Boston to Barcelona and back…Our first Transatlantic...PTR updated 09/10/2015 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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.
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.
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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Boston to Barcelona and back…Our first Transatlantic...PTR updated 09/10/2015
Today would have been my dad’s 83rd birthday. Hard to believe he’s been gone for over a year. Kind of a sour note to start a PTR but I guess I just wanted to recognize this day.
So let’s get going!
Well here we are again my friends. It seems like I’ve just finished up my TR when it’s time to start anew. Those of you who know me, know all too well that my planning and trips seem to get filled with family drama of one kind or another. Basically I am my mom’s caregiver which I have been for several years now. My mom has many health issues but these days her memory seems to be fading more and more. It’s frustrating to see her like this but it was my decision to not place her in a nursing home unless absolutely necessary and sadly permanent. That hasn’t come to pass and hopefully won’t for a few more years. So what’s on for this year’s agenda?
We’re going on a Disney Cruise!
Well it’s not the first time (won’t be the last either!). A matter of fact this will be our 7th sailing. Last year on the Magic we made the milestone of sailing all four Disney ships. So exciting. Sailing the four T-shirts Who are we?
Linda…That would be me. Long time Disney fanatic and part time Disney designer I look forward to these trips which we now manage once a year. I will be celebrating my big 6-0. Man where has all the time gone? DH and I will also be celebrating 26 years of marriage.
Dan…My dear hubby. Still a very hard working man he puts in 62 hours a week so we can go on these vacations once a year. He’s a Disney fan but totally is into Disney cruises. He celebrated the big 5-0 last year on the Magic and doesn’t want to think about 5-1. Lol!
Just a reminder...couldn't decide which I liked better. So where to next?
Well the title kind of gives it away. Lol. We are booked on the Magic yet again. But this time it will be our first transatlantic crossing. I am excited and so nervous at the same time because we have never sailed from anywhere other than Port Canaveral. We’ve only flown up and down the East Coast and as some of you may know I only started flying again a few years ago after staying grounded for some 15 years.
Who’s going?
It will just be my husband and myself. Our daughter Heather has not been on any trips with us since 2013. We do miss her but it’s kind of cool to be just the two of us. Heather as you recalled injured her ring finger at work and had to do light duty for 5 weeks. Well she was cleared seven weeks later and has been working the same job that nearly took her finger. The company was so impressed that she didn’t quit that they hired her. No more tempt job for her. Full time employee with all the benefits that come with it.
When are we leaving?
Not soon enough…lol…September 16th to be exact. We are flying out of Boston’s Logan Airport on British Airways with a brief stopover at Heathrow Airport then a change of planes and off to Barcelona Spain landing on the 17th. Once there we are staying for two nights at the Hotel Montecarlo right on Las Ramblas and meeting friends from a past cruise (staying at the same hotel) where we will board the Magic on the 19th for an 11 night Magical Adventure! There will only be two stops, one at Funchal Madeira, Portugal and another at Castaway Cay, before disembarking at the Port of Miami. There we will take a shuttle to Fort Lauderdale and fly home on Southwest on the 30th.
This is all new territory for us. International flights, staying in a foreign country, taxi’s, shuttles and euros…oh my. The couple we will be sailing with are Kris and Larry from my 2013 “Just the Two of Us! (Need I say anything more?) TR. Kris and I have remained Facebook friends since that cruise and have been waiting for the opportunity to cruise together again. So this is it! She has been a huge help with all this planning though I am happy to admit that I booked our flights and hotel all by myself. Okay a little direction from Kris.
All in all there has been no drama to speak of since I finished my last TR. Well I did have to have my wisdom teeth taken out. Ouch! But that went well. The only thing that we have to do is break some news to my mom that I don’t think she will be very happy with. Wish me luck!
Next…Plans are moving right along!!!
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Last edited by duck addict; 09-11-2015 at 10:28 AM..
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