Making lemonade out of lemons…. In a titanic way! COMPLETED 5/13 - Page 5 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Saturday 15 April – part four: a touch of Disney magic with the donkey therapy…
We headed inside the centre at the Donkey Sanctuary, and saw the work they do in here. My goodness, it’s very impressive, and I just wish they had something like this when I was growing up, as I’d have loved to have come to a place like this with my parents. Mind you, I did have the benefit of growing up in a house that had a field with a donkey in it who became my friend (hence my love of donkeys ), so I guess I didn’t do too badly… If you look closely, you’ll even see an Eeyore in here, and there’s another bit of Disney magic with the castle.
I headed into the gift shop, and got some toasty warm socks, a book and a keyring, and added a donation to the charity, as I always do. As we said to them, this gave us a good idea of how our money is spent on the donkey assisted therapy side of their work, which you just don’t get a feel for in Sidmouth, amazing as that place is.
When we were done, the woman insisted we sit down, and have a cup of tea. Honestly, we felt more like members of the family rather than visitors, so warm was the welcome we received here. She was happy to chat away about anything, and the work they put into this place is just amazing. I can really see how kids get a lot out of it.
After we’d had our cup of tea, I said to Mark I was going to go back out and see the donkeys again, but I chose my time well, and it was just starting to rain. Oh well, a little bit of rain wasn’t going to dampen my spirits with donkeys around. I headed back out and saw Benjy and Alfie, and this time they both approached me. Benjy was quite happy to just stand there and be petted… and be petted… and be petted! I did pet one of his friends for a moment, but he gave me a look as if to say “what do you think you’re doing?” so I returned to him again. I must’ve been out there about five minutes in the rain, and I would’ve stayed longer, but the rain got a lot heavier, so I gave up, and eventually tore myself away from Benjy.
We headed out, and as I looked at the field of donkeys that the woman next door to the Donkey Sanctuary owns, another plane flew over, as we weren’t that far from the airport. I realised that I could see brown and black donkeys, and then it suddenly occurred to me that perhaps when I’d looked down as we came into land, and I’d seen what I thought were cows, maybe they were actually donkeys? It would be in about the right position… Oh well, not exactly something you’d expect to see, so a mistake can be forgiven….
The rain had cleared up by now – it was one of the those days where the weather would just change from one minute to the next. We stopped off at a garage, as we hadn’t received the car full of fuel, and we’d been told to fill it up, and they’d refund us, and look what Mark returned with! Oh my… I guess we’ll need to eat those before we head home tomorrow night, as they’re hardly going to go in our carry on luggage…
Mark had read about the Coastal Causeway Route, so we made our way out to it.
We drove through Larne…
… this was a bit odd.
Then we were soon out on the coastal route, and wow, what views we got from it!
As it was tough to get photos, given all the photo opportunities were on the driver’s side of the car, we stopped off at a fairly early stage in our drive, pulling into a car park. My interest was immediately taken by this…
Yes, it had a cow on it, and that’s what caught my attention, but actually, it’s a really serious message. The more time we spent here, the more we understood why they had these adverts. There are fields full of sheep (and a few cows ) everywhere you go, and frankly a lot of them are in the middle of nowhere, with no-one to watch over them, so I can imagine that crime is probably rife.
That looks like a wonderful facility. A great place for a donkey to live. Glad you got some time with Benjy, I'm sure he loved it! And too funny about the airplane! Who knew you'd have seen donkeys from the air?!
Beautiful coastal drive so far - especially since the rain stopped momentarily.
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Mark knows how to pick a good snack! I understand the Creme Eggs in the U.K. Are much better than the version they sell in the States. I can't stand the ones here - they are sickenly sweet. I need to try the British version. But never seem to be there the right time of year.
Such beautiful countryside!!
That looks like a wonderful facility. A great place for a donkey to live. Glad you got some time with Benjy, I'm sure he loved it! And too funny about the airplane! Who knew you'd have seen donkeys from the air?!
I know, weird right, but trust me to spot them!
Quote:
Beautiful coastal drive so far - especially since the rain stopped momentarily.
It was beautiful once the rain stopped... and thankfully it stayed away for the rest of the day...
Mark knows how to pick a good snack! I understand the Creme Eggs in the U.K. Are much better than the version they sell in the States. I can't stand the ones here - they are sickenly sweet. I need to try the British version. But never seem to be there the right time of year.
Hmmm... interesting. Mind you, Cadbury's has been brought out by an American company and there are complaints of our chocolate tasting different. I have to say Crème Eggs still taste the same to me over here - and you can try them year round. Once upon a time, you only used to get them around Easter - not anymore.
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Benjy is such an adorable donkey, and I love the whole set up of the sanctuary. Beautiful scenery in your photos along the Coastal Causeway! I wouldn't really be Easter without Cadbury eggs.
An amazing time at the sanctuary and you got so much out of it! It makes it even better on how welcoming they are to their guests and treating them like family as you experienced! That was interesting on how your love of donkeys came to be.
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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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), so I guess I didn’t do too badly… If you look closely, you’ll even see an Eeyore in here, and there’s another bit of Disney magic with the castle. 
Oh well, a little bit of rain wasn’t going to dampen my spirits 
Oh well, not exactly something you’d expect to see, so a mistake can be forgiven…. 
Glad you got some time with Benjy, I'm sure he loved it! And too funny about the airplane! Who knew you'd have seen donkeys from the air?!
That was interesting on how your love of donkeys came to be.
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