Don't Stop - the Pocono mountains section COMPLETED - Page 10 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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
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Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
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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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So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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Of course, I just had to buy a Hershey moo cow in the shop when we came off the ride. Although I was disappointed to find that they didn’t have any cow fridge magnets, which was definitely a mistake on their part, as I’d have bought one of those.
We bought a few bits and pieces, including some chocolate popcorn, hoping it would be like the popcorn we got in Tokyo Disney, but sadly it was nothing like that. We had a look around the rest of the visitors’ centre.
Eventually we headed over to the park. At this point, I have to talk about the weather. Oh my goodness, it was so cold out. Despite all my layers and I had a lot of them on, I was still freezing. I think I lost feeling in my legs (apart from ironically enough my feet, which were warm for once with all the socks I was wearing! ), my fingers and my nose.
The park was beautiful, with all the Christmas lights around, but boy, it was cold. I know it was bad, when even Sue and Steve started to say about the weather. I think, with windchill, it worked out to about 0 degrees Fahrenheit.
We saw most of the festive celebrations, but passed on any of the rides. How people were going on things like the sky ride was beyond us. It must’ve been absolutely freezing up there.
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We saw most of the festive celebrations, but passed on any of the rides. How people were going on things like the sky ride was beyond us. It must’ve been absolutely freezing up there.
It can definitely get really cold there, and I will admit that I was once one of those people! We got on this one ride that shot you up in the air like a pendulum, and my teeth felt like ice cubes in my mouth!!! Not a good idea...you were very smart to stay on the ground!
Those are fantastic pictures of the little tour! I've always wondered what it was like since I know they don't take you into the ACTUAL factory. It still looked pretty interesting and worthwhile.
Yep, I hear ya' on the cold weather. That's about the temperature where I can't stand it anymore!! Brrrrrr.....
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Those are fantastic pictures of the little tour! I've always wondered what it was like since I know they don't take you into the ACTUAL factory. It still looked pretty interesting and worthwhile.
Yep, I hear ya' on the cold weather. That's about the temperature where I can't stand it anymore!! Brrrrrr.....
A long time ago in a Hersheypark far far away, you used to tour the actual factory! I was a child then, but I vividly remember the overpowering chocolate smell. This tour is cute, and they've revamped it over the past few years. (The cows are new....)
It was bitter cold that night...I believe it got into the single digits. <insert shivering smiley here>. But it's such a pretty time of year at Hershey, I think it was worth it!
I've had Hershey, PA on my list of places I'd like to vacation to some day, and now I've bumped it up a little. Coud be from the chocolate high I've been on with both your trip reports!
Monday 28 December – part five: success in Skeeball!
We made our way through all the Candy Lane areas, with me getting more and more cold, if that was possible, as we walked along.
To try and warm me up, Steve suggested going into an arcade to play Skeeball, with Mark. I had never come across this before. Basically, you throw a ball and see if you can get it into a hole that then adds up, with different points for different holes. Mark and Steve played a couple of games and Steve won each of them, but then on the last one, Mark took on Steve and obviously found his stride, as he was able to get 240 points, which entailed him to pick a small soft toy for his success, so he happily displayed his as he walked around the park for the rest of the night.
We headed back and saw the version of the dancing lights, which were very cool, but obviously not in the league of the Osborne Spectacle of Lights. We stood and watched that for a while and then headed back towards the entertainment.
By now, I was exhausted and every step was really hard work, the more steps a I took. Finally, we were back at the car and I was able to start warming up, as we drove along, particularly in the front passenger seat, which comes with a seat warmer. Very nice.
We looked for a while for the Hershey Hotel and finally found it. Oh my goodness, what a place! I had no idea that it would be this nice or this big. : Sue got directions to the restaurant that she wanted to eat at and we had to go back outside to get to it.
On the way, we passed the swimming pool and it was all frozen, which was a bit surreal. I can imagine that this place is quite something in the summer. Even now, it looked impressive enough, but when everything is open, I bet it’s even more spectacular. Right outside the restaurant was an ice skating rink, which was really neat.
We went in and were told that there was nothing in the restaurant until 8.30, which we had been told at front desk, in fairness. However, they then said that if we were happy to sit at the bar, then we should be able to get a table there and indeed we could. There were lots of tables in there, although it did take us a while to get served, as the bartender kept getting stopped for drinks and couldn’t get out to us. Scott was very nice and did his best to look after us, that was when people stopped asking him for drinks.
A familiar pose from Steve! Cheers!
We all went for appetisers, with Mark and Steve getting the Amish chicken noodle soup and me getting the she crab soup. How it differed from ordinary crab soup, I’m not so sure but it was a signature dish of the Hershey Hotel anyway. Sue had housemade potato and cheese pirogues, which she let both of us try. It’s an interesting dish and one I had never come across before. Apparently, it’s Polish, so she informed us.
Apologies for the out-of-focus shot here
For entree, I went with the Chesapeake seafood stew, with braised monkfish, clams, mussels, shrimps, crab and spicy tomato broth, after checking that the broth wouldn’t be too spicy and it wasn’t. The problem was how much there was of it. I actually ate most of the seafood in it, but it didn’t look like I’d even tried by the time I finished. Sue was having the same problem with the sandwich she’d ordered.
Mark went for the apple and sage stuffed double-cut pork chop and we all agreed that, while the food was good, there was just far too much of it.
The bill came to $175 for the four of us, which included two glasses of Riesling for me and two Jack Daniels and coke for Steve. I loved the way he asked Sue if she was driving back and, when she said yes, she was, he ordered his second.
Hershey Hotel:
Appetiser 8˝ 8
Entree 8 9
Service 8 8
Atmosphere 8˝ 8˝
Value for money 8 8
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