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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Looking to go to Universal for three days before we get to Disney. Which hotel out of the three do you all recommend? I haven't a clue about anything Universal since we have never been before. I feel the boys are finally all old enough to enjoy it, so we are going to try it. Any help would be great!! Thanks in advance!
I loved my stay at Portofino Bay. The rooms are HUGE! It is an easy walk around the lake to the parks. Hard Rock did not appeal to me on our tour but I did like the look of Royal Pacific. (Especially the adorable frog statues that line the entrance bridge! )
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We've stayed multiple times at the Royal Pacific. It's a gorgeous hotel and we really like it there. I highly recommend it. Also the most affordable of the 3 on-site US hotels.
Royal Pacific is a lovely hotel. You can take the boat or walk the trail along the water to get to the parks and CityWalk. We did both methods. RP is closest to IoA. If you want to take a day to go to SeaWorld, you can sign up for the free shuttle. Do it a day in advance. I really enjoyed Universal since CityWalk is right next to your hotel. In the evenings, we went to movie theater, ate at both sit-downs and quick service, shopped, listened to a live band, etc.
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We're staying at the Royal Pacific this time to see what an onsite hotel stay is like. But last spring we stayed at a hotel on International. There are loads to select from and they're a 5 minute drive at most to Universal parks. It was way less $$$, so I'm hoping I don't regret our choice this time around. If money is a factor, then you may want to check some of those. We were at the International Palms, not fancy, more like a Best Western, but our room was clean and a huge, and we had a view of the parks. There was a Sheraton right beside us, and too many others to count. Also, there was an IHOP right near where we turned to go to the parks so we were able to grab a good, reasonably priced breakfast to start our day.
We stayed at Royal Paicific and it was great. Why pay more when your not in your room. I also walked around all of them, yes Portofinio is beautiful, but I found it far away and a bit to spread out for us. We loved to be able to walk to/from instead of using the boats.
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The hard rock and the portofino bay deluxe rooms are a better size for a family of 5 than the royal pacific as they have the 2 queens as well as the sofa bed. We are doing the hard rock as my teenagers wouldn't forgive me if we didn'tdidn't
I've stayed at the Portifono Bay and Royal Pacific. Both are beautiful hotels with exemplary customer service and I thought even the Royal Pacific, which is least expensive was nicer than the deluxes I have stayed in at WDW.
I found the resorts uch quieter than Disney Resorts and there were fewer small children running wild, one of my complaints about my stays at Disney resorts. I cringe when kids run and climb where they shouldn't and scream in the halls. I have seen too much of it at Disney but preferred the more relaxed settings at Universal.
I have not stayed at the Hard Rock because of my aversion to lots of noise.
We are fortunate enough to be able to stay at Shades of Green on Disney property. We have done that once, are doing it again this September and we have also stayed at Royal Pacific but thought it was was overpriced for what you got vs what you get at Disney.
I've stayed at Portofino & Royal Pacific and have seen the rooms at Hard Rock. I know my kids would love Hard Rock for the "coolness factor" but I would choose Royal Pacific again without hesitation. Portofino was very nice and would be nice if it were just me & DH but I don't think my kids would appreciate it for the additional cost. My DD loved the pool at Royal Pacific and I agree that it feels close to a Disney deluxe resort.
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