Finding Walt: a DL TR: Update 2/23/12 - Page 16 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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Maybe it was the queue, but I rather enjoyed the Muppets in California better than WDW?! Or maybe it's just me, I'm weird like that. I know I really enjoyed the Monsters Inc ride - classic dark ride!
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After we finished the ride everyone was hungry--so Karen led us out of the parks into the Grand Californian to have lunch. Zack had a pizza, Karen had the kid's grilled cheese and I had a cheese burger. I'd be back to Roaring Waters a couple of more times during my stay. --Including breakfast the next day!
Up Next; Dinner at Steakhouse 55!
Did you mean White Water Snacks at the Grand instead of Roaring Waters? lol
Well, that explains how we never met up that Sunday. I had texted Sharon around lunchtime to tell her we were eating at DCA and would head over to DL after that...which was probably around the time that you were going from DL to DCA!
When Sharon texted later that you were hanging out before going to dinner, we were in Frontierland, I think, and my kids were done in. I knew there was no way they'd last until after your dinner!
Now I'm looking forward to hearing about your dinner!
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Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
Everyone decided it was time for a break and so we headed out to find somewhere to watch Football! We discovered that Trader Sam's is always busy and I don't think we saw a TV inside. It was too dark to take good photos inside and I didn't want to disrupt the room with flash photography. I did take two photos of the outside which you can see in my previous post.
Well ESPN Club was a mad house and tables were not to be found. The outside bar at House of Blues was closed and we eventually found a completely empty bar at Tortilla Joe's where we scored some yummy margaritas, chips and salsa, and football. And then it was nap time. I caught a taxi back to the Anaheim Marriott and took a bath and read for awhile. The absolute best thing about Bath and Body Works Body Wash is that it doubles as a bubble bath--so you only have to bring one.
I decided to walk back to the Disneyland Hotel the long way down Harbor Blvd to see what the other offsite hotels looked like. I was not impressed. They all look like motels--outside entryways and might possibly have been offering hourly rates. Finally I saw one that was all lit up and pretty. As I got closer I realized it wasn't a hotel at all but the Tower of Terror inside DCA.
I arrived a little early at DLH and took a lot of photos.
I'm going to spare you most of it, but they have great concept art all over the hotel's first and second floors.
Where you can meet Santa
Okay I'm going to share some of the concept art, but I promise not all 50 photos.
On to dinner. I met Karen and Sharon at the front of Steakhouse 55. I'm sorry that there aren't any photos from this meal, because of a kitchen snafu.
I had a glass of wine to start and I believe Karen and Sharon both ordered the filet or the New York with sides of garlic mashed potatoes. I ordered the rib eye and steamed asparagus.
Well surprise, surprise. My steak came out medium well done. I ordered it Black and Blue. That's something I only do in steakhouses because it's a bit of an unusual order and it's generally only understood in steakhouses. In case this is your first Heather trip report that has a steakhouse in it--black and blue means that the steak is blackened on the outside and raw in the middle. In order to achieve that the steak is seasoned and goes down on a screaming hot cast iron pan for just a minute or two on each side. Just long enough to get a nice crust on the outside, but not cook the middle. My steak was certainly blackened, but it was medium well to well done in the middle. I called the waiter back and explained the problem. He told me that he put it in the computer the way that I ordered it--they have a button for black and blue. (It was pretty obvious that he had no idea what the order meant.) I ordered another glass of wine while I waited for my recook. I told Karen and Sharon to go ahead and eat--otherwise their food would be cold and there was certainly no reason to ruin all three meals.
I realize that my preferred steak preparation is a pain in the butt, but it's the way I like it. I don't order it in regular restaurants, I order medium rare, however, when all you do all night is cook steaks . . . I expect to be able to get a black and blue, or for that matter a Pittsburgh medium rare.
The chef brought my steak out and it was cooked properly the second go round. He also picked up my now cold asparagus and came back with a fresh one for me in no time at all.
I was surprised, during this time, that we did not see a manager or a supervisor. Nothing was taken off the bill either. I generally expect one or the other when something like this happens. I certainly wasn't looking for a free meal, but I did expect to see the restaurant manager at the table at some point.
After we settled the bill Karen, and Karen nicely paid for my wine, and Sharon were ready to head back to the parks. I was really tired so I declined. I think they were both surprised, but I was still fighting the cold/flu thing so I caught a cab back to my hotel and had a couple of glasses of wine at the hotel bar and packed it in for the night.
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Great photos of the concept art! I love seeing how the Imagineers "saw" things in the design and planning phase.
Bummer about the steak. It sounds like the restaurant didn't do a good job with follow-up (no manager, etc.), but at least they "fixed" the problem on the second meal. I hope the steak was tasty at least!
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
Love the concept art too. And I would happily look at all 50 photos.
Sorry there was an issue with your meal, but glad it was fixed. It is strange that no one else came to address the issue.
I love all the photos from the DLH. I'm glad you finally got your steak the way it was ordered, but someone from management certainly should have come over to apologize.
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Pixie Dust
Disney Magic - Oct 2015
PassPorter Guide Author
I agree, the least you should expect is someone to come out and talk to you about what happened. 
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