Our Fall 2014 Trip Report - Coming to You Barely Live from Orlando - Page 5 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
I have been afraid that we'd be disappointed in lunch at BOG, too. So for that reason I've just not worried with getting the FP+. We tend to like a warm, though light, lunch, and a cool grilled sandwich doesn't fit that bill. We've done that boat adventure, too.
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
That sounds like a "not good" dining experience whether you were expecting fast food or table service! Now you have me worried about your AP meal that night-- If Lou doesn't like his meal there you may need to sell your DVC points and just give up!
From your lips to my ears ... stay tuned to see if Sharon keeps her day job as DVC Planner ...
Quote:
Originally Posted by disneydreamer33
I really hope we have a better experience at BOG, but I have heard as many bad experiences as good, so I guess it is just hit and miss with lunch.
Loving all of your pics. The ones of 7DMT are amazing!!!
I've heard quite a few people relate bad lunch experiences too. I wasn't expecting much. But, the fries were cold and almost like a day old - I hope this was an anomaly. We should have sent it back, but Grumpy Bear was done by that point. I think you can still get a decent meal, and it's air conditioned, and quick!
Quote:
Originally Posted by pamcarey
The steam train tour sounds really interesting! What a disappointment with your lunch at BOG .
The Train Tour made up for disappointing sandwiches. I should note - we aren't lunch snobs, mostly eating Subway or McD's when we travel.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lfredsbo
What a disappointment with lunch
I like the idea of just relaxing after that early start!
It didn't kill us to skip a few calories. The boat trip back got everyone in a nice relaxed mood
WOW love the pix. Yours are always so full of color. The ones on the mine train look more like paintings than photos. Is that a treatment in Photoshop?
Michael - good question. For most pics, I just process the RAW version in Lightroom - adjusting contrast and a bit of saturation. I prefer photos on the more colorful side, for sure. I actually ran the Mine Train shots through an HDR process, then toned them down slightly by masking the original photo back in with photoshop. Just playing around, to give a bit of cartoonish look, cause that's what the ride reminded me of. Everyone riding it had a big smile.
I have been afraid that we'd be disappointed in lunch at BOG, too. So for that reason I've just not worried with getting the FP+. We tend to like a warm, though light, lunch, and a cool grilled sandwich doesn't fit that bill. We've done that boat adventure, too.
I think the Castle experience at dinner is far better. In fact, we'll give it another try in February. I think Lou could ride a boat for hours. He asked again, "Can't we take a boat from the Boardwalk to the Magic Kindgom?"
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Great photos from the trains tour. Sorry about lunch.
I think the Castle experience at dinner is far better. In fact, we'll give it another try in February.
I see February mentioned. Do you already have dates for that trip? Judy and I will be back in the middle of February. I will have to check the calendar for the dates.
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
I see February mentioned. Do you already have dates for that trip? Judy and I will be back in the middle of February. I will have to check the calendar for the dates.
Our dates are Feb 8 - 12.
Quote:
Originally Posted by llgmommy2
Sorry you did not enjoy BOG. We had an okay experience there. I do not know that we will return this year though.
I think we would have been better off, if we hadn't already experienced a great dinner there!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grammy Grumpy
Loving your Barley Live report! And your photos are awesome. What camera do you use (sorry if this has been asked and I missed the answer).
Thanks! I'm using a Canon 5DMIII, but a lot of these are with a Panasonic Lumix - FZ1000 (it's one of the newer Lumix models).
Quote:
Originally Posted by princetoaprincess
Great photos. Thanks for sharing. I hate to know that it rained and y'alls lunch at BOG wasn't good.
Thanks so much for joining in. Don't worry, we do see time with no rain, and we find a good meal or two
Update - Day 2 Part 3 - Let's Put This Day to Bed!!!
We made it back to the room just in time - you can see the cloud build up. These next two photos show the view from our balcony at BLT:
I was a little concerned about the boat ride to The Wilderness Lodge for our dinner at Artist Point. We had some sprinkles, but the boat was right on time and we had a quick trip to the Lodge:
I was curious about the refurb going on at the Pool - it looks like they're redoing the whole pool section and the geyser as well:
The seating area outside of Roaring Forks (or whatever the QS is called) now looks at this scrim instead of the pool. It's scheduled to be done in November, we were told.
We started our evening with a cocktail in the Territory Lounge. This is a tradition. We were both surprised at how busy the Lounge was - usually we are the only ones in there. Oh, that's right - it is Saturday night, and we almost always never visit WDW during the weekend.
We were placed at a nice quiet table on the side of the restaurant. Jamie was our server, and he was good, perhaps on the exuberant side for us. Lou found a bottle of wine he liked, then he ordered the crab cake appetizer. I went with the all time fave - the portobello mushroom soup. Both were very good:
What's with the truffle craze - it's everywhere! Even on the butter (which was delicious, by the way):
For his main, Lou went with the Pork, and I chose the Filet. Both were very good. My filet was delicious, and I was glad I was hungry from not eating much lunch!
We had Coffee after, and Lou enjoyed a plate of Artisanal Cheeses. I need to look it up - does this mean the cheeses were made by Artists? Eaten by Artists? An artistic creation? I dunno, but he quite enjoyed them.
Dinner was excellent, and Artist Point remains one of our favorites. Whew, I'm back in the DVC saddle, and the trip can continue.
Once back at our room, I debated going to the Top of the World Lounge, but I wasn't 100% on Wishes going because of the weather. I was able to squeeze out a few shots from our little balcony, and that worked just fine:
Your view from the room is much better than mine was. I had only a little corner of water view if I looked directly to the right and leaned out! I'm so relieved that the AP meal did not disappoint! I love the food there, and I really love the decor and ambiance. You're doing very well fitting things in between the downpours!
Just checked the calendar. We will arrive on the 8th and check out on the 22nd. We have not made any plans yet, have you? Perhaps we should try to schedule something together.