Dreaming of a Disney spring break - part three COMPLETED - Page 21 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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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.
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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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R&C scored better and your meals both looked very ! I'll have to look at my notes, but I'm pretty sure I had the same dessert that you did, only Stefanie and Luke helped me eat it. It was more than I could handle alone, too. For some reason this week as I've been reading TRs, I've really wished we could get back at Halloween time (not happening this year, just wishing) and then your pictures of Gaylord Palms where we stayed October 2009, just made me a wee bit homesick. Glad you got the GPS traded out, but I couldn't help but laugh at it turning itself off. Stubborn little techno piece!
I'm hoping for a Halloween/October return for 2013, funding depending!
I understand the whole rude people and kids thing.
We live in a nice little middle income neighborhood. The houses are all ranch style and our end of the neighborhood is nice and well maintained. Well towards the entrance to the neighborhood...the owners have started renting out those houses and the residents have gone down hill. The kids are out at all hours...little kids with no parents. Yesterday I was driving home...some extremely obese little girl (probably 4, maybe 5)was standing on the street barefoot (on hot blacktop in 98 degree weather) swinging a tiny kitten by it's tail. Literally swinging it in a huge circle in the air.I stopped my car...rolled down the window and told her to stop that...she was going to hurt that kitten. She looked at me...started to put the kitten on her shoulder. It turned and bit her. Leaped for it's life and took off. I couldn't believe it...I waited for her to move off the street...and drove the 1/4 mile to my house irate. Literally seething...where were the parents, why would they let her handle that little kitten...she wasn't even decently clothed...and she was very dirty!!!
If I see it again...I'm calling children's service and animal services to report them!!!
One of our nice little neighbor girls heard me telling my husband about it and said that she knew that little girl and that her parents leave her home alone all the time!!!
I don't even know what to say to that!
I think I may have asked you this before in one of your other TR's when you were eating "English" food away from England, but how did the food at Rose and Crown compare to the real thing? Did it taste authentic?
I think you may have done. My answer is still the same. It's not really authentic as such. It would give you an idea of what to expect, but to be honest, all of the food around the world that we've sampled is a bit Americanised and will always taste different in each of the countries. I personally think that's a good thing, as it gives people another reason to visit the real thing!
Glad your meal was much better this time around! I have to ask you, do you by chance remember what shop you saw the Paddington Bears in while you were waiting for your meal at R & C? Paddington Bear is one of my favorites from my childhood. I have read all the books when I was younger and bought a Paddington Bear during my very first WDW trip back in 1988 there in the UK at Epcot. (I still have that Paddington bear! ) I didn't remember seeing any PB's when I was on my last trip.
We were in the Toy Solider area while we were waiting, so I'm guessing in there? I love Paddington Bear as well.
Tuesday 19 April – part four: putting our voucher to good use...
We headed for Bath and Body Works next, although that took quite a bit of working out. The GPS wouldn’t recognise the words “Bath and” until we got close to our destination. We ended up at the Mall of Millennia, which was neat, as we’ve never been there and it’s a very good place.
Let’s just say that we put Wendy’s $50 gift voucher to very good use. We bought lots of anti-bacterial stuff, hand cream, hand sanitiser and soap and spent about $60 in the end, so that only cost us $10.
We saw that Super Target was over the road, so we popped over there, so that I could got my deodorant stocks, as it’s banned in Europe. Before anyone asks by the way, it’s Secret deodorant. I know – insane, isn’t it? I also found a nice dark green vest and then we got some bags for packing the washing on the way home, as ours had all broken. I guess they must have a shelf life to them.
We headed back to the car and headed back to Animal Kingdom Lodge. Thankfully, the traffic wasn’t too bad, as it was now 4.30pm.
We headed to our room, which was quite a walk from the lobby, but not as bad as it could’ve been and looked outside. Nothing to be seen anywhere. Ok, not a great start!
The studios here are so much more spacious than Bay Lake Tower. Don’t get me wrong, I like Bay Lake Tower, but my goodness, it’s small there and here you have so much more space.
We enjoyed that space for the next hour or so until it was time to go and meet Gemma and her husband David. We’d sent them a text earlier, asking if they wanted a lift over to Epcot, as they were staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge as well.
We headed out in the car and for the Beach Club, saying that we were there for dinner at Beaches and Cream. We had been there for lunch as well today... I guess maybe we need to think of a new excuse for coming here...
We walked through to Epcot, taking our traditional route, after discovering that the back route was much longer earlier on...
We walked slowly around World Showcase, with me stopping to get a Grand Marnier Slush on the way. I had only had one this trip so far and needed to rectify that quickly. Wow, it was good especially as it was still so hot, even at 7.00pm tonight!
I was a few days behind, but I'm all caught up now. I'm glad you've found your home at AKL to be more spacious than your room at BLT! It sounds like you had a fun shopping trip after the GPS was sorted out. As for Rose and Crown, I was supremely disappointed with the Scotch Egg because I expected a soft boiled egg in the middle, not a hard boiled one!
Love that hidden Mickey in the carpet and the map of Kenya is great.
Is that topiary of Aurora normally in France or was is there for Flower and Garden?
Sounds like a successful shopping trip!
I thought the studios at AKL were nice and roomy! Good to know BLT are not as roomy. Maybe we'll wait for a time when it's only 2 of us to try for a stay there.
Love those GM slushies!!!!
Just caught up on all 21 pages. I'm such a slacker!
You're making me really nostalgic for Orlando. I used to live there, and went to the Mall of Millenia frequently. I'm also sure I have shopped at the same Best Buy you went to.
I love the Rose & Crown. Their potato leek soup is delicious! I haven't tried the egg things (Scotch Eggs, I guess?) but they look spectacular!! This is why I love food photos so much. Sometimes descriptions just don't do food justice... but when I actually SEE it, I usually know if I'll enjoy it or not. And I'm definitely trying out those eggs when I go back there! Yummy!
Looking forward to more (and now I have to read your other two portions of this TR, since I'm clearly out of order).
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! I'll have to look at my notes, but I'm pretty sure I had the same dessert that you did, only Stefanie and Luke helped me eat it. It was more than I could handle alone, too. 
For some reason this week as I've been reading TRs, I've really wished we could get back at Halloween time (not happening this year, just wishing) and then your pictures of Gaylord Palms where we stayed October 2009, just made me a wee bit homesick. Glad you got the GPS traded out, but I couldn't help but laugh at it turning itself off. Stubborn little techno piece! 
My answer is still the same. It's not really authentic as such. It would give you an idea of what to expect, but to be honest, all of the food around the world that we've sampled is a bit Americanised and will always taste different in each of the countries. I personally think that's a good thing, as it gives people another reason to visit the real thing! 
) I didn't remember seeing any PB's when I was on my last trip.
Ok, not a great start! 
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