Not Your Average Bus Tour: New York Splash Tours - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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by Sara Varney, PassPorter News Editor and Online Coordinator
It's a Bus, It's a Boat, it's a ... AquaBus? If you are planning a trip to New York City and are looking for a new way to explore, then a New York Splash Tour may be for you.
New York Splash Tours is part of the Gray Line family of New York City tours - they also operate the red, double-decker, open air buses that you will see everywhere around the city. But to my mind, the Splash Tour is the way to go! You board your amphibious vehicle in Times Square. Upon boarding you are handed a poncho and a whistle. The whistle you may or may not need (to get your tour guide's attention if you have a question), but the poncho you definitely will need!
Your tour first takes you down Broadway as your Tour Guide explains some of the history of Times Square and its buildings. You will see the MTV Studios, the ABC Studios, and the old New York Times Building where the ball is dropped every New Years Eve. Your AquaBus then heads across town towards the east, past the New York Public Library, past the Empire State Building, and back across town to the west where you will pass Macy's and Herald Square where the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade terminates each year. With each neighborhood you pass, your Tour Guide will be giving you the history of the various buildings, pointing out architectural details and providing you with bits of trivia.
When you reach 12th Avenue on the West Side, you pause briefly to switch your bus driver for a boat captain and your vehicle then enters the AquaBus Theater - a multi-media drive-in movie theater. You will view a brief film that recreates Henry Hudson's exploration of the River that bears his name. You will experience the sights, sounds and even a bit of the weather that Henry Hudson may have experienced on his voyage aboard his ship - The Half Moon. (By now, you've hopefully put on your poncho!)
Once the film is complete, the real fun begins! Your captain revs the engine and drives your AquaBus straight into the Hudson. They don't call it the Splash Tour for nothing! This portion of the tour was by far my favorite part. As your boat motors around the river, you get an unforgettable view of the New York City skyline. Not to mention the docks on the West Side where you can find ferries crossing, cruise ships docking and pleasure boats sailing by. (The water can get a little choppy at times so if you are prone to motion sickness, make sure to take some Bonine before boarding. ) Your tour guide will give you some of the history of the river and how it has been cleaned up in the years since it was lined with factories, but most of your time on the water is spent simply enjoying the views while New York-themed music plays over the speakers.
After about 20 minutes, your AquaBus heads back to the docks where it drives up the ramp and you swap your captain for a bus driver once more. The tour continues up 12th Avenue and through Hell's Kitchen (not nearly as scary as it sounds) as your driver continues to regale you with stories of old New York. Then it is back across town through the theater district and back to Broadway and Times Square, where you disembark your AquaBus.
The Splash Tour leaves Times Square from the east side of Broadway between 47th & 48th streets, approximately every 45 minutes. Tickets are available for pre-purchase online for $27/adult and $18/child. Or you can do what we did - take a brochure from one of the many ticket agents roaming Times Square, ask "How much?" and when he tells the price that is on the flyer ($29/adult), shake your head and start to walk away. He will then immediately cut you a better deal. We paid $19/adult for our tickets. Either way, the Splash Tour is a unique way to experience New York, perfect for both locals and visitors alike.
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I live right across the river and I think this tour sounds like a blast for out of town guests coming to visit! Thanks for the review!
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Boogie down!!! __________________________________________________ ______ "Life's like a movie, write your own ending. Keep believing. Keep pretending." from The Muppet Movie
I used to live in the city as well and was surprised how much I enjoyed the tour. I do recommend it for locals! But it's perfect for guests from out of town.
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