Returning to Roman times… COMPLETED - Page 7 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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'm still getting used to having to change lenses all the time, and yes, it is a pain. What a great purchase. It's nice when you find the camera that fits your exact needs. I'm in the market for an upgrade on my camera body, but I'm not as bold as you are, and I'm still doing my research.
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Saturday 4 May – part three: there’s a problem with your rental car
I have never had a flight where I’ve done so little, except stare out of the window at the amazing scenery below. It was just so beautiful, and I loved the fact that it was so green. We say that we have a “green and pleasant land”, but my goodness, I think Italy could rival us for that title! I was also fascinated by how mountainous the place was. It’s just up and down everywhere you look, and from up here, you had a darned good view!
I loved this little cloud and its shadow! Look how blue the sky is! I can’t believe I got a shot of this plane beneath us!
It was a very smooth flight, and soon we were coming into land at Naples.
We guessed this is maybe an amphitheatre of some kind Mount Vesuvius towers above Naples
Considering we were at the back of the plane, I was very impressed when I saw this arrive…
We made our way out on to the buses that were waiting to pick us up, sadly losing the lovely lady we’d been sitting next to, as her friend was on the other bus, so she headed that way, and we never saw her again.
We were the first bus to be dropped off to clear immigration, which as we were in the EU passport holders line, was pretty painless. It literally consists of them opening up your passport, confirming that you are the person in the photo, and that’s it, you’re through.
We then had to wait for our luggage to come through, and let’s just say it wasn’t that quick. We probably stood there for about 10 minutes, before any luggage came off, then our case was the third one out!
With that, we headed outside, admiring how modern the airport was from outside…
… and found our way to the shuttle for the car rental. As soon as it showed up, we just knew that we wouldn’t get on it. The driver was really nice about it, and explained in Italian that another one would be with us in about two minutes, so I thanked him for that in Italian, and he looked so taken aback, then thanked me for my understanding.
Sure enough, another shuttle arrived a minute or two later, and we were the first ones on it. It was literally about a two minute ride to the rental car centre, but not a walk you’d want to do, not in this heat. It must’ve been in the high 70s, very nice, but also a shock to the system, after the weather we’ve had recently.
When we got to the car rental centre, we split up resources, with Mark getting in line for Avis, and me waiting for the case. As we had been the first to board, it was the last one to be revealed, after everyone else got theirs. I headed inside, and it’s just as well I did, as they needed my American Express card, as that was used to pay for the booking. Of course – as it was Mark’s Christmas present.
The woman who served us was very nice, and spoke fluent English. Sadly, she told us that there had been a problem with our convertible, so we couldn’t have it, and she offered us either a medium or large car. After asking us where we’d be going, she told us a medium car would be better, and I have to say, I think that was a wise choice. I did get a refund on the convertible, but it’s such a shame, as we do want to rent one one day…
We found our car…
… which was very nice, although it was parked so close to the one next to it that Mark had to get in through the passenger side.
Northern Italy, especially the Italian Alps, are very beautiful from the ground as well. Yay, you're in Italy! Sorry about the convertible, you'll have to try again on another short trip.
Another exciting adventure from Cheryl and Mark! This really sounds like a fun weekend.
If you're going to make an impulse purchase, you sure made a good one. That Sony superzoom comes highly recommended. And, agreed, with the image stabilizer, it's amazing what you can shoot without a tripod.
Looking forward to the rest of your report, as this is an area we hope to visit someday.
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It really did not take to long for you to get through the Airport. What a shame about the Convertible, I think they should have more than 1!!!!! Oh well must move on.
Northern Italy, especially the Italian Alps, are very beautiful from the ground as well.
I hope to see that for ourselves when we cruise on the Magic next summer. My plan is to then spend five or six days touring the area around Venice and to go down to Florence.
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Yay, you're in Italy! Sorry about the convertible, you'll have to try again on another short trip.
Another exciting adventure from Cheryl and Mark! This really sounds like a fun weekend.
It was.
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If you're going to make an impulse purchase, you sure made a good one. That Sony superzoom comes highly recommended. And, agreed, with the image stabilizer, it's amazing what you can shoot without a tripod.
I'm so glad you think so - the guy in the shop did say the same thing, but then again, I never 100% trust them, as of course they're trying to sell it to you!
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Looking forward to the rest of your report, as this is an area we hope to visit someday.
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I continue to love your photos from the air! Sounds like your seats in the back of the plane weren't so bad after all. And how very strange they didn't have a convertible for you. Oh well. I'm thinking that you guys just might go on another trip sometime where a convertible will work out. Maybe.
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What a great purchase. It's nice when you find the camera that fits your exact needs. I'm in the market for an upgrade on my camera body, but I'm not as bold as you are, and I'm still doing my research. 
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I was also fascinated by how mountainous the place was. It’s just up and down everywhere you look, and from up here, you had a darned good view! 
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