A 40th celebration to end the world! THREAD 1 COMPLETED 2/16 - Page 46 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Saturday 8 December – part six: where’s my cardigan?
Around 5:00pm, we headed out, as we had tickets to the early show of Cirque du Soleil. As it was a Saturday, I knew Downtown Disney would be busy, but naively, I thought it wouldn’t be too bad at the West Side. Wow, was I wrong! We tried about three parking lots, before we went back to the one by Cirque, and managed to snag a spot in there.
We walked over to the Cirque store, with me snapping some photos on the way.
Into the store we went, and after much debate, we each found a T-shirt, and I went to pay for them. It was at this point I realised that one of the tops I was carrying, a black smart cardigan that I’d only just bought before leaving home, had disappeared. I was no longer carrying it. Mark had a look in the store, but couldn’t see anything, so quickly we retraced our steps all the way to the car, and double checked I hadn’t left it in there. I hadn’t.
We walked back to the store, and I figured it was gone. It hadn’t cost a lot, but it was more the fact I’d looked for something like it for ages, and I didn’t want to go through that again. Mark asked a Cast Member in the shop, and she said she’d seen one of the ushers carrying a black object, heading for the Box Office, so we headed that way. I got in line for the Box Office, but Mark spotted the guy with my cardigan, and we were quickly reunited.
That was enough excitement for us for the day, and we headed inside, taking our seats only about 10 minutes or so before the show was due to start. We had seats in the first row, but around to the left. As soon as we sat down, I said to Mark that we’d end up with the bikes right in front of us. He wasn’t sure, but I was spot on!
The show seemed to be a little late starting, with more from the clowns than we’ve seen before. When it did get underway, we immediately started to see differences, not with the acts themselves, who we’ve seen before. The skippers that open the show were new last time, as was the juggler, who is just unbelievable but a lot of the music had changed. How do I know? Well, I was listening to the CD on the flight over, and I do know it pretty well…
It was quite a good audience, and they were very appreciative of everything they saw. I could see that the guy next to me was a newbie. You can tell after a while… usually they tend to gasp at the first part of every act you see, as you can’t believe what you’re seeing, not realising that there’s so much more to come from each act.
Unsurprisingly, the Chinese girls once again bought the house down, as they always do, but I loved the bikes, because they did literally screech to a halt in front of Mark, and he even spun the bike just in front of our faces. Wow!
Our seats had some definite minuses, but also some pluses. For the acrobats, we were literally right underneath them, and had to crane our necks all the way back, and because we weren’t centre, we did have points where the acts were facing forward. However, the tickets had been cheap, so we knew they wouldn’t be perfect. Personally, I loved experiencing it, as you got to see the acts close up, and there was a lot that I hadn’t spotted previously in all the times we’ve seen the show. It was a very different perspective, and I’m glad I got to experience it.
When the show finished, we headed outside, and we walked through first the West Side, getting lots of night time shots on the way.
The West Side really was heaving, and it was quite a nice atmosphere, although I couldn’t help but think how similar it was to Disneyland, with the shops the same here, which I think is a shame. I hate it when they start making the parks around the world similar to each other.
Soon, we were heading into Pleasure Island, and I was expecting this place to be quite dead, but despite the number of clubs that are closed, with no replacement, I have to admit Disney has done a good job of making it still seem very lively, with musicians and performers everywhere you look. I did have a sad look at the Adventurers’ Club. Now you wouldn’t even know what was once there.
We made our way towards Fulton’s, which had a wonderful Christmas tree in front of it.
I checked us in, and here if you don’t have a reservation, they give you a pager to wait outside, while if you have a reservation, you’re straight on to the boat, which was a nice way of doing it.
We were seated within a couple of minutes, with a member of staff explaining about the little details of the place, after seeing me taking photos of the interior. He told us that the designers put their names into the beams in the main dining room, which was neat.
Our server was Kate, who was absolutely wonderful. I was going through water at quite a speed, and she did a great job keeping up with me. She was also very chatty, but she wasn’t too much. I found her to be just perfect, attentive, and fun at the same time. Really, so far, apart from the awful experience at Chefs de France, we’d lucked out completely with servers this trip.
Neither of us was really that hungry, as we were still full from lunch, but heck, we’d give it our best. First off, I ordered a coconut martini – very different for me, but very nice, although my goodness, you could taste the alcohol in it! Kate asked if I wanted a second, after I finished the first, but I told her I wouldn’t get up from the table if I did!
I went for the lobster bisque for appetiser, but was a bit concerned about it, as bisque can sometimes be a bit sickly. Not this. As Kate explained, they use a tomato base, and as soon as she said it, I could taste it, to stop that sickly taste. It was just lovely.
Mark opted for a Caesar salad…
For entrée, we both went for the Alaskan King crab, a whole one pound of it. Heck, it’s their signature dish, and is flown in daily. it’s insanely expensive, but then again, that’s not surprising, given how much trouble these guys give. We’ve watched the Deadliest Catch, and know what people go through to catch these things. I had some trouble getting to grips with mine. Kate told us that one implement was for hooking out the crabmeat, but to be honest, I found it more useful to use it to push the meat out the other end. I have to be honest though, I had more of a struggle than Mark did, which probably helps to explain why he managed to finish his, and I gave up with one leg left. I could’ve done it, but it wouldn’t have been pretty, as I had pretty much reached my limit.
Look at that concentration Look at that enjoyment!
Much as I’d loved my crab, I needed something to cleanse my palate. I looked at the dessert menu, but it was all too heavy, so I asked Kate if they had any sorbet, and they did, so I had a scoop of mango sorbet, and that was the perfect end to the meal.
I’ll say a word here about how long the meal took. I was expecting it to take a lot longer, and be a very late night. We were seated I reckon at 8:15pm, and we left at around 9:45pm, which for a three course meal, was a good time. We weren’t rushed, but equally, the meal wasn’t strung out at any point.
The bill came to $165, which actually wasn’t as much as I’d expected, given that each of our entrees had cost $58.
Fulton’s Crab House:
Appetiser 9 8
Entrée 9½ 9½
Dessert 8½ N/A
Service 9½ 9½
Atmosphere 8½ 9
Value for money 9 9
Average score: 9.00
We headed out, and made our way back towards the car, taking the route via the car park, as we knew it would be a lot quieter.
From there, it was back to the room, and bed.
The weather today was cloudy and humid in the morning, and hot and sunny in the afternoon with temperatures in the 80s. The best thing today was seeing so much wonderful animal activity at Animal Kingdom. The worst thing today was how hot it got during the day. The funniest thing today was Lilly playing with her mum. Today we tried having dinner at Fulton’s Crab House And the result was it was an amazing experience. The most magical moment today was getting such a wonderful 40th birthday present from Laurie.
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I'm glad you found your sweater! Sounds like another great visit to Cirque and also Fultons. It was a good day for restaurant servers! I agree with you that the different parks around the world ought to stay.... different! That's why, even though I'd love to see Carsland at DHS, because I think it would fit perfectly there, I do think it's nice to have it be only at DLR.
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We had snow crab legs yesterday and we were trying to explain the difference between snow crab and Alaskan King crab. Thanks to your pics I was able to show them. I had no idea Fulton's had it. Yum! Though you are right, it is tough to get at! I'm glad you had such a good ending to your day.
I love the ornament Laurie gave you! It's beautiful, and even more special since she made it herself. Glad you found your cardigan. I guess you must had dropped it somewhere??? And being from Maryland, we have to know how to eat a crab. It's a lot of work, but so worth it since they're absolutely delicious.
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Glad you could enjoy Cirque from a different perspective. You two made a great effort for dinner! And it sounded like a lovely evening.
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We tried about three parking lots, before we went back to the one by Cirque, and managed to snag a spot in there. 
Mark asked a Cast Member in the shop, and she said she’d seen one of the ushers carrying a black object, heading for the Box Office, so we headed that way. I got in line for the Box Office, but Mark spotted the guy with my cardigan, and we were quickly reunited. 
Kate asked if I wanted a second, after I finished the first, but I told her I wouldn’t get up from the table if I did! 
I had no idea Fulton's had it. Yum! Though you are right, it is tough to get at! I'm glad you had such a good ending to your day.
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