Hi, {{user("firstname")}} -- Here's your copy of the latest PassPorter newsletter, per your subscription request. If you need a text-only version, visit http://www.passporter.com/news/082604text.htm -- Thanks, Jennifer & Dave   
PassPorter News Brought to you by PassPorter Guidebooks
  August 26, 2004 * Issue 4.10

In This Newsletter

From the Authors:Thank You!

Travel Feature #1: International Travel: Why Now Is the Time

Travel Feature #2: Travel Challenges Only a Parent Could Love: Flying with Children

Updates: What's New and Changed

Tips: Creating a “Cooler” Car, All That Glitters, Vacation Solo 

Q&A: PassPorter Pens, Travel Insurance
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Updates:
What's New and Changed

Here’s a few of the new developments at Disney…

Here’s a few of the new developments at Disney…
Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party on October 31, 2004 is SOLD OUT! Tickets are still available for all other dates. (October 1, 3, 8, 12, 14, 17, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, and 29.) Prices are $31.95 plus tax per Adult and $25.95 plus tax per Child in advance and $34.95 plus tax per Adult, $28.95 plus tax per Child on the day of the event.

BASS, the world’s largest fishing organization, has teamed with Disney to begin offering fishing excursions in the waters surrounding Walt Disney World. “Catch and release” tours lasting 2 hours will be offered for both adults and children. Pontoon boats will be fully stocked with fishing equipment, beverages and a digital camera. Prices begin around $195 for a party of five. Call 407-WDW-BASS for more information.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Charley, Walt Disney World has returned to normal operations. Disney announced relief efforts to assist Central Florida residents and Disney Cast Members affected by the storm. DisneyHand, worldwide outreach for The Walt Disney Company, has donated money to the Red Cross, provided work crews to assist with clean-up, and conducted a food drive. Walt Disney World is providing housing and financial assistance to its cast members in need.

>Things To Do: Hear some news? Send it to us at
news@passporter.com .
 
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Disney  Tips:
From Fellow Readers

Our readers are a wealth of information! Here are the winners in this month's tip contest:

CREATING A “COOLER” CAR
“When renting a car on vacation I take a windshield sunscreen that folds to a small circle in my suitcase. It is lightweight and takes up very little room. Choose one with a distinctive design such your favorite sports team. It is well worth it to have a cooler car and makes it easier to spot our rental in those huge parking lots.” -- contributed by Bridgette

ALL THAT GLITTERS
“For a magic making tip, purchase a container of yellow cake glitter. This can be found in any arts and craft store which sells cake decorating supplies. You can keep the glitter in its original container or put it in a small pouch as I did. Keep the glitter handy in a pocket or pack. When visiting Magic Kingdom talk about Tinker Bell and how she loves to play with a child or two during the day. When the unsuspecting little one isn't looking, sprinkle them with a little "pixie dust" and mention how she just flew off. Don't forget to send a post card home of Magic Kingdom signed by Tink with some glitter attached to it.  My daughter still talks of the day Tink spent with her and looks forward to next year’s trip and visiting with her.” -- contributed by Elizabeth S. (Elizabeth.shannon@...)

VACATION SOLO
“My tip is simple. Vacation solo at Walt Disney World! There are many Disney fans that would have a GREAT time at Disney but figure they will never go because family and friends won’t commit to a trip. Not a problem! Disney is fantastic when you only have your own happiness to consider! Want to spend all day shopping without any complaining? Want to spend the morning breaking your own record of 35 consecutive stints on Pirates of the Caribbean? Why deprive yourself?” -- contributed by Susan F. (pluto88@... )

>Notes: Send us your tips ! You may see them in this newsletter and win a copy of PassPorter!
 
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Q & A:
With Jennifer and Dave

fever4disney asks: “Can I buy extra PassPorter pens? I used all the ink in mine. I know I could just run out and buy a pen but it just isn’t the same…”

Jennifer answers: “We don’t sell just the pens in our store as they’re too small an item for most folks to care about. But we do sell them in our Goodie Bags. Here’s the link for more info.

Shruti asks: “Should we purchase travel insurance through Disney directly at a cost of $257 for three people, or should we buy through other reputable agents at a lower price of $141-$189?”

Dave answers: “Part of your decision should include coverage for your travels to Port Canaveral. If you buy your airfare through Disney Cruise Line (DCL), then DCL insurance will cover the entire journey. However, if you book the airfare yourself (or are driving), the DCL policy doesn't cover travel-to-the-port-related problems.

Simple rule - If you or your travel agent books your airfare separately, get insurance from someone other than DCL.

Generally, we're in favor of travel insurance for cruising. After all, if your trip is delayed by a day (or even a few hours), you've missed the boat. This is especially true if you're traveling in the winter months. A snowstorm in one city can cause flight delays/cancellations in other cities, even if you're flying from a Sunbelt airport.”

Have a question? Post it at http://www.passporterboards.com  -- and if you're lucky, you may find that folks have already asked and answered the same question that's on your mind!
 
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Future Newsletters:
Want To Get Published?

We're on the lookout for guest columnists to contribute articles to this newsletter. Not only is this a great way to give something back to the PassPorter community, but you get to see your name in "print" and receive a $25 gift certificate. For details and our article guidelines, please e-mail news@passporter.com. Articles about Disney and general travel are welcomed!


From the Authors: Thank You!

Hi, {{user("firstname")}}!

With the arrival of Baby Alexander on August 6, we’ve been overwhelmed by the kindness, generosity, and support of our friends and family. Thank you all so very much for your well wishes, helpful tips, and love. As you can imagine, we’ve been very busy adjusting to our expanded family and we haven’t had as much time to browse our message boards or post a new installment in our baby story, but we appreciate your patience and you can look forward to hearing more from us soon. We do have many great photos that we hope to share with you online!

In the meantime, most of our free time will be dedicated to completing the update of our PassPorter Walt Disney World 2005 guidebook (due out in late December). This is also a good time to remind you that we’re always looking for good “Magical Memories” for our guidebook -- we select one to two unique stories for each chapter, and the authors receive free copies of our guidebook. To submit your magical memory story, visit http://www.passporter.com/wdw/tipsandstories.htm 

This issue contains two excellent articles written by members of our PassPorter message board Guide Team -- Cheryl Pendry (chezp) and Christina Holland-Radvon (beaner). If you don’t already frequent our wonderful message board community at http://www.passporterboards.com, you really should -- Cheryl and Chrissi are just two of the many wonderful folks you’ll meet! Enjoy!
 

Jennifer and Dave
PassPorter Travel Press

 


 
 
 
 


Did You Know? You Can Save 25% on PassPorter Guides for a Limited Time!

Get a 25% discount off the list price of either a Disney Cruise guide and/or a Walt Disney World guide (paperback/spiral/refill kit/deluxe kit). Just use discount code DCLWDW during checkout in our online store! (One discount/coupon per order. Offer expires on August 12.)

To order your copies, visit:
http://www.passporterstore.com/store/


Travel Feature:
International Travel: Why Now Is the Time

by Cheryl Pendry
Guest Columnist and PassPorter Message Board Guide

With international travel becoming ever more competitive, cheaper and easier to book through a range of websites, it’s becoming an attractive option. But what do you need to know if you’ll be venturing abroad for the first time? Here, Cheryl Pendry, who has been traveling internationally for more than twenty years, offers some advice on country hopping…

A quick browse on the Internet will tell you that now is the time to start thinking about your next trip abroad; because the travel industry is doing everything they can to make it a possibility. 

Dallas Fort Worth International Airport is embarking on a $2.7 billion expansion scheme, the largest post 9/11 airport project, which will see a new state of the art, international terminal opening in 2005. Meanwhile, a recent survey from an Internet based travel agent reports that sales are increasing for more exotic destinations, such as Vietnam, India and Cambodia. 

And more traditional destinations are also experiencing an upturn in visitors. VisitBritain.com, the official website of the British Tourist Authority, is also reporting a growth in the number of people coming to the UK, with the number of North American visitors up by 20% this year, compared to twelve months ago. 

So if you’re thinking of taking the plunge and heading to a foreign country for the first time, what do you need to know? Before you think about heading abroad, you need a passport; an internationally recognized travel document, which verifies not only your identity, but also your nationality. 

If you don’t have a passport or need to renew yours, then don’t forget to allow adequate time to obtain one. For American citizens, the routine service takes around six weeks, although you can pay extra for expedited service and two-way overnight delivery to get your passport within about two weeks. For British citizens, the usual turnaround time for passports is two to three weeks, but if additional checks are required, then processing will take longer. 

Once you have your passport, it’s a good idea to carry it with you while you’re in a foreign country. It’s an excellent proof of ID and you never know when you might get asked for it. We have been asked for ours when renting a car and cashing travelers checks. 

Speaking of car rentals, if you’re traveling abroad, don’t forget that you’ll need your driver’s license before you can rent a car and bear in mind that you need to have adequate insurance, as your own car insurance may not cover you to drive abroad. 

Of course, car rentals, along with things like souvenirs and food all need to be paid for while you’re abroad. One of the easiest ways to do this is to carry traveler’s checks, which means you won’t have too much cash on you at any one time. It’s important to make a note of all the numbers on your traveler’s checks and which have been used, and keep that note separate from your checks, so if the worst happens and you lose your checks or they’re stolen, then you can easily get them cancelled. 

Even if you take travelers checks and use popular credit cards (many of which are readily accepted), you will probably need some foreign currency somewhere along the way. While it does take a while to get to grips with the different coins and notes, life has become simpler for anyone traveling to those European countries that now use one currency -- the Euro. This means you may only have to take (and master) one currency if you’re visiting countries like France, Spain or Italy. There are even some places in Britain that accept the Euro, but don’t rely on that. For a British trip, you will need a supply of pounds and pence as well. 

Jetlag is something that most international travelers have to deal with at some time, if they’re crossing more than a couple of time zones. The worst problems usually occur when you’re traveling eastwards and essentially going forward in time.  Most of these flights tend to arrive at their destination early in the morning. This means that, to quickly adjust to your new time zone, you need to get through the whole day, following a night on board an aircraft. 

Therefore, it’s vital to try and get as much sleep as you can on your flight, although that’s often easier said than done. Most airlines now recognize that this is an issue and do everything they can to help you sleep, including dimming the cabin lights for at least part of the flight and providing blankets and pillows. 

Traditionally, on flights from America to Europe, dinner is served as soon after take-off as possible, allowing you time to relax and hopefully drift off to sleep for a couple of hours at least. And here is the main problem with long haul flights. You don’t usually have enough time to get an average night’s sleep. From Orlando to London, the flight time is usually around eight hours, but once you remove the time taken for departure, dinner, then breakfast and landing, in reality, you’ll be lucky to get four hours sleep, before arriving somewhere between 6:40 and 10:15 in the morning. 

One thing that will help you to sleep is setting your watch to your destination’s time zone as soon as you take-off. It’s amazing how tired you suddenly feel when you realize that, at your destination, it’s already 2:00 in the morning! I also find that a glass of wine with dinner does help me to get to sleep, although there is advice now that you should avoid alcohol completely on long haul flights and instead drink lots of water, so it depends whether you find a glass of wine usually helps you to sleep at home. 

Once you’ve landed, adrenalin will keep you going for a certain amount of time. After all, you’re either home or you’re at your destination. The best way to overcome jetlag is to fit into your new time zone as quickly as you can -- and that means staying awake all day. On a limited amount of sleep, that’s not easy, but it’s not impossible either. 

Keeping busy and spending time outside will help, as the fresh air will keep you awake, while having things to do usually keeps your mind active and ensures you won’t drift off to sleep. When we got back from our most recent Disney trip in May, I immediately unpacked all our suitcases and did five loads of washing. Having to regularly head outdoors to hang the washing out really helped to keep me alert and focused, and with the windows open to let some air in, there was no danger of me falling asleep. 

But if you can’t stay awake all day, don’t despair. You just need to realize that it may take more than one day to adjust to your new routine and you may need to nap in the afternoon for a couple of days, until you’re back on track. As a result, it’s a good idea not to make any major plans right after a long flight. Plan to visit places and do things which can be moved to another day, if necessary.  For example, don’t book top priced theatre tickets for the night after a long flight -- just in case! 

If you’re worried that you might need to learn another language before you travel abroad, then don’t be. If you’re reading this, then English will now take you to many parts of the world, without you needing to know a word of another language. It’s always a good idea to experiment with the French or Spanish you learnt at school, but in the top tourist destinations in Europe, if you speak to them in their native tongue, the chances are that they’ll reply to you in English.  It’s happened many times to us! 

As I’ve hopefully just proved, traveling internationally doesn’t have to be a daunting experience and with prices dropping, it doesn’t have to be a once in a lifetime experience either. There are literally hundreds of destinations waiting to be explored, all unique and all very different from what we’re used to at home. Don’t forget that travel broadens the mind and is also great fun. Happy international travels! 

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Did you enjoy this article? Have questions? E-mail us at news@passporter.com or visit http://www.passporterboards.com to discuss international travel.
 
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Travel Feature:
Travel Challenges Only a Parent Could Love: Flying with Children
(Part 1 of a 2-part series)

by Christina Holland-Radvon
Guest Columnist, PassPorter Message Board Guide, and MouseEarVacations.com Travel Consultant

When it comes to family travel, no one plans or worries quite like a parent. I should know -- I’m an expectant mother, nursing a toddler, and I’m a travel agent. Planning and worrying are what I do best.

Traveling with children can present some unique challenges. Here are a few of the toughest situations when it comes to flying with kids:

The most important thing you can do to smooth the way for a fun and hassle-free flight is to book a non-stop flight during the time of day when your children usually nap. Mid-week, mid-day (naptime, yay!) is considered an off-peak time. Consider booking your flight then to take advantage of that quiet time of day. If this doesn’t work into your schedule, don’t get discouraged! Get creative! 

Keeping your kids busy and distracted is that much easier with handy little travel gadgets like portable DVD players. I’ve found them on sale for as little as $150 -- less than I would usually pay to rent one for a ten-day trip! Other tried and true distractions include photo albums made just for little hands (be sure to include photos of grandma and grandpa or the puppy you’re leaving with a neighbor), magnetic memo boards for mess-free drawing, and fun tactile experiences like blind-folding your toddler and asking him to name different objects that you put in his hands. Feathers, beanie animals and other favorite stuffed toys, matchbox-type cars, and favorite snacks like Cheerios or teddy bear graham crackers would be perfect for those little hands to touch, feel and giggle over. You can even ask a flight attendant for an ice cube to put into your toddlers palm. With or without the blindfold, he’ll be fascinated by the melting ice. Just remember to watch him carefully so he doesn’t try to eat it!

Seating arrangements and take-offs/landings are probably the two greatest concerns of flying with young children. Whether or not to buy a ticket and bring a safety seat for your infant is a personal decision. Weigh the benefits and disadvantages carefully before you decide. Yes, the extra seat is more expensive and the safety seat is kind of a pain to tote around along with the rest of the luggage, but your child has their own space (and so do you) throughout the flight. You can also be assured that your child will be safe in the event of extreme turbulence if he is safely buckled into his own seat.

Bring along something child-friendly to give your child to suck to ease them through those take-offs and landings. Pacifiers and bottles of water work well for bottle-fed children. Breastfeeding works great, but can be difficult if your child is buckled up in their seat. You can learn how to nurse your child while he is buckled in, but learn how to do so by practicing at home long before your trip. Another option for exclusively breastfed babies who are adverse to the feel of an artificial nipple is to use your pinky as a pacifier. Be sure your hands are very clean by washing them in the restroom as soon as you board the plane.

(Coming in our next issue: Part 2 ? Travel Challenges Only a Parent Could Love: Driving with Children and Are we There Yet?)

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Did you enjoy this article? Have questions? E-mail us at news@passporter.com or visit http://www.passporterboards.com to discuss traveling with kids.

 
 
 

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