A tale of two cities… and a few other places… COMPLETED - Page 48 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Friday 22 September – part nine: you get a discount!
We made our way back to the bus, and headed back to the visitor centre, and into the shop. They had some really nice stuff in there, and as well as the obligatory hand lotion from there that I love, I also bought a Christmas ornament and a sweatshirt, as it was such an unusual colour combination – a purple and black one. Jan also got one.
I got a very pleasant surprise when I went to pay for everything. I asked if National Trust life members got a discount, and the guy told me No big surprise there. I said I wouldn’t ask about English Heritage membership, as I had corporate membership. He asked me what type, and I told him, and he asked if I had my membership card with me. Well, yes, but why? Apparently we do get a discount!
We then went around the exhibition they have here, which tells you more about Stonehenge, and particularly what life would’ve been like when it was built. It’s fascinating what they know about life that many years ago, but equally, I like the fact that there’s a lot they don’t know too.
I got a photo of this earlier on!
I then settled down to watch the videos they have about Stonehenge, only because I saw something about Doctor Who (they had a whole episode about Stonehenge… fans, it was the Pandorica one ), but the videos were all interesting to watch.
We then headed outside to see the display of houses that they have live. They reckon the people who built Stonehenge probably lived in houses like this, and these recreations are based on archaeological remains of buildings excavated nearby. From the animal bones and pottery they found near the houses, it’s believed that people gathered at these homes to feast, particularly at midwinter.
… and whether or not we could move the stone, but sadly that wasn’t working.
Circular enclosures were called henges. That explains the name! I guess that's my learned factoid for the day. Very nice museum!
Can You Move The Stone really makes you think about it more. If that's how they moved the stones while flat, how did they get them to go up? Wow.
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Tanya
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Stonehenge is such a interesting place. It's hard to image them building it back then. It must have taken years.
Funny you should mention Doctor Who. The episode at Stonehenge just came on BBC America
Liz
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The visitors’ center is so well done there. We ended up running out of time to see the videos, though.
Good you mentioned your other membership!
It is really well done, especially as we remember what it was like before the current visitors' centre. Oh my goodness, it was nothing like this. It was just a bit meh really and didn't really do justice to Stonehenge. This one definitely does.
Stonehenge is such a interesting place. It's hard to image them building it back then. It must have taken years.
Funny you should mention Doctor Who. The episode at Stonehenge just came on BBC America
Liz
Quite a day at Stonehenge and glad you were able to show it to Jan as she appreciated it so much and overwhelmed by it! No surprise with no discounts for merchandise at the visitor's center as this is such a popular tourist attraction and not something they need to do to attract more sales. The center looks very good, themed and so much to see there. Definitely, on my wish list of places to visit.
Anytime I see this I'm always reminded of the rock music film parody "This Is Spinal Tap" and the song of this name performed by the band, which is quite over the top with dancing leprechauns on stage.It's quite funny
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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!