He says we are staying at Motel 6 and dining at Denny’s....The TR. (AKA – Birthday surprises for Terri) - Complete 10/3 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 31,940
Post Thanks / Like
Likes (Given): 2
Likes (Received): 7
Thanks (Given): 0
Thanks (Received): 1
Pixie Dust (Given): 0
Pixie Dust (Received): 0
Quote:
Originally Posted by LLaffinPlace
I do hope to dine at V&A's sometime. I expect that if I do it, I will hold out for the Chef's Table--maybe for my <gulp> 21st anniversary of my 39th Birthday!
Larry - we overheard the couple at the table next to ours talking with the Maitre D about the Chef's table. He says it is booked 6 months in advance almost every night - so start calling as soon as reservations open up if you want that special meal. Of course the do offer the Queen Victoria Room - that is a mix of the Prix Fix and the Chef's table menus... just a thought.
PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 31,940
Post Thanks / Like
Likes (Given): 2
Likes (Received): 7
Thanks (Given): 0
Thanks (Received): 1
Pixie Dust (Given): 0
Pixie Dust (Received): 0
Day 3 - the Go home day How did it get here so quickly? Wasn't I just in Clearwater?? Ok - so we got up this morning at a decent hour and Chris decided instead of free things in the lounge - he wanted something a little more substantial - from Whispering Canyon Cafe. So we headed down and in about 2 minutes were seated with Miss Roxy. Now if you remember our July trip when we stayed at VWL, we had breakfast with Roxy then too. She saw us come in - yelled "They are MINE" - and rushed us to a table! I guess she remembered us (well she remembered my peanut and coconut allergies and got the chef). Chef Dan came out to talk to me - seems like the only thing I can't eat at WCC (at least at breakfast) is the smoothies (coconut milk) and chocolate cake (coconut oil in the icing...).
Miss Roxy, Chris and I back in July at WCC
We both ordered the meat and eggs platter with biscuits (I was so craving biscuits) and Roxy brought out an iced tea for us to share (she remembered that too!).
After our rootin' tootin' breakfast - we decided it was time to head to the last of the birthday surprises - a 50 minutes couple's massage at the Grand Floridian spa - but Chris wanted to finish the iced tea first.
Glad his kidneys work really well!!
We decided to go upstairs to get our bags, call for bell services to load everything into the car and head to MK. Chris got to use the special gold key to the world card one last time.
We loaded everything in the car and drove to the GF. We approached the guard shack, and he tried to get us to turn around and self park, until I said we were valeting... then he let us go right through. We toured around the resort a little more, seeing things we had missed the night before and then we walked to the spa.
Chris likes a good massage as much as I do
YES!!!!
PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 31,940
Post Thanks / Like
Likes (Given): 2
Likes (Received): 7
Thanks (Given): 0
Thanks (Received): 1
Pixie Dust (Given): 0
Pixie Dust (Received): 0
After a VERY relaxing massage treatment... we headed to the Magic Kingdom to finish out my birthday weekend trip.
We arrived on Main Street USA and saw the Dapper Dans performing.
As they finished - the lead singer called Chris and I over - and Chris captured the whole thing on video -
It was so cute - and I am glad Chris brought the video camera. Here is the picture I took while Chris was videoing.
We decided we were hungry - and hoped that we could get a table at the Plaza. After we walked up - we waited about 25 minutes and then were seated near the door to the kitchen.
I took a few more photos while we waited for our seats.
My favorite window in WDW.
After we were seated - I ordered a cheeseburger without the bun, with onions and mushrooms added to it.
Chris had the tuna salad.
While we were eating - two of the Main Street performers came through the restaurant.
We also decided that we wanted dessert - we both chocolate chip mint ice cream
After lunch we decided to ride a few rides. We did notice that the crowds were heavier than I have seen them in a while. First up was Haunted mansion.
My one beef with this ride is the stretching room unloading/doom buggy loading area - where they take a huge MASS of people and squeeze them down into a one person-wide queue.
Then we headed to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - where we waited about 35 minutes to board our train -
The gentleman in front of me DESPERATELY needed to be introduced to antiperspirant/deodorant! When I got within 5 feet of him, I thought I would vomit or pass out... ugh!!
I was getting a little cranky from the heat - not to mention Mr. Smelly... so we opted to head toward tomorrowland - stopping in Akabar for "Snakeman" Sellers to play with some friends.
We rode Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin - and I beat Chris again!
My score
His score.
Chris has decided he needs to come ride Buzz over and over until he figures out how to shoot and score in this game. He swears he can't see the laser beam....
I wanted to ride the TTA Peoplemover - but it appeared to be down and I was not feeling well enough to ride Space Mountain. Instead - we walked back toward Fantasyland, since we had FastPasses for Peter Pan that were almost ripe. We did stop by the entrance of Toon Town for a photo or two.
I didn't take photos at Peter Pan. I was cranky and tired. I admit it. After Peter Pan, we left MK and headed back to GF by boat for our last meal at WDW before heading home - a new one for both of us - Citricos.
We were seated right away and our server introduced herself and started us with a bread course with citrus salted butter (it was yummy. She even told me how to make citrus infused sea salt... now to actually DO it). The chef came to talk to me about mt allergies, and we placed out orders.
I started with the Florida yellow tomato Gazpacho - which include citrus infused lump crab.
Chris decided not to start with a soup or salad course.
He opted for the Pan-seared Florida Black Grouper with Braised Fennel and Fregula Pasta. It came with a Tomato and Saffron Sauce with Olive Oil Crostini.
I had the Oak-grilled Filet of Beef with spanish onions, Peppadew and Banana peppers with Quattro Formaggi-Crushed potatoes and veal glace de Viande.
I had ordered it medium rare, and it came out over cooked and I had to send it back and have a new one prepared.
We ordered dessert - I don't have the dessert menu, but All Ears says I had the "A Sweet Ending to Your Celebration: Lemon Cheesecake - with fresh raspberry sauce"
While Chris had the Tiramisu -
After our dinner was complete, we got the car and drove back to JAX. It was a wonderful birthday- better than I had hoped. I will admit that I was probably not the most thankful gracious wife on Sunday evening, since I was really tired and cranky... and I have apologized since to DH, since he really went above and beyond for this one (now how to match/beat for his 44th in May!!! Better get on the phone with the evil travel agent).
Next up - a weekend with two great ladies for MNSSHP (the 2nd part of the He Told me to Pack My bags TRs)!
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.
That video of Chris and the Dapper Dans is amazing!! Gave me goosebumps....you've definitely got a keeper in him, my Chris would be embarrassed to get up and sing on Main Street!
Your meal at V & A looked wonderful! I'm not sure that I'd be so adventurous! Were you super full after all that? Or were the servings sizes small enough that you got to really enjoy each without becoming overstuffed?
You looked wonderful in your pix before your dinner! Very nice....I always resist dressing up, but I was very happy with our pictures done on the cruise, so I'll probably do more of that on our next one.
WOW! What a birthday - hopefully it took away most of the pain of 30-10!
I may need to start dropping hints for my 30-20 to DH. Would LOVE to go to V&A (and don't think he has enough time to plan for 30-15). The food looked amazing. Previously I've wondered if it is really worth the $$$$, but after seeing your pictures, the answer seems to be
That husband of yours is a keeper! Happy Birthday
what a great Trip Report it got me thinking about I really need to pre-pair and do a weekend birthday trip with in the next few years! Loved seeing the food photo's o V&A. Happy Birthday!
__________________
Hallie and Her Portuguese Water Dogs Triton and Paris, and Her Bearded Collie Emma
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.
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
How did it get here so quickly? Wasn't I just in Clearwater?? Ok - so we got up this morning at a decent hour and Chris decided instead of free things in the lounge - he wanted something a little more substantial - from Whispering Canyon Cafe. So we headed down and in about 2 minutes were seated with Miss Roxy. Now if you remember our July trip when we stayed at VWL, we had breakfast with Roxy then too. She saw us come in - yelled "They are MINE" - and rushed us to a table! I guess she remembered us (well she remembered my peanut and coconut allergies and got the chef). Chef Dan came out to talk to me - seems like the only thing I can't eat at WCC (at least at breakfast) is the smoothies (coconut milk) and chocolate cake (coconut oil in the icing...).
We might have to try that next time we stay at VWL.
chocolate chip mint ice cream
PassPorter Guide Author
Kudos to Chris! 
Linear Mode
