Adults only – sampling southern England COMPLETED - Page 54 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We did a drive through safari about a year and a half ago with my sister.....and I was so glad we used her car. They were sticking their heads right in to be fed.
I can't beleive you could drive right in there with the lions too.
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Some amazing shots of the tigers and lioness with her cubs. Can't believe how close you were and all of them just acting natural in their habitats! I always, remember Lion Country Safari in the West Palm Beach area of Florida when I was very young and experiencing this as well!
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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!
Last edited by SuperDave; 07-19-2014 at 11:31 AM..
Sunday 11 May – part five: this is the closest we’ve ever got to them!
The next section we entered was the cheetah section, and wow, this is the closest I’ve ever got to these magnificent animals!
We both agreed that the previous few enclosures had been worth the price of admission alone. It had just been an amazing experience.
The final enclosure was Wolf Wood, and although we got some nice views of the wolves, they couldn’t come close to the amazing encounters we’d already had.
We headed back towards the house…
… and the parking fairy was once again kind to Mark, and he managed to find a space near to the house.
We walked over to the house…
… and were asked to wait for a few minutes, as they open the doors to general tours at midday, something I didn’t realise. From 10:00am until 11:45am, it’s guided tours only. Free flow touring works for me, and as it was a couple of minutes before midday, we didn’t have long to wait. I took the opportunity to get some photos of the Great Hall…
Here’s some history to Longleat House, and unfortunately you won’t get much more information about each room, as there was simply none available, and I’ve not been able to find any online. I guess maybe I should’ve bought that guidebook after all. Longleat House is over 400 years old and the Thynn family have lived here since it was built between 1576 and 1580. The builder, John Thynn worked as a kitchen clerk in the court of King Henry VIII and acquired the property, which was a run-down priory. Remember the Dissolution of the Monasteries I mentioned earlier in this trip report? Well, that’s why it was run down. He paid just £53 for the house, although I dread to think how much that would be in today’s money!
John Thynne went on to become steward to the Earl of Hertford, who was Jane Seymour’s brother and was knighted by him. He did well through marriages as well to two different daughters of different Lord Mayors of London and both had impressive dowries, making him very rich. The first Royal visitor to Longleat was Queen Elizabeth in 1574 and the most recent were Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, who were here for a charity event in June 2008.
King Charles II visited the house in the late 17th century and bestowed the title of Viscount Weymouth on the owner at the time, Thomas Thynne, which then passed to subsequent owners of Longleat House. In 1789, King George III gave the owner of the house the higher title of Marquess of Bath, and that’s how it’s remained to this day.
Ok, that’s it with the history… let’s take the tour… This was the first room we came into…
You could tell they liked books here!
This room felt a bit more homely, although how many homes have ceilings like this?
Can't believe how closeup you were to the cheetahs! So close, that you could almost pet them! But, probably not a good idea! You certainly got some amazing shots!
A nice beginning to your tour of Longleat House. Especially, like those decorative ceilings!
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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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Sunday 11 May – part six: exploring more of Longleat House
We continued on our tour around Longleat House. This is one of the more informal dining rooms…
…. And one of the more formal dining rooms…
This was the lower server, and the figures you see here come from Meissen, which we visited on our German trip in Easter 2013.
There were some lovely portraits of Versailles in the 17th century in here too…
I absolutely loved this elevator…
These were quite cool as well – particular the ones where you could ring from the bathrooms!
Then it was upstairs to see one of the bedrooms…
There were some good views out to the gardens from here as well.
We then headed into the State Dining Room. This was only used for the most formal of occasions.
I was very taken by the next room, the Saloon, which was created as a long gallery in the late 17th century. It is around 90 feet long and is the longest reception room in the house. It was used by ladies to exercise when the weather was poor. And the reason I know all of this is that there was actually information in this room – shame that wasn’t the case for all the rooms….
Then we headed in to see a display of the wedding dress worn by Emma McQuiston when she married Ceawlin Thynn, Viscount Weymouth, at Longleat in June 2013.
Then we were at the grand staircase…
The tour then took you into this side gallery at the top of the staircase.
I thought this sign was great and certainly got the message across!
Then we passed through a couple of different rooms, all with a far Eastern feel to them…
We ended up in a lovely shop that used the former kitchen.
There were a couple of final displays about the servants’ area before we headed out.
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Can't believe how close you were and all of them just acting natural in their habitats! 
I always, remember 
Longleat House is over 400 years old and the Thynn family have lived here since it was built between 1576 and 1580. The builder, John Thynn worked as a kitchen clerk in the court of King Henry VIII and acquired the property, which was a run-down priory. Remember the Dissolution of the Monasteries I mentioned earlier in this trip report? Well, that’s why it was run down. He paid just £53 for the house, although I dread to think how much that would be in today’s money! 
You could tell they liked books here! 
But, probably not a good idea! 
You certainly got some amazing shots! 
I don't think I'd have a hand or arm left... 
Longleat House is beautiful!
And the reason I know all of this is that there was actually information in this room – shame that wasn’t the case for all the rooms…. 
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