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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We will be heading to FL over the Christmas holiday. I would be content just staying at Disney our entire trip but the children are bugging to go to see Harry Potter. None of us are interested in thrill rides so I'm thinking that will cut a lot out of our touring needs. I know we will need to get the park to park tickets, but if we are only planning to do Harry Potter and maybe a few other attractions would one day be enough or would we need two days since it is Christmas to see things sufficiently? Also, how important is it to stay onsite at Universal? I was thinking to just stay put at Disney and drive over since we will have our own car. Especially since they charge parking at the hotels there, we would be paying for parking one way or another. We could however, do a split stay doing a couple nights at Universal if that is better overall. Any advice would be helpful. Thanks!
We're not thrill ride people either and a day was fine for us at our most recent visit to Universal. We just really wanted to explore the park and of course see Harry Potter. I'm not sure you'll need to stay onsite, given what you've described, but I'd get there for park opening to try and make the most of the parks before they get busy.
If you get there at opening and plan a full day with park to park tickets you should be able to get through the Harry Potter goodness! But I'd also explore Seuss landing as they do it all up for Christmas (The Who's take great pride in their land) and it's wonderful
I agree that it isn't necessary to stay on-site to visit Universal. We go each time we do our WDW vacation but we stay-put on WDW property because we rent a car. Do get to the park at opening to maximize your park day and if you get there before opening, don't pay extra for the "better" parking spot - you'll be just fine with the normal parking area and still about the same of amount of walking.
There's a lot to do at UNiversal for non-thrill riders. The first time we went to Florida as a family, my ex and I did not fo thrill rides and Universal (before IOA) was both our favorite park. The attractoins are more adult oriented and you can do lots without feeling confined to kiddie rides. DexH loved Men in Black. I thought Terminator was great.
The Universal hotels are really nice and I think worth staying one night to get express access. The service is wonderful and I generally paid around the same for Royal Pacific as a Disney moderate. It is a much nicer hotel. They are also very close to the parks and you can walk if you choose.
I have never been without a car and never been charged for daily parking-I am not sure why.
There are advantages for staying on site at universal at royal pacific, hard rock, or portofino...first, you get express passes for attractions except Harry Potter rides, you get early access to Harry Potter areas, and you go through security at the boat launch at the hotels or at the walk ways entering city walk. The security check point advantage during busy holiday season would be a huge plus. At universal if you park in the garage, you go through security with everyone else before entering city walk. It can get backed up. We found the security at the hotel boat launch amazing! You could rent from a car company that lets you return cars to universal hotels so just turn in the car at check in and just pay for a car to the airport if you added universal to the end of your trip.
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