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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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1. Do I really need that extra hour of early entry into the park or the breakfast at the 3 Broomsticks? (not onsite but a partner hotel)
Because apparently I can stay virtually across the street and save a couple hundred bucks (spending all of my money at Disney instead )
and
2. Can I do both parks in a day and a half? Meaning can I fly into Orlando, check in and spend the rest of the day at one park and then the next day at the other?
it will be me, DH, DD(20), and DS(12) and am trying to decide weather or not I can spend an extra day at Disney or if we will need a full day at each of the Universal Orlando parks
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If you're going during a busy time, that extra hour could mean a lot! But if money is a bigger factor than time, you could probably make it without it. If you opt to not stay at a partner hotel, get to the parks early - I have seen them open IOA as much as 20 minutes early. And a lot of Universal guests seem to arrive later. You can get several things done if you hit the parks first thing before the bulk of the crowds arrive.
I think you need a full day at each park if you want to experience everything. If you just want to high the high spots, you could see parts of each park in 1 1/2 days.
By Preferred Hotel, do you mean one of the onsite hotels -- Hard Rock, Portofino Bay and Royal Pacific? Maybe not.
But there are other "preferred hotels" in other price ranges. We stayed at a Fairfield, and our options included a Best Western and a Howard Johnson's as I recall. By buying our tickets and hotel in a package, we got the same early access privileges and breakfast. Though I think it was a 3 night minimum to get the breakfast, which may not work on your schedule.
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We stayed at Hard Rock but we had 4 under eight and 2 over twelve in our party. It didn't matter as much to the older kids and they made use of the single rider line too. We also didn't have any problems eating at the three broomsticks in the afternoon-- it was the lull before evening rush I guess.
As for time spent, I guess it would depend on how much you want to see and do. I think it's possible if you make use of the single rider lines and plan ahead; as long as your party is okay if you end up having to skip a ride or two.
I had breakfast at the Three Broomsticks last Thursday! IIRC, they were serving breakfast until 10 or 10:30am, so you didn't need early entry to enjoy it. And they didn't ask to see our room keys at any point, so it seemed to be open to any park guests.
That breakfast was one of my favorite meals at Universal, BTW, so I do recommend it highly!
Keep in mind that the extra hour at Islands of Adventure only pays off if you're going to the Wizarding World; the rest of the rides, stores, etc. weren't open when we went in early last week. I thought it was worth it to get in line for Ollivander's first thing and get it out of the way. YMMV, of course!
I had breakfast at the Three Broomsticks last Thursday! IIRC, they were serving breakfast until 10 or 10:30am, so you didn't need early entry to enjoy it. And they didn't ask to see our room keys at any point, so it seemed to be open to any park guests.
Interesting. We had to show our vouchers to be allowed into the restaurant. But maybe it was because we got to eat before WWoHP opened.
Three Broomsticks is occasionally opened to park guests during quieter times. I just returned from a stay at Portofino Bay and the extra hour was clearly worth it! I could not believe the difference in crowd level between the extra hour and the park opening. The rest of IOA and US was very quiet but WWoHP was mobbed as soon as the park opened and for most of the day.
That extra hour plus the Express Pass makes a stay at one of the three onsite hotels a great option!
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