Three Adults & a Toddler – 6/7-13/09 - UPDATED 11/20 - Page 30 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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First things first, how did I do with the packing?
Well, we (2 adults & the toddler) only checked 1 bag! Yes that’s right, 1 bag!! And we were at 45.5 pounds upon arrival at the airport. We also had the Wall-E rolling luggage bag and a large backpack (like a hiking with an internal frame sized backpack) which were both stuffed and then I gave the gallon sized Ziploc bag with the snacks to Becki to put in her carry-on. You’ll have to stay tuned to see if we made it back under weight.
A look inside the suitcase on 6/5/09
The rolling luggage we took - oh yeah and we took the little backpack too. (Carry-on 18'' H x 12'' W x 6'' D & Backpack 12'' H x 9'' W x 3 1/2'' D)
In the pre-trip portion on this trip report I mentioned that AirTran had moved the departure time several times, so here’s the recap of that: When we booked originally we were leaving STL at 5:20pm, then we were leaving around 10:10am, and the last change had us leaving at 11:05am.
My Mom was taking us to the airport and Becki was meeting us there. So my Mom arrived around 8:15-30am and brought us BK for breakfast. I really didn’t eat anything – I guess I was too excited, nervous, etc. I had been up since about 6:15am too; I had set the alarm to go off at 6:45am, but I woke up early and couldn't go back to sleep. We left the house around 8:45am and I called Becki to tell her we were leaving. We arrived at the airport probably about 20-25 minutes later and my Mom dropped us off at departures and we headed in to wait for Becki. There was some sort of construction going on and the line for Airtran looked a lot longer as people were just lining up in the entrance. We decided to get in line as it was getting longer & longer and Becki arrived shortly after to join us to check our bags. We got up to the counter and checked our bags. I paid cash for the $15 fee and then had to wait as they didn’t have change. Becki pre-paid on-line so was done in a flash.
Let me stop here and tell the story/fiasco with trying to check-in on-line yesterday. I got on-line and had to wait a few minutes to get to the appointed time (24 hours in advance EXACTLY) and then proceeded to try and check us in, well it couldn’t find my reservation. So I called Becki and asked if she had gotten checked in and said yes – and picked her seats (as for some reason Airtran makes you either ‘buy’ your seat for $6 or wait and pick it when you check in – this is beyond stupid if you ask me – just add an extra $6 on to the price of the ticket then). So once I confirmed Becki had gotten everything I decided to call Airtran and see if they could help me. I also had the thought that maybe the problem was with Mike as when we went to WDW last October he had a problem because he was on a ‘watch’ list – I guess his name is too common. So I called Airtran and they even had a bit of trouble finding us, but eventually did and as a courtesy (that’s what they called it) gave us seat assignments as that was the thing I was most afraid of – being separated on the plane, which wouldn’t have been a big deal if we didn’t have Dylan as a lap child.
OK, back to the trip report, we went through security without a hitch – there was barely any line and went to find a seat at the gate. Apparently other people weren’t as lucky to get seats together as they made an announcement that they were trying to get families to be able to sit together. I don’t know if this is normal or not, but it happened on the way home too (stay tuned for the return home details of that) so I’m thinking it happens a lot. This was the only non-stop flight so it was rather crowded. Dylan looked out the window and ran around some before we had to board. Finally it was time to board. Becki waited until the last possible minute as she doesn’t do well with flying. We got on the plane and started to get settled and as more people started getting on it was clear that families were not sitting together. Well everyone kind of moved around in order for them to do so. Mike & I (with Dylan) moved up a row, Becki ended up moving too – right in front of us. So it wasn’t too bad and we didn’t mind – just another example of how the seat picking is ridiculous with this airline.
Dylan did well on the plane – no ear problems. I think he was just more restless than anything. We kept him occupied with books, snacks, ‘getting’ (ok hitting – nicely) Becki from behind. The flight was otherwise uneventful and we arrived in Orlando a few minutes early even.
Up next…things have changed for DME since we last came
Kelly, I'm so glad you've finally started your TR! Wow, look how much you got packed into one suitcase. I'm sorry to hear about all the confusions with Airtran. That would have made me irratable with them. More please
Oh no! I'm glad Dylan wasn't too difficult for you on the plane going and at least someone used to him (Becki) was in the seat in front of you so I'm sure he didn't bother her too much on the plane ride down!
So glad you started your report. We too are flying Air Tran with our 2 year old twins in September and I'm really worried about being seperated. We did buy them a seat. I don't think other people will want to entertain them so I'm probably going to be fine
What a big mess and pain in the rump. I am glad I booked AA instead of Airtran now!
I can't believe you got everything in one bag. I am definitely determined for my Sept trip now. It will be me and my two girls (7&9), so if you can get two adults and a toddler in one bag I think I can too. Plus I can have 3 carryons, so maybe it will work.
Hurry with more, please!
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). So once I confirmed Becki had gotten everything I decided to call
Airtran and see if they could help me. I also had the thought that maybe the problem was with Mike as when we went to WDW last October he had a problem because he was on a ‘watch’ list – I guess his name is too common.
I don’t know if this is normal or not, but it happened on the way home too (stay tuned for the return home details of that) so I’m thinking it happens a lot. This was the only non-stop flight so it was rather crowded. Dylan looked out the window and ran around some before we had to board. Finally it was time to board. Becki waited until the last possible minute as she doesn’t do well with flying.
We got on the plane and started to get settled and as more people started getting on it was clear that families were not sitting together. Well everyone kind of moved around in order for them to do so. Mike & I (with Dylan) moved up a row, Becki ended up moving too – right in front of us. So it wasn’t too bad and we didn’t mind – just another example of how the seat picking is ridiculous with this airline.
The flight was otherwise uneventful and we arrived in Orlando a few minutes early even.
about the kinks with Airtran, but you've made it to MCO now. Yeah! I can't wait to hear more.
please
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