Episode 15

Episode 15:  Do you have a passport? Do you need to renew? How about some Disney news? All this and more in this podcast. I want to thank you for listening to the podcast. The podcast is growing an audience here in the States and Japan. 
Link to online passport renewal: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/have-passport/renew-online.html 

Medic2Medic is back, bringing authentic voices, untold stories, and the human side of Emergency Medical Services and beyond.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hello, travelers and adventure seekers.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
Welcome to Magical Destinations by Steve, a podcast that takes
you on a journey around the world without ever leaving
the comfort of your headlines. I'm your host, Steve Cohen,
and I'm field to be your guide through.

Speaker 1 (00:18):
The exciting realms of travel, culture and exploration. Whether you're
a season traveler or an armchair explorer, this podcast is
your passport to a road of fascinating stories, hitting gems,
and the cultures that make our planets a rich and
diverse I'm here to ignite your boat charting and inspire
your next adventure.

Speaker 2 (00:39):
Join us as we.

Speaker 1 (00:40):
Navigate the twist in terms of travel, offering practical tips,
firsthand experience, and expert insights to help you make for
most of your own journeys. Whether you're planning a weekend
getaway or a dreaming of an epic expedition. Magical Destinations
by Steve is here to be your trustee compass. Coming

(01:00):
from the Ferndale, Magical Destinations by Steve Podcast Studios, It's
another episode of this fine travel podcast. I'm your host,
Steve Cohen. You can reach me at s Cohen at
created travel Collection dot com. My website and Magical Destinations
by Steve dot Com or on Facebook, Instagram or TikTok

(01:22):
for all your travel needs. If you're thinking about going
on a cruise, going to a theme park, maybe want
to go to Europe, wherever you want to go, I
am your travel advisor. I'm with you from the beginning,
in the middle, while you're traveling, and when you return. Well,
I hope you are continuing to have a great summer.

(01:46):
Aaron came back from her mother daughter trip and Bailey
was thrilled to have her back. Although I still get
to cuddle with her every once in a while. You
know something, It's just.

Speaker 3 (01:57):
The way it is, because Bailey is as human and
I'm just second fiddle. That's okay. Well, at work, I'm
getting ready to I'm actually been working pretty hard, teaching
a bunch of classes Stop the Bleed, CPR, a lot
of arcand training as well. We're at a couple grants.
It's just it's been extremely busy. I'm excited about the

(02:20):
fall coming up and some of the classes that we're offering.
Now for some exciting travel news, there are some special
deals for Disney and Universal. The Walt Disney Travel Company
continues to throw out deals both through the theme parks
in California and Florida as well as the cruise line,
So if you're interested in any of those, please reach

(02:42):
out to me. Speaking about cruise lines, Royal Caribbean and
Carnival Cruise Lines, It's Hall in America and Princess are
all offering some good deals right now. I'm also keeping
an eye out thinking about theme parks. Disneyland twenty twenty
five plans should be coming out soon. Hopefully I'll get
more information. Once I do, I will pass that on

(03:03):
to you. Some other exciting news. This podcast is doing
extremely well and I appreciate it, so thank you very
much for listening. Really good couple weeks of downloads. I
want to thank all my fans in Japan for downloading
the podcast and listening. I really do appreciate that. A
couple of reason I want to talk about. I want

(03:24):
to talk about D twenty three and some of the
things that Walt, Disney World and Disneyland actually announced this
past weekend as well. But before I do that, I
want to talk about passports. Do you have a passport?
Is it about to expire? If it is, tune in
here right now, because the United States is currently running

(03:45):
an online passport renewal beta tests. And guess what. I
recently went through the process and this is how it went.
The online renewal process was pretty straightforward. Get to the website,
which I will put in the show notes for you.
Like I said, it's pretty straightforward. I actually received my
new passport in less than ten days without having to

(04:07):
send my old one back. I just simply visited the
official website. I followed the easy instructions. You will need
to answer a handful of questions before you can move forward.
Some of those questions are about if you want it expedited,
when's your expiration date? Do you have any upcoming travel
plans for example, especially if you're going to travel abroad

(04:29):
in the next six months. Well, you won't be able
to use the online portal to do this. You'd have
to go ahead and submit it by US mail. Some
other things you might need before you go online and
start to fill out the paperwork. You also need your
current passport. There's a barcode a number that is required

(04:51):
that you will have to put in right toward the
end before you submit everything. But the most challenging part
was just taking the passport photo. Since I was doing
this to see how the process worked, I did not
go to the post office. I did not get a
past a professional passport picture taken as well, and so

(05:11):
I decided to take my own with Aaron as my photographer.
We took about ten or fifteen different type of pictures
at different distances. The distance will definitely play play a role,
and if the picture that you take is accepted, also,
you've got to make sure you have a gray white background.
It will tell you if your well has imperfections and

(05:31):
will not allow you to submit the picture. So about
after about fifteen minutes trying back and forth, I finally
got the right picture. I got the right distance from
One of the mistakes I made was when I sent
my pictures from my camera to my computer. I sent
it as with small megabytes, and once I sent it

(05:52):
large and that took a while for me to figure
out and had the right distance, the passport software accepted
it and I was ready to go now. Granted, some
of the mistakes you can make. One is the picture's
not big enough, you're not too far, you're too far away,
or too close your shoulders and your neck, or have

(06:16):
to be into place where if you're taking to buy
a wall and there is a picture or door pain,
you can't do that. It's got to be a blank wall.
Trust me. If you're doing something wrong, the pictures the
wrong size, there's imperfections on the wall, there's something showing
in the picture, the website will definitely tell you the

(06:36):
correct way to do it and what your mistake is.
But once I got everything straight, it took about fifteen
minutes to complete the whole process, with taking pictures, filling
out to paperwork, making my payment. Again, I just want
to remind you got to make sure to maintain the
correct distance and make sure if you do submit your
pictures from your phone to your computer, make sure you

(06:58):
send it in the large megabytes. Once my information was submitted,
I got continuous emails. One it was submitted, two they
warned me that it might get rejected. Even though I
submitted it via online. Did get rejected, I would have
to submit it by mail. I received updates at each
stage from submission to the final approval. Despite the initial

(07:21):
estimate of six to eight weeks, I knew within forty
eight hours that everything was in order, and I received
my email notification when my passport was in the mail,
and they told me it would be arriving in a
plane envelope, and that's what it did. Got my passport
in ten days. Now. My wife and my daughter also
did the process. They actually got their passports back in

(07:43):
one week. So if you're thinking about renewing and you
can do it online, I would suggest doing that right now,
and again the website will be in the show notes.
I do hope the US continues to adopt this convenient process.
And if you do, we knew your passport online and

(08:03):
you receive a new one, let me know how it went.
And also when you get your new passport, contact me
and let's put that passport to work. So if you're
thinking about vacationing, just keep me in mind. This past weekend,
Aaron and I celebrated our engagement anniversary. For those who
may not know, Aaron and I met on a blind
date and just a short while later, on June nineteenth,

(08:26):
nineteen eighty eight, we got married. To mark the occasion
this year, I made her lunch, we went out for dinner,
and then we each enjoyed a movie separately. That's right,
we went to the movies in the same car. We
had our own popcorn, but we went to see two
different movies. I skipped the romantic drama It Ends with Us,

(08:49):
while she steered clear of Dead Pole and Wolverine. We
love each other dearly. We were definitely right about our
movie choices. As I mentioned earlier in the podcast, there's
a lots of exciting news coming out of D twenty three.
That's the official Disney Fan Club. Here's a glimpse of
what's coming. The Disney Cruise Line will build four new ships.

(09:10):
They are set to launch between twenty twenty seven and
twenty thirty one. That'll bring thirteen ships sailing around the
world for Disney. That's unbelievable. A couple new theme lands
are coming. The Hollywood Studios will welcome Monsters, inc. Fans
will enjoy this new land. So trying to figure out

(09:31):
where it might go. We're just not sure about that
right now, but some people are up in arms online
about that it might replace Muppets three D back in
the back of the park. I hope they don't replace
Muppets three D. It's still one of my favorite attractions
to sea, so I hope they don't do that. We'll

(09:53):
be able to meet Mike and Sully get some food.
But it's going to be featuring an unbelievable will brand
new first ever suspended coaster in a Disney Park. If
you've ever seen Monsters Inc. And you saw a booze
door and then the factory with all those doors, well
that's what the theme is. Constructions will start soon in Disneyland.

(10:18):
The Avengers campus will double in size with the new
thrill rides called Stark Flight Lab and Avengers Infinity Defense.
Imagine being in a two person pod, grabbed by a
robotic arm and rolled around in assimilated flight. Coming soon,
two new thrill rides, Stark Flight Lab and Avengers Infinity Defense.

(10:42):
Who knows which Avenger might join you hint. I think
it might be Iron Man. I'm not sure, but that's
what I'm hearing. There is so much more to share
from d twenty three. I'll keep you up the date.
One of the things that it's going on right now
at Disney World, they're draining the rivers of America and
they're going to close down Tom Sawyer's Island and they're

(11:04):
going to bring Carsland to disney World. In the Magic Kingdom,
there's a lot more to share from d twenty three.
I'll keep you updated in the upcoming weeks and months.
I'm currently enrolled in a course about Hawaii. It's a
tough job, but somebody has to do it. I'm learning
a lot about the islands and I can help you
plan your perfect Hawaiian getaway. I'm looking forward to helping

(11:26):
you plan your next adventure. One other thrilling news is
that over the next four or five days, maybe in
the next week or so, I'm excited to announce that
my third podcast in my career, Ears to Ears, will
start recording over the next week or so. My co
host Mickey f not Mickey Mouse. He's a Disney insider

(11:49):
and a former cast member with over thirty three plus
years working for the Disney Company. Mickey and I will
dive into the enchanting world of Disney, exploring everything from
the magic of Disneyland to the thrills of Disney World.
Each episode will cover a different aspect of Disney magic,
park tips, character spotlights, and behind the scenes stories. We'll

(12:11):
throw a few guests in there as well. So again,
I'm excited about Ears and Ears coming to podcast land,
and I hope you really enjoy this podcast and if
you're thinking about vacationing, keep me in mind. Contact me
at s Cohen at created travel collection dot com my website.
You can also give me a buzz at nine one

(12:32):
nine to A zero seven eight two four And again,
I appreciate you listening to this podcast. I'll talk to
you soon.