National parks, natural beauty and a bit of Disney wonder! COMPLETED - Page 81 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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More great photos of Chicago. I'm jealous that Chicago has FOUR Disney stores. Boston no longer has even one Great that you got to spend a bit of time with Lesley and Tom!
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Lunch looked like fun! My parents picked up some Disney store shirts from Hawaii when they were there. Very cool that they do that!
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Tanya
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So sad that after all this time reading this TR, you're heading to the airport and it will be ending...
Seems far too long for your next monumental trip! See what you & Mark can do about that!
So sad that after all this time reading this TR, you're heading to the airport and it will be ending...
Seems far too long for your next monumental trip! See what you & Mark can do about that!
Well, it's going to be a while until our next long trip, but we have a few little ones between now and then... However, without additional money (where's that winning lottery ticket? ) there's not much more we can do about that....
Saturday 17 September – part six: Upper Class is business and first class!
We had quite a wait before our luggage appeared and, when it did, we put our new purchases from the Disney Store safely into one of the cases and headed outside to get a cab. We had an entertaining exchange with the taxi driver, who was convinced that we wanted Virgin America and we had to keep saying “: Atlantic” and eventually he got it, that it was the international terminal that we needed.
My goodness, the traffic really had kicked off in Chicago today! It was a slow journey out to O’Hare, although in fairness, going into town looked a heck of a lot worse. At least we were moving, albeit painfully slow, but going the other way, they looked as if they were at a standstill.
When we got to the terminal, our driver wasn’t paying attention and went past the Virgin Atlantic sign and had to back up to let us out. We paid him and headed inside.
Wow, the crowds were quite something for Virgin.... not!
We checked our luggage and were given our passes for the lounge, which here would be the SAS lounge, as Virgin don’t have lounges in every airport they fly to.
We headed to security and the line for business class and first class and the weirdest thing happen. This guy just marched up to us and demanded to see our passports and boarding passes. He was dressed officially, so we did as he asked, as we thought this was a way of speeding up the process for business and first class passengers. He kept arguing with us, telling us that we weren’t either business or first class and that it was the TSA who said that. We held our ground and told him that, just because it was described as Upper Class, it most definitely was and, at one point, I told him I’d happily take him around the corner to meet the Virgin Atlantic staff who’d confirm it. I’m sorry, but I’d had enough.
Eventually, he got the message and left us alone and we went through the business and first class line with no further fuss. What the heck that was all about, I do not know.... Once again, we had the lovely crazy new body scanner, which just makes me laugh. As Mark said to one of the guys, “I thought that this was supposed to be random”, yet our previous three trips, it had been used for everyone. Not when we left Los Angeles though, interestingly enough.
Once we were there, we arrived in the most miserable airside operation we’ve ever seen at any airport in the world and we’ve been to many. There was just nothing here. You were lucky to have some snacks on sale and they had duty free, pretty much being sold out of what resembled a cupboard – seriously! It was a shambles and we saw quite a few disgruntled passengers, moaning about how little there was here and, with good reason. For such a vibrant city as Chicago, its international terminal at O’Hare does it no credit at all. I would be happy to never ever fly out of here again in my life!
At least we had a lounge, although to be honest, that was pretty poor as well. Sure, there were chairs and we managed to grab two, and some drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, along with some biscuits, both sweet and savoury, a bit of salad, cheese and meat, but that was it. It was nowhere near the superb offerings we’d had at Virgin’s Clubhouse at Heathrow and was a real let-down.
It was also the quietest airport lounge I’ve ever been in my whole life. Honestly, barely anyone spoke, whereas usually there’s a buzz, with people on phones. It was just plain weird and very off-putting.
I tried out their wired Internet at one of their computer terminals and it was just painfully slow. I managed to post something on the boards and Facebook and gave up soon after that and retreated to using the laptop instead.
While we were in there, they called our names, which is never a good sign. Mark went up to find out what was going on and apparently one of our seats had a fault with the electrics, so they offered us alternative choices, either in the middle of the plane or near the back with window seats. Mark opted for the latter, although it was near to the toilets, which has been an issue on a previous flight for us.
We were called, I thought a little early, to boarding, but we set off on our hike, as the lounge was nowhere near the gate we were using, as we needed to change our boarding passes to our new seat numbers. We did that and I asked if we were boarding yet and the woman told me it would be about another 10 minutes yet. We told her that Upper Class had already been called from the lounge and she was very surprised. Apparently, no-one told the lounge to give out that message...
We only had a few minutes to wait and then we were one of the first on the plane. Sure enough, we were right by the toilets, but Mark insisted it would be fine, so we stuck with them. I gave Wendy a final call to say goodbye - I cannot wait to see her at the end of May 2012, when she’s coming over to visit us.
Then we settled down to enjoy some champagne, while boarding carried on around us. This really is the life. Now just to find that elusive winning lottery ticket, so that we can travel like this all the time... We also took the opportunity to both slip into the bottoms of the sleep suits that they offer, as we figured they’d be more comfortable than what we were wearing when we boarded – and they were. They were great for what they were intended for, sitting or sleeping, but moving around or using the restrooms, I found mine limited, as they were hard to keep up, shall we say!
We took off pretty much on time. I looked at my watch and it was almost dot on 6:00pm. Impressive. I got a few photos as we took off...
.. then we were climbing and all I had to our side was sky. I stopped paying attention. Thank goodness someone told us that there was a view of the whole Chicago spread out underneath us to the right hand side of the plane, which were on. It was a superb view and one I’ll never forget – and thanks to the fact that the camera was in my hand – I don’t have to... It really is a beautiful city. Two visits isn’t enough. We’ll definitely be back for visit number three. I have no idea when, but we will return, of that I have no doubt.
I did look at the films, but decided not to bother, as I wanted to sleep as soon as we were done with food and didn’t want to get tied into watching a movie. Pirates of the Caribbean part four was showing, but at well over two hours, it was too much time for me to invest in it. I’m sure I’ll get round to seeing it one day and, after all, if I’d been that keen, I could’ve always watched it on the Wonder, as it was showing there...
I had disappointment early on, having ordered the poached lobster tail and claw with panzanella salad in a sherry vinaigrette dressing, as they didn’t have enough to go round. I was left with my vegetarian order and apparently I wasn’t alone, as a number of other people were asked to change their order. I guess the moral of this story is that if you offer lobster, accept it will be popular. At least Mark got to sample it...
... while I got a salad.... I literally ate the orange and that was it. It just did not inspire one little bit. Mark let me try some of his lobster and it was very good.
The next course was no better for me. I got some pasta with fire roasted red pepper sauce from the Premium Economy menu, as the vegetarian offering did nothing for me. I could only manage about a third of this, because it was so spicy.
Mark meanwhile had the chicken supreme, wrapped in smoked bacon on fingerling potato, cannellini, fava beans sauté with fennel and lemon buerre blanc.
I then went for the cheese, which came with crackers and red grapes. The cheeses were Wisconsin blue, Gruyere and New England cheddar and I think it was probably the best part of the meal for me.
Mark had the cherry noir cheesecake with berry coulisfor dessert.
As soon as I was done with food, it was time to get some sleep...
The weather today was warm and sunny, with temperatures in the high 60s. The best thing today was the Museum of Science and Industry. The worst thing today was having to go home. The funniest thing today was Today we tried visiting the Museum of Science and Industry And the result was we were very impressed with it. The most magical moment today was meeting up with so many wonderful PassPorters.
Sorry for the security guy! I got scanned both times with full body on our trip to Alaska - so much for random as well! Sorry the lounge at the airport disappointed, as well as having to move your seats, and the meal on the plane! This isn't ending all that well, is it?
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Not a great experience getting to the airport or once there. Mark's in-flight meal looks a lot more appetizing than yours! I'm afraid to ever use my miles to upgrade to first class as I know I'd want it all the time! Sleep suits?
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All caught up. Great pictures from Chicago. Sorry about the hassle at the airport. And I also thought the body scanners were suppose to be random, but both times I flew out of Phoenix last year I had to go through the scanner. Sorry the meal on the plane was a disappoinment. Hopefully the rest of the flight is good.
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All caught up. Great pictures from Chicago. Sorry about the hassle at the airport. And I also thought the body scanners were suppose to be random, but both times I flew out of Phoenix last year I had to go through the scanner. Sorry the meal on the plane was a disappoinment. Hopefully the rest of the flight is good.
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
Sorry to hear of the odd experiences at Ohare! I don't like that airport either. But we still use it from time to time for certain flights. And the odd meal experience on Virgin too... not their usual!
We were also in that traffic out towards Ohare! We opted for convenience shopping and eating at Woodfield Mall instead of walking all over Chicago. My mom was exhausted already (COPD ) from walking the museum. It worked out great though - Rainforest Cafe, Lego Store, and Disney Store all in one place. With benches to rest!
__________________
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
Sorry for the security guy! I got scanned both times with full body on our trip to Alaska - so much for random as well! Sorry the lounge at the airport disappointed, as well as having to move your seats, and the meal on the plane! This isn't ending all that well, is it?
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Great that you got to spend a bit of time with Lesley and Tom!
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) there's not much more we can do about that....
: Atlantic” and eventually he got it, that it was the international terminal that we needed. 
It was a slow journey out to O’Hare, although in fairness, going into town looked a heck of a lot worse. At least we were moving, albeit painfully slow, but going the other way, they looked as if they were at a standstill. 
It was a shambles and we saw quite a few disgruntled passengers, moaning about how little there was here and, with good reason. For such a vibrant city as Chicago, its international terminal at O’Hare does it no credit at all. I would be happy to never ever fly out of here again in my life! 
- I cannot wait to see her at the end of May 2012, when she’s coming over to visit us. 
They were great for what they were intended for, sitting or sleeping, but moving around or using the restrooms, I found mine limited, as they were hard to keep up, shall we say! 
I got scanned both times with full body on our trip to Alaska - so much for random as well! 
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