A special birthday, a diamond anniversary and a west coast adventure TRIP REPORT COMPLETED IN THIS FORUM - Page 19 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Wow, those seats-turned-into-beds in Upper Class sure are something! It's the one thing that turns an otherwise exhausting flight into something I wouldn't mind so much If we could afford flying like that, I'm sure we would've already made it to Australia by now (I dread the looooooooong flight ).
Wow, those seats-turned-into-beds in Upper Class sure are something! It's the one thing that turns an otherwise exhausting flight into something I wouldn't mind so much If we could afford flying like that, I'm sure we would've already made it to Australia by now (I dread the looooooooong flight ).
I don't think I could ever face that flight, even in Upper Class - it's just so long. If I remember right, it's best part of 24 hours (I know Hazel will jump in and say for sure, as she knows that flight only too well ) and I can't imagine ever doing it. I think the longest we've managed is something like 14 hours and adding another 10 hours is just incomprehensible to me.
Flat beds are certainly the way to travel. I can often doze all the way back to Scotland if I have a flat bed. Makes the time go faster.
Your last post just reminded me of the awful lines at car hire in SF Airport. We had to wait there to be picked up by our RV hire company in 2009. I can't remember why but we had to wait there about 2-3 hours and spent a lot of time just watching people line up for ages to get a hire car.
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I don't think I could ever face that flight, even in Upper Class - it's just so long. If I remember right, it's best part of 24 hours (I know Hazel will jump in and say for sure, as she knows that flight only too well ) and I can't imagine ever doing it. I think the longest we've managed is something like 14 hours and adding another 10 hours is just incomprehensible to me.
I have done it 3 times in economy although in honesty we have only once down it straight through. We normally fly a day flight to Singapore then spend the night in the transit hotel before a day flight to Heathrow.
Still I have reached my limit with flying 24hrs economy my next two flights are business class with a flat bed. Means I can leave the same day as my last day at work and sleep most of the way home.
Flat beds are certainly the way to travel. I can often doze all the way back to Scotland if I have a flat bed. Makes the time go faster.
Your last post just reminded me of the awful lines at car hire in SF Airport. We had to wait there to be picked up by our RV hire company in 2009. I can't remember why but we had to wait there about 2-3 hours and spent a lot of time just watching people line up for ages to get a hire car.
Well, I don't think the next instalment is going to surprise you then....
I have done it 3 times in economy although in honesty we have only once down it straight through. We normally fly a day flight to Singapore then spend the night in the transit hotel before a day flight to Heathrow.
Still I have reached my limit with flying 24hrs economy my next two flights are business class with a flat bed. Means I can leave the same day as my last day at work and sleep most of the way home.
That definitely sounds like the best way to travel.
I've only flown into SF airport once on my way to Hawaii and it was just a layover! It sounds like it wasn't the easiest airport to navigate. So sad about Karen being sick and having to cancel but at least you were going to see her in DL!
People are certainly not at their smartest in airports, as I know from recent experience. It's like all common sense goes out of their heads and they're just not aware of the people around them.
People are certainly not at their smartest in airports, as I know from recent experience. It's like all common sense goes out of their heads and they're just not aware of the people around them.
Oh boy, do I hear you on that. It's like a vacation mode, isn't it? I used to work in a seaside town that was packed in the summer with visitors and they would do the dumbest things - like walking straight out in front of oncoming cars. It was really scary!
Looks like the way to travel for a long flight! I flew into San Franciso from Providence this summer but I never seem to get a window seat so I didn't see all of the amazing views that you did. So Jealous of your photos and your view! My cousin met us at the airport and she certainly knew where she was going so we were lucky that we didn't have to figure it out on our own. We did have to pick up a rental car so I suspect I know exactly how the next post is going to go.
You saw the Disney airplane!!! I would have been beside myself if I saw that! So cool!
The photos of San Francisco are fantastic - considering how you took them. Wow!
Did you have a chance to sit at all in that immigration line? That had to be hard for you. And then to wait again for a rental car?! Uh oh....
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You saw the Disney airplane!!! I would have been beside myself if I saw that! So cool!
It is very neat!
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The photos of San Francisco are fantastic - considering how you took them. Wow!
Did you have a chance to sit at all in that immigration line? That had to be hard for you. And then to wait again for a rental car?! Uh oh....
There wasn't anywhere to sit in the wait for immigration, but having sat for hours and hours, I was actually Ok standing at that point.
Looks like the way to travel for a long flight! I flew into San Franciso from Providence this summer but I never seem to get a window seat so I didn't see all of the amazing views that you did. So Jealous of your photos and your view! My cousin met us at the airport and she certainly knew where she was going so we were lucky that we didn't have to figure it out on our own. We did have to pick up a rental car so I suspect I know exactly how the next post is going to go.
I'm guessing San Francisco is known for that being an issue then?
Seems like you had a wonderful massage in Heathrow and the lounge looks quite enjoyable! Those were some great photos of the takeoff and especially love the photo of Windor Castle, which I have been to!
Love the seats on your flight as they're so stylish, but as many have said here, they don't look comfortable, but obviously were.
The dinner spread looked very good and so enjoyable, with such a great variety as did the drinks on board as well! A lovely afternoon tea you had too!
More great photos on flight and especially in the Western USA and California, Yosemite and into San Francisco. That long bridge in San Francisco is the Bay Bridge, which is quite famous in not a good way as a large section of it collapsed during the 1989 San Francisco earthquake.
Quite crazy in the airport with immigration and finding your way to your next location for the rental car pickup. It's always insane in these airports upon arrival for international travel! So much more involved!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
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If we could afford flying like that, I'm sure we would've already made it to Australia by now (I dread the looooooooong flight 
). 
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) and I can't imagine ever doing it. I think the longest we've managed is something like 14 hours and adding another 10 hours is just incomprehensible to me. 
So sad about Karen being sick and having to cancel but at least you were going to see her in DL!
It's like a vacation mode, isn't it? I used to work in a seaside town that was packed in the summer with visitors and they would do the dumbest things - like walking straight out in front of oncoming cars. It was really scary! 
So cool! 
So much more involved! 
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