A special birthday, a diamond anniversary and a west coast adventure COMPLETED IN THIS FORUM - Page 6 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Would this be walkable if you took the ferry over from vamcouver without a car?
Not at all. If I remember right, it's about 20 miles to Victoria from the ferry terminal. Just looked it up on Google Maps and that's probably about right, as it says 30km between the two.
Oh and the other thing is it's quite a drive from the centre of Vancouver to the ferry terminal - that's probably about 25 miles between the two.
Monday 7 September – part eight: I wish all cities were like this.
We started to make our way back to the harbour…
On the way, we found this wonderful war memorial:
I have to say I absolutely adored all the flowers here, it just really helped to bring the whole place to life, and made it so colourful. I wish all cities were like this.
We wandered back past the Empress…
… and past the Inner Harbour…
We watched the seaplanes take off…
… and stopped to listen to the blues band who were playing for a while. I can’t say I’m a fan of blues music, but it did seem like a great choice on such a nice, sunny afternoon.
We found the Customs House, which dates back to 1875. It originally regulated the trade of Victoria, which was then the west coast’s busiest port.
From there, we made our way back towards the parking garage, but sheered off to head up the shopping street we’d left earlier. We struck gold with one shop, where I got some ice wine cookies, and some maple syrup cookies (are you seeing a trend here? ), while Mark got a T-shirt, I found a Christmas ornament, and some funny new fridge magnet. As Mark said, “we’re going to need a bigger fridge.”
We then headed into this place…
The façade dates from 1903 and it seemed to be a pretty impressive chocolatier. I got one of these in strawberry…
… and also got a coconut macaroon ice cream, which was lovely.
We made our way back to the car park, and after worrying we couldn’t see a single machine at which to pay at, we discovered why. There was a guy in the booth at the exit. Wow, you don’t see that much now – at least not at home!
We headed out of Victoria…
… and into the country roads, which we both commented reminded us of home.
Next: arriving somewhere I’ve wanted to visit for many years!
=
It sure does look so much nicer with flowers everywhere.
Score with the souvenir shop! I know you've showed us a picture of your fridge before, but I imagine Mark is on to something there.... you've got so many magnets now!!
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More great shots from Victoria! It has turned into a great day weatherwise!
Honestly, that and our day in San Francisco were our two best days weather wise. By the time we got to Disneyland, it was just insanely hot and, while Alaska was beautiful, this is exactly the sort of weather I love - in the mid 70s, blue skies and glorious sunshine. If I could have that every day, I'd be very happy!
It sure does look so much nicer with flowers everywhere.
Score with the souvenir shop! I know you've showed us a picture of your fridge before, but I imagine Mark is on to something there.... you've got so many magnets now!!
Well, they don't even fit on the fridge any longer, but that is something to do with our new kitchen. I say new - it dates from Christmas 2012 now, but when it went in, the fridge was added in. Previously it had been free standing, so we could put magnets on the two sides. Not now. Instead, we have two massive magnetic boards up on the side wall of the cupboard as you enter the kitchen, both of which are filled with magnets.
What a gorgeous morning. You are right about the flowers and their colors. It really makes such a difference in the appeal of a place.
I would definitely go back again in the summer. I don't think it would necessarily have the same appeal at other times of the year. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure it's still beautiful, but I would think it's best in the summer months.
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If I remember right, it's about 20 miles to Victoria from the ferry terminal. Just looked it up on Google Maps and that's probably about right, as it says 30km between the two.
), while Mark got a T-shirt, I found a Christmas ornament, and some funny new fridge magnet. As Mark said, “we’re going to need a bigger fridge.” 
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