Air, land and sea – a unique day out in London COMPLETED 9/9 - Page 4 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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Sorry about the boat ride and the issue with the tickets! It sounds like it worked out for the best though! Great pictures from the park and the pool shots so far!
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It's a good thing you didn't take that boat ride and miss the beginning of the swimming. It's not like you can't take a boat ride on another day.
That's what I figured. Ironically, one of my friends took her grandson up there on the Wednesday after we visited on the Saturday - and guess what they did? You got it - the river trip. Talk about a small world!
Saturday 30 August – part seven: these competitors are just so inspiring!
About 15 minutes before the competition was due to start, we spotted the London 2012 Paralympics mascot Mandeville going into the elevator from downstairs, and I managed to capture him coming out on our level…
Although this isn’t the greatest shot, I wanted to include it, as it’s a guide dog meeting Mandeville, and you could tell the dog really wasn’t sure what to make of him!
Soon, we were into the countdown before the competition proper started…
And then Mandeville made his grand entrance…
At this stage, he and the woman who was doing the entertainment in the centre were trying to encourage the crowd to be as loud as possible. For the life of us, we couldn’t work out who she was, although she looked familiar. To this day, I’m still not sure…
The judges and starter came out next…
Then the competitors appeared. Here’s a selection of photos from them out and ready for their races, as I think these shots give you a good idea of the disabilities some of the competitors have.
At this point unfortunately, as we had no programme, which was such a shame and I felt a real missed opportunity, all I can do is say that here are some shots of the competition:
I truly found all of these competitors to be absolutely inspiring. They were swimming so fast, about three times as fast as I can go, and I pride myself on being a reasonably good swimmer, as usually there’s no-one faster in the pool I go to. My goodness, did these guys put me in my place!
Unfortunately, it was so hot and humid in there, and there was literally no air, that we both got to the stage where we just couldn’t bear it anymore, it was so uncomfortable. I have to be honest, I was so shocked that it felt like this for such a new complex. It struck me that someone didn’t get something right in the design.
Eventually, after getting more and more uncomfortable, with me honestly starting to feel as if I was going to pass out, we decided to leave. I really hated leaving before the competition was done, as there was still another 45 minutes to go, but we just couldn’t carry on like that.
We made our way out through the Westfield shopping centre and over to the Tube station. We managed to snag seats on the train, and then we were on our way. Three stops later, and we were back at North Greenwich station, where we’d parked the car all that time ago. We picked up the car and headed home. It had been a very varied day, but all of it had been wonderful and it was a lovely way to spend the day.
The weather today was dry, but not exactly warm for the time of year, with temperatures in the high 60s. The best thing today was the tour of the London Transport Museum. The worst thing today was how hot it was in the Aquatics Centre. Today we tried watching swimming at the London Aquatics Centre And the result was it was a great experience, but stupidly hot. The most magical moment today was seeing the inspiring Paralympians in the pool.
Glad you got to see the swimming. It gave you a good excuse for a day in London, too. Too bad the air-quality control was so poor in the building, though.
That was a great day with so much accomplished. It sounds like they have major problems with the humidity control in the Aquatics center.That's a shame.
That was a great day with so much accomplished. It sounds like they have major problems with the humidity control in the Aquatics center.That's a shame.
It is, given it's such a new building. I would've hoped for more.
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Wow!! I'm certainly inspired by the athletes and I only saw pictures!! I can't imagine what it was like to see them in person. Sorry it was so hot in the building.
I am so sorry that the environment became so uncomfortable that you had to leave early as I can tell you were enjoying the events. Such a fun and interesting day in London. Thanks so much for sharing it with us.
What a shame about the temperature in there. You said it was in the 60's outside - I wonder if they didn't have the AC on early enough because it wasn't really hot outside, and then it was too late to get it under control? That happens at my office in the spring when they haven't turned the air over from heat to cool and then we have an unexpected warm day and we all start baking until they can switch it over. Whatever the reason, it's a shame it drove you out early.
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It sounds like it worked out for the best though! Great pictures from the park and the pool shots so far! 
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To this day, I’m still not sure… 
They were swimming so fast, about three times as fast as I can go, and I pride myself on being a reasonably good swimmer, as usually there’s no-one faster in the pool I go to. My goodness, did these guys put me in my place! 
I have to be honest, I was so shocked that it felt like this for such a new complex. It struck me that someone didn’t get something right in the design. 
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