See this post https://support.mozilla.com/en-US/questions/851953#answer-217468

Check and tell if its working.

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Shortcut_to_a_specific_profile
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Using_multiple_profiles_-_Firefox

I wouldn't get used to doing it that way, the Profile Manager as we know it today is slated to be removed from Firefox in the near future. No date or version has been set, but I would be surprised if it wasn't gone by the end of this year.

I should probably just wait and see but I would love to be able to click and have the profile manager (or something similar) pop up and when I choose another profile, have it close Firefox and reopen in the new profile.

You can start additional Firefox instances that use a different profile folder if you add the -no-remote switch to the target line in the desktop shortcut as written in the above mentioned KB article.

"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -no-remote -P "profile_1"
"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -no-remote -P "profile_2"