Dreaming of a Disney spring break! THIS SECTION COMPLETED - Page 103 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Tuesday 12 April – part eight: can dessert save the meal?
For dessert, I again debated between the artisanal cheese or the sorbet, which were strawberry, passion fruit and lemon lavender. The last one was truly awful and far too overpowering with the lavender, while the other two were much better. The strawberry was by far my favourite, but again this didn’t have the wow factor.
Mark had the lemon cheesecake:
I came away feeling that this would’ve been fine for an ordinary restaurant, but now that it’s signature for dinner, I’m sorry by my expectations are so much higher and it’s got a long way to go to meet those expectations or the amazing experiences you can enjoy at the other signature restaurants on property. It’s certainly not a place I’d rush back to, unless I hear lots of great reports about it in the future.
Le Cellier:
Appetiser 7 9
Entree 6 7½
Dessert 8 8½
Service 8 8
Atmosphere 8 8
Value for money 7 7½
Average score: 7.71
The meal did take a long time as well. I had read a review just before we came out about how someone had waited an hour for their entree and I could believe it, because I think that’s how long we waited, but because we had great company for the evening and lots to talk about, it wasn’t so noticeable and of course, it helped that we had ordered appetiser as well. This is not the place to come for a quick meal anymore, that’s for sure.
We got out about 10 minutes before IllumiNations with me feeling a little green. I don’t know why, but I suddenly felt very tired and hot. We made it to the bridge between the United Kingdom and Francea and, once IllumiNations began, I did feel better, as I knew it would, as that always takes my mind off just about anything.
When it finished, Mark offered to take Heather and Brandon back to the Animal Kingdom Lodge, so we set off for the car at the Beach Club, chatting all the way. They told us that it was a first for them, taking a car in Florida, so I hope we did OK with the drive back to theirs, where we said goodbye to them..
From there, it was back to the Villas at the Wilderness Lodge.
We headed over to Roaring Forks to pick up our refillable mugs:
Then it was back to the room:
Somehow, the hike back to our room felt no better the second time around. We have both come to the conclusion that we would probably enjoy a stay here in the main building, but the villas are just too remote. There really is no benefit to staying there, like better access to the parking nearby or Epcot, as you get at the Beach Club Villas. Sorry, but it’s just not us. :
The weather today was hot and sunny with temperatures in the 90s. The best thing today was seeing the new version of the Haunted Mansion. The worst thing today was dinner at Le Cellier and then not feeling great afterwards. The funniest thing today was the guy who thought the White Rabbit was the Mad Hatter. Today we tried Le Cellier’s signature dinner And the result was it was not a good experience. : The most magical moment today was seeing Chip and Dale and Stitch with barely any wait.
Next: a surprise extra on the Segway tour no-one’s heard of!
Too bad the sub-par dining experience carried right on through dessert. Illuminations always has a reviving effect on me as well. I often feel too tired to wait for it, but am always glad when I do!
So sorry your dinner at Le Cellier was not up to par. I am glad we ate there in October before the change over. Let's hope they get enough complaints that it changes and soon. Hope the rest of your dining for your trip improves, you have not had much luck on this trip so far.
We came to the same conclusion about VWL - if we could stay in the main building we'd stay again, but the Villas are just not as great as some of the other DVC options. We REALLY want to stay at BW or BC one of these days....
Great pictures of Illuminations! That is still my favorite show, I think (although the new memories one on the castle may be giving it some competition!).
I need to go back to your PTR to see how close you are to boarding the Dream!! I am so anxious to read that part of your report!!
Such a shame about Le Cellier. It was always a favorite place of mine to dine for dinner and now with the bad reviews I am afraid to try it as a signature restaurant.
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Great pics! Coral Reef and LeCellier and two of our favs., really hate hearing that LeCellier was not that good, now has me second guessing it for next year? But Coral Reef is a must do for us!
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Such a shame about Le Cellier. Hopefully they figure things out soon since they're a signature restaurant now. I'm glad you started to feel better during Illuminations though!
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Somehow, the hike back to our room felt no better the second time around. We have both come to the conclusion that we would probably enjoy a stay here in the main building, but the villas are just too remote. There really is no benefit to staying there, like better access to the parking nearby or Epcot, as you get at the Beach Club Villas. Sorry, but it’s just not us. :
We stayed at VWL in May of 2009, and I felt the same way. I certainly didn't fill my mug as much as I would have liked; the hike to get to Roaring Forks was way too far. I don't mind the walking, but just the sheer amount of time it took was way too much. I agree that staying in the main building would be better...
Quote:
Originally Posted by scrappyjae
If I ever do LC, I will do a lunch, definately not a dinner.
We've only ever done lunch at Le Cellier, and have not been disappointed. We have a lunch ADR there for this July, in fact. I prefer the lunch menu over the dinner menu...
After reading both your review and Heather's for Le Cellier, I am feeling so disappointed. I do hope they make some improvements quickly. I'm glad I don't have it booked for this June trip. As always I your IllumiNations pictures. I can't wait to see it again in a little over a week.
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