Living the dream and remembering the Bagman LIVE UPDATE 10/2 - Page 50 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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
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Moving on with the current of the years.
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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.
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So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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That was a crazy dream you had the other night with the elevator! Plans are looking great and all winding down now! That is some insane prices for a monthly train fare in the UK!
Yep, and from what I understand from people who use the train regularly (I only use it to go into London occasionally), it's not a good service either.
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Got a little behind...work is crazy...but I had to get on here at least to tell you have a wonderful trip in case I don't get on before you leave!!! I look forward to meeting you both on the 22nd!
Ditto! Are you going to be at the evening photo meet starting at the BoardWalk? If so, we'll see you there.
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I loved Dyan's shirt and also 'lifted' her idea...it's supposed to be here next week. YIKES!!
The cards turned out well. I can't believe after all this time, it's really about time to go! Enjoy your tour of the north and we will see you in two weeks!
Pre-trip report – part forty four: our final plans
Thursday 8 September:
Mark’s first words when we woke up this morning? “Only one more day to get up early”… I quickly corrected him, adding in the words “getting up for work anyway!” There may be some early days while we’re on the other side of the pond, although in fairness, apart from our flight out of Buffalo, I don’t think the alarm will generally be going off at 5:45am…
I started out this morning by reading a fascinating article by the wonderful Jim Korkis about when Hurricane Floyd hit Walt Disney World. Perhaps not the most cheery thing, given we’re going during hurricane season, but I got some strange reassurance from reading it, as I learnt all about what Disney do to keep their guests safe. Talk about taking every precaution!
I heard some clunks while I was reading it, and wondered what the heck it was, as Mark had left five minutes earlier… or so I thought. I looked outside, and there was his van. He’d literally got off the drive and had a puncture – his fourth on that side of the van in recent weeks. Unbelievable!
The day went Ok for me, a good swim in the morning and getting into work earlier than I expected. However, on the way home, I had a bad experience with our car. It came with adaptive cruise control, not what we asked for. We wanted cruise control, no adaptive business, and let’s just say the technology isn’t there. She decided to emergency brake with nothing in front of me and I was lurched forward – thank goodness for my seatbelt. That really shook me up, and my goodness, I had some serious wine when I got home to recover! Not what I needed…
The latest edition of the Disney Files magazine for DVC Members was waiting when we got home, so that’s something to read on the plane… along with my Doctor Who Monthly magazine of course!
I got the final load of laundry on before we leave and settled down to read my emails, including this great update from Laurie:
BTW, have you heard about the new antelopes on the Pembe savannah at AKL? They're Red Lechwe and are beautiful, graceful animals. Also, the DVC safari night at AK is supposed to have lots of character meets, including Launchpad McDuck and Chip and Dale dressed as the Rescue Rangers. That's pretty rare! There are new Pink-Backed Pelican chicks on Kilimanjaro Safari, the nest is on the island in the hippo pool to the left of the truck.
Isn’t she just a mine of great information?
So that’s it for the pre-trip report… I’ll finish with a recap of our plans… just a few…
Friday 9 September
Drive to Foxhills Club and Resort and spend the night there
Saturday 10 September
Drive up to Heathrow and valet park the car
Fly out to Boston
Stay the night with Dave and Rob
Have dinner with them
Sunday 11 September
Pick up our rental car
Drive to Merrimack Premium Outlets
Visit Nubble Lighthouse and meet up with Sheila and Mike
Visit Mount Battie
Stay the night in Ellsworth at Eagle’s Lodge Motel
Monday 12 September
Visit Acadia National Park
Drive up to the summit of Cadillac Mountain
Take the 27 mile park loop road
Stop for lunch at Acadia Jordan Pond House
Drive to Quebec City
Spend the night in Quebec City at Hotel Berniere
Tuesday 13 September
Drive into Quebec City
Walk along Terrasse Dufferin
Visit La Citadelle
See the Fortifications de Quebec
Visit the Assemblee Nationale
Take a walking tour of the old city
Visit Basilique Notre-Dame-de-Quebec
Spend the night in Quebec City at the Fairmont Chateau Le Frontenac
Dinner at Le Sam at the hotel
Wednesday 14 September
Explore Quebec City
Take the funicular to the Lower Town
Visit Place Royale
Visit Vieux Port
Drive to Montreal
Visit the Olympic Park, including the Montreal Tower and the Olympic Stadium (the Biodome is closed for a major refurbishment while we’re there )
Spend the night in Montreal at Le Square Phillips Hotel and Suites
Dinner at Beaver Hall
Thursday 15 September
Take a walking tour of the old city of Montreal
Visit Basilique Notre-Dame
Visit Chateau Ramezay
Visit Pointe-a-Calliere Archaeological Museum
Visit the Underground City
Visit Square Dorchester and Place du Canada
Spend the night in Montreal at Le Square Phillips Hotel and Suites
Dinner at Zibo Centre-Ville
Friday 16 September
Visit Chalet du Mont Royal for the views over the city
Drive to Ottawa
Visit the Canada Aviation and Space Museum
Visit the Canadian Museum of History
Spend the night in Ottawa at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier
Dinner at Wilfrid’s Restaurant at the hotel
Saturday 17 September
Take a walking tour of the city
Visit the Parliament building
Visit Cathedrale Notre Dame
Drive to Toronto
Visit Casa Loma
Spend the night in Toronto at the Hilton Garden Inn
Dinner at 360 The Restaurant at CN Tower
Sunday 18 September
Explore Toronto
Visit the Royal Ontario Museum
See the Ontario Parliament Buildings and Queen’s Park
Possibly make a day time visit to the CN Tower
Take a walking tour of downtown
See Luzia by Cirque du Soleil
Spend the night in Toronto
Monday 19 September
Drive to Niagara Falls
Take the Niagara cruise and do Journey Behind the Falls
Dinner at the Skylon Tower revolving dining restaurant
Cross the border and visit the Disney Outlet
Drive to Buffalo
Spend the night at the Sleep Inn and Suites Buffalo Airport
Tuesday 20 September
Fly from Buffalo down to Orlando
Visit Epcot for the Food and Wine Festival
Fastpass choices: Spaceship Earth, Soarin’
Lunch at the Food and Wine Festival booths
Dinner at Boma
Evening Extra Magic Hours at Epcot and hopefully meet up with Linny and Arnaud
Stay the night at Animal Kingdom Lodge
Wednesday 21 September
Day at Universal Orlando
Lunch at Cowfish
Possibly visit the Orlando Eye in the afternoon
Dinner at Morimoto’s with Heather, Barb and Bob
Stay the night at Animal Kingdom Lodge
Thursday 22 September
Spend the day at Epcot
Fastpass choices: Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival, Test Track
Lunch at Spice Road Table with Barb, Bob, Angie and Sue
Early dinner at Trader Sam’s
Group sunset photo meet at the BoardWalk/Beach Club Villas
Enjoy IllumiNations at Epcot
Head to Animal Kingdom for the DVC Member event
Stay the night in a waterfront bungalow at the Polynesian
Friday 23 September
Spend the day at the Magic Kingdom
Fastpass choices: Peter Pan’s Flight, Pirates of the Caribbean, Seven Dwarves Mine Train
Have an early lunch at the Crystal Palace with Barb and Bob
Host the Outer Rim photo op meet at 3:30pm
See the flag retreat at 5:00pm
Dinner at the Skipper Canteen with Sheri
Enjoy Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party night
Group viewing of the second Boo to You parade
Stay the night at a waterfront bungalow at the Polynesian
Saturday 24 September
Spend the morning at Animal Kingdom
Group meet for Kilimanjaro Safaris and the Maharajah Jungle Trek
Fastpass choices: Kilimanjaro Safaris, Finding Nemo – the Musical
Lunch at the Boathouse with Ann and Carly
Dinner at Tiffin’s
Stay the night at the Beach Club Villas
Sunday 25 September
Head to the Studios
Fastpass choices: Voyage of the Little Mermaid MuppetVision 3D
Enjoy Sunday Brunch at the California Grill – Brunch at the Top with Deb and Linda
Head back to the Studios
Fastpass choices: Toy Story Mania
See Symphony in the Sky fireworks
Dinner at the Flying Fish Café with Bruce and Marta
Stay the night at the Beach Club Villas
Monday 26 September
Breakfast at the Garden Grill
Spend some time in Epcot
Fastpass choices: Frozen Ever After, the Seas with Nemo and Friends
Drive to Port Canaveral
Board the Dream
Tuesday 27 September
Visit Nassau in the Bahamas
Dinner at Palo
Wednesday 28 September
Visit Castaway Cay
Dinner at Remy
Thursday 29 September
Day at sea
Brunch at Palo
Friday 30 September
Arrive back at Port Canaveral
Fly up to New York City
Dinner with Meg
See Paramour by Cirque du Soleil
Visit the Disney Store
Stay the night in the Hilton Times Square
Saturday 1 October
Visit the One World Observatory
Visit the 9/11 memorial and museum
Visit the American Museum of Natural History if we have time
Get a taxi to JFK Airport
Fly home from New York City
Sunday 2 October
Arrive home and flop in a bit of an exhausted state!
So that’s it from me for this pre-trip report. I’ll post some live updates as we go on this thread, but I will also be posting on the threads I started in the WDW trip report forum and the Disney Cruise Line forum, as we get to those stages of our trip. Hope you’ve enjoyed it so far and stay tuned!
We've eaten many time and the Sun and Surf in York! Used to stay across the street at the Anchorage Inn many times. Good times! Great plans for your trip! I hope you guys have a fabulous time! Looking forward to the updates and following along!
I'm exhausted reading those plans. Mike thinks that I pack a lot in (evidenced by our nearly 8 miles of walking each day in London) but he hasn't seen YOUR plans!
Seriously, have a fantastic time! Can't wait to hear all about it!
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I found that article about hurricane Floyd fascinating too! Excellent info regarding hurricanes/weather in WDW.
Quebec - might I suggest that from Chateau Frontenac to take the stairs down (or walk down and around via Rue de Fort and then Cote de la Montagne) and then the Funicular back up. Stairs are just past the glass enclosed National Park structure, to the left of the Funicular. Only because halfway down Cote de La Montagne is the top of the quintessential set of stairs that lead to Basse Ville (lower town) and it's a wonderful photo op! And it's always better to gown down stairs than to go up them.
One other tidbit we learned from our walking guide - Place Royale is used in films, most notably Catch Me if You Can with Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks. I love that movie, so I was thrilled to learn that!
If you need to kill some time in Toronto, might I also suggest to visit the Hockey Hall of Fame. It's a very well done museum, and you get to see the Stanley Cup! Plus the have interactive games where you can try to shoot goals and/or be a goalie! Fun stuff, indoors, perhaps if it's raining or something.
This made me chuckle: Arrive home and flop in a bit of an exhausted state! Have a wonderful, magical, fantabulous time!!!
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Tanya
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We can both work him on Sunday, if that's not going to be too late for you...
Too late for this trip but maybe for future ones? He is kind of stuck in his ways, since he travels so much for work, he doesn't "get" that kind of anxiety. Silly man!
I've enjoyed reading your pre-trip report. The trip report is sure to be even better. And I know how thorough you are, so it should last until our trip to WDW in January. Enjoy all of your travels.
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Plans are looking great and all winding down now! 
That is some insane prices for a monthly train fare in the UK! 
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Are you going to be at the evening photo meet starting at the BoardWalk? If so, we'll see you there. 
Not what I needed… 
and settled down to read my emails, including this great update from Laurie: 
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