Falling in love with New England… TRIP REPORT COMPLETED - Page 20 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
Another good looking lounge! I'm beginning to think that a massage prior to a long haul flight is a very good thing...
__________________
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
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.
Wednesday 23 September – part three: we’re still waiting on the captain….
Just before midday, when our gate was due to be called, we headed out into the main area, so we could keep an eye on the departures information. I may also just have kept an eye on the action out on the runway as well…
We made our way out of the lounge…
… and then down to the gate…
We had a very surreal experience on the way down to the gate. Our way was barred, as they let Virgin Atlantic crew off a plane. They closed the walkway to the gates to let them cross, which I have never seen before. We all just stood there very stunned until we could make our way again…
When we got to the gate, we were amongst the first there. I could see from their computer equipment that they had only checked in seven people before we arrived, with 251 still to come. We were amongst the lucky ones, as we were able to get seats, but let’s just say if you were closer to the 250 mark, you didn’t stand a chance, as every single seat in the lounge had gone.
I got a quick shot of our new plane waiting for us:
… and then we settled down to wait to be called. The first announcement we got though wasn’t promising. We noticed a crew member go through, and we could tell he was a member of flight crew, but I had no idea whether he was a captain or a first officer. Well, we soon found out. We had an announcement to say that, due to staff sickness, they had no captain or first officer. Apparently, we’d just seen the first officer arriving, but we were still waiting on the captain.
They did reassure us that we’d be boarding in a few minutes’ time, and in fairness we were, so I guess they knew the captain would be arriving imminently. They called Upper Class passengers first and a very rude guy with two large carry on cases, and two large backpacks barged past all of us, smashing my small suitcase into my leg. mate, that’ll be a nice bruise in a day or two. Good grief! He was an absolute liability, and he drove everyone mad as we waited to board the plane. Even better, he wasn’t in Upper Class. He wasn’t even in Premium Economy, as we were next to be called. he was in Economy. Even ruder!
When we first boarded, the first thing we both noticed was this bar in Upper Class…
Now the reason we were intrigued by this was because we’d seen a documentary on Virgin Atlantic, and we knew that they spent a fortune (and by fortune, I mean a fair number of zeroes are involved ) on this bar. I have to say I wasn’t sure it was worth it.
Anyway, into our own cabin. There was a noticeable increase in legroom, compared to the old plane we’d returned from LAX on just 11 days ago…
Generally, I was very impressed with the look of the cabin:
Given the fact that we’ve had appalling weather since we’ve been home, it was a pleasant change to see such beautiful weather outside:
We were kept topped up with drinks, as you can tell.
They obviously solved the problem with the captain, as we pushed back about five minutes later than we’d been scheduled to, which wasn’t bad going, all things considered. I took the opportunity to take photos of the activity outside:
This is a seriously busy airport!
Then we were turning on to the runway…
… and taking off….
… and then we were in the air:
Because I knew from our flight a couple of weeks ago where Windsor Castle was, I was keeping an eye out for it, and soon found it, although we were over it very quickly, so I didn’t get as good a set of shots as I managed last time.
Great pictures of all the activity on the tarmac. Sitting in front of the big windows watching the planes go by is one of my favorite places to be! Thanks for the airport fix this morning!
Just got all caught up with your last few updates. I think we were all shocked by the tragic death of Bill which was just such a senseless tragedy. Although I never got to meet him in person, I enjoyed all his wonderful pictures and postings and appreciated his love of WDW. On another note, your lounge experiences in the airports of London are truly nothing like American airports! We sometimes get passes to go into the United Club lounges and it can't even compare to the luxury and the food selection that you receive. So nice that they offer the massages too before your long flights. The interior of the plane looks so clean and new too. We travel United in the States all the time and it's just not a great experience. I loved seeing your photos from take-off!
Just got all caught up with your last few updates. I think we were all shocked by the tragic death of Bill which was just such a senseless tragedy. Although I never got to meet him in person, I enjoyed all his wonderful pictures and postings and appreciated his love of WDW.
Quote:
On another note, your lounge experiences in the airports of London are truly nothing like American airports! We sometimes get passes to go into the United Club lounges and it can't even compare to the luxury and the food selection that you receive.
That's such a shame. I'm looking at possibly using our points to fly back from the States next year Upper Class, so I guess we could be in for a bit of a shock with the lounge then...
Quote:
So nice that they offer the massages too before your long flights. The interior of the plane looks so clean and new too. We travel United in the States all the time and it's just not a great experience.
I think it just takes one or two airlines to do something a bit more outstanding, then the others all have to follow suit. I wish someone would take the lead in the States, as I don't think the service you guys get over there is anything like ours in Europe, and that's so wrong.
Not a nice start to your trip with the news of Bill! Just so sad and senseless!
Too bad your hotel and meal there wasn't all that great!
The lounge in Heathrow looked quite nice and glad the two of you made good use of it with the food and drink offerings as well as the massages you got! The bar on the plane looks a bit odd and doesn't really show me much! Nice shots of Windsor on take off!
__________________
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!
The rude dude reminds me of the C boarding folks for Southwest who jump up and get in the way of folks with A boarding passes. So cool to see Windsor Castle from the air. Thank goodness a sick pilot didn't delay you all too long.
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
Sadly, I don't think Gatwick, where we usually fly from, offers such a service. 
:
mate, that’ll be a nice bruise in a day or two. 
Good grief! He was an absolute liability, and he drove everyone mad as we waited to board the plane. Even better, he wasn’t in Upper Class. He wasn’t even in Premium Economy, as we were next to be called. 
The bar on the plane looks a bit odd and doesn't really show me much! Nice shots of Windsor on take off! 
Linear Mode
