Free Disneyland Paris tickets? On y va! COMPLETED - Page 34 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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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.
Sunday 7 October – part eight: a Chip and Dale sandwich
Well, let’s talk food first... we both opted for the set menu, although this time it was Mark who wasn’t over-enamoured with the options for him. Sadly, he stuck with the menu, and I think that was his downfall.
For appetiser, we discussed this, as we were both thinking about the same two items, so we decided I’d get one, and Mark would get the other, and then we’d sample each other’s. I thought I’d drawn the short straw with the Lilo and Stitch soup, cappuccino style tomato, and basil soup with garlic bread, as in truth, it was my second choice, but actually, this was way better than I expected. The cappuccino part to this was essentially cream, but it was a very light cream, almost foam like, and it complimented the soup perfectly.
Mark had the Fantasia mushrooms, roast mushrooms with pesto, and to me this sounded absolutely Sadly, the reality didn’t quite match. I took a bite of them and decided that they really weren’t for me after all. They were just far too salty, and the pesto was overdone in my view. The mushrooms were nice, but the other flavours just dominated those. It was such a shame.
For entree, I went for the Little Mermaid’s Favourite, a fish risotto, made up of cod, salmon, skewer of scallops, and prawns, green asparagus, shellfish sauce, and pesto. After having tasted the appetiser with its overdose with pesto, I was a bit apprehensive about this. The second our server put it down on the table, I could smell the fish stock in it, it was overwhelming. This did worry me. Like the appetiser, would it just be too much? Thankfully not. The flavours were wonderful in it, and the fish was all very well cooked. I was a bit concerned about the scallops, as a knife didn’t slip easily through them, but it was fine when I ate them, they just melted in my mouth, a sign they’d been well cooked.
Mark, however, was not having such a good time with his choice of entree. As I mentioned earlier, he wasn’t pleased with the choice on the set menu, and told me he’d have liked the burger. Instead, he stuck with the set menu, and went for Pluto’s steak, rump steak, pepper sauce, served with French fries. As I think you can see from this photo, it was exceptionally dry on the plate, and definitely needed something else. Sadly, he told me that it tasted no better than it looked.
For dessert, I opted for Mushu’s tiramisu, tiramisu with red fruits. Being a huge fan of tiramisu, this sounded like a winner to me, especially as I checked the red fruits and was told they were strawberries. Great, I’m not allergic to those... Sadly, when it turned up, it really wasn’t what I expected at all. It looked nothing like a tiramisu....
... and just like Mark’s steak, the taste was exactly what you see in the photo – i.e. it was absolutely nothing like a tiramisu. I didn’t finish it, as the cream was nothing special, and at the bottom, I found cherries in amongst the red fruit, which I am allergic to, so I wasn’t going to risk eating those. All in all, I was very disappointed with this dish...
Mark at least fared a little better than me with his dessert, which was Snow White’s apple pie, puff pastry apple tart, Ben and Jerry’s Max Havelaar vanilla ice cream, and caramel sauce. He didn’t eat the ice cream, giving it to me instead and I can certainly vouch for that, as it was very good.
A quick word here about our server, and sadly it was to say that he was nothing special. He took probably about 10 or 15 minutes to take our order, which I objected to, as the woman next to us was seated after us, and he took her order before ours, which was frustrating to say the least. Then the drinks order came out wrong as well. Not the greatest of starts! To be honest, after that, nothing improved that much, although there were no other huge “faux pas” at least!
And I have to say here that the woman sitting at the table next to us with her son was an absolute pain. She was on the phone for much of the meal, so ignoring his behaviour. He started off Ok, then he got impatient about the characters, running over to them and tugging them, and when he didn’t have her attention, he came over to see his mum, who was sitting next to me. He was flailing his arms around, and managed to hit me in the arm. No apology, nothing, from his mother. Sorry, not the sort of behaviour I expect from anyone...
Ok, so now that’s all the bad stuff out of the way... let’s get on to the fun part of the meal – the character interaction. I was at least to be sorely disappointed with the selection of characters here. No more eclectic collections here, now it’s just like Walt Disney World, as our cast for lunch was Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, and Chip and Dale. Having said that, it was a good group of characters, and the main ones you’d hope to see at a Disney park, and equally having six of them present was pretty impressive.
The first out was Goofy....
... who was followed by Minnie.
Next up was Pluto, who was very enthusiastic with the hugs he was giving me!
Then it was the main mouse himself, Mickey. When he came up to our table, he looked at Mark’s top, which had the Union flag on it. He pointed to it, then gave us a thumbs up. I couldn’t help but think there had to be a British Cast Member in there, as surely we’d never get that from a French one...
Then came Chip and Dale, and they were the absolute stars for us! As you can probably tell from these photos, Mark was the one who was easiest for the characters to get to. If I wanted a photo, I’d just get up and see them. I don’t know how it happened, but I didn’t get a chance to get up, they were coming over to see me! I told them they’d never fit through the space in the tables, but they had other ideas! They squeezed their way through – and for one moment, I did think we’d have a repeat of the infamous Winnie-the-Pooh incident from many years ago at the Crystal Palace, where he’d tried to squeeze past a seat, and couldn’t make it, then did a run-up, and still got stuck. Anyway, Chip and Dale knew what they were doing – and indeed they made it through the two small gaps, and suddenly I was sandwiched between them. It was just hysterical, and I loved every minute of it!
Cafe Mickey
Appetiser 9 7
Entree 8½ 4
Dessert 4 6
Service 6 7
Atmosphere 9½ 9
Value for money 7½ 6
Definitely a not-so-great meal or service. I have to say, Marc's meal looks pretty bad-- looks like a school cafeteria meal, and worse than that I cannot imagine. How could they send out a plate that looked like that? The characters looked like fun, though, especially Chip & Dale. They're always so much fun!
I can't believe how bland Mark's plate looked. They didn't even try to disguise how poorly the steak was cooked. I'm sorry the food wasn't great, but it looks like the character interactions helped make up for it!
Oh what fun with Chip and Dale!! The more I visit WDW, the more I like those two guys - they're always so much fun! Sorry the food wasn't the best though, that's kind of a bummer. Especially your dessert, what was that anyway? I guess tiramisu sounds better than cream-in-a-cup-with-fruit-you-can't-eat-on-the-bottom.
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Oh what fun with Chip and Dale!! The more I visit WDW, the more I like those two guys - they're always so much fun! Sorry the food wasn't the best though, that's kind of a bummer. Especially your dessert, what was that anyway? I guess tiramisu sounds better than cream-in-a-cup-with-fruit-you-can't-eat-on-the-bottom.
Sunday 7 October – part nine: I don’t think we want central Paris
When we came out, we made our way through the Disney Village...
We stopped off at the Disney Store on the way back to get the glasses we’d seen earlier on.
That was it as far as stops went. We headed back to the car park...
We settled up for our parking, which came to €7.50 ($9.80). That may sound a bit high, but it was the three hour to five hour bracket, and sadly we’d been there just a bit longer than the three hours, otherwise I think it would’ve been €6, which isn’t bad. Either way, both rates are cheaper than theme park parking.
We got ourselves ready for the journey back, and headed out, with me getting a final few shots of the resort on the way.
We were soon back on the autoroute again, covering much of the same route that we’d taken on Friday. However, the weather was so much kinder to us this time.
The GPS did have a bit of a mad moment, where it started to try and take us in the direction of central Paris.
Paris in the distance...
I don’t think so... Finally we managed to get back to where we’d started from before it’s made moment, and it decided to send us the right way. With these things, you really do need to have your wits about you...
Soon we were getting close to Charles de Gaulle airport, and I got shots of this plane coming into land...
... sadly though, I missed the best shot, as it actually taxied right over the road, but I just wasn’t quite quick enough to get it.
Next: we didn’t expect to see that on the way back!
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Sadly, the reality didn’t quite match. 
I took a bite of them and decided that they really weren’t for me after all. They were just far too salty, and the pesto was overdone in my view. The mushrooms were nice, but the other flavours just dominated those. It was such a shame. 
I didn’t finish it, as the cream was nothing special, and at the bottom, I found cherries in amongst the red fruit, which I am allergic to, so I wasn’t going to risk eating those. All in all, I was very disappointed with this dish... 
and I can certainly vouch for that, as it was very good. 
Sorry, not the sort of behaviour I expect from anyone... 
I told them they’d never fit through the space in the tables, but they had other ideas! They squeezed their way through – and for one moment, I did think we’d have a repeat of the infamous Winnie-the-Pooh incident from many years ago at the Crystal Palace, where he’d tried to squeeze past a seat, and couldn’t make it, then did a run-up, and still got stuck. 
Sorry the food wasn't the best though, that's kind of a bummer. Especially your dessert, what was that anyway? I guess tiramisu sounds better than cream-in-a-cup-with-fruit-you-can't-eat-on-the-bottom. 
Sorry the food was hit or miss! 
With these things, you really do need to have your wits about you... 
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