A special birthday, a diamond anniversary and a west coast adventure COMPLETED IN THIS FORUM - Page 8 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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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.
Oh how I love this update! All of my senses woke right up! I can smell, taste, and here everything just like I was there. And I know exactly what is coming up! I am so glad you were able to do this. There is nothing like it.
I am so excited to see the rest of Butchart Gardens. I had wanted to go there but I let Skip pick the excursion that day, which was different. We looked at taking a taxi but the cost of it plus the cost of the gardens was going to be pretty high and we were tired so we decided to just forget about it.
Oh how I love this update! All of my senses woke right up! I can smell, taste, and here everything just like I was there. And I know exactly what is coming up! I am so glad you were able to do this. There is nothing like it.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
I am so excited to see the rest of Butchart Gardens. I had wanted to go there but I let Skip pick the excursion that day, which was different. We looked at taking a taxi but the cost of it plus the cost of the gardens was going to be pretty high and we were tired so we decided to just forget about it.
I can understand it, as the entrance isn't cheap, but my goodness, it is so worth it.
Monday 7 September – part ten: I have never seen a sunken garden in my life on such a grand scale before!
We were heading for the sunken garden in the Butchart Garden, and to be honest, I wasn’t really expecting that much, as I’ve seen many sunken gardens, and usually they’re tiny with only a little bit to see. My goodness, this couldn’t have been more different. I have never seen a sunken garden in my life on such a grand scale before!
After admiring this gorgeous vista for some time, we made our way down, and although it didn’t look quite as spectacular from ground level, it was still something.
I loved the use of different colours and plants in here, but what I particularly loved were the way that the fall colours were just starting to appear on the trees, something the garden can’t deliver on its own, no matter how hard it may try. I think Mother Nature was in a kind mood to us, as we could still see the flowers, pretty much in full bloom, and enjoy the varying colours of the leaves on the trees.
However, here I do need to say a word about the weather. It was lovely when we arrived, and the sun came out, making for some wonderful shots. Sadly it didn’t last. It became more and more cloudy, and the wind started to whip up a bit, and given the darkness of the sky, we both worried that rain might be coming. We agreed that we’d explore as much as we could before any rain came, and then, if we had to, we’d head out. It was all for nothing, as there wasn’t any rain during our visit, although it did feel threatening until pretty much the end, when of course, the sun came out again. You really couldn’t make it up!
We carried on making our way around the sunken garden, and came to this, one of the pools in the garden.
Once again, the colours were exceptionally vibrant here, and very well coordinated.
We made our way over to the Ross Fountain, and wow, this was no ordinary fountain! Look at the thing – talk about seriously impressive! They certainly don’t do things by halves around here.
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.
Oh wow. The gardens are gorgeous! Since I have such a bad black thumb, any flourishing garden is amazing to me. But this one is on such a huge scale - amazing!
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Wow it is beautiful. I'm sure in person it is even more impressive. Too bad that this is not walkable. I guess if we make it to Vancouver at some point we will have to pay for an excursion there as we don't really like driving in new areas. Our sense of direction is not the greatest
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I have never seen a sunken garden in my life on such a grand scale before! 
I think Mother Nature was in a kind mood to us, as we could still see the flowers, pretty much in full bloom, and enjoy the varying colours of the leaves on the trees. 
It became more and more cloudy, and the wind started to whip up a bit, and given the darkness of the sky, we both worried that rain might be coming. We agreed that we’d explore as much as we could before any rain came, and then, if we had to, we’d head out. It was all for nothing, as there wasn’t any rain during our visit, although it did feel threatening until pretty much the end, when of course, the sun came out again. You really couldn’t make it up! 
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