A return to Switzerland – land of mountains, museums and moos! COMPLETED 12/4 - Page 7 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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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.
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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!
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I'm late to the party as you come home tomorrow. However, I've been loving all the pictures on Facebook. I can't wait to hear all the details and see more pictures once you get home.
I'm late to the party as you come home tomorrow. However, I've been loving all the pictures on Facebook. I can't wait to hear all the details and see more pictures once you get home.
We're back home now - as of about an hour ago.
If the Internet cooperates (it is soooo slooow right now, it's not true! ) then the first instalment of the trip report will be coming soon.
Friday 30 August – part one: oh great, there are delays at Eurotunnel
Although we were leaving in the evening, and we were working today, much of the day revolved around our preparations to head out today, from putting the last load of laundry on and watering the greenhouse before I left for work to the Tesco order arriving with copious quantities of soft drinks and water and snacks for us. After all, why on earth pay for all of that when you can buy it more cheaply at home?
Then there was the manic lunch hour I had. Ok, are you ready for this? In a total of 55 minutes, this is what I managed to do:
Fill the car up with diesel
Fill the car windscreen washer up with washer fluid
Clean the front and back windscreens
Find the Switzerland map and put it in the car
Bring the washing back in
Empty the dishwasher
Do the ironing (in fairness, it was only four items… I’m not that good! )
Load the car up with a large amount of this morning’s purchases
Top up the Swiss francs travel money card with some more money ]
Get some Euros
Wow, I feel exhausted just reliving it! I headed home from work at around 3:30pm, a little earlier than I thought I’d get away, and came back and watered the rest of the garden, as I couldn’t even remember the last time it had been watered. As Mark’s sister would be looking after the garden and said “I’ll water anything that looks as if it needs it”, I didn’t want her to have too much to worry about.
I carried on loading the car up, until I got to the point where I couldn’t load anything else, as I wasn’t 100% sure if Mark was finished with the cases, and they were about the only other things to go in. It was all going well… too well…
Around 4:30pm, I got a call from Mark to say that he’d just left work, having promised me that he’d be leaving at 4:00pm. I was not impressed by that. Even worse, he told me he’d just heard on the radio that there were delays at the Eurotunnel. Oh good! They were also telling people to get there as early as they could. Well, until Mark got home, there wasn’t much we could do.
Finally, he made it at 4:50pm, with me having told him I wanted to leave at 5:00pm. In fairness, he was very good, and got himself ready very quickly, and we were out of the door by 5:10pm. This is what the boot (trunk ) of the car looked like just before we departed. just a little bit full….
Fortunately, we had a good run down to the terminal.
When we got there, we were pleasantly surprised to see that traffic wasn’t queuing back to the motorway, which was something. It wasn’t the same story for lorries though.
This was the scene when we got to check-in. As you can see, we were fine, but we could also see why the lorries had such a long wait ahead of them.
We got in line, behind someone who it quickly turned out didn’t seem to have a ticket, and should have been in another line. There was a German car behind us, but when we put our reversing lights on, and gestured at him to back up, he got the idea, and we were quickly through another line.
We headed down to the terminal, thinking there was some irony in this sign…
… given that the website had earlier told me that there would be an hour’s wait at the terminal. As we drove up to the car park, we both commented on how quiet it was. This was very odd. Mark went to park up, but I suggested we should check where we were in the queue. We’d been allocated letter S and we were both shocked to see that R, S and T had all been called forward for boarding on the 6:07pm train, which was earlier than the one we’d booked. Ok, we’re not going to say to that.
We went through passport control, where we were greeted by the most bored looking worker I think either of us have ever seen. She just clearly did not want to be there, and couldn’t have cared less about our passports, which was no bad thing…
We rounded the corner, and we did have a bit of a wait in line to get into lane for our train. When we did, we were really surprised to move forward only a few minuets later, but sadly we weren’t actually boarding. It looked as if they’d been able to fit a few more cars on the previous train, the lucky things, but at least we were edging closer. It happened again, as another couple of cars were lucky enough to get on to the train.
Then we thought we saw our train change from 6:07pm to 7:45pm. Sure enough, we heard an announcement, saying that, so at least now we knew. So much for an hour’s delay at the terminal building, which we’d have preferred. Having said that, we soon realised there was a snack truck which sold burgers, and sandwich, so Mark got a burger, and I got a tuna and sweetcorn sandwich. At least we wouldn’t have to worry about stopping to eat when we got there.
Mark also found these guys grazing on a hilltop high above us, but my 50 times zoom meant I got a nice shot of them.
I also went to check out the toilets, and I was pleasantly surprised. I really didn’t think they’d be that great, but they were fine, and there were something like 12 cubicles in the women’s, so it was bigger than I thought. I guess they have to be prepared.
As I walked back, I realised I could see Folkestone in the distance, with the sun glinting off the rooftops, which was a neat shot.
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Now that's a "to-do" list! And all accomplished in that short amount of time too. Congrats! And what a packed boot! (how often can I ever say that?)
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Sorry about the delay. Funnily we had been through it earlier that same day. We got loaded on the train on time, it took off and then stopped, took off again and stopped again before reversing back to the station, waiting an hour then going very slowly through the tunnel. We got a card to fill out and got £80 per car refund and a free return trip each so I hope you get some the too.
Wow, I guess you weren't using the rear view mirror anytime soon. Congrats on getting all of that to fit in the car, bummer about the delay though.
We were fine with using it, as everything in the boot was covered up by the parcel shelf (I don't know what you guys call it), so once it was filled and closed, you wouldn't know there was anything in the car.
Sorry about the delay. Funnily we had been through it earlier that same day. We got loaded on the train on time, it took off and then stopped, took off again and stopped again before reversing back to the station, waiting an hour then going very slowly through the tunnel. We got a card to fill out and got £80 per car refund and a free return trip each so I hope you get some the too.
We got nothing like that at all. I wouldn't even know who to contact at Eurotunnel - I guess their customer service people?
Too bad about the delay (especially since I know it causes an issue on the other end).
And, how annoying that you got nothing back for the delays! Maybe Hazel did because they actually got stuck ON the train? Seems like either way, you're not getting where you need to be when you were scheduled to be, and they should compensate that....
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) then the first instalment of the trip report will be coming soon.
) 
I headed home from work at around 3:30pm, a little earlier than I thought I’d get away, and came back and watered the rest of the garden, as I couldn’t even remember the last time it had been watered. 
Even worse, he told me he’d just heard on the radio that there were delays at the Eurotunnel. Oh good! They were also telling people to get there as early as they could. Well, until Mark got home, there wasn’t much we could do. 
just a little bit full…. 
This was very odd. Mark went to park up, but I suggested we should check where we were in the queue. We’d been allocated letter S and we were both shocked to see that R, S and T had all been called forward for boarding on the 6:07pm train, which was earlier than the one we’d booked. 
Ok, we’re not going to say 
Sure enough, we heard an announcement, saying that, so at least now we knew. So much for an hour’s delay at the terminal building, which we’d have preferred. Having said that, we soon realised there was a snack truck which sold burgers, and sandwich, so Mark got a burger, and I got a tuna and sweetcorn sandwich. At least we wouldn’t have to worry about stopping to eat when we got there. 
Seems like either way, you're not getting where you need to be when you were scheduled to be, and they should compensate that....
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