Living the Dream and remembering the Bagman COMPLETED 5/16 - Page 9 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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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.
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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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Finally all caught up. Glad you got to spend some more time with Meg shopping in the Disney Store. I agree that World of Disney was much better. Sorry about the rough start to your morning and having zero visibility on the Observation Tower. Your picture from the memorial and museum are very moving. I still haven't been able to bring myself to visit the memorial. I live near the state capitol of NY and our State Museum has a lot of artifacts. Anytime I visit the museum, I still sob walking through that part.
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Saturday 1 October – part five: learning how the towers were built
We next went into this area in the 9/11 museum…
I thought all the tributes they had in this area were beautiful, and certainly very wide ranging. It was fascinating how many different ways people found to pay tribute to those who died on that day.
When we got to this, suddenly the earlier part of the steel structure we’d seen that had been impacted by one of the planes all made a lot more sense, thanks to these diagrams. I wished they’d had them earlier on.
The next section we came to was all about the South Tower excavation. It was all about the construction of the towers, as when they opened in 1973, they were amongst the tallest buildings on earth. In total, they took 13 years to complete, with seven years of that being construction. It talked about the challenges they faced, and I thought it was a nice change to move away from solely concentrating on the destruction of the towers.
I also liked this section about the elevators, having used them on our visit, and having remembered how impressive they were.
We were going to see the 11-minute film at this point, but there was a long line. They’d just let people into the next showing, and then there was a group for the next film. That meant at least another 11 minute wait. I don’t think so.
Throughout the whole South Tower excavation section, we found it very crowded, and from here on in, we felt that there were too many people in parts of the museum. In some parts, it was lovely and quiet, generally the bits you could just wander around and see the exhibits, but in other areas, it was absolutely packed.
Right, looking at the steel structure pieces here makes more sense now than just looking at the earlier ones. The whole thing is still crazy.
What a shame it was too crowded though. That really takes away from the whole meaning of it if you can't even get near the displays.
__________________
Tanya
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Just got caught up with your posts and felt bad that you had that scary experience in McDonald's. It is sad to see certain parts of the city that have really gone down hill in the last few years. We did the World Trade Center outdoor tour around the pools with a tour group and then just did our own touring inside the museum. Since we all lived through it so closely, it just brought back all the emotions that we felt during that tragic time. I went up to the Observation Tower with my daughter last year and found it so sobering. All I kept thinking about was all those poor souls that were trapped up there so high. Sorry that you didn't get the chance to see the incredible views from there. You certainly packed in a lot in the short amount of time that you were in NYC. I still can't navigate the subway system without family or friends who know their way around the city.
Right, looking at the steel structure pieces here makes more sense now than just looking at the earlier ones. The whole thing is still crazy.
It did.
Quote:
What a shame it was too crowded though. That really takes away from the whole meaning of it if you can't even get near the displays.
That was my only criticism. I think they really need to control numbers a bit more in there, so that you can fully appreciate everything you're seeing in there, as that's how it was designed.
Just got caught up with your posts and felt bad that you had that scary experience in McDonald's. It is sad to see certain parts of the city that have really gone down hill in the last few years.
I have to be honest, from all my previous visits, I don't remember any place in the main tourist areas being quite that bad.
Quote:
We did the World Trade Center outdoor tour around the pools with a tour group and then just did our own touring inside the museum. Since we all lived through it so closely, it just brought back all the emotions that we felt during that tragic time. I went up to the Observation Tower with my daughter last year and found it so sobering. All I kept thinking about was all those poor souls that were trapped up there so high.
Now you say that, I'm kind of glad we couldn't see the views, as I'm sure that would have probably been my thought too had we been able to.
Quote:
Sorry that you didn't get the chance to see the incredible views from there. You certainly packed in a lot in the short amount of time that you were in NYC. I still can't navigate the subway system without family or friends who know their way around the city.
Your coverage is amazing with your visit and I appreciate it so much as this horrific event affected me so much! I visited the towers back in the late 90's and a lot of this looks familiar with the various of the towers and the way they were.
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Your coverage is amazing with your visit and I appreciate it so much as this horrific event affected me so much! I visited the towers back in the late 90's and a lot of this looks familiar with the various of the towers and the way they were.
I first visited with my parents in 1987. Back then, almost no-one in the UK had heard of the World Trade Center - at least the people I spoke to. Everyone was asking if we were going to go up the Empire State Building, but my dad had done his research (see where I get it from ) and said the World Trade Center would be better, as we could see the Empire State Building from there.
I went back in 1996 on a day trip to NYC on my own from Philly and then again with Mark on our honeymoon in 1999.
Saturday 1 October – part six: almost too hard to take in
We next went into a section in the 9/11 museum about everyone who perished in the attacks, and this was exceptionally moving, but this is also almost too hard to take in. There are just so many photographs everywhere you look. They ask you not to take photos in this section, and I respected that, so I was appalled by the guy who just pulled out his iPad and snapped a shot. Please have some respect for the requests made at this museum, these are people who died 15 years ago, and I’m sure for a lot of people, that’s still very raw after all these years.
As well as the photos of almost 3,000 people, they also have an audio-visual presentation on, I assume, some or all, of the victims. I was so shocked that the first one I saw was about a two year old girl. I couldn’t work out at first how she could be a victim, until they showed a photo of her in Boston, and it clicked. Of course, she would’ve been on one of the flights. That’s perhaps what I hate most about this tragedy. You tend to think of everyone in the twin towers and certainly I forget those on the planes. I so appalled at myself for doing that, but it is hard to remember everyone, when so many people die in one day.
We did start to go through the 9/11 exhibit next, which was a bit oddly laid out. They apparently take you through before, the day and after, although it starts with the day itself, which I thought was a bit odd. When we entered, it was a real melee. I kept thinking it would get better, the further forward we got, but it didn’t. It was nigh on impossible to get to the exhibits, and we kept hearing different things from each of the different exhibits as well, which wasn’t great.
I was a bit confused as to why you started on the day as well, and then went into before or after. I didn’t see anything new in coverage of the day, although I’m sure some of it would’ve been interesting for most people. You see, in a previous life, I did emergency planning as part of my job, and of course 9/11 was one of the case studies for what you do in a situation like this, so I knew how the alerting process had worked etc. and that’s part of what they were discussing.
Anyway, I saw another couple exit early, and I asked Mark if he wanted to do the same. We just couldn’t get near anything at all, and it was very frustrating, as we wanted to take everything properly. I genuinely felt that they should’ve limited the numbers going in there to prevent overcrowding. I was disappointed to miss the rest of it, but I just didn’t feel we were getting anything out of this. It was such a shame.
Instead, we took the opportunity, me more than Mark, as I was getting really tired, and we admired the exhibits outside, which were all still fascinating.
Then it was time to head out, passing this final photo. It was taken on 11 September, 2002, and a ramp was put in to improve access to the areas below ground. It replaced an improvised roadbed of compacted debris. It then stayed in place for the next seven years. The last column was escorted up the ramp in May 2002, and members of the families of victims would go down the ramp each year for the anniversary. It was also used by Pope Benedict XVI, when he visited the site, and the 2008 Presidential candidates.
We then visited the shop, and this was full of high quality items. We got a couple of fridge magnets, a Christmas ornament, and a book. I wasn’t expecting there to be so much in here.
As a result, we were running a bit late to meet up with Sharon (Princess Sharon), but thankfully we were able to text her and let her know. On the way out, we came across this firehouse:
We made our way to Fulton Street subway station, and this was very different from the Times Square one we’d been in earlier:
Thankfully we lucked out (and it was sheer luck, not planning ) and caught the express train, which made it way quicker to get up Grand Central Terminal.
We came out of Grand Central, and thought we were going the right way, but as soon as we set off, Google Maps told us we were going the wrong way. Honestly, I’ve had no problems with Google Maps in the UK, but in the US, it’s been a complete nightmare. It can’t seem to find us half the time, and has been so frustrating. Our detour did at least take us past this, which I thought was appropriate for Mark!
Once we finally got going, we were able to see Grand Central from outside…
… and the New York skyline. It is stunning and there is definitely something about this place that, once you finally get here, it’s worth the nightmare of driving in from the airport…
Oh boy. It's hard enough to see TV shows about that day. I can't imagine seeing that sort of thing in person. But it is indeed a shame that there were way too many people in there! They really do need to figure out a better system.
Much nicer subway station. And the Cafe Grumpy is perfect!
Love the Chrysler building. There's nothing like it.
__________________
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
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We did the World Trade Center outdoor tour around the pools with a tour group and then just did our own touring inside the museum. Since we all lived through it so closely, it just brought back all the emotions that we felt during that tragic time. I went up to the Observation Tower with my daughter last year and found it so sobering. All I kept thinking about was all those poor souls that were trapped up there so high.
I visited the towers back in the late 90's and a lot of this looks familiar with the various of the towers and the way they were.
I first visited with my parents in 1987. Back then, almost no-one in the UK had heard of the World Trade Center - at least the people I spoke to. Everyone was asking if we were going to go up the Empire State Building, but my dad had done his research (see where I get it from 
Honestly, I’ve had no problems with Google Maps in the UK, but in the US, it’s been a complete nightmare. It can’t seem to find us half the time, and has been so frustrating. Our detour did at least take us past this, which I thought was appropriate for Mark! 
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