Dreaming of a Disney spring break - part three COMPLETED - Page 14 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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That Baby Dumbo was teh best surprise ever!! He is just so adorable!!! Carlee had fallen in love with the Baby Bambi, so I picked it up in June. He's not as cute as Dumbo though.
I'm there with you in spirit. Give all those girls a hug from me and tell them Thank You!.
Via Napoli looks delish! Can't wait to try it in August!
Your picture of the Ziti Sisters reminded me that we'll have to catch one of their shows as well. We always enjoy the street shows in Italy - both Sergio and the Ziti Sisters are so funny. Wish they still had the Living Statues though.
Sorry for the heat, I actually was hot just reading your post...you could just tell that it must have been unbearable and combined with no AC in the monorail, having to wait at the TTC and the crowds I am sure that your room was like heaven walking in.
What a great gift for Wendy, Angel has been in love with the baby Dumbo for years, she ended up getting baby Stitch one year as they were out of Dumbo at our resort but she will have one waiting for her in her basket from Betsy. I ahve to agree that the others are cute but Dumbo is just the cutest....
Ewww--stinky teenage B.O.! Not too many things worse than that! I can only think of one thing smellier, and as it's too close to supper, I don't want to even discuss it--maybe later.
Glad you had a nice, albeit sweaty,time strolling Epcot.
Hmmm, I'm thinking the next installment includes a screwup in a dinner ressie!
Oh, and congrats onscoring the higher cat. on the Fantasy. Woot!
The heat has been something else this year. Several CMs told us that this was the soonest it had gotten this hot since the early 80s. They said that there really had been no spring for Orlando; the weather just skipped to August. I think I took some photos at Via Napoli that are almost identical to yours. Love the view of the lagoon from your room.
Via Napoli looks delish! Can't wait to try it in August!
Your picture of the Ziti Sisters reminded me that we'll have to catch one of their shows as well. We always enjoy the street shows in Italy - both Sergio and the Ziti Sisters are so funny. Wish they still had the Living Statues though.
Sorry it is so hot!
I miss the living statues as well - they were amazing.
The heat has been something else this year. Several CMs told us that this was the soonest it had gotten this hot since the early 80s. They said that there really had been no spring for Orlando; the weather just skipped to August.
Monday 18 April – part five: so who’s going to stand then?
We got to the Yacht Club with plenty of time to spare, which was just as well, as we ended up using valet parking, as there was no parking anywhere. I couldn’t believe how little parking this resort has. It was quite scary...
On the way in, a Cast Member asked if we wanted our photo taken. Well, I wasn’t going to say :
We went to front desk, as I wanted to go shopping tomorrow. We needed to return the GPS to Best Buy and I wanted to know where the closest Bath and Body Works and Michael’s. The guys were very helpful and answered every question we had.
We headed outside, so that I could get some photos.
Then it was over to the Yachtsman Steakhouse.
Elaine and Keith weren’t there when we arrived, so I headed outside to sit on a rocking chair for a few minutes. Much better than at the Wilderness Lodge, as there are no stoppers on these.
When they arrived, we got our pager and were quickly seated, although the table for four had three chairs when we got there, which was a new one for us. Keith and Mark debated who should stand until the additional chair arrived.
Our server was Susan, who we’ve had before and she was very good. Two in one day? That’s got to be a record for us this trip!
For appetiser, after a discussion with the chef at the table about the accompaniments that went with the artisanl cheese with toasted sourdough baguette, I went for that, as he subbed the bits I couldn’t have for other things. Everything matched beautifully.
Mark went for the seared Maine diver scallops with Boniato Blini, naval orange confit and Vera Cruz emulsion. While he wasn’t keen on the accompaniment, I tried the dish and thought it went well with the scallops.
For entree, I had the wild Atlantic cod with lobster risotto, top neck clams, Delta asparagus and Sherry lobster pan sauce, which was good, but a little too rich for my tastes. There was certainly no way that I could finish this. At least if I did, there would be no dessert for me! :
Mark had the prime New York strip steak, with peppercorn brandy sauce and Carmody potato gratin and he seemed to enjoy it.
The dessert menu was a little odd. I was tempted by the sorbet trio, but I’m sorry, I couldn’t cope with the idea of the pineapple-chilli, no matter how much I tried to convince myself. Susan told us that unless people ask for it, she tends not to put the chilli flakes on it, as she’s not sure that they work together either. I opted for the Yachtsman Sundae, a trio of gelato, which came in chocolate, strawberry and vanilla and they were all excellent.
Mark had the crème brulee with fresh berries and rolled chocolate.
Yachtsman Steakhouse:
Appetiser 9½ 8½
Entree 8½ 9
Dessert 9½ 9½
Service 9 9
Atmosphere 9 9
Value for money 8½ 9
Average score: 9.00
Once we had finished our meal, we walked slowly back to the lobby and then stood there talking for ages, as none of us wanted to leave. We had never stared at the globe in the lobby closely and it’s worth having a look at, as it’s a map dating from the 17th century.
Finally, we did head off and retrieved the car from valet and drove back to Bay Lake Tower, waiting ages for someone to get out of a car parking space. Some people should not be on the road.
The weather today was hot and sunny with temperatures in the 90s. The best thing today was the pizza at Via Napoli. The worst thing today was how hot it was. Today we tried the Inspiration through Walt’s Eyes tour And the result was it was a wonderful tour. The most magical moment today was going into the Utilidors.
We obviously have different scores for Via Napoli--the lack of salt would have killed the dish for me! The lack of meat in the arancini killed me the first time--so I didn't order it the second time, but that would have been the second strike for me. Produce what is advertised!!
I'm glad you had a good meal at Yachtsman, as I loved it.
I really want to stay at BLT because I so enjoyed my stay at the Contemporary in November.
Location: A little over 1000 miles from my happy place!
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Great pics from dinner! Yum! I think I'm ready for breakfast now... Yeah it was hotter than expected for April we thought too (but at least the nights were still cooler), but since we usually visit in mid-June we thought the temps weren't too bad!
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And glad you liked your Dumbo! 
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It was quite scary... 
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Susan told us that unless people ask for it, she tends not to put the chilli flakes on it, as she’s not sure that they work together either. I opted for the Yachtsman Sundae, a trio of gelato, which came in chocolate, strawberry and vanilla and they were all excellent. 
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