The trip of many changes... TRIP REPORT UPDATED 4/25 - Page 17 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Monday 15 January – part five: drinks and a dockyard
We made our way next to Nelson’s Dockyard. This was another reason for taking the tour, as I wanted to see this. We saw a variety of different properties on the way. I was surprised to sometimes see what looked like mansions right next door to shacks. I wonder how wealth is distributed here and how everyone gets on together.
Once we got to Nelson’s Dockyard, we were handed over to a national park guide, who told us more about the place. It’s been restored to its original splendour of the 18th and 19th century. As I’ve already mentioned, this place was key to British defences in the Caribbean and, in the early 18th century, naval ships were regularly using Antigua, but there were no facilities for maintaining or repairing them. This proved to be a bit of an issue when a hurricane swept through the island and not long after construction started on the dockyard in the 1740s. Work continued on the dockyard, expanding the facilities here for the next 100 years, but by the end of the 19th century, the Royal Navy abandoned it and it fell into disrepair.
Thankfully, that wasn’t the end of the story, as the Society of the Friends of English Harbour started to restore it in 1951. It took a decade before it was ready to open to the public. Today it’s home to shops, marina businesses and even a hotel. As for the name, well it’s named after the famous (maybe not to you guys ) Horatio Nelson, hero of the Battle of Trafalgar, who served as the captain of the HMS Boreas, which was sent to Antigua to enforce British law.
Once again, I felt this was a bit rushed, although in truth, there was less here than I thought there would be from what I’d read in the guidebooks. The buildings were beautiful and I’m very glad they were restored, as they’re a great reminder of Antigua’s history and perhaps much more importantly today, a good tourist attraction, which the island needs, given how many tourists they now welcome today.
Another touch of the UK here! A British phone box!
The sun was still blistering down and our guide kept us mainly in the shade. Next we were getting a free cocktail, although I’d checked with Christine and it had dark rum in, which makes me black out, literally within seconds, so she got me a special version with light rum.
We had our drinks, then wandered around and got some photos, keeping to the shade as much as we could.
Talk about a job above it all!
As I mentioned earlier, there wasn’t much to do here. There was a museum to browse through, but we only had 45 minutes in total and I think we only had about 15 minutes left by this point, so we figured we didn’t have time. Most of the other buildings were either shops or restaurants, which was a shame.
We did stop in one of the shops and got a Christmas ornament and a fridge magnet to add to the one we’d purchased earlier at Shirleys Heights. When we came to do the Christmas tree this year, we didn’t seem to have many new arrivals from our travels in 2017 and I’m determined to put that right this year.
It is nice to see that restored, even if it is just for shops and restaurants. I guess tourism is king there after all. Lots of British influence there indeed!
Glad she tried to keep you guys in the shade, I can imagine it's pretty darn hot standing/walking around outside for that length of time!
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English harbor is one of my favorite caribbean visits. When I was in the Navy in the early70's, we took the captain's gig from the capital down there to do soundings of the harbor entrance so that all the visiting American yacht owners would have accurate charts.
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It is nice to see that restored, even if it is just for shops and restaurants. I guess tourism is king there after all.
That was pretty much the story everywhere we went on this cruise!
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Lots of British influence there indeed!
Glad she tried to keep you guys in the shade, I can imagine it's pretty darn hot standing/walking around outside for that length of time!
It was a very hot day, especially for those of us not used to the heat - like me!
English harbor is one of my favorite caribbean visits. When I was in the Navy in the early70's, we took the captain's gig from the capital down there to do soundings of the harbor entrance so that all the visiting American yacht owners would have accurate charts.
Oh wow - how awesome! I bet you had a great time there.
The day of your tour looks so gorgeous, but I'm sure that sunshine was getting intense by afternoon. The little British touches/reminders everywhere are so neat.
The buildings are quite beautiful on Antigua. It's too bad the grounds and landscaping of pretty all the properties could use a lot of work! Interesting facts about Nelson's Dockard and how it has been neglected. Good choice going with the light rum as the result wouldn't be good and we'd miss out on some great photos!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
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Funny seeing the British phone booth there, given they’re getting harder to find in the UK!
Glad you were able to get a cocktail that didn’t make you pass out!
The buildings are quite beautiful on Antigua. It's too bad the grounds and landscaping of pretty all the properties could use a lot of work!
Yes, I noticed that as well. It was a shame they didn't look a little more loved, shall we say?
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Interesting facts about Nelson's Dockard and how it has been neglected. Good choice going with the light rum as the result wouldn't be good and we'd miss out on some great photos!
Yes you would've done. I almost passed out on Saturday night and no rum was involved! However, it was a very similar experience, so goodness knows what went on there...
Funny seeing the British phone booth there, given they’re getting harder to find in the UK!
They are. They're pretty much only for tourist photo ops these days, but then again, I'm sure that's now the case all over the world, given the rise of cell phones. Phone booths just aren't needed any longer. It's interesting, as I've been watching a British drama that ran in the 1990s while I've been off after my surgery and one shot was at a main railway station in London and you should've seen the line of phone booths there. I couldn't help but think that any kids watching that would be like "why would you need those?"
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Glad you were able to get a cocktail that didn’t make you pass out!
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Love the beautiful blue of the sea, too! 
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) Horatio Nelson, hero of the Battle of Trafalgar, who served as the captain of the HMS Boreas, which was sent to Antigua to enforce British law. 
Interesting facts about Nelson's Dockard and how it has been neglected. Good choice going with the light rum as the result wouldn't be good and we'd miss out on some great photos! 
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