Going north, south, east and west - UPDATED 12/18 - Page 37 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Sorry, you were disappointed. I know the feeling several years ago I went to a museum about the native people when I was in Vancouver British Columbia Canada. It had an amazing collection some on actual display and some on shelves in a storage area behind a glass wall that you could look through. Unfortunately there was almost no signage or labeling so for the most part you left wondering what things were, how they were used/made, and when and where they were from. It had the potential to be one of those museums that you would have been happy to spend the entire day in if they had done a better job of it and had a cafe.
It was then over to the memorial and it was so good to see this in a prominent spot. When we were last here, it wasn’t nearly as prominent and there was only a very cursory mention of the shuttle crew that lost their lives in 1986, compared to the lengthy mentions given to the astronauts who had lost their lives earlier in the space programme. That really upset me and now that’s been rectified, but sadly there are more names on there since we were last here.
We walked over to the rocket garden to take some photos and found a new area all about the early days of space exploration, although yet again, it was all the early days and not later ones in the programme, which I think is an oversight. Still, it was interesting.
Also interesting was the food that we had. I think interesting is being kind. I got cheese pizza, about the only option for non-meat eaters and Mark had a hot dog and both of us agreed that we’ve become spoilt by Disney food, but in truth, this was terrible.
We left the Kennedy Space Centre a bit disappointed with our day and from my perspective, a little bit frustrated as well. I just think that there is so much that they could do with this place, but they just don’t seem to have the interest, which is a great shame. It doesn’t have to cost a fortune, but some more information about the space programme, life on the moon and perhaps the inventions that space research has helped to create would be a good start. Unfortunately, the Kennedy Space Centre is competing with the big parks of Orlando, such as Disney and it does need to do more to keep up with them.
Some shots on the way back
We drove back to Orlando, stopping off at the Orlando Premium Outlets, where we went into Character Premiere. Normally we don’t find much in here, but today I struck lucky and found a fleece jacket with Pooh and Piglet on it that I had seen in the parks and already admired, but I just thought that it was a bit too pricey. Well, here it was just $20, not the $60 that they were selling them for in the parks. Result!
From there, it was over to the Marketplace at Downtown Disney, where our first stop was World of Disney. A couple of Grumpy T-shirts, a scrapbook and some new supplies for me and a couple of fridge magnets later and $100 later and we were out of there.
We had a look in Pooh corner, but once again, no new Eeyore merchandise to be seen. Sadly it always seems to be the same story in there these days.
A sad sight
Our next stop was the Days of Christmas shop and that was a dangerous one for us, as we love the Disney ornaments. We ended up with getting three more for the Christmas tree, so we didn’t escape unscathed!
The other place that I thought I would do some serious damage was the Wonderful World of Memories store, but it was not to be. The thing has closed! I couldn’t believe my eyes. I went into the next door Art of Disney store to check that it was true and it was. The woman there told me that when it reopened (as Design a Tee, according to the sign there), it will still have some scrapbooking stuff and, in the meantime, there were supplies over at World of Disney. Well, I hate to differ, but no, they aren’t. The selection at the World of Disney was not great and I had seen other scrapbook kits at the Beach Club Marketplace store. That says something.
From there, we walked back through the Marketplace. There’s a lot of work going on at the moment. Never mind the fact that of course Pleasure Island is now closed - it’s so sad to see it sitting there now – but they’re also doing other work in the Marketplace and I’ve no idea what they’re up to.
I'm sorry to hear you didn't enjoy your visit to KSC. We did but wouldn't go back for a second visit anytime soon. We missed one of the IMAX movies and I'm curious about the space experience ride thingy but that's not enough to lure us off Disney property for a whole day I'm just as sad as you that the Wonderful World of Memories store closed. It was my favorite shop in DtD, actually.
Now, about those Disney Christmas ornaments I can't wait to pick up a few when we're at Disneyland Paris together next week! Maybe I can get your expert advice on it since you seem to have a nice collection yourself already
Sorry to hear that the KSC was disappointing! Even though it piques my curiosity a bit, it's not enough for me to drop that kind of cash for 6 people.
Good thing you escaped WoD only spending $100!! Too bad about the Memories shop. It wasn't one that struck my fancy but I certainly like it better than a design a tee shop. You can get those at zazzle.com!
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The KSC experience is starting to remind me of our visit there in 1999. It almost sounds like NASA has decided to leave the place open as a courtesy, but not spend any more money than necessary to keep it that way. They probably run the tourist side on what comes in from tourism only and as people spend less there, then they have less to run on etc. Its disappointing that is happening, but it could be said for the entire space program. Remember when a space launch was big news and the world stopped to watch? Now a shuttle launch barely gets mentioned on the evening news unless there is some problem that can give all the taking heads more screen time.
Sorry you were disappointed with KSC, but it sounds like you found some good bargains at the Outlets! And it's too bad they've closed the scrapbook store for a t-shirt place (because you really have to look hard to find t-shirts ).
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
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Cheryl, I'm loving your trip report! I can't wait until you get to the Disneyland portion though so I can get your take on the Grand Californian. DH is dying to stay there next.
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Originally Posted by Disneybine
Now, about those Disney Christmas ornaments I can't wait to pick up a few when we're at Disneyland Paris together next week! Maybe I can get your expert advice on it since you seem to have a nice collection yourself already
Sabine, where's your pre-trip report? I would love to read what you and Cheryl will be up to in DLP. Someday I hope to get over there.
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My Happy Place
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"When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionable." ~ Walt Disney
Sad to hear that the KSC hasn't been keeping their exhibits and visitor centers more current. I was always fascinated by the crawlers that transported the shuttle out to the launch pad. Thanks for all the pictures!
It doesn't look like KSC has changed much since the last time Lori and I were there. I agree about the food. It isn't that good. Glad you found some good bargains at the outlet store.
Liz
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I couldn’t believe my eyes. I went into the next door Art of Disney store to check that it was true and it was. The woman there told me that when it reopened (as Design a Tee, according to the sign there), it will still have some scrapbooking stuff and, in the meantime, there were supplies over at World of Disney. Well, I hate to differ, but no, they aren’t. The selection at the World of Disney was not great and I had seen other scrapbook kits at the Beach Club Marketplace store. That says something. 
I'm just as sad as you that the Wonderful World of Memories store closed. It was my favorite shop in DtD, actually. 
I can't wait to pick up a few when we're at Disneyland Paris together next week! Maybe I can get your expert advice on it since you seem to have a nice collection yourself already 
Great pictures though! Congrats on the deal at the outlet and the other shopping finds!! 
ANGIE
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