On the road (1) – Six countries, nine days COMPLETED - Page 51 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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Saturday 27 March – part four: a Mickey mouse sighting and the Milka moo cow!
We headed upstairs next, where we learnt all about the moulds they produce and they’ve certainly got a huge variety of them, not just the famous Lindt bunny. There was even a Mickey Mouse one and as for the chocolate horse and elephant, both of which looked like they’d just come off the production line I’d happily have bought one of those if I’d seen them in the shop, but sadly they didn’t have any, when we got there.
Our next stop was up a floor, where it was back into a “museum” area. It was a really weird set-up, with some areas asking you to be quiet, as you were now in a museum and then right next door, the chocolate production line. Sadly, on this floor, most of the information was in German, so we couldn’t understand much of it, but the artefacts on display were neat:
Then we went into an area that showed a chemist’s store in the 1930s and that was really interesting to see.
Our final stop was the top floor. We did debate whether to go up there or not, but decided to and I’m glad we did, if for no other reason that finally I got to see the Milka moo cow! It had been a standing joke the whole trip that, through Switzerland, I hadn’t seen the purple Milka moo cow and Mark kept telling me that it didn’t exist. Well, now he’d been proved wrong. It certainly did exist and was right there in front of me!
This section was all about how chocolate had been advertised through the years and it was really interesting.
Once we finished in here, we headed down to the shop and it was still as much of a zoo as we had seen earlier. I guess, in fairness, it’s to be expected, as it was almost Easter, so it’s probably one of their busiest times of the year. With where the shop is located, you don’t have to go round the museum to go to the shop, so people can just walk in off the street.
My interest was taken by the chocolate liquor and I enjoyed the mint one so much that I bought a bottle of the stuff. Mark and Manuel both tried the chilli one and I had to record their reactions to it.
I turned my back and the woman who was serving the liquor came to help me translate some of the signs in German and explain which bottle qualified for the offer. Then I suddenly heard her say “no self service”. Perhaps unfairly, I assumed Mark was the one in trouble, but when I looked over, it was actually Manuel who was attempting to pour his own! I did later discover that Mark was involved, as he was the one encouraging Manuel.
I also got some sugar free chocolate for my dad, who’s diabetic and a few little bits for me. I am going to look like chocolate when I finish eating all my purchases from this trip!
Mark managed to find an interesting product there!
We headed outside and got another tripod shot by the Lindt bunny.
Our plan was to catch the land train back to the cathedral, as the woman at the Hilton had told me that it ran, but I knew it was only every 30 minutes. I had no idea of the times it actually run and whether we’d be in luck with catching it, but it turned out we were. The next was due at 4.30 and we were just a couple of minutes before that.
We paid for our tickets, just €3 each ($4)for a one-way trip, which is what we’d be taking and we quickly climbed aboard when the thing pulled up. There were a lot of people on it, who’d obviously paid for a round trip, who didn’t get off and we were very relieved to get a seat. We sat there for a long time and I’m sure there were a lot of people who weren’t able to get on the thing.
Eventually we pulled off and it took us on a nice route through the old town. It wasn’t that easy to get photos, but I tried my best.
The ride probably took at least 15 or 20 minutes and we all agreed it was good value. The commentary of what we were seeing was only in German, but at least it was said slowly, so I could catch some of it and Sabine translated other bits for me.
Finally all caught up! I love the photos of the cathedral...just amazing! And your tour of the chocolate factory sort of reminded me of Hershey Park over here!
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...I hadn’t seen the purple Milka moo cow and Mark kept telling me that it didn’t exist. Well, now he’d been proved wrong. It certainly did exist and was right there in front of me!...
...Perhaps unfairly, I assumed Mark was the one in trouble, but when I looked over, it was actually Manuel who was attempting to pour his own! I did later discover that Mark was involved, as he was the one encouraging Manuel.
Mark managed to find an interesting product there!
And all this time I thought the "purple cow" was just a myth!
Hmmmmm, Mark and Manuel together must have been hard to keep track of, but I can't believe you assumed Mark would be in trouble... oh wait, alcohol was involved... OK, nevermind!
He does have a keen eye for the "good stuff", doesn't he!
I enjoyed learning about truffle making and the picturesque, old buildings, Cheryl. Very cool update!
And all this time I thought the "purple cow" was just a myth!
Hmmmmm, Mark and Manuel together must have been hard to keep track of, but I can't believe you assumed Mark would be in trouble... oh wait, alcohol was involved... OK, nevermind!
He does have a keen eye for the "good stuff", doesn't he!
I enjoyed learning about truffle making and the picturesque, old buildings, Cheryl. Very cool update!
Hey, how well you know Mark - and you haven't even met him in person!
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I’d happily have bought one of those if I’d seen them in the shop, but sadly they didn’t have any, when we got there. 
It had been a standing joke the whole trip that, through Switzerland, I hadn’t seen the purple Milka moo cow and Mark kept telling me that it didn’t exist. Well, now he’d been proved wrong. It certainly did exist and was right there in front of me! 
I did later discover that Mark was involved, as he was the one encouraging Manuel. 
Great pictures from the train as well! 
update! 
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