A special birthday, a diamond anniversary and a west coast adventure COMPLETED IN THIS FORUM - Page 4 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
The Empress!!! Oh how I love Victoria! You know I am so excited about this leg of your trip!
I can certainly why. It's just a beautiful place and I am so glad that we finally got to go. We loved it so much that maybe we might make another visit when we do our next Alaskan cruise...
Monday 7 September – part six: are we going to find parking?
The next challenge in Victoria was to find parking, and we were a bit worried that might be a problem, given there seemed to be some sort of concert taking place in front of the Parliament buildings, but we were fine. We found a parking garage easily enough, parked up, and set off.
Immediately we ended up in a gift shop, where we got some ice wine chocolate and maple syrup chocolate to try, along with some fridge magnets. Mark was going to go in another shop, but I gently suggested perhaps we should actually see some of Victoria, before we went shopping mad.
We walked along to the waterfront area, and found this amazing orca topiary:
I joked with Mark that this was going to be the closest we’d get to seeing the darned things.
Then we walked along to see the Fairmont Empress Hotel. This was completed in 1905 and built on what was mud flats. Wow, what a difference that must’ve made!
In front of the hotel, we found this statue of Captain James Cook, which was a bit ironic, given that he never actually saw Victoria, although he did explore much of British Columbia.
I didn’t photograph many of them, but this plaques pay tribute to those who helped to shape the harbour’s history.
From here, you could see how vibrant and busy the harbour is today. It doesn’t hurt that it’s home to a water taxi service, seaplanes and today, also a blues festival.
We both particularly liked this floral arrangement that says “welcome to Victoria”. What a neat touch!
We made our way towards the Parliament buildings, and found this statue of Queen Victoria. Ironically, she has been our longest reigning monarch, well since her reign ended in 1901 anyway. I couldn’t help but think as we stood there looking at it that record is literally about to be overtaken any day now by Queen Elizabeth II, as she passes Victoria’s record sometime in early September. In fact, it happened two days after I wrote this on 9 September 2015, beating Queen Victoria’s record of 63 years and 216 days.
As you can see, the area outside the Parliament buildings were packed out with an open air concert, which we later discovered was being staged by the Labour party. I guess there are elections coming up, as we’d seen banners and billboards everywhere all over the island today. It was quite funny that as soon as the band stopped, the whole area emptied out almost completely.
The Parliament buildings were completed in 1897 and replaced the first Parliament buildings here, which were known as the “bird cages”, although sadly my guidebook doesn’t tell me much than that. I guess maybe they looked like bird cages. It’s a beautiful building.
As we wandered around, we saw that they were doing free tours around the interior of the Parliament building, which intrigued me, but sadly when I enquired, I found out that they would be about 35 – 40 minutes long, and the next tour was now 2:30pm, in about 20 minutes time. There was no way we could spare that much time, as we were looking to leave by 3:30pm at the latest. It was a shame, but I knew before we got here that, with only limited time today, we could only get a feeling for this place, and nothing more.
Next: no, this isn’t home to the rockets from the TV series
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.
That is such an interesting fact about Queen Elizabeth. I had no idea! We head high tea in the Epmress the last time we were there and it was lovely! There is another fact about that place, a connection with someone... I think Howard Hughes? But my brain is foggy and I can't remember. A lot of good I am. When Tim wakes up I will ask him. I just remember it was a good juicy fact lol!
That is such an interesting fact about Queen Elizabeth.
I can honestly say I do not know what we'll do when she goes. She is just an institution in herself. She really is amazing. We had the diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012 and I wouldn't be surprised if we had celebrations for the 65th anniversary of her coronation or even the platinum Jubilee. It would be so lovely if she made it to that. She turns 90 in April, I think it is...
Quote:
I had no idea! We head high tea in the Epmress the last time we were there and it was lovely! There is another fact about that place, a connection with someone... I think Howard Hughes? But my brain is foggy and I can't remember. A lot of good I am. When Tim wakes up I will ask him. I just remember it was a good juicy fact lol!
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.
Okay I posted but I don't know where it went. It probably landed on someone else's post and they are going to wonder what on earth I am talking about! I asked Tim when he woke up and he didn't remember the details either. Something about Howard Hughes needing to be smuggled out in an Ambulance. I can't wait to see what else you explore. The world's smallest alley in Chinatown? Gum alley? And of course Butchardt Gardens!
Okay I posted but I don't know where it went. It probably landed on someone else's post and they are going to wonder what on earth I am talking about!
Well, that would be quite entertaining!
Quote:
I asked Tim when he woke up and he didn't remember the details either. Something about Howard Hughes needing to be smuggled out in an Ambulance.
Interesting....
Quote:
I can't wait to see what else you explore. The world's smallest alley in Chinatown? Gum alley? And of course Butchardt Gardens!
Well Butchart Gardens definitely - we didn't have very long in Victoria, so we didn't get to see much there, which is why I'm thinking maybe one day we need to go back and maybe spend a night in the Empress...
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.
Those Fairmont Hotels in Canada are all stunning. And the whole harbor area looks so inviting!
I think it's funny that in both TR's going right now, we're seeing both their parliament buildings.... and both look amazing too!
__________________
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
Your hotel and room at the airport is quite lovely! That device that controls everything in the room is convenient but if you're going to the bath, you may have to return and turn on the light from the control. I'm sure that happened a few times as we're all so accustomed to a light switch in the individual room!
The waterfront area of Victoria is quite active and beautiful. Love the look of the Empress Hotel. Your ferry cruise was quite nice with some great views, until the fog rolled in!
__________________
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!
Those Fairmont Hotels in Canada are all stunning. And the whole harbor area looks so inviting!
I keep debating whether or not to stay in the Fairmont in Quebec City when we visit next September. It's an appalling price for two nights, but I am so tempted, as I'm sure it would be amazing...
Quote:
I think it's funny that in both TR's going right now, we're seeing both their parliament buildings.... and both look amazing too!
About This Page: 
:
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
It’s a beautiful building. 
That device that controls everything in the room is convenient but if you're going to the bath, you may have to return and turn on the light from the control. I'm sure that happened a few times as we're all so accustomed to a light switch in the individual room! 
Linear Mode
