Everything is Subject to Change Updated 7/6 - Page 27 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
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Welcome back! I can't wait to hear about your trip. How were the crowds and weather? There's a tiny possibility I may be able to spend a few days at WDW next year around the same time, but with 2 kids along, I'm not sure how they would handle extreme crowds or weather (not that I can really plan for the weather!).
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Can't wait to hear about it, Heather! (Sorry I dropped off for awhile there. My computer was being a poop and kept freezing up. So we got a new one. Much better!)
Okay everyone! Sorry for the delays, but work has been kicking my butt. I'm really tired tonight too, but I feel like I need to get this started or it won't get done at all!
There are very few pictures from the first part of the first day, so bear with me! I arose, Sunday morning, very close to the crack of dawn after working all night on Saturday. I did manage to get a few hours of sleep, so that was good. I headed out to the Denny's at the airport, where I think I had an omelet and a side salad instead of hash browns and toast. That would be the last attempt at dieting for this trip. I decided on day one that it was silly to try and keep to a real diet, but I did take note of the items on the menus that would have been diet friendly. I just wouldn't have enjoyed myself very much. Mr. Willpower decided the same thing. I can tell you that with all the walking I did--I only put a pound and a half on during the course of the week--and it is already gone again!
I checked in a little late for my flight on Saturday morning, and ended up with B37 or something. However, when I boarded the full flight the aisle seat in the second row was still available. I like sitting near the front of the plane. I get frustrated by people who can't handle their luggage when they are disembarking. If you can't lift it out of the overhead bin--you overpacked your carry on!
Brandon's flight landed early and I met him in the SWA terminal at MCO, near the fake monorail pick up point. We headed to DME and were on a bus VERY quickly. Of course we were, as usual, the last stop. The DME bus stopped at Pop, POFQ, and OKW before dropping us off at SSR. I felt like it took forever, but I guess I was hungry and anxious to get the vacation started. We arrived at checkin shortly before 1pm and were surprised to discover that our room was ready. Not only was it ready, but it was in Congress Park, which is our favorite location--because you can easily walk to and from DTD!
Instead of heading straight for the room, we went directly to Artist Palate because we were both starving. We split a chicken caesar salad and the Toga Wrap. The Toga wrap is basically a turkey wrap on a whole wheat tortilla. I also grabbed a bottle of water because I was pretty dehydrated from the flight. The salad was okay--the chicken was cubed and definitely not a freshly grilled chicken breast, but it tasted pretty good. I would definitely order the wrap again--it was very good. We tried to keep this meal pretty light because dinner was early and we were both headed to the Spa next.
We took our bags to the room, freshened up a little and headed for the spa.
Brandon had a regular Swedish Massage. He said he felt much better afterwards, but found it funny that Disney limits where the masseuse is allowed to work--example: the leg massage ends at mid thigh and they won't work your glutes at all. This is not the case at any spa in Vegas or New Orleans. Those of us who stand all day typically have sore hips etc. His masseuse also wasn't really strong enough to work out all the kinks. I believe the cost was $120 after the discount and the tip.
I had the Adirondack Stone Massage. I was really looking forward to it, but I was disappointed to discover that they don't do a typical stone massage, as I've never had one. My understanding of a traditional stone massage is that hot stones are used to relax the muscles by placing them on specific points and massaging them in, followed by a cold stone, which "pops" the knots! The Saratoga Springs stone massage was basically a regular massage, but masseuse used hot stones in her hands to help work the muscles. The only time cold stones were used were in the first part of the massage, which was described as a facial relaxation technique. I do have to let you know that my hamstrings were in a bad way after work on Saturday. I had lifted so many heavy trays/kegs/etc that it hurt when I was trying to sit down. I let the woman who worked on me know this and she put a beating on my legs. They still hurt afterward, but from the knots being worked out instead of cramped. It took me several days to fully recover. I spent a lot of time in the hot tub on two different days.
The Spa at SSR is fully equipped with an exercise room, waiting room, and m/f locker rooms that have whirlpools, saunas, and steam rooms. There are also showers (with shampoo, conditioner, and shower gel), toilets, and an area with hairdryers, and other getting ready necessities like deodorant, mouthwash, and combs. You can ask the attendant for a razor if you need one.
While I was getting myself back to presentable--I had to get the massage oil out of my hair, I got a text from Brandon saying he'd meet me in the Turf Club Lounge. I spent a little time in the whirlpool and the steam room before showering and drying my hair. I found Brandon enjoying a Bombay Sapphire martini in the Lounge. I got a Superfruit Margarita ( Tierras Organic Blanco tequila, VeeV Acai liqueur, agave nectar, pomegranate and freshly squeezed lime juice. Thanks to http://www.partythroughtheparks.com/...cocktail-menu/ for the ingredients)
People were lining up to check in, we just waited until a little before 5pm and got ourselves checked in and seated, once the line had disappeared. The Turf Club was previously one of my hidden gems of Walt Disney World dining. Notice, I said previously. We'll be back to try it again, but this was not the best of visits!
The Turf Club at Saratoga Springs quick review:
What we ordered:
Roasted Mushrooms - stuffed with spinach, cheese, and garlic $9.99
Umm this would be great . . . if a little more thought and a lot more salt and pepper were used. Both of us were extremely surprised to discover that they were stuffing TINY regular old white button mushrooms. I believe there were six on the plate. This would be a great dish if they used a slightly larger mushroom--like a crimini mushroom (baby portobello). I'm not sure what kind of cheese they were using--the menu didn't indicate, but it wasn't one with a lot of flavor and the entire dish needed a generous helping of salt and pepper. This trend would continue!
Tomato Bisque - served with Herbed Goat Cheese $5.49
Oh dear has this dish gone down hill. In past visits the goat cheese was baked . . . the goat cheese was placed in the bottom of the soup bowl and stuck under the broiler. The tomato bisque was poured on top of the baked cheese goodness at the table. Now when the soup arrives at the table a ice cream scoop of NOT baked goat cheese is floating around in your soup. I still liked it, but nowhere near as much as the previous version. (You may remember a previous review where the mussels and the tomato soup were served as a "sampler" They apparently took our advice and stopped doing that!)
Turf Club Signature Grilled Romaine Salad - lightly grilled hearts of Romaine with Caesar dressing, Balsamic Vinegar Reduction, and roasted cherry tomatoes $5.49
The salad was tasty . . . once we added salt and pepper!
Steamed Prince Edward Island Mussels $11.99
Ermm Salt . . . and Pepper? This was pretty good, once we adjusted the seasoning!
Fried Calamari - with garlic mayonnaise and spicy marinara sauce $9.99
Yeah, we were hungry, and this was probably the best thing that showed up on the table. the calamari was nicely fried and both of the sauces were good--we ate quite a lot of calamari on this trip and this one ranked up there among the best!
I am not writing the Turf Club off. In fact, I'm sure we'll eat there every time we stay at SSR because the evolution of the restaurant has been like a journey for me the last few years. They are constantly changing the menu and tweeking the items offered. Some of the changes have been good and some have been not so good. The service is always good, and it was tonight, and I really enjoy sitting out on the porch over looking the golf course. In case anyone is interested I switched to a Sauvignon Blanc and Brandon was drinking Heinekin during dinner.
Here's my basic problem with the menu--it appears that they are trying to elevate the dishes on the menu. The entree offerings include Prime Rib, Salmon, Sustainable Fish of the Day, and the burger is now a surf and turf option topped with lobster. They have added a mint glazed lamb chop and a free range chicken dish. However, they are still offering things like onion rings and a pulled buffalo chicken dip as appetizers. I know that they are trying to be family friendly, but really the chef needs to decide if it is going to be an affordable fine dining menu or pub food. The lunch menu is definitely leaning towards pub food--burgers and sandwiches as entrees. I also understand that they are now serving breakfast, but we didn't try it--we were afraid of eggs without salt and pepper.
I believe that our bill came to about $75. It included a beer and two glasses of wine. Not too bad for dinner at Disney--we just wish that someone in the kitchen wasn't so afraid of seasoning the food. Honestly, this was probably the worst meal of the week--oh no wait I'm lying--I had a worse meal later in the week after Brandon had already left. In saying that it was the worst meal of the week--it really wasn't that bad. We had a week of stellar meals at some really great places! I can't wait to tell you all about them! Oh I also promise that I took photos at almost all of the remaining meals!
Up next . . . a quick trip to the MK and a second dinner!
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Excellent review. Sorry that the meal was not quite to the standard they are trying to present. One good thing is that salt and pepper are usually close at hand and easily applied. I look forward to reading the rest of your report.
Glad the spa helped work out some of the kinks, even if it was not what you expected. Sorry the Turf Club turned out to be not so hot this trip...hopefully they will work out the kinks so that he next time you are there you will get more of what you have gotten in the past. I am so looking forward to hearing all your dining reviews
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Back Heather!!! Can't wait to read about your trip!!!
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