A special birthday, a diamond anniversary and a west coast adventure TRIP REPORT COMPLETED IN THIS FORUM - Page 13 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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!
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Virgin upper class looks like the way to start a trip.
Well, it would be interesting to hear how it compares to some of your trips - as I think when the company's paying, you fly first class/business, right? I put it that way, as I know some airlines do both classes and I never remember which is which. At least with Virgin, they only have Upper Class, a lot easier.
Sounds like you had a very relaxing massage! What a nice way to start your vacation. The lounge area is huge! And you are right about those chairs! They looked very cool, but getting in and out of them would be a real trick!
I was almost tempted to ask Mark to give it a go, just so I could get a funny photo!
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Wow, the first class lounge is so cool! If I ever fly again, that is the way to go! Glad you enjoyed your massage.
Love all your shots of the planes. Your camera zoom is fantastic! What kind of camera do you have?
I've got a Sony HX400, which has a 50 x optical zoom - very cool! I absolutely love it and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone.
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The boys on your suitcase are just adorable!
Thank you! They've been round the world with us. I can't remember when I got them, but it was a long time ago - at least 10 years now and they've travelled with me since on every single trip.
My new mani/pedi place does a hot stone massage with the pedi and I am a new fan of that. The next time I get a full body massage I am going to do the hot stone massage. Besides, I had my fill of Swedish massages during a bout of back issues so that the idea of a massage seems more like a medical treatment instead of relaxation. Nice to know you recommend the hot stone massage.
I have one coming up this Saturday - this is my usual monthly massage locally. Any others I can fit in on vacations are an added bonus.
I still cannot get over the lounge, it looks like one of those upscale boutique hotels, so nice and relaxing. Glad you enjoyed your spa appointment, no better way to prepare for a long flight then with a hot stone massage (which sounds so good right now...LOL).
Oh it is wonderful!
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Really cool shots, if you did not tell us the shots were through the fence you would never know, the zoom on your camera is just so cool. Those photos make it seem you are on the runway with the planes.
The lounge is quite extensive. I love the garden area upstairs where you got some excellent photos of the planes. A massage and wine sound perfect while waiting for a flight.
The lounge is quite extensive. I love the garden area upstairs where you got some excellent photos of the planes. A massage and wine sound perfect while waiting for a flight.
Saturday 29 August – part four: oh this is so cramped… not!
We had a bit of a wait past 11:00am, which is when the gate was due to be announced, and Mark described himself as an “expectant father” waiting for the announcement. Finally, it came and off we went, with me noting that it said it would take us 20 minutes to reach our gate. That was 11:12am. Remember this…
We navigated our way through the various idiots who were roaming the airport, which included a woman texting on her phone who had no concept of where she was going, and a guy attempting to join the moving walkway who thought it would be a good idea to take up the entire space, when two people should be able to join it. No, not such a good plan!
We found our way to gate 31, saw the line, and I knew instantly that was for economy, and it was, so I headed for the practically non-existent line next to it, and we were straight through, and on to the plane immediately, as they were allowing boarding straightaway. I personally much prefer this, and it’s so much easier than having 300 plus people all sitting at the gate, then having a tussle to get them all on board at the same time. Why airlines don’t do this all the time, I do not know.
We quickly found our seats, and made the best of our exceptionally cramped conditions as you can see…
Ok, now there’s a story to these photos… in this first shot, I told Mark he wasn’t looking happy enough, so he needed to try again…
In this one, as you can see, he’s looking to the side, as someone was walking up the aisle…
… and finally third time lucky!
No such problems for me!
I looked over to Mark’s pod at one point, and this was the response I got! Bless him….
Yes, this is how much legroom we had!
The view from my seat…
The entertainment system
By the time we’d had our complimentary champagne and I’d checked out the restrooms, it was pretty much time to start taxiing out. I have to say that it was a perfect day for taking photos and I was pleasantly surprised by how lovely it was, given the forecast had been for rain… again… … today. Glad to see the forecasters got it right again – not!
We were following quite a few aircraft, and I was able to get various shots of planes on the runway as we made our own way along. This really gives you a feel for how busy Heathrow is. I can’t remember the statistics now, but I believe it’s in the top 10 or top 20 busiest airports in the world, and it’s something like a plane taking off every minute or two.
Anyway, finally it was our turn, and we were able to see the backside of the British Airways jet in front of us disappearing off…
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I absolutely love it and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone. 
and I’d checked out the restrooms, it was pretty much time to start taxiing out. I have to say that it was a perfect day for taking photos and I was pleasantly surprised by how lovely it was, given the forecast had been for rain… again… 
… today. Glad to see the forecasters got it right again – not! 
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