A 40th celebration to end the world! THREAD 2 COMPLETE AGAIN 4/27 - Page 37 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Friday 14 December – part six: bribing the chef with chocolate!
We checked in, and we were called to our table a couple of minutes’ later, right by a window, which worked perfectly for Sharon, who happened to pass by on the way back to her room during the meal.
We had Rebecca as our server, who was very good, but there was another member of staff who turned out to be the real star of the show, but I’m getting ahead of myself here…
When I looked at the menu, I decided I wanted the artisanal cheeses, which were made up of Robiola Bosina, Comte, Pecorino Toscano, Belle Chevre Fig, and Rogue Creamery Smokey Oregon Blue, but these came with raisins on the vine, honeycomb, Spanish membrillo, with a fresh and kiln-dried cranberry, Bermuda onion, and heirloom apple compote “agrodolce”. Well, the last one wouldn’t work for me, as it had apples in it, so I mentioned this to Rebecca. She immediately got Carrie the chef out to see me, and she arranged for a substitution for the apple compote, but her troubles were only just starting…
I have to say here that the cheeses were absolutely beautiful, and I loved every single bite of them. I don’t think they could’ve been any better.
Mark said that he’d like the eco-friendly/sustainable shellfish appetiser, a Floribbean wild caught gulf shrimp cocktail with watercress, spiced radish, and palm hearts with a horseradish-piquillo cocktail sauce, but he wasn’t too keen on the sauce, so he asked Carrie if he could get a seafood one, and even explained how he wanted it made. He seemed to really enjoy it.
I knew what I wanted for entrée, which was the oak-grilled Maine diver scallops with roasted pumpkin, sage, pecorino romano, and mascarpone-laced risotto di carnorolli, although I passed on the crispy prosciutto cracklins’ that came with me, and Carrie gave me the seal of approval that this would be fine for me. Again, this was just perfect, and I loved every mouthful. The flavours just blended together so well.
Mark went for the rainforest pepperberry-grilled Kurobuta pork tenderloin, but it came with leek, fontina, truffle-laced trofie macaroni and cheese, grilled asparagus with kiln-dried and fresh black mission fig. However, Mark can’t have macaroni and cheese, as he some lactose intolerance and asparagus is another no-go for him, so Carrie ended up suggested he had the haricot vert, the fingerling potatoes, and winter-crop root vegetables, with classic sauce Foyot.
I don’t know how we got on to it, but at some point during these discussions, chocolate was mentioned, and we just happened to have a bag of Cadbury’s chocolate with us, so Mark got that out, and offered Carrie a couple of pieces. As Larry said, now you’re bribing the chef with chocolate! She was an absolute star, and we were happy to give her the chocolate, as she really went above and beyond for us, and happily chatted away to us about her experiences at Disney. She was an absolute pleasure to deal with.
As well as the food, I also ordered myself a pineapple upside down martini, which contained amaretto, and vodka I think. Sadly I didn’t take a picture of the cocktail menu. I also had a glass of the Conundrum wine that Bob and Larry had ordered, and this was really good stuff.
For dessert, both Mark and I had the seasonal house-made sorbets, which were mango, coconut and raspberry-blackberry with fresh berries, and a crisp tuile. Mark’s didn’t come with a tuile, although I ended up with the one without a tuile, before we swapped back. I was a bit disappointed with this, as the coconut was far too sweet for my taste, while I found the raspberry-blackberry too tart, and I only really enjoyed the mango one.
However, Bob and Larry were having even more fun with their desserts. Larry went for the nuts about chocolate dessert, while Bob had ordered the bread pudding. It was literally only when they were halfway through them that Bob said “I think they’re the wrong way round.” We all looked, and sure enough, as Larry said “well I didn’t think there was much chocolate on this”, and they were the wrong way round! They each sampled the dessert they had actually ordered, but stuck with what they got.
Flying Fish Café:
Appetiser 10 10
Entrée 10 9˝
Dessert 8 9˝
Service 9 9
Atmosphere 9˝ 9˝
Value for money 9 9
Average score: 9.33
Once we were done, we headed over to Epcot, getting there about 20 minutes before IllumiNations was due to start, so we got a quick Photopass photo done, then tried to find the others.
We first found one of Joan’s tiaras, Louise, and apparently Joan had gone to France for an FAB, but we quickly found her and her daughter Rachel. Oh my goodness, the last time we saw her was back in 2005! You can imagine how much she’s changed in that time! Finally we found Sharon, although we never found the other Sharon (shazza), which was a shame. I got back to find a private message from her, asking where we were going to meet. I felt so bad, as I was sure I’d told her, but obviously not so my apologies.
We had a pretty good view of IllumiNations despite our late arrival, and we got some pretty good shots between us.
Of course, I blubbed during it, and I was glad to know I wasn’t alone, as Joan was also crying too. Sadly, our visit with Joan was far too short, as they were heading out, because they were going to do Extra Magic Hours at the Studios. She asked what we were doing tomorrow, thinking we’d be joining them, but I had to disappoint her, and tell her we’d be boarding the Fantasy.
A perfect evening! Flying Fish is such a fantastic place. I have a favorite server there, but have never had anything but fabulous service from anyone. On the subject of restaurant menus, I absolutely agree-- if they want to keep people coming back, the menu should have new dishes on the menu. That's one reason FF is so great. The menu changes with the seasons and with what's good in the markets. Then to end the meal with perfect timing for Illuminations with more friends. A great way to spend your final night before setting sail!
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We are trying FF for the first time this summer - now I can't wait! Good to know the menu changes often there - I noticed on one menu many of the dishes had mushrooms which concerned me as I do not like mushrooms at all. That cheese platter looks Devine!
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Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
My DGD was sitting on my lap while reading and she decided that we needed some "weird" cheese for breakfast. I had to dissappoint her because we only have cheese sticks. Your meal looks really tasty especially the risotto.
I finally got through reading everything. It took me quite a while, but I wanted to enjoy each update and not rush. You have had some nice days and I am glad to see mark on the mend now. You have such a great Savannah view. And your night tour on the Savannah looks so neat. Can anyone do that, or do you need to be a guest at the resort?
Sea World Decorations are just beautiful. We only had limited time there a few years ago and I really want to go back again and around the holidays would be a great time to go.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cinderbrella
Great update! Sea World used to have a very nice park in Cleveland, but it closed about 10 years ago. Their shows were fantastic. Hopefully we'll be able to enjoy their Orando park some day because DDs and DSs don't remember going there.:
We used to go to that one in Aurora too! It was about 2 hours from us, so we could make a day trip, or a weekend trip if we wanted. Also back in the day they had the
Geauga Lake theme park right across the lake as well.
Last time we went was in the late 90's and I think Six Flags bought it out not long after that...and it all went down hill from there. I think the Sea World portion is now a water park. Such a shame.
What a great night! And it was such a fun meal, from Sharon making faces at us through the restaurant window, to Cheryl and Mark rewriting the menu and bribing the chef with chocolates! Great food, wonderful company, and lots of laughs.
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.
I'm finally all caught up again. I love the description of the new Jack Sparrow show. It actually opened the day before our vacation ended, but we never got the chance to head over and see it.
I love table you were seated at for Sanaa. I would have been so excited if that crane would have stopped by to say hello. Plus, it looks like you've had some other wonderful meals, and meets along the way so far.
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He seemed to really enjoy it. 
Again, this was just perfect, and I loved every mouthful. The flavours just blended together so well. 
We all looked, and sure enough, as Larry said “well I didn’t think there was much chocolate on this”, and they were the wrong way round! 
You can imagine how much she’s changed in that time! 
Finally we found Sharon, although we never found the other Sharon (shazza), which was a shame. I got back to find a private message from her, asking where we were going to meet. I felt so bad, as I was sure I’d told her, but obviously not so my apologies. 
Sadly, our visit with Joan was far too short, as they were heading out, because they were going to do Extra Magic Hours at the Studios. She asked what we were doing tomorrow, thinking we’d be joining them, but I had to disappoint her, and tell her we’d be boarding the Fantasy. 
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I had to dissappoint her because we only have cheese sticks. Your meal looks really tasty especially the risotto.
Mary - not enough trips!
Their shows were fantastic. 
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