a treat! I'm sure you provided lots of useful information.
Dinner looked pretty tasty, especially dessert! Your brownie looked nice and thick and fudgy. Yum!
I absolutely love the animal sculptures, especially the elephant. Was there a story behind them and their placement there?
Not that we know of unfortunately. It's a shame in a way as everything else seemed to have a story to it...
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The grounds are stunning. Always nice to run into Disney lovers. I just ran into one at the National Aviary and we had an unexpected but wonderful Disney chat. Those unexpected moments always brighten my days.
The National Aviary? I just had to look that up. I had no idea there was such a thing. Cool - you really do learn something every day!
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.
More great pictures of the grounds and hotel! I love that bar seating lounge as it looks so spacious and comfy! How funny to run into that couple at the bar as you got on so well with all the Disney chat! Dinner looked very good and can't believe Mark's STP dessert!
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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!
The National Aviary? I just had to look that up. I had no idea there was such a thing. Cool - you really do learn something every day!
We are fortunate that it is so close to us (50 minutes with traffic). We all love it there and the staff is amazing. I actually just ordered myself a small sloth glass trivet from the old glass panes from the original tropical rainforest. It is the most Awesome recycle reuse fundraiser.
JB also has done summer camp there for 2 years now. Talk about money well spent. He has done things in 5 days of camp that you either cannot ever do or would have to pay hundreds of dollars for the encounters. He has touched and fed 2 sloths, fed and held a toucan, fed and held lorikeets, participated in the bird shows, touched & made friends with several penguins and an armadillo, watched flamingos hatch, seen baby owlets, heard the hatching noise and peeps of a penguin attempting the hatching process to name a few. Not to mention all the animals he has met up close in their classroom rather than in the enclosures/exhibits. And all the education/facts he has learned makes me not hesitate to continue sending him. If you could ever visit the Aviary I highly recommend it.
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.
Very nice dinner, especially in get a chance to meet some new Disney friends. I would love a bit of cool evening weather. It's almost 9:00 PM here and the temperature is 84 degrees with a real feel of 93.
More great pictures of the grounds and hotel! I love that bar seating lounge as it looks so spacious and comfy!
It was a lovely place to just sit and relax.
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How funny to run into that couple at the bar as you got on so well with all the Disney chat! Dinner looked very good and can't believe Mark's STP dessert!
We are fortunate that it is so close to us (50 minutes with traffic). We all love it there and the staff is amazing. I actually just ordered myself a small sloth glass trivet from the old glass panes from the original tropical rainforest. It is the most Awesome recycle reuse fundraiser.
Wow, that sounds amazing!
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JB also has done summer camp there for 2 years now. Talk about money well spent. He has done things in 5 days of camp that you either cannot ever do or would have to pay hundreds of dollars for the encounters. He has touched and fed 2 sloths, fed and held a toucan, fed and held lorikeets, participated in the bird shows, touched & made friends with several penguins and an armadillo, watched flamingos hatch, seen baby owlets, heard the hatching noise and peeps of a penguin attempting the hatching process to name a few. Not to mention all the animals he has met up close in their classroom rather than in the enclosures/exhibits. And all the education/facts he has learned makes me not hesitate to continue sending him. If you could ever visit the Aviary I highly recommend it.
You are so right - those are things you'd normally pay a small fortune for. What an excellent education programme they obviously have there!
Very nice dinner, especially in get a chance to meet some new Disney friends. I would love a bit of cool evening weather. It's almost 9:00 PM here and the temperature is 84 degrees with a real feel of 93.
We haven't been quite that bad over the last week, but the temperatures have been horrendous for us - low 80s by 9:00pm and no air conditioning. Thankfully it broke yesterday and it's a lot more bearable now.
Saturday 16 June – part one: are they ready for us?
I was awake just before the alarm went off at 6:15am and we got up and got going, ready to head out for breakfast at 7:00am. Let’s just say it was just as well we were up early, as there was a grass cutting machine already out on the golf course and so much for it being the quiet end of the building. I think this must be where the staff park, as we heard a number of cars pull up about this time as well. Just as well we didn’t want a lie-in then!
We headed over to the main house in time for the start of the breakfast service…
We were the first ones in, so could pick whatever table we wanted. I went for this one with a view outside over the golf course…
I was a bit surprised that, when we arrived, they had to start laying out the breakfast buffet. I guess they don’t usually get people along at 7:00am on a Saturday morning.
Mind you, two women arrived 20 minutes after us and then their friend arrived just as we were leaving. I loved the conversation with her. “How are you doing?” Reply: “Really hung over”. Ok, so I guess it was a good night last night then….
The spread was Ok, but it wasn’t fantastic. The pastries all seemed to be apricot, which I couldn’t have. I was hoping for something a bit more basic, like croissant or choc au pain, but there was no sign of either. I ended up having cereal, followed by a cooked breakfast (eggs – very nicely done, mushrooms – bit peppery and hash browns) and then some toast, although that toaster needed some work. It barely toasted anything and usually I like toast like that, but it was too lightly done, even for me!
We headed back to the room, got ready and made our way out, checking out and then we were on our way into Bath.
I do love the architecture of this place and I know I’m not alone, as I have a couple of friends who visit here regularly as well, as they love it too. It’s just like stepping back in time every time we visit here.
We found our way to our usual parking place easily enough, although now it’s ticketless. You need to know your car licence plate, as you have to punch those details in when you leave to work out how much you owe. It’s an interesting way of doing things and I thought it was a good idea.
Well yeah, it's a good thing you did get up early! I mean, it worked out for you that morning, but they should warn people at check in that they start the course up-keep early in the morning!
More pictures of the beautiful hotel! Bummer the food selection wasn't the best. I'm just personally not a fan of apricot and would have expected at least a few other pastry type options too. Good they had warm selections too though!
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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
Well yeah, it's a good thing you did get up early! I mean, it worked out for you that morning, but they should warn people at check in that they start the course up-keep early in the morning!
They should and it was such a silly thing that they could easily have done something about...
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More pictures of the beautiful hotel! Bummer the food selection wasn't the best. I'm just personally not a fan of apricot and would have expected at least a few other pastry type options too. Good they had warm selections too though!
That was the other downside - not an amazing breakfast, but honestly I couldn't fault the resort overall. It was quite something.
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Your brownie looked nice and thick and fudgy. Yum!
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How funny to run into that couple at the bar as you got on so well with all the Disney chat! 
Dinner looked very good and can't believe Mark's STP dessert! 
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