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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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're contemplating adding a day to our next Disney trip to see Harry Potter. My plan is to stay at one of the Universal hotels the first night of our trip so we'd have front of the line passes (not sure that's the correct terminology). So, we'd arrive late afternoon, pick up our rental car at the airport, stay the night, visit the park (or parks), return car to airport, and then take DME over to our Disney resort. It's quite a bit more cost-wise to return the rental car on property. There was only a slight difference in renting and returning to the Car Care Center in the middle of the trip, but then we wouldn't have the onsite perks at Universal, and once we're in our Disney bubble, we like to stay there! Any potential pitfalls to my plan?
Also, since it's only one day, should we stick with Islands of Adventure or do both parks?
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Sounds like a good plan to me! The Universal hotels do charge for parking, so you'll want to include the cost of one night's parking in your total cost for getting the rental car for that one night.
If there are attractions you'd really like to see in the Universal Studios park, the park to park ticket is not terribly expensive and with the express pass option you shouldn't have to wait long for anything so you should at least be able to see the highlights of that park. Or, even if you have a few hours of park time on your arrival day you could get a 2 day single park ticket and use the first day to see the highlights of Universal Studios and then spend your whole second day at IOA.
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One thing to note..... the Forbidden Journey (the main ride at Harry Potter) does not honor the express pass. So you may want to check with the hotel before booking simply for that reason. But if you're going during a busy time of year, that pass will certainly come in handy for all the other rides.
I think with teens they will find a lot to do at IOA and you may need a full day even with front of the line access. As they got older, my boys much preferred Universal to Disney because of the thrills.
I think with teens they will find a lot to do at IOA and you may need a full day even with front of the line access. As they got older, my boys much preferred Universal to Disney because of the thrills.
My kids are even bigger Disneyphiles than I am. We're going just because of Harry Potter. They much prefer theming to thrills. This is mostly just for me, and Dd wants a wand. We've been to Universal in cCalifornia once and have never felt the need to return. We do love our Disney!
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This is the only reason I want to go to Universal. But trying to rent a car for 5 that was big enough for our luggage was just way out of our budget, so going the beginning or end of our trip was automatically out, we NEED DME! We can rent an economy or compact car for a day for about half what a town car or taxi would cost, so as much as I like staying in the Disney bubble once we're there, it just made more sense for us to do WWoHP in the middle.
As someone stated, the Universal Express Pass does not work with Forbidden Journey, but it does work with Flight of the Hippogriff and the Dragon Challenge. However, you have to buy Universal's Express Pass for each person utilizing it (which is about $85 plus tax for a family of 4), unlike Disney's Fast Pass. It didn't seem worth it to us, as the ride that everyone talks about having crazy long lines is the one that doesn't use it.
The upside of staying on site is that you can enter WWoHP an hour earlier than the general public.
However, you have to buy Universal's Express Pass for each person utilizing it (which is about $85 plus tax for a family of 4), unlike Disney's Fast Pass.
Express Pass access is included with your stay at a Universal Resort. This is one of the biggest perks of staying at an on-site hotel in addition to the Early Entry to WWoHP that you mentioned. Guests not staying on-site do have to purchase Express Pass and the price varies as to whether it is for one or both parks as well as the time of year.
Express Pass access is included with your stay at a Universal Resort. This is one of the biggest perks of staying at an on-site hotel in addition to the Early Entry to WWoHP that you mentioned. Guests not staying on-site do have to purchase Express Pass and the price varies as to whether it is for one or both parks as well as the time of year.
We've budget staying onsite at RP or in a off-site hotel and buying the express pass and first option was better. You've just to remember to bring ALL rooms keys to the park.
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). So, we'd arrive late afternoon, pick up our rental car at the airport, stay the night, visit the park (or parks), return car to airport, and then take DME over to our Disney resort. It's quite a bit more cost-wise to return the rental car on property. There was only a slight difference in renting and returning to the Car Care Center in the middle of the trip, but then we wouldn't have the onsite perks at Universal, and once we're in our Disney bubble, we like to stay there! Any potential pitfalls to my plan?
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This is one of the biggest perks of staying at an on-site hotel in addition to the Early Entry to WWoHP that you mentioned. Guests not staying on-site do have to purchase Express Pass and the price varies as to whether it is for one or both parks as well as the time of year.
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