A 40th celebration to end the world! COMPLETED 6/24 - Page 9 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
All caught up. Hoping DH and I can get back to Disneyland in the next few years or so. Would love to spend time there and then drive north to visit friends near SF. Can't wait to hear more.
Just got all caught up. Chris and I are thinking about a SoCal Trip in 2015 - and I told him that DL and DCA will be part of the mix! We may have to see Endeavor out there in LA, but of course - we could always see Atlantis at Kennedy Space Center when the new display opens in June.
I'm intrigued to see what the Atlantis exhibition is like. I was hoping to go in October/November, but it's just not going to fit in, so we'll have to wait until Christmas 2014. A Southern Californian trip sounds great - as well as Disneyland and the California Adventure, you've obviously got LA and San Diego is beautiful too. We also visited Palm Springs and Joshua Tree and Death Valley National Parks, so bits to come on all those destinations in due course.
Checking in here. Love the views from your room. I really am going to have to stop reading DL TRs. They just make me wanna go sooooooo bad! If I could just happen on a bag of money?!?!?
It is an amazing place to visit. We're so lucky to be DVC Members, otherwise I don't think we could afford it. Having said that, I understand from posts on the boards that there are cheaper off-site options that are still relatively close to the parks that may be worth exploring....
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
All caught up. Hoping DH and I can get back to Disneyland in the next few years or so. Would love to spend time there and then drive north to visit friends near SF. Can't wait to hear more.
Maybe come down and join us in 2015, although I think our plans will have the cruise at the start of the trip, then Disneyland towards the end of the trip, if our plans work out...
Sunday 23 December – part two: the truth about one of the biggest mysteries of space
Soon we were coming off the freeways, and heading into the University of Southern California, which is a massive complex.
We got a bit confused finding our way to the California Science Centre, as the GPS was sending us slightly the wrong way. We asked at the Natural History Museum, and quickly got back on track.
We paid our $10 for parking, and headed out. The car park wasn’t too busy at this point. The museum looked lovely, a very interesting building.
We headed inside, and showed our tickets.
We’d been specifically told to be there 30 minutes before your allotted time, which was a bit odd, as when you passed through the entrance, the guy looked at ours and said “you’ve got 10 minutes, so you can look at some of the other exhibits”. Ok, so not sure why we had to be here half an hour beforehand. I heard some parents upstairs telling their kids that they had to wait.
Sadly that’s one thing I can’t say for the two kids on the escalator going upstairs – they pushed past us and another group, and their father just stood behind us, and stared, obviously fine with their behaviour. I was just appalled, and sadly this would not be the last bad behaviour we’d see from both kids and parents here today…
The exhibit looked at space travel prior to the Space Shuttle, and there wasn’t much to it.
It was about enough to keep us busy until 10:45am. As we walked over to the entrance, the time ticked over, and it was our time, and there was no line – even better!
You get given a little blue ticket you show at the entrance, and then you’re into what Disney would call the pre-show area. The first section explains all about Endeavour’s history with California, and there’s a lot of it. When you read, suddenly it makes perfect sense why she’s ended up here.
Then there was a really beautifully done section, explaining about the Challenger disaster, as that what prompted Endeavour to be built. There was a lovely montage, which put together all of the Shuttle launches on one screen, including Challenger, which of course was never completed. It was very sobering to watch.
Then they go on to look at the wheels used by the shuttle.
However, the next section was very amusing – we got into one of the biggest mysteries of space, as the video told us – how you use the toilet in space. It was so funny to see both the kids’ and the adults’ reactions to this. Wow, this is not something I would ever want to go through.
Then we looked at eating in space, and this was very entertaining. As they said, watching grown men learn how to eat floating bubbles of food was fun! And the banana propeller that a guy caught in his mouth will stay in my memory forever…
The mysteries of space.... shucks, and here I thought I was going to learn something about SPACE!! I always enjoyed when the astronauts would give their little televised demonstrations of eating and, well, they didn't actually demonstrate, but they showed the potty and sort of described what happened!
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
The mysteries of space.... shucks, and here I thought I was going to learn something about SPACE!!
You fool!
Quote:
I always enjoyed when the astronauts would give their little televised demonstrations of eating and, well, they didn't actually demonstrate, but they showed the potty and sort of described what happened!
I found the whole thing fascinating, but disturbing if that makes sense?
Very neat and interesting update. Sorry about the rude children; some parents just seem to be completely oblivious.
__________________
Disney Trips: BLT & Poly Bungalow 2016, VGF 2015, Fantasy 2015, Saratoga Springs Resort 2014, Grand Villa at VGF 2013, Fantasy 2013, BWV and Kidani Village 2011, BWV and Kidani Village 2010, BWV and Saratoga Springs Resort 2008,Beach Club Villas 2008,Villas at Wilderness Lodge 2006, BWV 2006, BCV 2005, HHI 2004,Polynesian 2003,Grand Floridian 2000/concierge, Honeymoon at Polynesian 1994,Polynesian 1980,Polynesian 1978
_______________
Sue
Great pictures of all the space displays! I still remember that terrible morning of the Challenger disaster, and just having that feeling of total shock.
__________________
Disney Trips: BLT & Poly Bungalow 2016, VGF 2015, Fantasy 2015, Saratoga Springs Resort 2014, Grand Villa at VGF 2013, Fantasy 2013, BWV and Kidani Village 2011, BWV and Kidani Village 2010, BWV and Saratoga Springs Resort 2008,Beach Club Villas 2008,Villas at Wilderness Lodge 2006, BWV 2006, BCV 2005, HHI 2004,Polynesian 2003,Grand Floridian 2000/concierge, Honeymoon at Polynesian 1994,Polynesian 1980,Polynesian 1978
_______________
Sue
Looks like a fun series of displays! I can imagine my kids' reactions to the space toilet part....so think it would be fun to be at the museum when say, a preschool class came through! But then I'd want them to quickly move on so I wasn't with them the whole day!
What a nice tour so far. I could not be up in space, espeically after seeing the toilet.. Trying to eat looks like a challenge too!!! I guess that is why only certain people can be an astronaut. I also remember the exact place I watched the tragedy of Challenger. That was a day I will never forget.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
We're so lucky to be DVC Members, otherwise I don't think we could afford it. Having said that, I understand from posts on the boards that there are cheaper off-site options that are still relatively close to the parks that may be worth exploring....
Ok, so not sure why we had to be here half an hour beforehand. I heard some parents upstairs telling their kids that they had to wait. 
It was so funny to see both the kids’ and the adults’ reactions to this. Wow, this is not something I would ever want to go through. 
. Trying to eat looks like a challenge too!!!
Tricia
Linear Mode
