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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Is it necessary in July? I will be at Disney and would like to go to Universal for 2 days. I thought of staying at a Universal hotel in order to get the express pass, but we are already doing a split stay at Disney (2 hotels) and don't want to move a 3rd time. I know it is possible to purchase the Express pass without staying at a Universal resort, but when I priced it out, the pass was over $500 for the four of us for 2 days.
I'm thinking of just staying at our DVC resort and taking a Mears shuttle to Universal either 1 or 2 times during our stay and not purchasing the express pass in order to save some money. Will the July lines be crazy or will they be ok? Thanks.
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I wouldn't do Universal in the summer without it. Especially not if you only have two days. Last summer we entered the Spider-Man attraction with a 1 hour wait and it ended up taking all morning. We paid for it at the gate last year the lines were so bad. This year we are staying DVC to get a 2 bedroom but we have reserved 2 nights in the cheapest room at HRH to get us 3 days express pass and parking a the hotel. Extravagant I know but we only do 3 nights and I don't see us being back before 2017 so we are going for it.
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I've done the parks offsite three times without them. Two spring breaks and one August. It's doable. I would not spend the extra. Just get there before opening and do the major things first and last of the day. You will wait in lines, but you can do all the attractions you'll probably want .
If you want to stay at an onsite hotel for the Universal Express perk, remember a one night stay can give you two days of Express access. The Express access is good from the date of your check-in to midnight at the date of your check out. If you book the Royal Pacific for like $250 a night during the summer, you can get 2 days of unlimited Universal Express access. So even if you just book a room and don't sleep in it, the price of the room will be well worth it for Express access.
You can do Universal without Express. Just get there at opening and do the major rides early. The crowds will start coming in at 11 am. you might need to stand in line for one or two things, but if you arrive around 8:30 at the front gates, you might be let in early if all the attractions are ready and you can get a jump on the rides. I did this one summer. The gates opened at 8;30 and I did Spider-Man, Hulk Coaster, and Dr. Doom's Fearfall before 9:00!
I second what everyone has said, like Disney, get there for opening and you can get a lot done before the crowds build. I also think the US hotels are superior to Disney and well worth a night or two. You could also get a room, but not sleep in it, only use it for rest time. The hotels are very close to the parks. I have walked from the Royal Pacific to the parks in 15 minutes maximun. City Walk is also right between the parks and it is very easy to move from one to the other.
I would also avoid the parks on weekends, It is my understanding they are much more popular with locals and I think would appeal much more to teens out for a day.
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