Dreams do come true – our Med cruise! **Updated 6/30** THREAD 1 *COMPLETE* - Page 3 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Friday 26 May – part one: This isn’t how the day is meant to start…
It wasn’t a good start to the day. I woke up and realised I had a headache and it was rapidly getting worse with every minute that passed. Great, just I don’t need – a really bad bout of sinus. I know how it works with sinus and me. If I don’t take a tablet, it won’t go away, it will just get worse and worse and already my head felt like it was going to explode. Of course, where were my sinus tablets? In the suitcases, all packed away of course.
I had no choice but to wake Mark and ask him to get them for me, as I could barely move my head. Fortunately, about half an hour after I took them, I did start to feel a little better and drifted back to sleep. Unfortunately, I know that Mark didn’t and I felt really bad about that when he told me that.
Just as well we were awake early, as we never got the 5.30 alarm call that we had asked for. That’s the first time that’s happened to us and that could’ve led to some serious problems, had we not woken up when we did (or in Mark’s case, just never gone to sleep after being woken up)
We quickly dressed and decided to wait for the bus to the airport downstairs, as our room was just too hot, no matter what we did with the air conditioning. All in all, the Clarion was OK, but I think there are better hotels to stay at at Gatwick before flying out of there.
The bus arrived on time and we were the second hotel of three to be picked up. I’m glad we weren’t staying at the third, as there were no seats left at Gatwick by the time we got there.
We were about the only ones to get off at the North Terminal stop, but that didn’t mean that it was quiet inside the terminal. Anything but. There were lots of people in there, but luckily I had checked in online last night before we left home, so we were able to get into the fast bag drop line. I think we waited about 15 minutes and then we got the news we wanted, both cases were underweight, although in fairness, not by much. Better not buy too much then, or if we do, we’d better put it in the hand luggage on the way back.
We quickly cleared security, making sure only to take one bag through (tip for anyone flying in for the Med cruise this summer from America via London, you have to take one bag only through security, not one bag and a purse or a handbag. Everything has to go into one bag, no exceptions. As far as liquids go, I believe it’s the same policy as in the States – it’s all got to go into a clear plastic bag and no liquids of more than 100ml.
Then we went in search of breakfast. We thought we’d go to the same place we ate in October. The food was just as good, I had fruit salad with yoghurt and Mark had a full breakfast, although he was midway through it when he noticed that there was no bacon, but too late to say anything by then! The service was, well a bit odd. We sat there for 10 minutes and weren’t severed. Mark went to get a paper and, on the way back, noticed a sign that said you have to order at the bar, so that’s what he did. Then a few minutes later, we then saw the servers taking orders from other tables, so goodness knows what was going on there.
We browsed a few shops and I stocked up on sinus tablets, as I still wasn’t feeling 100% and before we knew it, we were being signposted to our gate. My goodness, we had a hike to get there and through some very new parts of the airport:
We had a tiny plane for the journey and I grabbed some shots of what was going on out there.
While we were waiting for our flight, an American family sat behind us and Mark spotted the Disney luggage they had and asked if they were going on the cruise. Sure enough, they were, but they were exhausted, having just flown in an hour or so earlier from Texas. How well we know that lovely feeling of jetlag and how nice that we don’t have to experience it today!
Cheryl, I have been anxiously awaiting your detailed trip report. You are such an awesome writer and I feel like I am right there with you due to your wonderful details. Sorry about the headache, but it sounds like things are about to improve!
Friday 26 May – part two: a pleasant surprise in Barcelona
We pretty much left on time, which is good for Gatwick and I got some great shots during the flight.
Coming into land
The terminal buildings and tower as we took off
Flying over the English coastline
Now we’re over France
And over the Pyrenees mountains
And coming into land at Barcelona
Another tip for American travellers. We didn’t discover that if you’re not flying from within the European Union (which we were), then you will need to fill in a Spanish landing card, which are passed round during the flight. It’s probably worth knowing that, if you didn’t already. It doesn’t seem to matter whether you come in on a flight from Europe, as we were, you still have to complete that landing card.
We landed on time and were quickly through passport control, although it was very close to the plane and I could easily see people queuing back on to the plane, particularly those right at the back of the plane.
It was quite a walk through the airport to baggage claim and then we had to wait for them to start the conveyor belt when we got there, but once they did, both cases were out very quickly and we were off.
As we came out of the terminal, we quickly saw the line for the taxis, but all credit to them, it moved very quickly and we were on our way in a few minutes. I think I can honestly say that the taxi drivers in Barcelona are probably some of the best we’ve come across. We were taken there very quickly and the charges were reasonable, about €20 ($28), which was about what I was hoping for and what I’d read in my faithful PassPorter. More often than not, taxi fares are a nasty surprise to us when we get to our destination.
As we came past the port, I couldn’t believe my eyes, there was the Disney Magic, our home for the next 11 nights – well, after tonight that is! I really hadn’t realised that it would be in Barcelona today, I thought it was arriving tomorrow, so I was so pleased to see it and immediately I had tears streaming down my face. Now this vacation suddenly seems real!
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Thank you for sharing those great pics. I told my husband this is wonderful to see something I may never see in person. He shrugged and said"You never know!" I can always dream but for now I have yours to enjoy.
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I really hadn’t realised that it would be in Barcelona today, I thought it was arriving tomorrow, so I was so pleased to see it and immediately I had tears streaming down my face. Now this vacation suddenly seems real! 
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