Feelin’ Groovy: A Cam and Luke TR Completed 7/31 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
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.
As Chezp said there was something about the photos as you had two posts on this and one with just the prose and the second with the former included with the photos! I have had these problems to with my TRs as well at times.
__________________
October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Another great update! Too funny about the margarita. Not funny how she treated you though!
Luke make it a tradition to get a margarita before he rides EE in the future. And I guess I'll be stuck holding the cup again. Hopefully, I'll not confusing anyone with my sobriety.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MayraLR
I have a Galaxy 6s and it has a great camera that takes exceptional pictures. My hubby was happy when I told him I would leave my camera at home.
Great time at AK! I enjoy watching the animals there, especially the bats and the gorillas. Each time I visit AK, I love even more.
My iPhone 6 does better than my old phone as far as photos go, but still nowhere near my DSLR. Luke's though is very, very good.
I love AK more every time, too. I'm always seeing something new there.
Once the rain cleared out, the animals returned to the savanna. That means the camera came back out.
Around 5:30 feeling rested and ready to venture out for dinner, we made our way to the bus stop for a ride to Disney Springs.
It was clear when we left the room, but Luke decided to pack the ponchos in a Disney bag to take with us. He’d check several weather apps before we left and all them noted that rain was on the way. Thank goodness, he packed them because during the bus ride, the rain returned and by the time we reached Disney Springs it was pouring. We donned the ponchos before unloading from the bus or we’d have been soaked instantly. Still very thankful for the thick green rain ponchos given to us by the folks at AK a few years ago. Because of the downpour, my camera was safely tucked under the poncho with me, so no photos along our journey. Our trek began first for the Lego Store and World of Disney in search of Lego Mini Figures. Nil at the Lego Store, the same at WoD, except we met a great young CM who was on his first day. His name was Konnor, and he had just graduated from Western Kentucky University, our alma mater. He took us back to “production location” where two additional CMs searched via computer, but couldn’t find a single Lego mini-fig on all of WDW property. These were definitely the toy and collectible of the moment. We wished Konnor good luck with his new job at WDW. He just kept saying this was the world’s largest Disney store. With the care he gave us, I fully expect that he is off to a wonderful start.
Now it was time to head back out into the pouring rain to make our way over to Morimoto Asia. Thank goodness, the distance to the restaurant was not far as it is just past Raglan Road. Once at Morimoto Asia, I checked us in. Here, they take your cell phone number and text when the table is ready. After getting directions to the restrooms, we both took off to carefully remove our ponchos. We didn’t want to get ourselves any wetter nor did we want to get others wet. The restrooms here are so cool and elegant,and even a bit humorous.
Sorry, I was shivering and didn't even realize until I uploaded this one to the computer that it was a big blur. But this was how I knew it was the ladies room. I did better on the men's room door below, and there is even a hidden Luke.
These photos were on the wall of the women's restroom. Lots of silly men making faces at us. I had to step back in an photograph it after Luke told me the men's room had women making faces.
We had checked in about 25 minutes early and were told at that time it would probably be 7:00 (our original ADR time) before we were called. But we were inside and drying so we didn’t mind to wait. We even had a pleasant conversation with one of the wait staff. Of course, if I have to wait, that means I have time for photos, too.
This is the bar and reception area at the front where we were waiting.
Very cool light fixtures.
Chinese writing was hidden all over the restaurant.
Upstairs
I stepped back outside under the overhang to take these.
About 10 minutes later at 6:45, I received the text. We were taken to a two top not far from the kitchen viewing area. Between courses, I also snuck in time for some photos of this restaurant as the décor is stunning, creative, and even a bit whimsical.
Maria, our server arrived promptly after we were seated, and proved herself sweet, informative, and smoothly efficient. First up were drinks, a Coke for Luke and lemonade for me. By the way, this lemonade was perfect just the right balance of sweet and tart. Morimoto is a modern Pan-Asian style restaurant, and is Morimoto’s take on Chinese, Japanese and Korean dishes. We really did take our time with the menu here as it is physically large and full of wonderful choices. Eventually, our first decision was made we would start with a Dim Sum option, Pork Egg Rolls served with two pork and cabbage rolls. Luke and I love egg rolls. Many years ago when Stefanie was in middle school, the aid in her special services classroom was a Chinese American who when he first immigrated to the US had opened Owensboro’s first Chinese restaurant. He was truly a chef, and when Stefanie’s class cooked a Thanksgiving meal each year for their parents, Mr. Linn would make some traditional Chinese dishes as well. He laughed that by the second year Luke and I would sit near where he was cooking egg rolls nonstop. He’d just turn around to see if we had any on our plates and if not, he’d add a few more. I commented to Luke as I wiped my mouth that these egg rolls were as good as Mr. Linn’s. These were no small egg rolls either. In fact, all the portion sizes are quite generous, i.e. large! Dishes here are meant to share.
Luke's spicy trio
Deciding on an entrée was hard for both us. I kept vacillating between two of my favorite Asian dishes, Orange Chicken and Chicken Fried Rice. Eventually, I settled on the Orange Chicken with a side bowl of rice. Morimoto’s Orange Chicken is tempura (battered and deep fried) chicken wok-tossed with a sweet Florida orange sauce. The chicken is accompanied by Chinese broccoli, which I barely touched. Just too wilty for me. I loved the chicken, but it was more than I could eat. But since it was meant for sharing, Luke got a share as well.
Luke had an even harder time because he loves his food HOT! He checked with Maria who let him know that they could make any dish spicy by the addition of a trio of sauces, which you may have noticed on the table. In the end he selected the Kung Pao Chicken made with carrots, shimeji mushroom, bell pepper, bamboo shoot, and cashew nuts, stir fried with spicy Szechuan sauce. We keep a bottle of Szechuan sauce at home at all times. He likes his food HOT! By the way, I did NOT sample his dish since he had heated up beyond my ability to eat. He did clean his plate. Funny side story: At one point Maria checked on Luke, asking “Do you need another Coke?” He gave me the strangest look, so I repeated what she had said. When she left, he said he thought she said, “Do you want another fork?” He couldn’t imagine why he’d need a second fork to finish his entrée.
Since it was still raining, we decided to have dessert, picking the Chocolate Cream & Crunch. Basically an Oreo tempura (battered and deep fried), mandarin orange jelly, dark chocolate gelato, and hazelnut chocolate crunchies. Totally decadent and delicious! I will be having this dessert the next time we eat at Morimoto Asia. Perfect ending to an awesome meal! I have had to borrow a photo from Disney Foods Blog for the dessert since I was too eager to dive in than take a photo.
Our overall impression of Morimoto Asia is two thumbs up. Luke even said it might become like Sanaa, one we do every single trip. In fact, a little bit of a spoiler, I still had one evening without an ADR for our October trip. We were still debating among the many choices at Disney Springs. Once we were home, I called June to be sure Pan-Asian would work for them. They are all eager to try it, and they like sushi, so I’ll have a review of that aspect from folks who like sushi in the next trip report. Sorry if some of you missed that in this review, but Luke and I are not fans of sushi, so none was ordered. Now egg rolls I can go on about for days.
We could see lightning off and on during the entire meal and figured it was still raining. Sure enough as we made our way to the door, we could see that it was pouring. We put our ponchos back on again and out we went, trudging through puddles and streams. The Marketplace bus stops were jammed with folks trying to stay dry, making it difficult to get to the correct stops for anyone else. A security CM made a way for us to get to our bus stop, which was next to last. No one else was in the actual queue and it was too crowded in the tiny little shelter, so we became the first in line. We didn’t have to wait long. The bus even had the heat on – Hallelujah! We were wet, cold, and shivering by now.
We were back at Animal Kingdom Lodge – Kidani Village around 9:00, and it was still raining. We learned on the news the next morning that this was a record rainfall for the area. I packed up whatever we wouldn’t need to get ready the next day, and then we took the two large suitcases plus three bags of souvenirs down to the Edge. I hung our wet stuff to dry, and then got myself ready for bed. Luke was asleep by 10:00, and I turned out the lights at 10:30. A pretty awesome last day in the World was over.
Your dinner looked amazing! And the decor in there is really different!
We like Asian food, but sadly Morimoto's is not on our list for this September. We're going back to our old favorite, Raglan Road.
Your dinner looked amazing! And the decor in there is really different!
We like Asian food, but sadly Morimoto's is not on our list for this September. We're going back to our old favorite, Raglan Road.
The restaurant is beautifully decorated. Hopefully, you can work Morimoto's in some time.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Your dinner looked delicious! But I think from the looks of it, your 'broccoli' was actually bok choy. I love baby bok choy more than the full-sized kind. But it also depends on what kind of sauce it's cooked with.
I'm so glad to read such a positive review of Morimoto Asia. I am really looking forward to trying it in September and thank you for all the photos - I don't think I've seen any of the interior, so it was lovely to see those. Also, thanks for the restroom photos, so now I have a clue what to expect in those...
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.
Not withstanding the record rains, it certainly sounds like you had the perfect last day at WDW! So glad that you enjoyed your meal at Morimoto's! The pictures that you took looked so interesting especially the photos outside the ladies room! I can't believe this TR is coming to an end already! It seems like I just met you in Epcot.
So glad you enjoyed Morimoto! The restaurant is so beautiful inside for sure. I only had apps while I was there and they were hit and miss for me, so I'm glad to hear the entrees were both on point! Sorry about all the rain though
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
I have had these problems to with my TRs as well at times.
These were definitely the toy and collectible of the moment. We wished Konnor good luck with his new job at WDW. He just kept saying this was the world’s largest Disney store. 
With the care he gave us, I fully expect that he is off to a wonderful start. 
I have had to borrow a photo from Disney Foods Blog for the dessert since I was too eager to dive in than take a photo. 
The bus even had the heat on – Hallelujah! We were wet, cold, and shivering by now. 
A pretty awesome last day in the World was over.
PassPorter Guide Author
Linear Mode
