Ships, castles and spas – passing through southern England and Wales COMPLETED - Page 9 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
Thursday 11 June – part seven: stepping inside the TARDIS console room… and other delights!
Once we were done with the experience part of the Doctor Who Experience, then we headed into this…
You get to see the TARDIS console room… well, one of them anyway.
Then you can meet the Daleks again close-up, although sadly the lighting here was a bit weird, so trying to get a photo with them was pretty tough. It’s a shame and one of the few things I’d like to see them improve here.
You stay in the 1960s, seeing some of the monsters from back then – this is a Zarbi, which looked better than I expected, as it wasn’t that good on screen, if the truth be told…
… and then there’s a section about the creation of the iconic theme music, complete with a replica room of the Radiophonic Workshop…
They also had a video showing here, but I loved the fact it was on a 1960s TV!
They also have papers of the day Kennedy was assassinated, as Doctor Who was first broadcast on the day following that, so the media was of course full of coverage of that. It was fascinating to see…
I personally liked the idea of this!
Now this is the height of my geekiness – this is a replica of a scene from the 1964 story, the Dalek Invasion of Earth… and of course the iconic TARDIS is in it. This is mark 1, we were told. There have been a few across the years…
This is the console room I grew up with from the 1980s…
… and this is the third Doctor’s car, Bessie, which appeared with some other doctors through the years. I love this old girl!
And more geekiness… this is the mark III TARDIS and this is a scene from the Leisure Hive, which aired in 1980, starring Tom Baker. It was partially filmed on Brighton beach, which is ironic, as that’s where one of the offices is based for the organisation I work for.
I was especially chuffed to find the Doctor’s faithful canine companion, K-9….
Then we came to one of the more recent console rooms, for the ninth (Christopher Eccleston) and tenth (David Tennant) Doctors. It was amazing to see how large it was, but I guess it does make sense, given that they had to film and presumably needed the space for various camera angles.
This is an iconic scene from the Day of the Doctor, the 50th anniversary show in November 2013, and shows three TARDISes together from number 10 (David Tennant), number 11 (Matt Smith) and the War Doctor (John Hurt) along with the Moment…
As you may be able to see from the photos, we were pretty much the last ones left in this section. This surprised me, given that our group did seem to have a lot of hardcore fans (yes, like me! ) and I expected people to take longer to go through this, but they didn’t.
Here, we headed upstairs to the upper floor of the exhibition, and the other issue we had with this was the heat upstairs. It started to hit you as you headed up the stairs, and this is something it would be really good if they could do something about.
It ran as what we call now "the classic series" from 1963 to 1989, then it came back in 2005 with the current series. During the time it was off the TV, there were audio stories and books, so it really did carry on during the whole 16 years off air.
That's quite amazing as most shows don't last more than a few years! Even more amazing is the devoted following it has!
It's amazing the amount of fine detail in the Experience as perhaps they may have taken cues from Disney! You really seem to be enjoying this and in your element!
Funny, that you mention Christopher Eccleston as I was watching a movie of his last night..."eXistenZ," with Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jude Law. Good movie, but so bizarre in many ways.
__________________
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; 06-21-2015 at 01:35 PM..
PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Ballston Lake, NY
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 46,162
Post Thanks / Like
Likes (Given): 94
Likes (Received): 241
Thanks (Given): 0
Thanks (Received): 139
Pixie Dust (Given): 3
Pixie Dust (Received): 4
I would be totally geeking out in here!! I love K-9, and that is so cool that you got to have your picture taken with him!! Seeing all the different versions of the TARDIS is really cool. Can't wait to see the villains!
That's quite amazing as most shows don't last more than a few years! Even more amazing is the devoted following it has!
Yes, we Whovians are very devoted!
Quote:
It's amazing the amount of fine detail in the Experience as perhaps they may have taken cues from Disney! You really seem to be enjoying this and in your element!
Oh I was - completely!
Quote:
Funny, that you mention Christopher Eccleston as I was watching a movie of his last night..."eXistenZ," with Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jude Law. Good movie, but so bizarre in many ways.
Interesting... I don't think I've heard of that one.
I would be totally geeking out in here!! I love K-9, and that is so cool that you got to have your picture taken with him!! Seeing all the different versions of the TARDIS is really cool. Can't wait to see the villains!
It was all so cool, although as a bit of a teaser, one of the villains wasn't looking too well.
This whole Doctor Who place is so amazing. I'll be honest that I've never watch more than a few minutes of any of the shows, but reading your updates is making me want to change that.
This whole Doctor Who place is so amazing. I'll be honest that I've never watch more than a few minutes of any of the shows, but reading your updates is making me want to change that.
Yay! I'm sure you'd enjoy it if you see some episodes.
Thursday 11 June – part eight: meeting the villains!
When you get upstairs, you’re greeted by some of the Doctor Who villains. Now I really am an anorak when it comes to the classic series. This is the series that originally aired from 1963 to 1989. The new series then came back in 2005. I knew every single one of these villains…
An original Sontaran – they have appeared in the revival since it came back in 2005 and of course, they look much better today than the original version
The Melkur from one of Tom Baker’s last stories – note the “moss” on him around his left middle
The Giant Robot from Tom Baker’s first story in 1974
An Ice Warrior – again they were in the original series and have also appeared in the revival
I was so upset to see the state of the Yeti costume… look at it:
We were warned that a lot of the costumes you see are genuine, and not replicas, so you can’t touch them, which is fair enough, and my goodness, it was obvious with this. It dates from Patrick Troughton’s era back in 1967, so that is a long time ago now!
These are the monsters from the new series…
A new look Sontaran – very different to the original
A scary scarecrow
A new look Silurian – again, they were in the original series
The Face of Boe
The Silence
Of course, they had to have the Weeping Angels somewhere… now don’t blink!
And there was a section for the Cybermen. I found it fascinating to see all the costumes from over the years, all the way back to their first appearance with the first Doctor William Hartnell back in 1966…
I loved the richness of these costumes – look at the colours!
The Daleks also had their own section, and again I loved seeing how they had developed over the years…
My particular favourites were the ones that were on loan from private collections, as again they’re originals from many years ago, and I just find it amazing that they’ve survived so long and so well.
You could even see the inside of one. I have no idea how people dealt with being inside these things to operate them.
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.
I have to ask - what awful thing will happen if you blink by a weeping angel?
Well, they're stone whenever you're looking at them, but if you blink, then they move and get closer to you... and eventually if they get hold of you, you'll be sent back in time to live your life. Trust me, whenever the Weeping Angels are around, it's very creepy - suddenly as the viewer, you find yourself trying desperately not to blink as well and that's very difficult!
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
Wow, this is a serious experience! I'm familiar and have seen maybe a couple dozen of the new episodes, mostly with David Tennant. This place goes way above and beyond my knowledge, but it looks very well done!
__________________
Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
Wow, this is a serious experience! I'm familiar and have seen maybe a couple dozen of the new episodes, mostly with David Tennant. This place goes way above and beyond my knowledge, but it looks very well done!
I thought it was incredibly well done, although then again, given it's the BBC, that didn't surprise me, as I wouldn't expect any less from them.
About This Page: 
PassPorter Guide Author
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
Even more amazing is the devoted following it has!
I'm sure you'd enjoy it if you see some episodes. 
Linear Mode
