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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Those gardens are beautiful. You're right about the Eiffel tower - it wouldn't have been worth the money today, so it worked out just fine for Mel!
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Tanya
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Love the caption for the statue with the pigeon! I actually wondered if that was a Mark quip!
Glad Melanie hadn't spent money on tickets to go up in the Eiffel Tower! Look, from this side we can see...fog! And this side....fog!!!
Love the caption for the statue with the pigeon! I actually wondered if that was a Mark quip!
Glad Melanie hadn't spent money on tickets to go up in the Eiffel Tower! Look, from this side we can see...fog! And this side....fog!!!
I know. That would've been the worst, wouldn't it?
Sunday 9 June – part seven: she’s going to break that machine!
When we got to Place de la Concorde, we needed to find the Metro station, but could we find it anywhere? There were no signs, and we remembered a similar thing happening to us previously. We thought it might be at the top end of the square, but without signs, we didn’t want to risk heading over there, only to find nothing there. We carried on walking, and in the end, said we’d just walk to the next stop with Mel, Meri and Nadine, but bless Nadine, she went and asked someone, and got us pointed in the right direction.
So now sadly it was time to say goodbye to them. We’d really love the time we’d spent with them and I’m so glad that I finally got to meet them. I’ve always felt that it’s been so near, but yet so far with previous trips, especially Germany, and then at the start of this trip, I figured they’d be in Barcelona with no way for us to see them. I’m glad their plans changed and we were able to get together.
With hugs exchanged, we headed over, and eventually found the Metro station, after asking a gendarme where they were.
We headed downstairs, and a train was there in a couple of minutes. At first there were no seats to be had, but trust me, living with chronic fatigue, you get very good at working out who might get off at each stop, and as soon as I saw someone get up, I was there. Mark got a seat at the next stop.
We made it back to La Defense by 12:30pm, and by then, a few more places had opened up, and it looked a little bit more alive than it had done before.
We walked back to the hotel, and headed down to the car park. As we went to reverse out of the space, the car made a horrible noise, and Mark said to me “I hope we haven’t got a flat tyre.” We got out and checked the car, and couldn’t see anything. I told Mark to drive a bit, and I’d see if I could identify the cause of the sound. I couldn’t see anything again, and eventually we concluded that it just got a bit ceased up overnight, as once we got moving a bit, the sound was gone and the car was running perfectly.
We left the hotel about 1:00pm, which I’d figured was the latest we could leave and still be in time for our train back home. I got a bit of a shock when the GPS booted up and told us that we’d be at Calais at around 4:00pm, as we had to be checked in by 3:50pm. When I’d checked this on Google maps, they had reliably informed me that it would only take two and a half hours, so I was pretty annoyed.
This was a bit freaky – literally a road to nowhere just by the arch…
Anyway, we made good time, and thankfully the toll road was absolutely deserted, otherwise we’d never have made it. I got a few photos on the way back, including the odd cow one…
Soon we were coming into Calais, and by now, it was about 3:20pm, so we had a think about whether we had time to get to Carrefour and fill up with gas, but we figured we had enough time, so off we went. Just as well we did, as it was €1.30 a litre. Now bear in mind it’s currently £1.38 a litre at home, and we get €1.15 to £1, so you can see it was a deal.
We headed to the Eurotunnel terminal, and made it about 3:35pm, which should’ve been plenty of time to get our ticket, except we picked the line with the completely stupid idiots in it. Now if I say that the instructions in front of the ticket booth clearly state two things:
1) Choose your language
2) Insert the card you used to make your booking, then follow the on-screen instructions
Doesn’t sound too hard, does it? Well, you’d be very surprised… We watched the couple in front of us get out of the car, because he’d parked too far away from the machine for her to insert the card. Then we watched in mounting horror, as she used the touch screen with no card. We knew nothing was going to happen, but it got worse. She started almost punching the screen in a desperate bid to get it to work. At one point she was pushing her whole body against it.
Enough was enough. I opened the window and told her she needed to use a card, and pointed out the instructions in front of her. Then she said “oh it won’t work” and I pretty much had to talk her through how to do it. Now I will say that, unbeknown to us at that point, there were issues with Eurotunnel, but it does not excuse the complete and utter stupidity we witnessed in front of us just then. I really did feel embarrassed to be British. We are supposed to have some intelligence, after all. …
We proceeded through the French passport check with no issue, and then waited about 15 minutes to clear the UK passport control. When we finally got there, I asked the woman who was checking our passports what the problem was with the tunnel, and she looked shocked, and told us that they had no idea, but now she was worried, as she had to use it get home.
I knew things still weren’t right as we approached the passenger terminal. There were signs saying that those with letters F and G should proceed straight to the trains, but there was an employee turning them away and back to the car park, so I don’t know what that was about.
We found a space in the terminal and parked up, and then had a look at the monitor to see what was going on. We had no idea what time we were due to leave, as unusually when we’d got our ticket, it hadn’t told us a time, it had just spat out a boarding card, which never happens. We were down for 5:15pm, having booked on the 4:20pm train, and we were being told to wait at the terminal. Ok, fine – now we know, we can have a leisurely wander around.
We used the restrooms, and by the time we came out, we’d had the call to proceed. Ok, so now what? I figured we’d have time to get the wine I wanted, so we headed into the duty free shop, and of course it was chaos in there. I grabbed what I wanted and Mark got a box of beer, then we stood in line. It probably took about 10 minutes to get through, and I think we were both getting pretty antsy about the whole thing. Fortunately, just as we got out of the shop, the first call came on the system for H and J passengers to proceed.
Off we went, and it took us about 15 minutes to get out of the car park. During this time, there was one seriously irritating guy who was trying to get in front of everyone else, and was obviously in a huge rush. Imagine our great delight when he was stopped by employees and told to go back into the car park, as his number hadn’t yet been called. That really did make our day! Ironically, it looked as if that was the problem with getting out of the car park, as he wasn’t the only one stopped. While we drove on, there was no traffic at all ahead of us, so I reckon the vast majority of people were trying their luck.
Caught in the act!
We made it into line for the Eurotunnel, and there we sat for the next 45 minutes. It was obvious we wouldn’t be going at 5:15pm after all, but then again, if they have problems, I’m sure they’ll try and get us out as soon as they can.
Finally, we saw traffic moving, and after watching the 10 cars behind us swap lanes to the first one to board, we were naughty and did the same too. Please forgive us, but if that many other people were doing it, our only excuse was we didn’t start it…
When we got to the platform, we got a shock, as they had a train either side, and appeared to be boarding both, which isn’t how they usually do it, but I guess they were trying to make up for lost time. We were one of the last cars on the bottom level, although I know that more still went on above us. However, had we not switched lanes, I’m not sure whether we’d have made this train or not.
We set off about 5:55pm, about an hour and a half later than planned, but at least we’re going back an hour to the UK, so that was something. A few minutes into our journey, one of the crew members informed us that the problems were down to one of the power lines in the tunnel. As a result, one tunnel had been closed, and that’s why there had been all the delays, but heck, we were finally on our way home. Thank goodness I didn’t book a later crossing back…
Finally, we were back in the UK and made our way home:
It had been a wonderful weekend away and we’d enjoyed every minute of it. I’m so glad we finally got to meet Melanie, Meri and Nadine and see Hazel and her family again.
The weather today was a lot cooler, with temperatures in the mid 60s, some rain, and very cloudy. The best thing today was touring the Notre Dame and getting to see Melanie, Meri and Nadine one final time. The worst thing today was having to say goodbye to Melanie, Meri and Nadine. The funniest thing today was the guy who got turned back at the Eurotunnel terminal. Today we tried taking the Metro from La Defense And the result was it’s really been improved since we were last on it. The most magical moment today was seeing the service in progress at Notre Dame.
Honestly, hearing there's a problem with the tunnel would make me VERY nervous to get onto that train I'm a big scaredy cat when it comes to tunnels of any kind...
2.5 hours from La Defense to the tunnel sounds about right. My satnav gets a bit confused sometimes as well on that route. We have done it so many times I don't use ot anymore.
Sorry about the chaos at the tunnel. It is very unusual we normally have o delays. Also the new numberplate recognition software they mostly use will hopefully deal in the future with passengers like the one in front of you. I'm convinced this is the easiest and cheapest way to cross the channel.
At least you were travelling to Maidstone so not too much of a drive in the UK and you gain an hour as well.
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A frustratingly long journey home. Aside from the idiots in front of you, it sounds like the officials in charge did a good job of organizing the chaos. I can imagine how hard that must be, having a delay like that, with more and more cars arriving every minute. Glad you got home safe and sound and so glad you all were able to get together for this Parisian PP meet (PPP meet?)
Honestly, hearing there's a problem with the tunnel would make me VERY nervous to get onto that train I'm a big scaredy cat when it comes to tunnels of any kind...
I'm not a scaredy cat at all when it comes to tunnels and honestly that didn't even occur to me...
2.5 hours from La Defense to the tunnel sounds about right. My satnav gets a bit confused sometimes as well on that route. We have done it so many times I don't use ot anymore.
Darned sat navs...
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Sorry about the chaos at the tunnel. It is very unusual we normally have o delays. Also the new numberplate recognition software they mostly use will hopefully deal in the future with passengers like the one in front of you. I'm convinced this is the easiest and cheapest way to cross the channel.
I've never seen significant delays before there either. I didn't know they were introducing the numberplate recognition software. That sounds like a good move on their part.
Quote:
At least you were travelling to Maidstone so not too much of a drive in the UK and you gain an hour as well.
There is that. And of course we'll see you over here in Maidstone in just over a month.
Always bittersweet to say goodbye. Glad to get home again, but sad to say au revoir to your friends! Not the best way to get home though, with all those issues at the train station. Glad it didn't delay you too much!
__________________
Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
I've never seen significant delays before there either. I didn't know they were introducing the numberplate recognition software. That sounds like a good move on their part.
There is that. And of course we'll see you over here in Maidstone in just over a month.
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You're right about the Eiffel tower - it wouldn't have been worth the money today, so it worked out just fine for Mel!
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That would've been the worst, wouldn't it?
There were no signs, and we remembered a similar thing happening to us previously. We thought it might be at the top end of the square, but without signs, we didn’t want to risk heading over there, only to find nothing there. We carried on walking, and in the end, said we’d just walk to the next stop with Mel, Meri and Nadine, but bless Nadine, she went and asked someone, and got us pointed in the right direction. 
Mark got a seat at the next stop. 
We got out and checked the car, and couldn’t see anything. I told Mark to drive a bit, and I’d see if I could identify the cause of the sound. I couldn’t see anything again, and eventually we concluded that it just got a bit ceased up overnight, as once we got moving a bit, the sound was gone and the car was running perfectly. 
I figured we’d have time to get the wine I wanted, so we headed into the duty free shop, and of course it was chaos in there. 
That really did make our day! 
Please forgive us, but if that many other people were doing it, our only excuse was we didn’t start it… 
I'm a big scaredy cat when it comes to tunnels of any kind...
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