A tale of two cities… and a few other places… COMPLETED - Page 47 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Interesting that you were visiting on the Autumn Equinox. I wonder what kind of ceremony occurred?
I honestly don't know, but I would assume something after the official opening hours and probably with very heavy security to make sure no-one does anything they shouldn't.
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Nice photos of Stonehenge and odd about all the vehicles gathering for the Equinox! Looks like some sort of commune about to take place. Loved the snow photo.
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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!
When I saw all the media vehicles in your photo, I wondered what event they might be reporting on. So it was the autumn equinox. Wow! Great photos, too!
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Friday 22 September – part eight: I wouldn’t mess with him
We were getting a closer to the stones at Stonehenge now…
I know Jan was really overwhelmed to be here, and kept saying she couldn’t believe it. I was so glad I’d chosen to do this on the anniversary itself of Bill’s death, as I think the sense of wonder she felt at being here helped her to get through.
I thought the clouds were spectacular behind Stonehenge…
Jan was quite shocked to see this…
She couldn’t believe how close the road ran to it once upon a time. Now the plan is to build a tunnel to take traffic past the site, which should alleviate the congestion. They’ve finally got planning permission for this, which is a major step forward, but I’m still not holding my breath. After all, it’s taken goodness knows how many years to get to that point!
Jan was particularly fascinated by the erosion in the stones themselves, and I must admit I’d never noticed it before on our previous visits. That’s why it’s sometimes more fun to come with a first timer, as they notice things you’d never seen before.
Then we were at the section where you’re closest to the stones. This is the finale of the visit, not the starting point, as some people appeared to think. Ahem. From here, you get a really good view of them, and I couldn’t help but wonder if these birds realise how lucky they are to actually be perched on top of them…
Jan did say she’d love to sneak a touch, but thankfully she didn’t, as we met Olly, one of the security team, who was a big guy, shall we say? I wouldn’t mess with him, let’s just put it that way… He was with some English Heritage staff, and they told us that there would be 2,000 people in the circle in the morning, but none would be allowed to touch the circle. How the heck they police that, I do not know.
We also found out that there is a stone circle access tour that’s not overly well promoted, as it’s so popular. It gets you closer to the circle, although again no touching, for Ł35, and it takes place either before the stones open in the morning, or after they close at night. It’s limited to just 30 people per tour, and already they’re fully booked until January. We did look into this later, as it sounded so cool, so maybe one day we’ll do it. We’ll see.
In case you’re wondering why one of the stones appears to have concrete in it, it’s because that’s how much it’s decayed, after people were chipping bits off it in the 1950s, when you could touch the stones. It’s a shame how one generation spoils it for another, although we did talk later that even just touching can damage the stones, thanks to the oils on our hands, so I can fully understand why they don’t allow it any longer.
Oh wow, tunneling a new road? As I sit here listening to the workers tear off our roof and feel the house shaking from time to time, I worry the stones would fall over with vibrations from tunneling!
So glad Jan could experience this on that particular date.
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Oh wow, tunneling a new road? As I sit here listening to the workers tear off our roof and feel the house shaking from time to time, I worry the stones would fall over with vibrations from tunneling!
Oh I'm sure they'd take lots and lots of precautions to protect them.
Quote:
So glad Jan could experience this on that particular date.
So was I. I originally planned it for the anniversary of Bill's death, as I knew how tough that was her, but to find it was the autumn equinox and that wasn't planned somehow made it all the more magical.
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.
What a great place to take Jan’s mind off the anniversary, it looks like she really enjoyed viewing the stones.
She did. It was the first thing she said she wanted to do when she let us know about her plans, so I figured it was the perfect thing to do on this date.
Great pictures! Building a tunnel to bypass the site sounds like a wonderful idea, but like you say, may take many years to come to fruition.
I would guess if it's done by 2025, we'd be doing well, if we're being honest. It would be probably a couple of years for the planning permissions and then no doubt we'd have endless protests before work could even start and I'm guessing it would probably take a couple of years to complete.
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Looks like some sort of commune about to take place. 
Loved the snow photo.
Great photos, too! 
I wouldn’t mess with him, let’s just put it that way… He was with some English Heritage staff, and they told us that there would be 2,000 people in the circle in the morning, but none would be allowed to touch the circle. How the heck they police that, I do not know. 
We did look into this later, as it sounded so cool, so maybe one day we’ll do it. We’ll see. 
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