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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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At WDW, we usually arrive about 30 minutes early for shows. Do we need to do that at IoA and US for shows like Blues Brothers, Beetlejuice, Voyage of Sinbad? (probably won't do Lucy, am I missing any?) My Mom and I will be there for only one day, a couple of days after Labor Day.
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I think that 30 minutes would be plenty. There's also an animal show, the Blues Brothers and the Horror Makeup Show. But I think if you arrive 30 minutes or so before you'll have terrific seats (or in the case of the Blues Brothers, you can walk right up as they're performing). If you want to see the Fear Factor Show, I can't help with that because I had no interest whatsoever in it. BTW, Sinbad is probably my favourite show in all of Orlando!
If you're short on time, I would suggest skipping the "waste of space" (my opinion) Poseidons Adventure.
You can arrive as early as you want, but you won't be let into shows until about 15-20 minutes before showtime. Express passholders enter first and the rest enter later. Usually with shows, you can arrive 5-10 minutes beforehand and still get a seat, unless the park is really busy.
I agree, you won't have to wait very long for shows at US. We've walked right up to the Horror Make Up Show before. At the Animal show you can walk into the stadium anytime and sit down before the show starts. I don't think you're going to have big crowds that time of year.
Michelle - you will just miss us - we are leaving the day after Labor Day!
The Blues Brothers don't perform in a theater... they're on a stage set up on a front porch on one of the street lots, and drive down the street in their car at the start of the show.
Thanks everyone, that will help me estimate how much time I will spend in the park (s) if I choose to do both in one day.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shell_of_the_South
I agree, you won't have to wait very long for shows at US. We've walked right up to the Horror Make Up Show before. At the Animal show you can walk into the stadium anytime and sit down before the show starts. I don't think you're going to have big crowds that time of year.
Michelle - you will just miss us - we are leaving the day after Labor Day!
Hey, that's too bad. It would have been fun to meet up being we've "talked" in the scrapbook section of the boards and now here! My Mom is the one who suggested going outside disney , something I've never even entertained the idea of before. Now that I've been looking at all the websites listed in this section, I wish I would have planned two days for US and IoA. I didn't even know there was a park other than universal!!!! It's just my Mom and I going and I thought it would be fun to check out the parks and see if they are something my kids would enjoy. They aren't real big thrill ride kids. One doesn't like much for rides and the other thinks BTM is a thrill ride, ha!
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If you see their cop car driving through the park, follow it and you will be able to get a few pictures of them while they are parked behind the building they perform infront of. When they park their sax player gets out and walks up the sidewalk to start the show and when we were there a crowd didn't start to gather until they heard the sax player. If you stand back on the other side of the street from where they perform (to the right) you can get really good pictures of them pulling around and getting out of the car.
For Blue Man Group, we spent the day in the park and headed over to the theater 1/2 hour before the show time. It gave us time to buy a few souveniers before they let people in, buy a couple drinks, play around with the usher and read the ticker on the side of the stage (they talked about me! I feel like a dork getting this giddy, but it was cool!). If you get the chance to go and you want to relax and laugh, definately go. I can't wait to see them again!