Dreaming of a Disney spring break - part three COMPLETED - Page 54 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We love Pop. I have about 5 million pictures. LOL and I never get tired of it. They are not tearing that building down. I think that is going t o be the little mermaid section. They are using whats there.
Interesting, because from what I could see from the construction that's already gone on, the buildings that are there now didn't look like the ones that were there before, hence why I assumed they were building from scratch?
Love your pictures of POP!! We have stayed there twice and really like it. It is my understanding that they are going to use those buildings and the new ones will be the family suites. So there will be some small availability of regular rooms.
Was that the lunch offerings at the lounge or just snacks they put out in-between? Your next update doesn't sound too good.
I honestly don't remember now what time we were there and what the offerings officially were, but I have a horrible sneaking suspicion that was lunch. Can anyone else clarify?
Great pics....I can hear the carribean music playing in my head from those photos.
I think it would be cost effective that Disney use the existing buildings for the new AoA. It's not like they were built 40 years ago, like me, then they would definately need a massive overhaul, like me again!
Sorry your room wasn't ready yet. Love the pictures from Pop. Just seeing the picture of the lobby I could almost feel like I was there. I can't wait to see the new resort when it's all done!
Cool update - like the construction photos. Got to th thinking if they will offically change the name from Pop Century since the first 50 years is not being built. Maybe it will just be POP.
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Cool update - like the construction photos. Got to th thinking if they will offically change the name from Pop Century since the first 50 years is not being built. Maybe it will just be POP.
That's a really good point and something I hadn't thought of.
Friday 22 April – part four: what a nightmare kid!
We headed out to Fulton’s, after checking one last time on our room. No joy as yet. Wouldn’t you know it, 10 minutes after we arrived at Fulton’s for our 3.00 ADR, I got a text to say it was ready...
We parked up and headed first to have a look at the new Lego store. We were amazed to hear that it had opened on Tuesday, having seen people working frantically on it on Sunday, but finished it was and open. I didn’t think it looked that much different inside, although it is noticeably bigger and thankfully not as nuts as the last time we went in there.
I did love the little touches, especially the little circular windows, giving you a view of Lego models. My favourite was the set of ducks, with one that’s obviously not as good at swimming as the others, so he’s specially equipped for the swim!
Outside though, it was a different matter. The place looks completely different, although the family with the dogs is still there, but even they’ve changed. Snow White and the seven dwarves are just superb, as is the Toy Story set. I’m sure that these will attract a lot more people into the shop into the future.
We wandered over to Fulton’s, once we were done in there, getting some photos on the way.
We checked in and were immediately shown to our table. I’d deliberately got a late lunch booking, as I wanted to get the 20% Annual Pass discount, and of course, at this time, it was deserted at check-in. Sadly, the same could not be said for the area we were seated in. We were seated in between two families, both with a child of about the same age. If I say that one was perfectly behaved and we didn’t hear a squeak from her, while the other kid was a total nightmare. I’d wage that he’s used to only ever being heard in his family if he screams or shouts, as that was all he was capable of doing. He simply could not just speak. It was so annoying and I kept saying to Mark that I would happily go and ask for another table.
The final straw came when the kid disappeared and they didn’t know where it had gone. Eventually, after that, they at least made an attempt to try and keep it at the table. We kept discussing this. I’m sorry, but maybe things have changed, but when we were kids, we were both told to stay at the table until everyone was done with eating, so to us, that’s just basic manners, but obviously not for this family.
Ok, now that’s out of the way, what was lunch actually like? Well, we had Curt serving us, who had an irritating habit of saying “you got it” to everything we said. Apart from that, he wasn’t bad, although admitting that he usually worked dinner and wasn’t familiar with the lunch menu, didn’t sit well with us. I’m sorry, maybe that’s the case, but it would be a good idea to look at the lunch menu and learn a bit about it, rather than having to admit that to your customers.
You get some crab boursin brought out to you, with some crackers to go with it. Oh my goodness, I fell in love with this stuff the second I tasted it! I think I polished most of it off, before Mark could get near it...
We weren’t that hungry, after the amount we’d put away in the concierge lounge, so we agreed to share the Fulton’s Cobb salad, which was an entree. I was a bit annoyed to find that they couldn’t do it as an appetiser portion. That’s not the answer I was expecting from Disney. : Still, we both really enjoyed it, although is it just me, but I’m sure Cobb salad is presented to you, then mixed by your server. At least that’s what happens at the Brown Derby. Well, not here. We ended up mixing it up ourselves, but I wasn’t sure if we were missing something....
For main course, Mark went for the ribs, which he seemed to enjoy, although they had something of a spicy sauce rubbed into them. The look on his face when he took his first taste of them was quite classic!
I went for the Blue Crab Club sandwich, mainly on the grounds that it had my beloved crab boursin in it and I hadn’t had enough of that yet and my goodness, I got value for money with this. The thing was absolutely huge! I just about managed to eat it, except the crusts, but there was no way I was even going to attempt the chips that went with it, having just stuffed myself with those in the lounge. This was excellent value for money.
In total, our meal, with our Annual Pass discount, came to $50, which I thought was superb value. It’s a very different matter for dinner though, which is why we’ve never been here for dinner. Curt brought me the dinner menu to look at, as they can do items from that menu for lunch. It at least gave me an opportunity to photograph it but my goodness, the prices on it are quite something!
Fulton’s Crab House:
Appetiser 8½ 9
Entree 9 8½
Service 7½ 8
Atmosphere 6 7½
Value for money 9½ 8½
Average score:
When we were done eating, we headed back to the car, getting some photos on the way.