Rhome was kind enough to start a pantry thread over in the Gallery side of the forum with lots of pantry pics. I've never gone through the whole thread so I'm not sure if all the photos are just walk-in/step-in room type pantries. You might take a look.

Have you seen those pantry cabs where the door pulls out with the shelves attached? You'd have to break your 36' up in smaller sections to do it, but they seem like a great solution to me. If you haven't seen them, go to Kraftmaids or Diamond websites. Or any other cab manufacturer. They all have them now.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pantry thread

to breezygirl
I think I have what you mean regarding the doors and I had to have the shelves removed after some time because with cans in them it put too much weight on the doors and they wouldn't line up properly with the doors of the upper cabinet. I have had many adjustments made and this became the only solution. I'm very unhappy the company didn't consider this. My kitchen was put in 1997 and there are times I wish I could re-do it but we just did a master bedroom renovation and are pretty drained in all aspects.