Two little boys have a dream come true - 18 day holiday of a lifetime (Pop Century, AK & Others...) Pre & Post Trip Report - Page 2 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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
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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.
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Well, I didn't want to post anything more on here until I'd something significant to say really.
So, here's our update so far.
First of all, just before Christmas I'd sent off an application to a UK Charity called "Dream Come True". We're not the sort of people that are constantly on the look out for handouts and so I wrote to them explaining that we'd already booked and paid for the holiday but was there anything they could do to make the holiday a bit more special for Tom & Charlie.
Anyway, we heard back from them asking us to write in with a list of other things they'd like to do and some costs. So, we did just that. We hadn't yet booked our tickets for Sea World, Universal etc as yet so we listed those. That was another £500 on top of what we had already spent and we were actually wondering whether to give those parks a miss and spend the money on other things........
But, joy of joys, we got a phone call from a lovely lady called Wendy at Dreams Come True saying our application had been sucessful and that a cheque for £1800 was on its way to us to treat the boys to EVERYTHING we had put on our list! Now that was some Christmas present!
So, we upgraded our holiday to include the Orlando Flexiticket for us all and this morning, we had an envelope int he post from Virgin...... I was really excited but actually inside were just a few paper vouchers to exchange for our holiday hotel accommodation, park tickets and so on. I was expecting there'd be more so I was a little disappointed.
For the last 10 years, we've been on holiday to France in the Summer with a Company called Eurocamp, we would stay either in tents or more latterly in holiday mobile homes and we absolutely love those holidays. We have one booked for later this year and the total price for all of the family of 4 including caravan hire, channel tunnel crossing and much more comes to under £1000 for 2 weeks.
Every time the Eurocamp holiday pack arrives, it is a major source of excitement for the whole family as it is a big pack and includes suprise free gifts, nothing major but nice stuff that you'd use on holiday such as a beach bag, travel rug, a suitable gifty for each of the children and so on. I suppose I was expecting similar from Virgin but not so. Plane tickets still to arrive yet so maybe there's more to come......
I've been playing on iTunes and found some podcasts on WDW in there so I've been catching up on what's changed in the last few years around the place and I must say, we're all getting more excited by the day.
I'll post again when I've more to report but I guess that'll be just before we depart. I also hope to do some updating whilst on holiday but it all depends upon internet access & costs I suppose.
I hope that you and your family have a magical time at the world
__________________
Heather - "I'm Tinkerbell's biggest fan!"
WDW - August 1997 Off Property
WDW - January 2005 AKL
WDW - May 2006 Pop Century
WDW- november-dec 2007 pop century
WDW- dec/jan 2009/2010 pop century
WDW- oct/nov 2012 art of animation
WDW- sept 2013 port Orleans riverside
WDW- july 2015 beach club
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Just wanted to wish you a magical vacation. Congratulations on your gift from Dreams Come True. You deserve it. Your boys are beautiful and you sound like a lovely family. Hope you have a great time. I can't wait to read all about it when you get back.
Hi, here's my latest update.
I said in my last post that I was a bit disappointed when an envelope of vouchers arrived from Virgin but a few days later we got the proper pack, still not the same as Eurocamp with all the free goodies but a much better pack that boosted my excitement levels yet again. In fact, when I rang Kate on my way home from work and asked if there was any post, she didn't tell me until I got home because I'd have wanted her to read it all out to me and so on :-)
Anyway, the pack had all our vouchers, directions to the hotels, handy hints & tips, luggage labels, flight tickets and everything to make me really excited.
We've bought some new luggage and now we've started to make piles of things ready to pack. The hints & tips on here and in our Passporter are getting a good read now as to what we need to bring.
The only depressing thing is that the temperature in Orlando seems to be falling and also the pound is much weaker against the Dollar at the moment, if only we'd bought our dollars when we first booked the holiday. I'm hoping the exchange rate may change a little over the next few days but I'm going to have to bite the bullet soon.
Well that is it for the moment, thank you all for your replies and comments, it really is a lovely community here and I'm glad to be a part of it.
What a wonderful trip you have planned! And so wonderful to get all the extra surprises for your two boys!
I was going to tell you that we loved Sea World when we went last year. And I think the boys would be able to do and see everything right from their wheelchairs, except the few rides that they have there.
You said you were going to Clearwater too? We went there a few years ago, visited a nice aquarium and took a boat ride out to a little island, not sure if it would be that exciting after Sea World, or if the boys could get on the boat, but you might look into it.
We are going to be at WDW from Jan 30 - Feb 6, and I am hoping that the weather will be great too! I know it will be warmer than it is here in Virginia, and the sun always feels so good! So I am hopeful.
I can't wait to hear all about your adventures!
Safe travels!
__________________
Donning my Wellies to cut Peat in Scotland
Melissa
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Liz 
Your plans look wonderful and I'm looking forward to reading more! Your boys are so handsome 
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