A Magical voyage across the pond TRIP REPORT UPDATED 12/31 - Page 6 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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.
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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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I told all of them to claim. Under European law, they have rights to refunds - I seem to recall it's €600 per person for delays of five hours or more. Mari and Raleigh aren't home yet - they've been visiting family - and should be home in a few days' time. I'm sure she'll deal with it then.
Yes...I knew it was a pretty good chunk of change. I had a friend have this issue once too. I hope they work with her.
Sounds like a wonderful evening and dinner. Isn't that how it always goes? You are dead tired and the neighbors pick that day to have a party. Hahaha. That is one reason I love living in the country. I have lived in towns and it's a totally different experience....me having to be more quiet and also putting up with neighbors when they aren't. When I first moved to the city at 19 it was the biggest adjustment to me....something I had never thought about before.
I enjoyed seeing Winston Churchill's artwork and studio! Your pictures of the villages while traveling home were so quintessential English. I'm sure it was a long travel day for Mari and Raleigh so I'm glad your neighbors settled in soon after Mark talked with them.
Glad you got into the studio, wow! I didn't know he was a painter. Or maybe I did and have since forgotten. The story of my life.
That view from Toys Hill is amazing. I can see how it inspired the thought to protect land and beautiful properties on the land!
Highland coos, delicious dinner, and successful wine shopping. I think the day ended up pretty darn good considering how it started.
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All caught up! What a horrendous airport experience! My goodness, that poor girl, I hope she made it in time.
The grounds of Chartwell are beautiful! So exciting that you did get to spend time there even if you didn't get to go inside. I love the photos of the villages, so picturesque.
All in all, quite and eventful day!
Sounds like a wonderful evening and dinner. Isn't that how it always goes? You are dead tired and the neighbors pick that day to have a party. Hahaha.
I wish I could say that's the only time they've been noisy. Sadly it's not, although this is worse than normal. The amount of times we hear banging and crashing outside or sometimes inside the house and just look outside and yep, it's the neighbours.. again!
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That is one reason I love living in the country. I have lived in towns and it's a totally different experience....me having to be more quiet and also putting up with neighbors when they aren't. When I first moved to the city at 19 it was the biggest adjustment to me....something I had never thought about before.
Wow. I bet it was. The idea of living in the country really appeals, but not when it gets to the winter months. Of course, you know me - give me a field full of cows or donkeys outside my house and I'd be happy!
I enjoyed seeing Winston Churchill's artwork and studio! Your pictures of the villages while traveling home were so quintessential English. I'm sure it was a long travel day for Mari and Raleigh so I'm glad your neighbors settled in soon after Mark talked with them.
Glad you got into the studio, wow! I didn't know he was a painter. Or maybe I did and have since forgotten. The story of my life.
I know that feeling....
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That view from Toys Hill is amazing. I can see how it inspired the thought to protect land and beautiful properties on the land!
I love places like that where you can see well... for miles really! I find it so calming, a bit like the feeling I get on cruises, where there's nothing on the horizon really.
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Highland coos, delicious dinner, and successful wine shopping. I think the day ended up pretty darn good considering how it started.
Well, for not getting inside, what you did get to see is amazing!! I didn't even know that Churchill painted!! Wow!!! It sounds like your drive home was lovely with a nice dinner along the way!!
Sunday 9 September – part one: “your hairdryer doesn’t work”
Thankfully after the music went off, I did get a good night’s sleep. to Mark for sorting that one out…
I woke up about 6:20am and got up, as I’d just about had my eight hours’ sleep. I was half expecting to find Raleigh downstairs, as he said he was always up at 5:00am, but I was the first one up. I wasn’t surprised, given the day they’d had yesterday.
I set about working on the trip report and one by one everyone emerged for breakfast. We settled for tea (us) and coffee (them) and some food and then we headed into the garden, with Raleigh exploring every nook and cranny. I took the opportunity to get some final photos of the garden, as I guess by the time we get back at the end of September, most of the summer flowers will be done. Sadly, some are fading already… I hate this time of year…
The chicken wire is to keep cats from digging the plants out One of our Commonwealth Games roses that my mum gave us in 2002 These double begonias at the front of the house have been amazing this summer!
It was about this time that we had the funniest part of the day. Now we’d given Mari an adapter, so she could use her curling iron, as she’d forgotten her adapter for the UK. I also gave her the hairdryer and we were slightly surprised when she came downstairs and said our UK hairdryer didn’t fit the UK plug. All three of us were sitting there, trying to work this out, so I told Mark to go and have a look. She’d only left the US adapter in the UK plug! It was a classic moment! I guess in fairness she was still tired from yesterday after all…
We headed out not long after 9:00am, as we were all ready to go and Anne and Sean wouldn’t be coming round to us for another couple of hours. We’d taken Mari and Raleigh through the centre of Maidstone last night, but this time we’d actually be stopping and exploring on foot.
This used to be home to the Kent Music School, but perhaps more appropriately given the setting of it, it’s now home to a company of architects.
We walked through to All Saint’s Church…
It was originally built in 1395 as a collegiate church by Archbishop William Courtney. After it was built, it became the parish church of Maidstone in 1549. It’s a Grade I listed building, which is the highest protection that buildings can have in this country, and it’s described as one of the grandest Perpendicular style of churches in the country.
I was expecting this area to be a lot busier, given that it was a Sunday morning and it turned out a service was getting underway, but it was so quiet. I guess it wasn’t a busy service then…
The oldest gravestone we saw was from 1797. I’m sure there are older ones, but I couldn’t see them.
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I'm sure it was a long travel day for Mari and Raleigh so I'm glad your neighbors settled in soon after Mark talked with them. 
I think the day ended up pretty darn good considering how it started. 
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I didn't even know that Churchill painted!! Wow!!! It sounds like your drive home was lovely with a nice dinner along the way!! 
I was the first one up. I wasn’t surprised, given the day they’d had yesterday. 
Sadly, some are fading already… I hate this time of year… 
It was a classic moment! 
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