National parks, natural beauty and a bit of Disney Wonder! VANCOUVER SECTION COMPLETED - Page 8 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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My friend's cat needed to lose weight and she actually attempted to walk him! Didn't work though... It sure is a sight to see. Beautiful gardens and architecture!
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Beautiful garden! It looks so serene and soothing...I would LOVE to have something like that in my backyard! Ok, now I have to prune AND I have to try and create a tranquil setting in my backyard...no big deal, right?
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Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
The gardens are beautiful - definitely worth the visit. Like being in another world. Love the pictures of the gardens (as well as some of the other strange sights )
Wow...that is just gorgeous too. I would be going nuts with all the picture taking opportunities this trip...but I would take 2 years to post it all. You are doing great!
We visited the Grand Canyon this summer & saw a couple walking their cat along the edge at one of the look out areas! They also had a dog that was running loose! My family & I were scared the dog was going to go right over the edge. The cat didn't mind being walked on a leash at all.
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Beautiful garden! It looks so serene and soothing...I would LOVE to have something like that in my backyard! Ok, now I have to prune AND I have to try and create a tranquil setting in my backyard...no big deal, right?
Wow...that is just gorgeous too. I would be going nuts with all the picture taking opportunities this trip...but I would take 2 years to post it all. You are doing great!
It MAY yet take me two years to post this entire report... remember this is day four out of a total of 23 days!
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We visited the Grand Canyon this summer & saw a couple walking their cat along the edge at one of the look out areas! They also had a dog that was running loose! My family & I were scared the dog was going to go right over the edge. The cat didn't mind being walked on a leash at all.
Monday 29 August – part seven: steam clocks and lookouts
We headed back to wait for the trolley and were only there about five minutes before one appeared. We just about managed to squeeze on it, as they don’t allow standing. There were four seats left, but Bob managed to persuade the driver that he’d sit right at the back and the guy was OK with that. A group of three didn’t make it on. Even better, the person sitting next to Barb got off at the next stop, so then Bob had a proper seat.
We carried on with our tour, seeing even more of the city and soon we were arriving in Gastown. Sadly, I missed the photo opportunity of the Gassy Jack statue, but having seen that, I decided it was time to get off, so we headed out.
The first thing we did was hit one of the shops, after I saw some cow T-shirts. Of course, I just had to get one... There were some superb other tops in there and a lot of them were hysterical. I got photos of one or two, although for the full selection, you’ll have to wait another couple of instalments.
Mark found a few hats...
We soon found the Steam Clock, which was the world’s first steam operated when it was erected in 1977. It strikes its chimes on the hour, and every 15 minutes, it releases a blast of steam and itwas fascinating to see. I had no idea what to expect, but it was really interesting. Here, we found another nutter, walking around half dressed, although I didn’t get a photo of him...
I have to say that the last section of this tour had seen a lot of odd people and they’d even pointed out beggars at one point. Up until that point, I was thinking that Vancouver had none of the problems you see in every other city, but sadly that doesn’t appear to be the case after all...
It wasn’t long after that that we said goodbye to Barb and Bob, who were heading back to the hotel, with promises to meet up with them later, while we headed off with Joy to the Lookout Observatory. Barb and Bob had been yesterday, but we were still yet to make it.
We found our way in, paid the admission of $15 each and headed up to the observatory, where we had stunning 360 degree views of all of Vancouver and Stanley Park beyond. It was definitely the best way to do it, as having seen a lot of the city from ground level, suddenly it made a lot more sense. You could plot where we’d been earlier.
There were some lovely views up there, but Mark was really struggling with his ankle, as he suffers from gout, so he spent a fair bit of time sitting down, while Joy and I took in the sights.