The trip of many changes... TRIP REPORT UPDATED 4/25 - Page 45 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 don't know how I lost this thread but I am all caught up now!! Your pictures are gorgeous Cuacao and Aruba are beautiful islands!! We need to get back there!! Your dinner at Palo looks amazing and Alex is just adorable!!
It suddenly struck me that the title of this trip report could be any one of my trips!!
Truly beautiful scenery around the Natural Bridge. It seems the chapel could have been done as a dry by as from your photos it's easy ot see that there isn't much there.
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I don't know how I lost this thread but I am all caught up now!!
Welcome back!
Quote:
Your pictures are gorgeous Cuacao and Aruba are beautiful islands!! We need to get back there!! Your dinner at Palo looks amazing and Alex is just adorable!!
It suddenly struck me that the title of this trip report could be any one of my trips!!
Funnily enough, I did think of you when I named it. I can't think why.
Truly beautiful scenery around the Natural Bridge. It seems the chapel could have been done as a dry by as from your photos it's easy ot see that there isn't much there.
Friday 19 January – part five: the most farcical security check ever…
Next we drove along the west coastline and saw some of the beautiful waters they have here. This is where the hotels are located and I can see why. I can imagine people coming here and absolutely loving it.
We were on our way to the California Lighthouse. It’s one of the island’s scenic highlights and is named after the steamship U.S. California, which sunk just off the coast of Aruba in 1893. It was built between 1914 and 1916 and is 100 feet high.
We were told we had time to take photos here, which was fine with us. There was no way anyone could go up the lighthouse, as they only allow one small group up at a time…
From here, you had views out over the west coast…
… and some of those sprawling resorts…
We made our way out…
… and then we were heading alongside the west coast resorts. Typically all the beaches were on the right, so the shots I got were very limited. It reminded me of Orlando, outside of Disney, with the resorts often on one side, then a shopping/dining complex on the other side of the road. It was almost like a home away from home for Americans anyway. I can imagine people coming here and staying in an all inclusive resort and barely leaving the grounds the whole time they’re here…
Soon we were making our way back to the port and we had a port security guard come on the bus to check everyone had ID for the ship, except it was the most farcical check ever. He looked at ours carefully as we were at the front of the bus, then just stood there and squinted at everyone else’s. Oh well.
Technically, there was also supposed to have been a stop downtown, but we didn’t get one and it was fine. I was disillusioned by now with the idea of exploring downtown and just happy to get back on board, but that was another black mark for Ryan.
Next: not a good idea to have that in “hare” speed…
I'm sorry Ryan is turning out not to be the best tour guide. You guys still look like you at least saw, albeit briefly, some cool sights. Great photos as always!!
Overall, it looked like a pretty thorough tour of the island as you did get to see a lot of various things. Even if Ryan sort of ruined it.
I'm sure the views of the island from the ship will look really nice! In the day light now, I mean....
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That guide just keeps getting less and less likely to deserve any kind of tip! Can’t believe he skipped the shopping part. The locals would string him up if they knew.
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Overall, it looked like a pretty thorough tour of the island as you did get to see a lot of various things. Even if Ryan sort of ruined it.
I'm sure the views of the island from the ship will look really nice! In the day light now, I mean....
That guide just keeps getting less and less likely to deserve any kind of tip! Can’t believe he skipped the shopping part. The locals would string him up if they knew.
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It seems the chapel could have been done as a dry by as from your photos it's easy ot see that there isn't much there.
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It reminded me of Orlando, outside of Disney, with the resorts often on one side, then a shopping/dining complex on the other side of the road. It was almost like a home away from home for Americans anyway. I can imagine people coming here and staying in an all inclusive resort and barely leaving the grounds the whole time they’re here… 
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