The "Thank Goodness for Normal" Trip PTR - Page 6 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
So we check in at LeCellier and it's about a 2 minute wait. We get seated in the middle of the restaurant area two doors from the kitchen. Our waiter was less than impressive. SS and I had cheddar cheese soup, DH had the crab cake thing; SS and I had filet and DH had the strip. For dessert I had the creme brulee, DH had the apple dessert and SS had the chocolate mousse.
Now, this is where you need a little preface. We're a foodie family. We all love to cook and SS and I love to bake. DH is a grilling god. We even do a Thanksgiving turkey on the grill. So I had really high hopes for this place and that may have been bad.
Anywho...DH was not impressed. In fact he was thrilled we were on the dining plan and hadn't actually handed over cash for the meal. As for SS and I...it was good but DH does a better filet and everything else was just good. I was expecting more than good and maybe that was the problem. I know you don't go to WDW for the food, but I thought you went to LeCellier for it. Anyhow, we can say we did it and now we can feel free to do the other countries. It's not a re-do for us. 100_1808.jpg 100_1803.jpg
It wasn't bad...it just wasn't all that and a bag of chips.
As we came out it started to rain. Rain...not good. We were in shorts and DH is the type to where shorts and sandals in snow...but for some reason this rain was cold. And we had to go from Canada to the CBR bus and SS, DS, and DH were tired. So...what combats tired...retail therapy. I ran into the big store, bought DH a hoodie and ignored the whining that was emerging by threatening to sing It's A Small World.
Once on the bus we were all good and DS and SS decided to go swimming when we got back because the rain had stopped. I hit the hot tub and had a drink. All was right with the world.
This is the point of the vacation where I felt like I entered a bad 70s movie. I'm sitting in the hot tub just relaxing the muscles and the brain. There's about 6 people in...ages ranging from 13 - 75. There all talking about this cute kid, he's funny, he's nice, he's just a lot of fun. They ask me if I have met him. Don't know...what's his name. "Jason". Now that's DS's name and I'm thinking it can't be him. He's only been to the pool like twice since we've been here and he's only 7...that's right 7. Not 17, not 27....7. So DS comes over to the hot tub from the pool and everyone in the hot tub, like a scene from "Cheers" says "Hi Jason." And someone actually introduces me to my own son.
Only my son.
Weather was: cool and windy bordering on cold
Best thing: TT and SE
Worst thing: LeCellier
Funniest thing: Head butting chip and DS with Stitch
Today we tried: Le Cellier
it was: disappointing
Most Magical Moment: DS finding Stitch first thing and eating a pretzel with him
This is the point of the vacation where I felt like I entered a bad 70s movie. I'm sitting in the hot tub just relaxing the muscles and the brain. There's about 6 people in...ages ranging from 13 - 75. There all talking about this cute kid, he's funny, he's nice, he's just a lot of fun. They ask me if I have met him. Don't know...what's his name. "Jason". Now that's DS's name and I'm thinking it can't be him. He's only been to the pool like twice since we've been here and he's only 7...that's right 7. Not 17, not 27....7. So DS comes over to the hot tub from the pool and everyone in the hot tub, like a scene from "Cheers" says "Hi Jason." And someone actually introduces me to my own son.
Maybe instead of a 70's movie it was Hot Tub Timemachine??
Bummer about your LeCellier experience---I am going in Aigust for the first time and I sure hope we enjoy it! But DH loves steak--no matter the quality!
Your wait was quick! I assume that was with an ADR...
First of all, the hot tub story is so funny!!!!!!! Sounds like he just might keep you smiling!!!
About LeCellier..........I was afraid you were going to have a less than perfect experience. If you remember, our meal at Coral Reef wasn't the best either. It wasn't the food with us though, just the overall experience. Both places get lots of good reviews too, so maybe we just hit on a bad day????
I really wanted to try LeCellier next trip, but had Teppan Edo as another choice.
And speaking of the weather that day........it was downright cold, especially the later in the day it got!!! BRRR!!
First, thanks to everyone who has been reading...it's keeping me going (and no that wasn't a guilt trip).
DAY FOUR - MK
After a cold night DH decided to do laundry and sleep in. But have no fear, mom is here. DS, SS and I headed out for MK first thing. We didn't make rope drop but we did have breakfast at MSB. SS and I got "crack on a coissant" (ham, egg and cheese) as he puts it. DS had donuts. We decided we would just kind of go where the day took us. Right about then the glass blower started. I kid you not, this guy (Luis?) had DS and SS riveted...I mean RIVETED...for at least 45 minutes. It was nice to watch, wander, watch, wander, you get the idea.
After that we wandered down to the train station. As usual SS explained that he had to HAVE, not want but NEED, fudge. My standard "on the way out today" seemed to hold him off. Off we went to the train. We sat in the front, but there was a little girl on her first trip in front of us who was celebrating her bday. She was mesmerized by our pins. I explained to her (and her parents) about them and she instantly got the "future pin addict" glaze over. On the way off in Frontierland I gave her a princess pin to start her collection. DS gave her one too. I was rather proud of him because he doesn't share his pins with anyone.
We went up to BTMRR. This is DS's favorite MK ride and we pretty much walked right on. Everyone was happy. To keep up the happiness we headed to SS's favorite ride...POTC. Two for two we wandered around. It was nice. We hit HM and then wandered over to Fantasyland. We knocked off SW, IASW, and Pooh. Then we backed to CHH...our favorite CS in MK. By then the boys were starting to feel the non-stop couple of days. We headed out down Main St. but SS pointed out that we hadn't had a Dole Whip that day.... Off to get that.
We decided that the best way to have a Dole Whip is to wander around Main St shops. SS and I were extremely jealous of DH's new hoodie so it was into the Emporium to rectify that shortcoming. SS got a blue and orange one and I got the classic grey. (DH's was white and plaid. When we got back to the room guess who announces he likes mine better I haven't worn it more than 5 times since.)
Anywho...SS, who on a good day can't remember to turn in completed homework, seems to have the mind of a steel trap in MK. "Mom, you said we could get fudge." as he slurps a Dole Whip. Into the Sweet Shop. SS gets fudge, DS got the giant straw of sugar...which is really what they should just call it. I got DH and I some treats too.
By now it was 2 or so and we had a 5:00pm ADR for WCC so off to the resort to collect DH.
Great day with the boys @ MK!!! I did laundry too before we headed to DHS....we had a rainy day there, but you guys look as dry as a bone!!?? I can't wait to read your review of WCC as it is on our ADR list for next trip. BTW...love both your pin collections!!! All the goodies you bought sound YUMMY!!!
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.
"Anywho...SS, who on a good day can't remember to turn in completed homework, seems to have the mind of a steel trap in MK. "Mom, you said we could get fudge." as he slurps a Dole Whip. ."
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.
About This Page: 
All was right with the world.
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
and hooray for Stitch's timing!
Deb
. Your Jason sounds a bit like Stefanie, charming the folks. 
It wasn't the food with us though, just the overall experience. Both places get lots of good reviews too, so maybe we just hit on a bad day????
Susan
Off to get that. 
Into the Sweet Shop. SS gets fudge, DS got the giant straw of sugar...which is really what they should just call it. I got DH and I some treats too.
Linear Mode
