Wondering if there is a scheduled Shuttle Launch during your vacation? - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Wondering if there is a scheduled Shuttle Launch during your vacation?
Check out Kennedy Space Centers Launch Schedule for targeted liftoff dates.
Right now it looks like November 10th (between 12am-4am) maybe the next launch time. It is really neat to watch a night launch [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] .
Re: Wondering if there is a scheduled Shuttle Launch during your vacation?
Darn it! We come home from WDW on May 4th, and the closest launch date is May 23rd. Looks like we are going to miss it. When we were in Orlando in 2000, we saw a launch. It was absolutely breathtaking. If at all possible, don't miss it! [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
Re: Wondering if there is a scheduled Shuttle Launch during your vacation?
You sure can WDW1102 [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] If you happen to be down when a launch is scheduled, you can always ask a cast member or local person(S) as to which direction in the sky you should be watching. We have been lucky to see two launches from WDW property and was at a special viewing site for the John Glen launch. One of the launches we saw from the MGM parking lot & the other our bus driver from SoG stopped along side of the road for us & another couple to watch the launch... it is so neat! (even better if you are close to the KSC).
WDWfreak, looks like we may just miss one too... after this next lauch, it says the next is no sooner than January 16th. We go down January 20th (so maybe there is a chance [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] )
Re: Wondering if there is a scheduled Shuttle Launch during your vacation?
Our first stay on Disney property was in 1995. I wasn't even aware that there was a shuttle launch planned while we were there, which is crazy - I live about 6 miles from Johnson Space Center. I guess the whole Disney thing had me out of my mind. Anyway, we were staying at All Stars Music and about 10 minutes before the launch, the lifeguard at the pool told us to go out on the third floor balcony and look to the east (the back side of the resort, ASMovies wasn't there yet) - we SAW it! There were lots of other people out with binoculors and cameras. It was kind of a hazy day (it was in June) but we could see a glow, and a white stream. It was heart stopping. I'll never forget that lifeguard for clueing us in.
Re: Wondering if there is a scheduled Shuttle Launch during your vacation?
DiznyMom, can't tell you for sure but would think there should be someone working at the resort/parks who could point you into the right sky direction for the launch. You just have to remember not all flights go off on their scheduled time. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
Re: Wondering if there is a scheduled Shuttle Launch during your vacation?
joyjoy you are so right when you said "It was heart stopping." With each launch, I found myself standing there in awe watching the glow of the rocket until it completely disappears. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
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