From the Editor: Happy New Year!

Travel Feature:  Spring Training in Florida

Disney Feature: Raglan Road

Updates: What's New and Changed

Tips: Useful Utensils, Mickey Memories, Pit Stop Prep

Captain's Corner: The First Rule

Q&A: Book online or use a travel agent?
 

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Updates:
What's New and Changed

Here's a few of the new developments at Disney·

Disney Vacation Club Members staying at the five DVC resorts now have the option of adding the Disney Dining Plan to their reservation. Call DVC Member Services for more information. 

Disney theme park admission increased on January 1. Rates went up by about 6% for one- and two-day Magic Your Way tickets, and about 12% for Magic Your Way tickets of longer duration. Don't you wish you had bought them last week?

The Atlanta Braves Spring Training season begins in late February. Single Game Tickets for games at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex go on sale January 7, 2006 at 10 am through Ticketmaster (407-839-3900 or www.ticketmaster.com) or at the Wide World of Sports box office. For schedule and pricing information, check out www.wideworldofsports.com 

The 13th Annual Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival will be held April 21 - June 11, 2006. The festival includes nightly "Flower Power" concerts featuring acts from the 60's and 70's. A tentative schedule has been announced:
 April 25-27 - The Buckinghams
April 28-May 1 - Gary Puckett 
May 2-4 -The Grass Roots starring Rob Grill 
May 5-8 - Paul Revere & The Raiders 
May 12-15 - Davy Jones 
May 19-22 - B.J. Thomas 
May 23-25 - Felix Cavaliere's Rascals 
May 30-June 1 - Tony Orlando 
June 6-7 - The Turtles featuring Flo & Eddie 
June 8-11 - Herman's Hermits Starring Peter Noone 

>Things To Do: Hear some news? Send it to us at
news@passporter.com

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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:

USEFUL UTENSILS 
"My favorite tip is to save all those utensil sets you get when you bring home take-out food. They're individually wrapped in plastic and usually even come with a napkin. I keep a basket in my kitchen just for this purpose. By the time our trip comes, we have enough to last the whole week. They're great for eating in the room or on the road. I also save condiment packets too."
-- contributed by Chris M. (Disneymom2hann@...) 

MICKEY MEMORIES
"We will be traveling to Walt Disney World in April to witness the first time our grandchildren (ages 3 & 4) and our son-in-law are going. We decided to announce the excitement at Christmas this year by having a stuffed Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse under the Christmas tree on Christmas morning with a note to tell them how excited they are to have them visit."
-- contributed by Gay Coler 

PIT STOP PREP
"When traveling with others who enjoy taking their time at gift shops, rest rooms, or other slow points at Disney, more energetic members of the group may take everyone's ticket to get FastPasses so that the group's momentum may keep moving forward so that after the pit stop a virtually wait free line is in store."
-- contributed by Eric W.  

>Notes: Send us your tips ! You may see them in this newsletter and win a copy of PassPorter!

Want more Disney tips? We've collected 500 of the tips submitted by readers over the past six years -- most have never been published before. All have been edited for accuracy and categorized. The "Disney 500" are available in e-book form for immediate download. For details, visit the PassPorter Store. 

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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 upcoming 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 or PassPorter name badge pin.

Here is this week's treasure from Captain Skatt's Journal:

"January is here and it's lovely to be in sunny Florida for the winter. And all this sunshine makes it so much easier for me to pursue my love... treasure hunting! Today was a particular bright, lovely day and I found I had a hankering for a safari. As I approached the safari truck, I was pleased to note that the management had posted the "rules of behavior" for the safari. Of particular note was the first rule, which stated that... " ... (rest of text obscured by a flamingo dropping)"

So what is the first rule of behavior on the Kilimanjaro Safaris?

Send your full answer to jackskatt@passporter.com -- the winner will be notified by e-mail and announced in the next newsletter, along with the correct answer!

Congratulations to Sue Downer who was the winner of last newsletter's treasure hunt game last week! Sue correctly identified the flamingos pulling Santa's sleigh as being at Blizzard Beach. To view the original clues, see the last 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 Skatt. We expect to release the book -- "PassPorter's Treasure Hunts at Walt Disney World" -- in early 2006. Watch this space or http://www.passporter.com for more information!

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Q & A:
With Jennifer and Dave

MontiMouse asks: "We are planning our first Disney cruise for 2007 and I don't know if I should book the trip myself online or use a travel agent. Anyone have recommendations or can recommend a travel agent?"

Jennifer and Dave answer: "If you book at the Disney Cruise Line site, you'll get whatever the current price is. Usually, that will be the same prices that travel agents can offer. However, agencies sometimes reserve a block of staterooms at early booking savings, then offer those savings later, when Disney's prices have gone up. If you're looking at 2007 pricing, you probably won't find a lot of special deals yet - they tend to appear later, as reservations become more scarce. If the agency doesn't have a special deal like that to offer, the rates will be the same as Disney's current pricing. 

A good agent can enhance your vacation, at no extra cost. I suggest if you want to work with an agent, go with a Disney Specialist agent who at the least has attended the College of Disney Knowledge, and preferably has cruised with Disney several times. You can learn about a bunch of such agents and agencies from folks here on the PassPorter message boards. Personally, we've always had very good experiences with MouseEarVacations, which advertises here. AAA is the single biggest seller of Disney vacations (outside of Disney itself). The quality (and education) of the individual agent you work with at AAA will vary, but AAA sometimes comes up with deals nobody else can offer.

Some folks will tell you to look for "Earmarking" as a way of selecting an agent. Note, however, that "Earmarking" is a designation bestowed by Disney that is based on the dollar value of the bookings made by the agency. A large, reputable agency can achieve this distinction without a lot of difficulty, but there are also small agencies who have all the expertise and reputation, but are simply too small to sell the amount of vacations needed to be Earmarked. "
 

Have a question? Post it 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?

Big News! PassPorter News will be going weekly beginning early this year. This means we need more articles than ever! We're on the lookout for guest columnists to contribute articles to this newsletter. No professional writing experience 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 details and our article submission guidelines, please e-mail news@passporter.com. Articles about Disney and general travel are welcomed!

The Grapefruit League - Spring Training in Florida
by Dianne Cook, PassPorter Message Board Guide and Guest Contributor

Do you love the smell of freshly cut grass, the aroma of hot dogs sizzling on a grill, fresh squeezed lemonade, and the sound of the crack of a bat as it makes contact with a hard, round ball? Then Spring Training in Florida is just for you.

Spring Training has been part of Florida for over a century. The first official Spring Training took place when the Washington Capitals decided to prepare for the 1888 baseball season in Jacksonville, FL. To put that into perspective, Babe Ruth wouldn’t be born until 7 years later and the New York Yankees didn’t exist. Spring Training didn’t last then, as the Capitals didn’t return the next year. It wasn’t until 1903 when Connie Mack (Baseball Hall of Fame-honored manager) brought the Philadelphia Athletics to Jacksonville to prepare for the season. Slowly other teams came to Florida. Over time the teams came together and called themselves the Grapefruit League. There is also a smaller “league” of teams that have Spring Training in Arizona, called the Cactus League.

The modern era of Spring Training started with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1948 at Vero Beach. At the time, the executives of the Dodgers wanted more than just a place to prepare for the baseball season in the Spring - they wanted a year round “baseball school” for their players. So they purchased a large area of land in Vero Beach and built dormitories, health facilities and every type of training complex available. They called it Dodgertown and it still exists today. It is known as the shrine of Spring Training. Consider combining the best of both worlds, with a stay at Disney’s Vero Beach resort at the same time!

Over the years, many people make annual trips to Florida in March just to watch a few baseball games.  Part of the charm, especially for us, is the intimacy of the parks. At major league parks, most people will never get the opportunity to sit behind home plate, but you can at Spring Training. Regular-season tickets are also an expensive treat.  Major league tickets can cost up to $100 or even more. We have never spent more than $30 dollars a ticket at any Spring Training park and we have been lucky enough to always be directly behind home plate - as close as 4 rows up!! 

I think the real attraction of Spring Training is the attitude of the players. In Spring Training, the players are happy to be back, not under the pressure of the regular season. They are willing to talk to fans, and the best thing is their desire to sign autographs. Our boys have collected many autographs over the years, including Derek Jeter, Jason Giambi, Hideki Matsui, Mariano Rivera, Roger Clemens, Andy Pettite, Mike Schmidt, Pedro Martinez, David Ortiz and countless others from many teams. A hint we have learned over the years is that very often players do not sign at their home parks. Apparently, they have contracts not to sign many autographs since the gift shops sell signed memorabilia. If you really want to try to get autographs from certain teams, try to see them when they are playing at another park. There are a few exceptions however; we have found that at the Houston Astros' park - Osceola County Stadium in Kissimmee - everyone signs, both the home and visiting teams. It is known throughout Florida as the “Autograph-seekers Park”.  

One of my favorite parks is Cracker Jack Stadium at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex - home of the Atlanta Braves. The experience here is magical and includes the things only Disney could provide. We recommend a night game here. The fireworks at the 7th inning stretch may not be “Wishes” or “Illuminations” but they are spectacular just the same. The entertainment provided by Disney is something to see. There are disk jockeys and rock music to keep fans entertained all nine innings. The funniest thing is the roving microphone man. He comes up to people in the stands and may ask trivia questions or play “Name That Tune”. We have always had great seats here, always behind home plate and never more than 7 rows up! To add to the magic, parking is free here. This is the only Spring Training park to offer this and you do not need to purchase a ticket for the Complex if you have a Spring Training game ticket. 

Another stadium close to Walt Disney World is the home of the Houston Astros, Osceola County Stadium in Kissimmee. There are a lot of children’s activities and this park is the only one in the Grapefruit League to offer a kid’s meal. There is a playground down the first base line. It is inside a chain-link structure and is a wonderful thing if you have small children who could care less about baseball. The stadium is the smallest of all those in the Grapefruit league - it reaches capacity at 5,000 people. I think it is the most intimate of the stadiums as there isn’t a “bad” seat in the entire place. The top seat is no more than 100 feet away from the playing field.  There is also a specific section for autograph seekers called “Autograph Alley.” It’s a long wall where there are no seats. Every player must walk past to get to and from the clubhouse. Not all will stop and sign, but many do. At least you will see them up close, and they may stop and chat.

Perhaps the greatest thing about planning a Spring Training vacation is that no matter where you go in Central or South Florida, several parks are within an hour’s drive of each other. It is quite easy to pick a central location and spend a week going to baseball games. We love to combine baseball and Disney. We have stayed at a Disney resort and driven to parks all along Interstate 4 - Disney's Wide World of Sports (the Atlanta Braves), Kissimmee (the Houston Astros), Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland (Detroit Tigers), Chains of Lakes Park-Winter Haven (Cleveland Indians), Legends Field in Tampa (New York Yankees), and even Clearwater Community Sports Center in Clearwater (Philadelphia Phillies).   

You could stay at Disney’s Vero Beach Resort and drive to see the New York Mets in Port St. Lucie and then the St. Louis Cardinals and the Florida Marlins in Jupiter, FL and even the Boston Red Sox in Fort Meyers. Don’t forget to continue on to the Baltimore Orioles in Fort Lauderdale. If you prefer the west coast, you could see the Yankees at Tampa, the Philadelphia Phillies in Clearwater, and the Devil Rays in St. Petersburg. You could then continue onward to see the Pirates and the Blue Jays.

No matter where you stay in Florida, there is a park nearby. Consider this wonderful opportunity to get up close to the players and to go see Major League Teams for a fraction of the cost at a Major League Stadium. It will be the experience of a lifetime!

(Editor's Note: See our news item on purchasing single-game tickets for the Atlanta Braves Spring training games.)

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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.

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Raglan Road
by Dave Marx, PassPorter Author
 

Theme dining takes another step forward at Downtown Disney with the opening of Raglan Road, the new Irish public house that replaces both the Pleasure Island Jazz Club and D-Zertz at Pleasure Island’s main entrance. A totally new façade of red brick and large, wood-framed windows evokes the Dublin we’ve never visited, and the impression continues as we enter. Old-fashioned tiled floors, dark woodwork, stained-glass room dividers, cozy booths, old photos, knickknacks, and quotations from Irish literati greet the eye, and the strains of traditional (and not-so-traditional) Irish tunes fills the air. The space seems huge in comparison to the Jazz Club, with four side dining areas flanking a large, round main dining room that includes a small musical stage to one side, a small, raised wood platform for solo performers/speakers in the dead center of the room, one huge, horseshoe-shaped bar, a somewhat smaller bar across the room, and a generously-sized merchandise shop offering St. Patrick’s day-style clothing and goodies year-round.

This is a big, boisterous place, built for partying. And interestingly enough, Irish though it may be, I have an easy time imagining Tolkien’s very English, fun-loving hobbits would be found here, rather than at the clubby and sedately English Rose and Crown Pub over in Epcot. 

Let’s get down to dinner (which we did twice during our December visit to Walt Disney World).

I started with Smokie City, an appetizer of smoked cod, Wexford cheddar and double cream served in a crock ($11), which seemed utterly irresistible as I scanned the menu. I expected a crock full of thick, gooey, smoky goodness to slather over hunks of bread. While the flavor delivered on its promise, the contents of the crock never really melded, with hunks of fish and strands of melted cheese swimming in a sea of cream. It ate reasonably well with a fork, but it never worked as bread spread. On our second visit we shared starters of steamed mussels ($10.99) and Goats Town; warm, herb-crusted Irish goat cheese over salad greens with a berry compote ($12). Both appetizers were satisfying, although Jennifer would have preferred fresh berries to the cooked mixture of raspberries, strawberries and blueberries that accompanied the cheese. The goat cheese was creamy and mild – it could even be at home on a bagel – and to my taste, the berries presented a nice tart and sweet contrast to the rich cheese. The mussels were very good; plump and swimming in a white wine, leek and cream broth – it’s a good item to share at table. Friends enjoyed Scallop Forest ($12.99), one of several “forked” appetizers – grilled scallops on long fondue forks that seem perfect for consumption at the bar. In fact, the appetizer menu is also offered, with a couple of additions, as the bar menu. 

I do want to take issue with the drink menu, specifically the absence of any printed listing of the many beers offered. Come on! Can you imagine dining at a French restaurant without a wine list? If the servers were well-educated in the available brews it would be one thing, but our first server clearly didn’t have a clue, and our second server was too hurried to do more than rattle off the names. I had an absolutely amazing dark brew the first night (“Yeah, I’ll try that,”) and I don’t have the slightest idea of what it was. As I understand things, most pubs historically were owned by breweries, so the choices were few – the house lager, stout, porter and ale. But in this age of brew pubs and hundred-brand beer cellars, a little help wouldn’t be out of place. Perhaps pubs in Dublin now do serve Belgian witbier (white beer), but wouldn’t it be nice if they educated us on the truly Irish brews before they offered the “foreign” beers? 

Then, it was down to dinner. First time out, I screwed up my courage and had Kevin’s Kudos, the chef’s “signature dish” - braised bacon served with braised cabbage, sautéed leeks and mashed potatoes ($19.95). It just had to be better than the description, right? Yes, indeed it was. It was so nice that Jennifer ordered the same when we returned for our second visit. Banish the notion of a greasy slab of boiled American “streaky” bacon. This is Irish loin bacon, a very smoky, lean cut, much like Canadian bacon. While it was moist-cooked for tenderness, it also did a turn on the grill to add a bit of extra appeal. Generous slices were heaped over flavorful mashed potatoes, accompanied by a satisfying mixture of sautéed leeks and wild mushrooms, and garnished with a delicate little leaf of steamed cabbage. There was supposed to be some Irish Mist in there, but if so, it was too misty to detect. Quite lovely on a chilly evening, regardless! Jennifer’s other dinner was the chef’s updated Shepherd’s Pie ($14.95). In keeping with contemporary style, the pie was presented sky-high, a cylindrical tower of flavorful ground lamb layered with mashed potatoes, surrounded by a rich wine-based sauce. Tasty to be sure, but not the way your grandma would have done it. I opted for another pie, Pie in the Sky ($14.95), a crock full of boneless chicken and wild mushrooms, topped by a flaky pastry crust. The whole thing again suggested Tolkien’s hobbits - the kind of dish Farmer Maggot’s good wife might have served up in the “Shortcut to Mushrooms” chapter of The Fellowship of the Ring (all but eliminated in the movie). Well, I would have enjoyed some succulent, dark meat chicken along with the drier white meat, but the mushrooms were more than enough to please the hobbit in me. 

There were a few other unsampled menu items that ooze old fashioned Irish charm: Planxty (roast pork shank), fish and chips, and a side of colcannon, a traditional mixture of cabbage and potatoes flavored with bacon. Then there are the “adaptations” – call it Nouvelle Irish Cuisine. Colcannon returns as Colpucinno, a “frothy” colcannon soup ($6), and as Rising Road, a cabbage and potato soufflé ($10.99). There isn’t an Irish Stew, but they serve rack of lamb over a “delicate Irish Stew consommé” ($25). The rib-eye steak is sauced with Irish whisky marmalade ($28.99), the burger has Wexford cheddar ($11.99), the grilled prawns come with a mead salsa ($15.95) and the baked salmon is topped with a slice of smoked salmon ($19.95). Considering the quality of what we did order, I’d be willing to try any of them. What you won’t find in any form is that standby of New York's Blarney Stone restaurants is corned beef and cabbage. I presume someone in the know will inform me that the item is Irish-American, not truly Irish. 

For the life of me, I can’t remember the desserts, but I assure you, they’re present. Oh, yeah, we had a bread and butter pudding that was satisfying but not wonderful at $7.99, and I had something that was so completely unmemorable, I don’t even recognize it when I scan the menu. There are several seemingly-sinful chocolate confections that can’t possibly be traditionally Irish ($6.99-$8.99) – I’m pretty sure I didn’t try any of these, as I’m usually not in a mood for chocolate after a big dinner (I will make an exception for chocolate soufflé, though). It may have been the Bailey's Coffee Cream Pot ($6.99). What I should have tried was the strawberry and apple crumble ($7.99). I just have a feeling it’d have a satisfying, homey touch. I apologize for not taking better notes, but as was the case throughout our MouseFest visit, we had to dash to our next engagement. 

The restaurant’s weakest link is definitely service. These were not the attentive, knowledgeable servers we’ve come to expect at Disney. Our first server was clearly new, and could offer little guidance about the menu. Our second server knew his stuff, but had far too many tables to attend to. Let’s hope this situation improves as the restaurant matures.

 I can’t leave without mentioning the live entertainment. Alas, we dined too early the first night to experience any of it, and the situation was barely better the second night, but we did enjoy a handful of traditional folk tunes from a spirited old fellow. The live music and dancing doesn’t really get started until around 8:00pm, which is just about the time Pleasure Island's Comedy Warehouse and Adventurers Club open for the night. In short, to enjoy Raglan Road to the fullest, don’t plan to duck in here for an early dinner before a night out elsewhere – aim to make an evening of it. 

Raglan Road – Downtown Disney Pleasure Island http://www.raglanroadirishpub.com

Reservations can be made through Disney Dining (407-WDW-DINE)

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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 vacation plans.