Living the Dream and remembering the Bagman COMPLETED 5/16 - Page 14 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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
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.
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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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Saturday 1 October – part eleven: “I think you’ll find we can”
We found our way to the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse…
… and it didn’t look that much different to the one in London Heathrow, although it was a lot smaller.
We found an area to settle down in, and the first thing I did was to go and see if I could book a treatment at the spa. I had totally forgotten they had a spa here. Fortunately, I was in luck, especially as our flight was still some time away. I think we got there just after 6:45pm and we weren’t flying until 9:30pm.
We then ordered some food. Before it arrived, I felt I had to go and shower. I had never showered in an airport in my life, and although I didn’t take my camera with me, I did have my phone in my bag, but stupidly I didn’t think about taking any photos, so my apologies. It had a toilet in it, a basin, then a huge shower at the back of it, with towels available. It did feel a bit weird to begin with, but I was so glad to have the opportunity to clean up.
I headed back to the table to discover our appetisers had arrived. Mark went for the hummus and crunchy vegetables…
… while I had the melon, feta and orange salad, which was lovely, a very different combination of flavours.
For entrée, I went for the pan fried cod fillet with cucumber shrimp and a white wine cream, which was nice, but I was hoping for a little more, considering it was under the heading “bigger bites”.
Mark did better than me with his Clubhouse cheeseburger, although I was away from the table when it arrived, and by the time I got back, all the fries had disappeared.
We both then had an Eton mess, which was excellent.
I saw there was also mango sorbet on the menu, so I decided to have some of that too, given the rest of the meal hadn’t exactly filled me up.
I had some time to work on the trip report, then it was time for my spa treatment. I’d opted for a Thai foot massage, which took half an hour, as I thought my feet needed a bit of love, after the pounding they’d received today and indeed over the last couple of weeks. It was very good, and just what I needed. This was where I learnt all about the Delta lounge, and I was also told the staff still wear suits in there, much more stuffy than Virgin Atlantic!
Once I was done with the massage, we had a bit of time to kill before our flight was called for boarding. As always, Mark was starting to get antsy when we got to boarding time, and I had to check with a member of staff we hadn’t been called. we hadn’t missed it!
When we got the call, we set off, and headed straight for the priority boarding line, just as they called all other passengers to board. An obnoxious and quite snooty Virgin Atlantic member of staff tried to bar our way, saying that we weren’t allowed to board here. I just turned to her, showed her our tickets and said “I think you’ll find we can”. After that, she was very apologetic. Just goes to show you should never make assumptions…
We made our way on to the plane, and quickly found our seats…
Mark went to go and get changed into the pyjamas they provide, and he looked like one of an army of black Ninjas! I didn’t bother, as I was quite comfortable in my leggings.
I got a couple of shots of the view outside as we were at the gate, and at one point when we came to a standstill…
We were told by the captain that it would be a painfully long taxi, and although we were leaving on time, it would be another half an hour before we’d actually be taking off. I passed the time reading, and desperately trying to stay awake, as frankly I wanted to sleep now.
Once we were up in the air, the crew were as good as their word, and were straight out to convert our seats into beds. I think mine was the first to be done, and I happily climbed into it. I was very happy it was done so quickly, as we had quite a rough flight at times. I did wonder whether the crew would get through everyone before the fasten seatbelt sign came on, but you know what, it never did, even though it felt quite rough at times during the flight.
I settled back to go to sleep to try and make the best of our red eye…
The weather today was dry, but very cloudy with temperatures in the mid 60s. The best thing today was spending time with Sharon. The worst thing today was not being able to see anything from the One World Observatory. The funniest thing today was “look it’s got Mickey ears!” Today we tried visiting the 9/11 museum And the result was it was beautifully done, but they did let too many people in there, and it was tough to see everything as a result, which was a shame. The most magical moment today was seeing the original Eeyore.
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I never tire of seeing the airline lounges and the awesome seats that turn into beds. It's so cool!! Glad you guys are able to experience that.
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Tanya
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Quite a nice time in the lounge with a foot massage and a good dinner! Nice being able to sleep on the flight with a converted bed!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Wow! I love the looks of the NYC Disney Store, and that Eeyore sweatshirt is soooo cute! Bummer that there was zero visibility on your day for the observation tower.
So far the 9/11 Museum is so incredible. Wow! I think maybe hearing random people discuss the feelings of the day might hit a more poignant chord with us Americans who distinctly remember where we were and what we were doing at the moment the towers were hit.
Wow! I love the looks of the NYC Disney Store, and that Eeyore sweatshirt is soooo cute! Bummer that there was zero visibility on your day for the observation tower.
Oh well, it's a reason to go back, and having said New York City wasn't on our list of places to return to, we might be going back... we'll see tomorrow....
So far the 9/11 Museum is so incredible. Wow! I think maybe hearing random people discuss the feelings of the day might hit a more poignant chord with us Americans who distinctly remember where we were and what we were doing at the moment the towers were hit.
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Sunday 2 October – part one: “I think she’s awake”
I woke up when I realised someone was talking. It was Mark with one of the stewardesses and I think they were just discussing whether or not to wake me up, then I heard Mark say “I think she’s awake”.
As it had been quite turbulent during the flight, I had taken my glasses off, put them in their case and put them right next to me, as I was worried they might get knocked off the shelf next to me, so it took me a moment to find them, and come to.
It’s just as well I did quite quickly, as it wasn’t long before they were coming around with breakfast. We’d had to fill in what we wanted on a little order form at the start of the flight, which was a good idea, as the stewardesses could just then get on with preparing everything, and then can have it ready for you when you wake up. Here’s what Mark ordered – the camera was on the wrong setting when he took it from me, hence the poor quality of the shots…
… and here’s what I got:
Outside, there were clouds…
… and then there was land too.
I always say this, but I can see when we fly home why England is called the green and pleasant land.
However, the closer we got to London, the thicker the cloud got…
… and then we were above it…
As we were above the clouds, I couldn’t tell for sure, but I think we were circling for some time, before we came into land. When we did, I managed to grab some shots:
Then we were seeing the airport…
… and finally we were on the ground:
Once we got to the gate, it seemed to take ages before they finally opened the doors. I had visions of the problems we had when we landed at Boston Logan, and we were ordered to stay on board, because there were such long lines at immigration and customs. Finally, we were allowed off…
We had no problems at immigration at all. We literally walked up to the e-passport reader machines, then walked through, and that was it. It couldn’t have been simpler.
We made our way downstairs, and impressively, the carousel was already turning, but there were no trolleys at our end of the baggage claim, so Mark headed off to find one, and while he was gone, this little lot showed up.
We walked straight through customs, and phoned the valet parking company. By this time, it was 9:50am, and we literally only landed about 9:25am, so we were super fast getting through Heathrow, considering how busy this place is.
We had fun and games with the elevators trying to get to the car park. One didn’t seem to be working, as every time we got to the car parking level, the doors wouldn’t open. However, we noticed later on, it was working fine, and I think it was the woman in the elevator, who kept leaning on the panel. We noticed it doing it when we were in there with her, and then got out. They then tried again, and it still didn’t work.
Finally, we made it up to where we should be, and literally about two minutes later, our car rolled up, and we loaded all our cases in, and we were on our way.
We were soon on to the motorway…
.. and then this was flying over us!
Look how quiet the M25 was…
I bet the folks in New York would kill to have highways this deserted!
On the way back, I noticed that some of my bovine buddies were out to greet me and welcome me home.
We were home just after 11:00am, less than two hours after touching down, which I thought was excellent. Then the hard work really started of emptying four cases, and starting with the laundry. Five loads later, we were getting there… and it was time to be starting the trip report…
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Fortunately, I was in luck, especially as our flight was still some time away. I think we got there just after 6:45pm and we weren’t flying until 9:30pm. 
we hadn’t missed it! 
I didn’t bother, as I was quite comfortable in my leggings. 
Nice start to your flight!!
Nice being able to sleep on the flight with a converted bed! 
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