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 In This Newsletter
From the Authors: Return of the $1 PassPorters!
Travel Feature: Alaska: An Inside Look At Dog Sledding
Disney Feature: Dining Review: Biergarten
Updates: What's New and Changed
Tips: One Way Wonders, Bottle of Bubbles, Gimme Gum
Captain's Corner: Red Phone Box
PassPorter PhotoPick: Princess Hugs
Q and A: How do we use the touring plans in the PassPorter guide?
Our Sponsors: We Recommend...
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Updates:
What's New and Changed
Here are a few items of relevant news:
The Magic Kingdom will add two additional dining locations from August 24 through September 25, 2008 to help handle to increased need for table service restaurants during the Free Dining promotion. The Diamond Horseshoe in Frontierland will be open for dinner August 24-31 and September 13-25, 2008 from 5:00-9:00 pm. Dinner will be an all-you-can-eat meal of roast turkey, carved beef, pork loin and mashed potatoes served family style. Dinner will be $28.99/adult and $14.99/child or one table service credit. Tomorrowland Terrace Cafe will be open for dinner August 24 and 31 as well as September 7 and 14, 2008 from 5:30-9:00 pm. Dinner will be a buffet with a beef station, pasta station, breads, salads, etc. Dinner is $35/adult and $18/child or one table service credit.
Universal Orlando increased one day admission prices this week from $71 to $75.
Disney Vacation Club members will have access to an exclusive tour of the Suite in Cinderella Castle on August 31, 2008 from noon to 3:00 pm. Each tour will last 20 minutes with a maximum of 10 guests per tour. Members may register themselves and up to four guests online.
Portobello Yacht Club's new name will be simply Portobello, rather than Tuscan Country Trattoria.
We confirmed this with Levy Restaurant media relations today.
Our thanks to AllEars.net and MousePlanet.com from which we get some of our news leads.
Hear some news? Be a "PassPorter Reporter" and send it to us!
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Disney Tips:
From Fellow Readers
Our readers deliver a wealth of information! Here are the winners in this month's tip contest:
ONE WAY WONDERS
"When booking my airfare, I book one way tickets instead of round trip ones. That way if I need to change part of the trip or a lower fare becomes available for one leg, I don't have to rebook the entire trip. This is especially helpful on Southwest Airlines when a Ding! fare becomes available for part of the trip."
-- contributed by Cheryl F.
BOTTLE OF BUBBLES
"Pack a bottle (or more) of bubbles. They are a great time filler while waiting in lines, for parades, etc. Other people may try to play "Pop" with you, and cast members often interact too!"
-- contributed by Damasita S.
GIMME GUM
"If you need to have gum for the airplane ride home, make sure to purchase it before your trip. Gum is not sold anywhere in Walt Disney World OR in the Orlando airport!"
-- contributed by Cheryl E.
Send us your tips! You may see them in this newsletter and win a copy of PassPorter!
Want more Disney tips? For Walt Disney World fans, we've collected 500 of the best tips submitted by readers over the past six years. All have been edited for accuracy and categorized. For details, visit the PassPorter Disney 500 info page or the PassPorter store. For Disney Cruise Line fans, we have an e-book with 250 cruiser tips, as well as a special cruise line comparison section and seven customized packing lists. For information, visit the Disney Cruise Clues info page.
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Captain's Corner:
Treasure Hunting Game
Play our fun and quirky treasure hunting game, hosted by Captain Jack Skatt from our book, "PassPorter's Treasure Hunts at Walt Disney World." The Captain makes a study of the delightful details -- sometimes hidden, sometimes in plain sight but often overlooked -- at Walt Disney World and aboard the Disney Cruise Line. Using notes from his journals, he will lead you to this "treasure" at Disney with clues, questions, photos, or riddles. Your challenge is to discover the answer by searching your memory, visiting Disney, or even just looking really hard on the Internet. If you think you've found the answer, e-mail it to jackskatt@passporter.com -- the first person to correctly submit the FULL answer will receive a free PassPorter enamel pin. (Please note: Players can win once every 3 months.)
Here is this week's journal entry:
"I've long known about the existence of the classic British "red phone box" (or phone booth to us Americans) at the United Kingdom pavilion at Epcot. Many a call I've made from that lovely little phone booth. But today I discovered a SECOND red phone box at Epcot. Now when the first one is occupied, I can hop over to this lesser-known booth for my important calls!"
Where can you find a red telephone booth at Epcot besides the United Kingdom?
For bonus credit, locate the photographic evidence in the PassPorter Photo Archive and post a comment with the photo!
Send your full answer to jackskatt@passporter.com -- the winner will be notified by e-mail and announced in a future newsletter, along with the correct answer!
Congratulations to Erin W. who was the winner of last week's trivia contest! Erin was the first person to identify the parking lot section at Disney's Hollywood Studios that features Goofy as Film. Bonus credit goes to meals2go who was the first person to identify the photo in our PassPorter Photo Archive. To view the original clue, see last week's newsletter.
If you enjoy treasure hunts, we've got an entire book with over 100 distinct treasure hunts and over 1500 questions, complete with clues and contributions from Captain Jack Skatt. Get more details on "PassPorter's Treasure Hunts at Walt Disney World" book at http://www.passporterstore.com.
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PassPorter PhotoPick
Each issue we choose a special photo from the PassPorter Photo Archive which highlights something beautiful, interesting, humorous, or timely at Disney or around the world. Here is this issue's PassPorter PhotoPick:
Princess Hugs
contributed by lukeandbrookesmom
(click the photo or link to see a larger photo with details)
You can nominate photos as a PassPorter PhotoPick by giving ratings in the PassPorter Photo Archive (you'll need to be logged in to do this). If you'd like to contribute your own photos to the Photo Archive and be considered as a PhotoPick, please read our Photo Upload Guidelines for details and benefits.
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Q and A: With Jennifer and Dave
kcarter1999 asks:"I have been reading the touring plans for families with kids in our PassPorter. The plans don't account for leaving the parks and returning so I'm having a hard time understanding something. I assume that the plans are meant to be used without a break. So for those of us with young children who take a mid-day break do we just pick up where we left off when we return?"
Jennifer and Dave answer: "While our touring plans do take crowd patterns into account, during the mid-day/afternoon hours (usually peak for crowding), I'm not sure a few hours difference in the plan will make big difference. In general, if you add a break you'll be avoiding some of the worst crowds of the day, and whether you skip a few items to jump back into the schedule, or simply resume where you left off probably won't make a huge difference. It'll be more of a matter of whether you have time in your day to complete the touring plan. If the park is open well into the evening, and/or if there are Evening Extra Magic Hours, you should be able to cover all the activities on the plan, even if you do take an afternoon break. If the park closes at around 6:00pm, you'll have to skip some items no matter what - just adjust the plan to suit your priorities (drop attractions that have a low priority, for example).
As we say in the book, we provide the plans as examples and guidelines, rather than as a prescription. The important thing is to have fun!"
Have a question? Post questions at http://www.passporterboards.com -- and if you're lucky, you may find that folks have already asked and answered the same question that's on your mind!
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Future Newsletters:
Want To See Your Name in Print?
PassPorter News is published weekly, and this means we're always in need of articles! We're on the lookout for guest columnists who want to contribute articles to this newsletter. No professional writing experience is necessary, just a desire to share your experience with others! Not only is this a great way to give something back to the PassPorter community, but you get to see your name in "print" and receive a $25 gift certificate for use at www.passporter.com.
For details and our article submission guidelines, please e-mail news@passporter.com. Articles about Disney and general travel are welcomed!
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Our Sponsors:
We Recommend...
PassPorter only accepts advertising from services of the highest quality -- we recommend these companies because we use them ourselves. Please support our sponsors and, in turn, support this newsletter! This week's sponsors are (in order of appearance):
Mouse Fan Travel -- Last Chance for MouseFest Cruise deals
MouseEarVacations.com -- Disney Resort Vacation Deals
Quicksilver Tours &Transportation -- Save $5 off airport round-trip transportation in a town car
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From the Authors: Return of the $1 PassPorters!
Hi, {{user("firstname")}}!
It's time for our biggest and most popular PassPorter promotion of the year, the $1 PassPorter Offer. PassPorter's Walt Disney World 2009 is scheduled for publication in October, which means (among other things) that we have to clear out the warehouse. We've got a pile of 2007 editions in "new" or "slightly hurt" condition, leftovers sent back to us by bookstores when the 2008 edition hit store shelves. We could "pulp" them (yesterday's PassPorter becomes tomorrow's corrugated cartons), but years ago we found an even better use for them. We offer these great but somewhat outdated books to our friends on the Internet for just $1 each (plus shipping and handling). Lots of folks who've never seen a PassPorter can try one out for a really great price, and people who always loan-out their own PassPorters and/or recommend the book to their friends and relations can stock-up on really low-priced gifts. It's even great for us -- not only for the space saved in the warehouse, but because we've made lots and lots of new PassPorter friends through these offers (the older edition is a great ambassador for the newest edition). So, trot over to the PassPorter Store (or click the $1 PassPorter link, if that's easier), and tell your friends -- this deal doesn't last forever! When we're out, we're out!
In other news, PassPorter's Walt Disney World 2009 has been sent to the printers, right on schedule! Hooray! Books should begin shipping mid-October -- the sooner you get your pre-order in, the sooner you get your copy.
PassPorter E-Book author Justine Fellows of Speed Planner fame has her own Disney podcast with great tips! Check it out at Travel Girl's Tips for Disney World. She already has ten episodes up for your listening pleasure!
Were you thinking of joining us this December for MouseFest? Then we have some MouseFest news for you! This year's Mega Mouse Meet will be held at Disney's Yacht & Beach Club Convention Center, and we've also arranged a special lodging deal at Disney's Yacht & Beach Club Resort. Have we piqued your interest? Then pop over to the MouseFest.org web site, and read all about it. While you're there, please sign up for the MouseFest newsletter, so you can keep on top of all the MouseFest news.
As we explained in previous newsletters, sales of PassPorter's Walt Disney World 2008 have been so good that we have none left in the warehouse (although they are still in stock -- for now -- at book stores around the country). If you can't wait for October to get a 2009 edition from us, you may purchase a 2008 electronic edition (download only) or get a 2007 edition at that close-out price. Refer to the 2008 electronic edition for the most up-to-date info, and print-out the pages you'll need when you travel. Rely on the 2007 edition for all our great planning features, PassPockets, and info that's still pretty darned accurate and useful.
PassPorter's Disney Cruise Line and its Ports of Call 2008 is in stock! All orders of our cruise guide ship the next business day.
What else do we have? PassPorter's Open Mouse for Walt Disney World and the Disney Cruise Line is also in stock, and because they're electronic downloads, all our e-books and downloads at PassPorter's Club can never go out of stock (the Internet may go down, but that's a different story)! Get yer downloads runnin'! Club membership is just $4.95 per month, the price of just one e-book download, and $44.95 if you decide to come on board for a full year. With that first month's membership you can strip our cupboard bare of great e-books and interactive worksheets. Then you can cancel, or even better (if you happen to be us), continue the subscription to maintain all the club benefits (like a 35% discount on all PassPorter printed books) and qualify for all the new e-books and worksheets we'll be adding to the Club.
Will you be joining us for PassPorter's Decade of Dreams Tour? PassPorter is celebrating our 10th anniversary in 2009 in a year-long celebration from coast-to-coast! Everyone is invited and all are warmly welcome to join us at all or part of our celebration. We are combining small parties (meets) with grand, multi-day trips, including a 7-night Disney Cruise, a 4-night stay at Walt Disney World, and a Disneyland visit that includes park time and an Adventures by Disney expedition. See our Tour Schedule for the latest details.
PassPorter's Club Update
More than 1400 vacationers are now enjoying access to all our e-books, e-worksheets, and super-sized photo archive images.Thank you for your continued support!
Our newest e-book, PassPorter's Answer Book is now available for download. This 85-page e-book is full of the detailed, up-to-date information on the topics that really matter to you.
More details at http://www.passporter.com/club
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In this issue, Guest Columnist Jami Sales cruises north to Alaska for an Inside Look at Dog Sledding. Then, our globetrotting Featured Columnist Cheryl Pendry takes us to Epcot's World Showcase for a Dining Review: Biergarten. Finally, Jack Skatt is back with a brand-new Walt Disney World Treasure Hunt. Have a great week!
Jennifer and Dave
PassPorter Authors
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Travel Feature:
Alaska: An Inside Look At Dog Sledding
by Jami Sales, PassPorter Guest Contributor
There are many reasons why Alaska cruises are so popular. The amazing scenery, awesome views of remote country and untouched wilderness, amazing centuries old glaciers calving off icebergs that float by with seals and other animals sometimes still on board ... Combine that with the naturalist lectures onboard, history-filled port stops, and the other fun times of a cruise, and you have a week that is hard to beat.
But wait! Who needs to stop at one week? There are cruise choices that go up to two leisurely weeks on small vessels that go into areas unreachable by the big cruise ships, and there is always the option of staying on land for a visit before or after your cruise.
We recently did just that: sailing northbound from Vancouver through the scenic inside passage, through Glacier Bay and College Fjord, and on across the Gulf of Alaska to the Anchorage area. We opted to do a custom land trip with a wonderful group of travelers to the Kenai Peninsula, Talkeetna, and Denali National Park.
This was a special trip for us: one celebrating the 20th anniversary of our travel agency. I'd offered Dave and Jennifer a little article on some portion of this great trip, and I was thinking about content as we traveled. Sure, the ports and scenery on this itinerary are fabulous, but that is widely covered. What we chose to share is a great experience for animal lovers.
Any dog fans out there? Have you ever followed the Iditarod race held every year in Alaska? It is one whopping race, and like they say in their advertising, "The Superbowl is for the sissies in the lower 48."
The teams consist of 12 to 16 dogs pulling a sled and driver, covering 1150 miles in 10 to 17 days, depending on the weather. The route covers terrain including snow, iced-over rivers, mountain passes, tundra, and dense forest.
The race is testimony to the famous relay organized by Alaskans nearly a hundred years ago, when a diphtheria epidemic threatened to kill everyone in Nome, Alaska. The mushers who had previously simply transported goods into the gold mining camps rallied to make a life or death run all the way out to Nome to save the folks... and deliver the serum they did. The trail was broken and the annual race soon followed.
Preparing for up to three weeks in sub-zero wilderness is a year 'round task, and each musher strategizes, trains, breeds their dogs and hones their skills the whole rest of the year. Dog lineage is carefully considered, tested and analyzed. Dogs are scrutinized for personality traits from birth. These dogs are loving and want nothing more than to be petted and praised--and please their master. Between us, folks in our group visited three Iditarod mushers, saw training camps, equipment barns, watched Iditarod movies and listened to strategy analysis talks. We saw puppies ranging from four weeks to nine months, and listened to the mushers' analysis on the potential of each of them. I got nearly knocked over by a wonderful eight year-old female who has run the race all but the first year of her life. She was big and strong, and was so affectionate that she threw herself into a "dog hug" (and lick) to greet me like I was her best pal. What a doll!
The dogs are a special mixture of breeds loosely called huskies, bred for their intelligence, strength, desire to please, and big feet to handle the snow. The wear protective booties of thin fabric which are changed every 6 hours or anytime they get wet during the race. Veterinarians are strategically placed along the route to be sure that the dogs are properly cared for, but with the devotion of these mushers to the animals, I can't imagine any of them ever being abused. They run because they love to - simple as that.
Tremendous differences exist in the needs of the differing positions on the dog team. Leaders must be fast, agile, quick to respond to verbal commands, and naturally inclined to develop a tight camaraderie with the musher. They strike a special bond, cooperating in the leadership of the team, which is not something every dog is right for. Good leaders are born, not a product of training. A team may rotate between a few leaders, and the musher may even give one of the dogs a rest on the sled so that they can come back energized and spark up the rest of the team if they are fatigued. Stories abound about courageous dogs who have led teams, saved lives, and are simply part of the family.
Traveling to Alaska? From many cruise ports or other towns you can arrange to visit dog training camps. Visits are available in snowy or dry areas all summer, where they train in the summer behind wheeled carts if there is no snow. You'll hear all about the training and racing, hold puppies, pet the team and be as wowed as all of us were. If you are interested in a ride behind a team, be sure that is offered on the tour you select.
For more Iditarod information, there are several great books out, and there is video, articles, and live coverage every March at www.iditarod.com. If you are a teacher, check out the special resources available and consider an interactive lesson during the weeks of the race!
About the Author: Jami Sales is the president of MouseEarVacations.com and Cruising Co. She makes her home in Hawaii yet still leaves home to go on vacation. Go figure!
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Did you enjoy this article? Have questions? E-mail us at news@passporter.com or visit http://www.passporterboards.com to discuss your travel plans. Also check out our Article Collection for more great information!
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Disney Feature:
Dining Review: Biergarten
by Cheryl Pendry, PassPorter Featured Columnist
f there's one thing we love at Disney, it's sampling the wonderful variety of table-service restaurants. It would be fair to say that we've now visited the vast majority of those at Walt Disney World. That's especially true of Epcot, our favorite park, where we love nothing more than to dine around the World Showcase.
One of the few places in the park that we had never made it to was Biergarten, the table-service restaurant in Germany. The reason I'd put off visiting it for so long was simply because I wasn't convinced that, as a non-meat eater, there'd be enough on the menu for me to eat. Unexpectedly though, our plans changed on Christmas Eve and we were left with a full day to enjoy the Disney parks, which we hadn't anticipated.
We decided to head into Epcot and needed to find ourselves lunch for the day, so I decided to be brave and ask at Guest Services and find out what was on the menu that could be a possibility for me. I was pleasantly surprised by the answers. There seemed to be a lot of salad items, some fish dishes, and best of all, a wonderful selection of desserts. By the time I heard the words "Black Forest gateau" and "apple strudel," I was sold, as these are amongst my favorite desserts. We were booked for lunch and would finally get to experience the place.
Before you arrive, it's worth knowing something about the theming of this restaurant, as it may not be entirely what you expect. Whereas many of the restaurants around World Showcase are brightly lit, with some offering superb views of the park, Biergarten is quite dark inside, not unlike Le Cellier and San Angel Inn.
It's quite a shock to the system when you go there for lunch in the middle of the day, but the idea is that you're heading into a town square in Bavaria, Germany to enjoy their annual Oktoberfest celebrations. Oktoberfest is a 16-day festival that takes place in Munich from late September to early October, and stems from the celebration in 1810 of the marriage of the then Crown Prince Ludwig and his bride Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen.
Now, when I say celebrations, I mean just that. The celebrations held daily at Biergarten include a band, dressed in traditional lederhosen, who come out to regularly entertain the crowds, encouraging people to get up on the small dance floor in front of the stage. The dancing didn't meet with much enthusiasm from adults while we were there, although a lot of kids appeared to find it great fun and a good chance to burn off some energy!
Something else worth knowing before you get in there is it's highly likely you'll be seated with other diners, unless you're part of a large group. Just like Teppan Edo in Japan, all tables seat eight people and the cast members fill them. We found ourselves dining with a family of six, spanning three generations, from California. Unfortunately, they weren't as talkative as we'd have liked, although that improved as the meal went on -- and the beer flowed!
Speaking of which, if you're a beer fan, you'll enjoy what's on offer here and, equally if you enjoy good wine, there are a lot of great German choices available here. In short, it's a great place to consume a pleasant adult beverage.
But what about the food? Well, first of all, there was plenty for me as a non-meat eater, which had been my greatest fear. Amongst the items I was able to enjoy were the multitude of salad items, the vast majority of which were meat free, cream of potato and leek soup, and hot items, including salmon fillet, red cabbage salad, glazed carrots, and a pleasant vegetarian main dish: cheese Spaetzle with onions.
For those who do eat meat, the choice included items such as rotisserie chicken, veal loaf, a pork roast, sausage platter, breaded pork Schnitzel, and Munich's famous white veal sausages, served with mustard and pretzel rolls.
But never mind all those salad items and the hot savory choices, what I had come here for was a little further away in the dessert section. Most of the names of the dishes were familiar to me and many were amongst my favorites when it comes to sweets, so I was in my element. The Black Forest gateau lived up to expectations, as did the apple strudel with its wonderful vanilla sauce, but the real find was the Rote Gruetze, something I'd never come across before. It's essentially a summer fruit pudding made from strawberries, cherries, and raspberries and it was wonderful. In fact, it was so good that I had to go back for a second serving, just to check it was really as good as I'd thought the first time -- and it was!
All in all, we really enjoyed our lunch at Biergarten and came away wondering why on earth we'd put off going there for so long. One thing's for sure -- we'll be returning there again before too long.
Biergarten is an all-you-can-eat buffet, open for lunch from midday until 3:45 pm and for dinner from 4:00 pm until park closing daily. Lunch is $19.99/adult and $10.99/child ages 3-9, while dinner is $26.99/adult and $12.99/child.
About the Author: Cheryl and husband Mark live in England and love to travel, particularly to America. They are in the process of visiting every Disney theme park around the world, having already spent a day in Disneyland Resort Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland so far this year. They are looking forward to returning to America in October to visit both Walt Disney World and Disneyland in California.
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Did you enjoy this article? Have questions? E-mail us at news@passporter.com or visit http://www.passporterboards.com to discuss your Disney vacation plans. Also check out our Article Collection for more great information!
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Did You Know?
You Can Arrive at Walt Disney World in Style!
Airport Meet & Greet, luggage help, free car seat
Free 30-minute grocery stop with airport round-trip
Special! $5.00 off airport round-trip
Use Discount Code: PassPorter News
Call 888-GO TO WDW or visit quicksilver-tours.com
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