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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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My DH and I *really* want to visit Universal while in WDW the first three weeks of November.
What are the crowds like?
Are there better days than others to go?
Where do we get our tickets?
Are there discounted tickets for FL residents (w/FL IDs)?
Is Mears worth using for transportation from our DTD hotel to Universal?
How many days should we allot to visiting the park?
Hi aliceinwdw!! Welcome to the Universal/Islands of Adventure forum! I'll try to answer as many questions as I can, and I'm sure some other members can answer the rest or offer their suggestions for a great Universal trip!
What are the crowds like?
We usually visit both Disney and Universal every trip. I've found that the crowd levels are similar. Universal's crowds were less than Disney's over the Labor Day weekend. However, free dining was going on at WDW, which may have decreased the number of Universal visitors.
Are there better days than others to go?
I haven't noticed any days being better than others. I would say that best thing to do is to arrive early - before the parks open. The last few times I've been to Universal, the gates opened about 30 minutes early. Universal crowds tend to arrive later so you can get a lot done in the first few hours of the day.
Where do we get our tickets?
You can buy them online at the Universal website which would save you some time by not waiting in line at the parks to buy tickets.
Are there discounted tickets for FL residents (w/FL IDs)?
Location: w/future ex husbands tommy lee, robert downey jr, adam lambert in NJ planet poptart
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I would suggest 2 full days, to really take in everything the parks have to offer
they do tend to close earlier then the WDW parks.
november also has the beer festival at citywalk in november, i think the 2nd weekend?
I would say mears is worth it, you can use them for 18.00 pp round trip
which is cheaper than a cab, I think you would need to call them.
we started renting a car for the 2 days we go to universal. works great for us, we pick it up at the DTD hotels. I think doubletree resort.
you can also get AAA discounts, but I suggest getting them online they have great prices. parking is also 11.00 if you do decide to rent a car.
I have photos in my TR in the disney section.
I got my tickets on line, great deal for 2 tickets the total with taxes came to $172 for 7 days. We are going in Aug. and have thought 4 days to tour. 1 full day at each park, then 1 more day at each park to re-visit our favorites & anything we might have missed.
If you can get a good rate on a car rental, it may be cheaper than Mears or the same factoring in Universal parking, but you would be able to come & go at will. Just about every hotel in DTD has a car rental desk, and there is a car rental (Alamo maybe?) at Disney car care centre.
Have fun, you're lucky to be able to go in Nov. with lighter crowds!! I always have to fight the crowds in Aug!!
I bought our tickets online for our honeymoon. The 2 parks special is about $ 170 for 2. Then we used the kisok to print out the tickets.
On our last day, we purchased the express plus passes for both parks so we can use the express lines and do two parks on the same day to hit our favourite rides one last time with min. wait before we go home.
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