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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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Best wishes for a wonderful and magical new year!
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07-07-2011, 09:30 PM
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#1
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PassPorter Guide
 Community Rank: Globetrotter 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 3,041
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Feature Article: Adventures by Disney - Do's and Don'ts of Traveling to Europe
Adventures by Disney - Do's and Don'ts of Traveling to Europe
by Dotti Saroufim
Granted, there are many ways to visit the wonderful countries of our world, but traveling with Adventures by Disney is one that is stress-free and full of great surprises.
Having traveled to Europe with Adventures by Disney five times so far, I’m often asked for tips and advice on those little things that will prevent my clients from having any unwanted surprises – those not of the variety offered by the wonderful Adventure Guides! What follows, in no particular order, are my do’s and don’ts of traveling to Europe with Adventures by Disney! [Ed. - And most are great for all overseas travelers!] Don’t associate the name “Disney” with theme parks and attractions when looking for the best tour to Europe. Instead, do know that Adventures by Disney offers the quality and the level of service that you always expect from a Disney experience!
Don’t think that your kids are ever too old to travel with you! And if they are all 18 and older, Adventures by Disney has adult-only experiences as well!
Do remember to alert your bank and credit card companies that you will be traveling so that your card is not declined when you are about to purchase that bottle of tasty Italian wine. Don’t wait until the last minute to obtain foreign currency as it may take a few days for the bank to accommodate you. Euro may be easy to find – Czech Korunas for that side trip on the way home to visit Uncle Gustav, not so much.</p> Don’t assume that your cell phone automatically has data, texting or international roaming while overseas. Some carriers need you to call prior to the trip and activate your international service. Do assume your cell phone bill will be outrageous if you use your data, texting or international roaming. It may be less expensive to just bring the whole family with you. You can pay for an international data roaming plan with some providers (different than a voice roaming plan), but it may be better to simply disable data roaming entirely until you are somewhere with free WiFi.
Do be sure that you allow enough connecting time between flights, especially if going through London’s Heathrow Airport or the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. Heathrow should have a minimum of three hours, as it can take 45 minutes just to get from one terminal to the next. Do allow for enough time to connect on your return trip as well, particularly if you are doing so in a U.S. airport. Remember that you have to retrieve your bags, go through Customs and then check your bags in again for that final leg home. (If your flight connects in a foreign airport, normally your bags will go straight through, with your only Customs check when you first touch U.S. soil. However, if your connecting airport is in a different country than your departure, you will still need to go through Passport Control and Security before boarding you next flight, both a little time-consuming.)
Do invest in a “money belt” of some sort, to keep your valuables close to your person.
Do be alert to your surroundings, as you will likely be traveling to big cities, at home and/or abroad. If part of your tour is traveling by train, this is especially important in crowded train stations.
Do try, if at all possible, to add a day to the beginning of your Adventure. Even though most trips start with a welcome dinner later in the day, flight delays and the inevitable jetlag can make that first day exhausting. Plus, you may be visiting a city where you’ve never been before, and there’s so much to see and do!
Do begin to think on local time, not U.S. time. The psychological effects of always thinking of what time it is back home will just make you sleepier!
Do bring a few washcloths with you if you use them. Many European hotels do not have anything smaller than a hand towel.
Don’t walk into the bathroom and exclaim, “Look! Two toilets!” (One is likely a bidet!)
Do know that there is a huge difference between an electrical adapter and an electrical converter. An adapter only adds an extension to your U.S. plug so that it fits in the socket. It does not convert electrical current from 220 to 110. Note that while laptops and cell phone chargers almost all come with a built-in voltage converter, many other small appliances do not. You can check on the cord or on the appliance to verify the voltage range. Don’t wait until you arrive to try to figure out which of these you have (and need).
Don’t think that your 110 volt-only curling iron will be “okay just for a few minutes.” It probably won’t. Neither will the hotel’s management when they track down which room was responsible for shutting down the electricity for your entire floor (probably detected by the smell of burning hair).
Do know that you can buy a replacement curling iron in most department stores. (Don’t ask me how I know.)
Do try to learn a few words of the language spoken in the country you are visiting. Even if you totally make a mess of it like we did, your efforts will not go unnoticed! Don’t think that those “Learn Italian in 30 Days” CDs are going to have you fluent before your trip.
Do talk to the locals, in whatever way you can communicate! Their stories are what you may remember most about your trip. If conversing with someone not fluent in English, speak slowly and clearly, avoid slang and use fewer words rather than more. Being a talker, I’d be more likely to say, “Hi, isn’t it a nice day? This is my first time in Italy, and I was wondering if I could get some of those yummy looking grapes to bring back to my hotel room?” Instead, if the storekeeper doesn’t speak English and is now shaking her head and muttering under her breath, just point, hold up some Euro and say, “Grapes?” Don’t be shy to use body language as well, to make your point – unless you’re looking for the closest bathroom, when “Toilette?” may actually work best.
Don’t, however, try to impress your waiter by ordering your entire dinner from a foreign menu without some help. Trust me on this. (“I just ate... WHAT???&rdquo 
Don’t be an armchair traveler – experience the food and the culture and even the dancing of your destination! With Adventures by Disney, it’s easy to do just that. On our tour to Italy last year, we were able to make pizza (and cheese!) at a farm, ride bikes atop the ancient walls of Lucca and even swim in the Mediterranean off of our private boat circling Capri!
Do travel with an open mind and remember that there are many different cultures, religions and ways of life, and it’s our differences that make us so interesting. You’re not only seeing new places, but you’re experiencing a new way of seeing things! And finally, Do have the adventure of a lifetime!
Added to PassPorter's Article Collection on 07-05-2011 08:07 AM
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