The Good, The Bad and The Buggy - Nov 2011 TR - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
The buggy comes later,but I'm under strict orders not to ruin anything by commenting on anything too soon.Wait till I tell you about........................
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.
Love the pics of the pool area at BLT.
That red velvet cupcake looked delish as did your dinner at AP.
Thanks! They both were very yummy. Just wish I remembered the pics of the entrees.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OneLittleSpark
Sounds like a nice afternoon of relaxing and a little shopping followed by a yummy dinner!
Can't wait to hear about the F&WF!
It was a full rich day.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
Dinner looked delicious Especially that Red Velvet cupcake!!!
That cupcake was good - but rich!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great dinner!
Thanks
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
Awesome food!
It was really good.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ilovedisney247
Hmm I was wondering where the buggy came from in the title--I guess this is the beginning of buggy. Dinner at AP looks great!
Oh, Heather. That was just the START of the bugginess. Just wait. There will be more. And AP was really good! It's in my top 5.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeL
So glad to hear you enjoyed WAT To bad about missing LoLK. Artist Point is one of my fav. rest. in all of WDW. If Chuck is a seafood lover have to reccomend Mussels they were fantastic
Chuck said he almost got the mussels. We didn't exactly miss FotLK. We just missed it - that day. But I'm giving away some of my TR.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChukkerB
The buggy comes later,but I'm under strict orders not to ruin anything by commenting on anything too soon.Wait till I tell you about........................
You ARE! You can't even tell them about the time we . . .
1st off - sorry about all the rather large photos. I've been trying to resize (unsuccessfully) on photobucket. I think I may have it down now. (Or maybe it was them - idk) Secondly - We ordered our photopass CD! So hopefully, we will have professional photos (other than the WAT) before we are done with this TR! 3rd - WARNING - FOOD PICS!
Now on with the show -
11/5 - Saturday
Got up around 8ish, again before the alarm and before Chuck. We had a cup of coffee. I brought coffee from home so we can have a cup while we are getting ready and not have to run over to the Café just to fill up our mugs. Besides - I bring the good stuff - Starbucks! We left and got to the bus stop at about 8:45 and were waiting for the DHS bus as we had a 10 am ressie at Kouzzina and were going to take the bus to DHS and then the boat on over. Well, by 9:15 when the bus to DHS STILL hadn’t arrived, we walked over to the MK and took a bus directly to Boardwalk. That was the most convenient thing about BLT. Just walk to MK and catch a bus -simple.
Walking under the monorail on the way to MK
We got to BW on time, barely, but had to wait about 10 mins for our table. It was worth the wait. We had a table right in front of the open kitchen.
Kouzzina Kitchen
Chuck had the salmon and soft boiled eggs and I had the waffle with pecans and mascarpone. We both had press pot coffee (reg for Chuck and decaf for me) and it has to be the best coffee on property!
Salmon and soft boiled eggs with hash and capers
Waffle with pecan butter and mascarpone and chicken sausage
After a yummy breakfast, we caught the boat over to Epcot. Now, we had said that we weren’t going to go to Epcot on the weekend because of F&WF and the crowds were apt to be crazy. Well, that part of the plan went out the window and soon we were coming in the International Gateway (which is a first for us)
Apparently, we didn’t do much this day, because I didn’t write too many notes on it. We did walk and shop along the World Showcase. We found shoes in Germany for Chuck but he said we would come back and get them later in the week. We did some shopping in Japan and I got a neck pouch/wallet for me and a bag for Chuck. I wanted to get some earrings - pick a pearl. I showed them to Chuck and he encouraged me to do it but I wanted to think about it for a bit. The setting was almost $100. I knew we would be coming back to Epcot so there was no rush. We proceeded around the WS and when we got to UK, I found a purse I really liked. I was thinking about getting a new purse while I was there. I specifically wanted a Dooney and Burke. But when I looked at them, they felt like they were made out of vinyl, not leather. I was not going to spend $250 on a vinyl bag just for the name! Chuck was so sweet and was looking for other bags for me. He pointed out these ones in the UK and I really liked them, but like the earrings - no rush, I had time to think about it. (I knew it would be either the bag or the earrings, not both. Which did I get???? Wait and see - no spoiler here). And we stopped in to hear VOL - first for us. They were awesome! Gave me goosebumps.
I know we were overwhelmed with the crowds from the F&WF. Mostly the drunks were getting on our nerves. I actually saw a woman who you could tell was intoxicated, pushing a stroller and in the cup holders were two cups of beer. Lovely. I used to be a waitress, and I just wondered how some of these people were still getting served!
After a while of touring WS, our breakfast must've worn off because we were in China and Chuck got hungry. Like - need to eat NOW hungry and dinner wasn't until almost 8 pm. Well, the lines at most of the booths were over 30 mins long and he couldn't wait that long. So next thing I know, I'm following him out of the China pavillion into Lotus Blossom Cafe. He thought - China pavillion, good chinese food right? Wrong! It was (as Chuck says) mall food.
Shrimp fried rice
Orange chicken
apple filled egg roll (think McDonalds apple pie)
We didn’t stop at ANY of the food booths. We did stop in the caramel shop but that line was too long as well. Our “to get later” list was getting large - Chuck’s shoes, earrings or purse, caramel corn in Germany, a Grand Marnier slushie - at least we were keeping track. After window shopping the WS, we made our way over to FW. We rode TT and had a pretzel and Sprite while we watched these drummers who were drumming on kitchen stuff (kinda like the Jammitors but on portable stoves). We shopped MouseGear and got most of our souvenirs for other people knocked out. The cashier asked if we had an AP and I said “Why yes we do“. Well, she gave us 10% off! I didn’t know that you got a discount for that! WOW! Now I will be whipping that out every time we shop! Too bad it doesn’t work at home huh? We worked our way to the front of the park and took the bus back to the BLT to get ready for our dinner reservations at CG. We won’t have to travel to far for that one.
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.
Sounds like a great day! Unfortunately I have yet to hear much good news about CS in China. I don't think Chinese food is really conducive to fast food...you sort of need to have it made fresh for it to taste the way it's supposed to!
You were brave to "brave" the F&WF crowds on a weekend! Everything I've read about it makes it sound like a zoo!
Looking forward to your review of CG!
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
Sounds like a good day at Epcot, I'm sorry the crowds were so bad though. We did the WS the following day, 11/6, it was crowded but not awful. My DH and I both noticed though that Epcot during the F&WF at night is a totally different atmosphere. Lots of people drinking way too much, there were lots of obnoxious drunks. It definitely looses some of it's "family friendliness". Can't wait to hear about dinner at the Cali Grill!
For those of you who really like to "party"(meaning drink all you can,offend any,and all,and look like an idiot when you do) I apologize in advance. The Food and Wine Festival really sounds like a good time. Many countries,besides the ones in the WS are represented there.I'm sure it would be fine,if the drinking would be under control. I personally think it puts Disney in a bad light.Too many drunks spoil anything of this nature,and F&WF is no different. There seems to be no one to keep the drunks in check,however Coop and I usually walked fast enough thru the crown to avoid any problems. there was a guy who was wearing a video camera on his head and having girls sign his Tshirt.,he was almost comical if he wasn't so big,drunk,and scary.
We didn't do that much that day at Epcot,mostly we either walked somewhere to do something,waited to ride a ride,or waited on transportation.Those kind of days don't seem to be very special,but we were together,in Florida, on VACATION
need I say more.
PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Ballston Lake, NY
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 46,162
Post Thanks / Like
Likes (Given): 94
Likes (Received): 241
Thanks (Given): 0
Thanks (Received): 139
Pixie Dust (Given): 3
Pixie Dust (Received): 4
Sounds like you enjoyed yourselves at Epcot! I agree with you Chuck, that the drinking does get out of control at the F&WF, especially on the weekends. A few years ago, my friend and I made the mistake of going to Epcot on a Saturday night and it was wall to wall people, and there were many drunk people mixed in there. Needless to say, we didn't stay long. That just is not fun for anyone, and not how I want to spend my time at Disney.
While I understand and agree with all the comments about drunks at the F&WF or any place for that matter, I do have to say...It's the F& WINE festival. I think we kind of have to expect it with that name. Says it all IMO. Please understand, that I do hear what your all saying and agree. I am not much of a drinker myself...one of my gf's laughed at me bc I set a $75 budget for drinks for my 8 day trip in Sept. She said $75 would be her daily budget and it was mine for 8 days. Boy did she laugh even harder when I got home and told her that I spent exactly $20 out of that $75...I had 2 drinks the whole time we were there.
I don't get how people do it! I have seen TR where people have tons of FAB's, and all I can say is what I told me gf when she laughed...."I am there with my 7 year old. How much do I really need to drink?" Even if I don't have to drive or anything, still..... Kind of like you said about the lady with the stroller. Ew.
Sounds like you got a lot added to your shopping list though! Can't wait to hear about dinner.
Oh and Coop, get over to my TR I have posted new entries!
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.
For those of you who really like to "party"(meaning drink all you can,offend any,and all,and look like an idiot when you do) I apologize in advance. The Food and Wine Festival really sounds like a good time. Many countries,besides the ones in the WS are represented there.I'm sure it would be fine,if the drinking would be under control. I personally think it puts Disney in a bad light.Too many drunks spoil anything of this nature,and F&WF is no different. There seems to be no one to keep the drunks in check,however Coop and I usually walked fast enough thru the crown to avoid any problems. there was a guy who was wearing a video camera on his head and having girls sign his Tshirt.,he was almost comical if he wasn't so big,drunk,and scary.
I agree ChukkerB. I drink and so does my DH (not alot!) and one or two is fine, but when you have people running around Epcot totally smashed, I think that is a big deal since there are so many kids around and they get ran over or knocked down.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OneLittleSpark
While I understand and agree with all the comments about drunks at the F&WF or any place for that matter, I do have to say...It's the F& WINE festival. I think we kind of have to expect it with that name. Says it all IMO. Please understand, that I do hear what your all saying and agree. I am not much of a drinker myself...one of my gf's laughed at me bc I set a $75 budget for drinks for my 8 day trip in Sept. She said $75 would be her daily budget and it was mine for 8 days. Boy did she laugh even harder when I got home and told her that I spent exactly $20 out of that $75...I had 2 drinks the whole time we were there.
I don't get how people do it! I have seen TR where people have tons of FAB's, and all I can say is what I told me gf when she laughed...."I am there with my 7 year old. How much do I really need to drink?" Even if I don't have to drive or anything, still..... Kind of like you said about the lady with the stroller. Ew.
Sounds like you got a lot added to your shopping list though! Can't wait to hear about dinner.
Oh and Coop, get over to my TR I have posted new entries!
I understand it is the F&WINE festival, but I have seen this on every trip I have been on at Epcot (at night) . I think people just don't always think and realize where they are. It isn't a bar where there are no families and kids. My deal is that people need to think.
I understand it is the F&WINE festival, but I have seen this on every trip I have been on at Epcot (at night) . I think people just don't always think and realize where they are. It isn't a bar where there are no families and kids. My deal is that people need to think.
Agreed! There is a time and a place for everything, and I don't think Disney is the place to get rip roaring drunk being loud, obnoxious and downright rude. And yes, I'm talking to you the young group of twentysomethings that were screaming, cursing and talking about kicking eachother's a**es while in front of us walking out of the Mexico Pavillion!
I understand it is the F&WINE festival, but I have seen this on every trip I have been on at Epcot (at night) . I think people just don't always think and realize where they are. It isn't a bar where there are no families and kids. My deal is that people need to think.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JKnott17
Agreed! There is a time and a place for everything, and I don't think Disney is the place to get rip roaring drunk being loud, obnoxious and downright rude. And yes, I'm talking to you the young group of twentysomethings that were screaming, cursing and talking about kicking eachother's a**es while in front of us walking out of the Mexico Pavillion!
I agree with you ladies truly I do. I was not saying it's right or proper, just that I think that this accounts for some of it.
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: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
Especially that Red Velvet cupcake!!!
Melanie
"Sparky"(My first trip.)
Liz 
Linear Mode
