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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I really want to see WWHP as soon as possible...yet at the same time, I really want to enjoy it when I go. I want to immerse myself in the experience, not fight a mob of people.
I know the crowd levels are going to be through the roof when it first opens, but how long do you think they'll last? Judging by what we've experienced with Toy Story Mania last fall, I'm thinking it might be a year or two before the place isn't swamped!!
For all you seasoned, frequent theme park goers (who get to see new attractions as soon as they debut) what do you predict for WWHP? Is it going to be wall-to-wall people even in the value season? Should we postpone our trip until things have settled down?
I have been wondering the same thing. I can't wait to see it and almost do not care about the crowds. Which is weird for me because I only want to go to WDW during low crowd seasons. I will say it again - I just can't wait to see it!
Danielle
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WDW Oct . 2012
Since Minnie's chair is gone, I had to find a new place to have our photo taken this past Oct. Not sure this will be the permanent place.
Hmm, no advice but I know how you are feeling! I fully plan on going to WWHP for one of my days in October and I am hoping it's not going to be insanely crowded.
I'm really looking forward to this opening as well--I've been putting off Universal since this was announced. I'm probably going to continue to put it off for another year or so--and then make sure that I'm traveling in the off season and on a weekday!
I'm guessing the crowds will be pretty intense for some time after this opens. We're looking at going 2011 and I'm thinking about staying at one of the Universal hotels, so we can use their Express Passes to deal with the crowds....
I'm thinking about staying at one of the Universal hotels, so we can use their Express Passes to deal with the crowds....
Im no expert but if your really desperate I would try to stay onsite , in low season, during the week and get in at opening !? the crowds will HAVE to be lower RIGHT ?? PLUS staying onsite means you can get outta bed later and get onto rides quicker with the express passes!
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Clare Loves Stitch
"sometimes the right path is not the easiest one"
Grandmother Willow - Pocahontas
Proud DVC owner at BWV from March 2011
I am like you also, I really don't want to deal with the crowds immediately after it opens, but we're going in December on a Sun - Wed, during value season. I am anticipating higher-than-normal crowds for Universal then due to WWHP. And to be honest, WWHP is why we're going to Uni instead of going home straight after our cruise. My DH thinks I might be nuts for planning that many days there, but we're staying off-site, so no express pass, and I figure that with 4 days we might be able to get everything we want to see and do, seen and done.
Anyway, that's my plan for dealing with what I'm assuming will be massive numbers of bodies then because it will still be so new. Extra days. And we will arrive at the gates a minimum of half an hour before the park opens in case they open early (like they tend to do at Uni). We'll see how that works out.
I would expect it to be mobbed for quite some time. You can buy and Express pass if you;re not staying at a Universal hotel' that might be the way to. I guess this makes US / IOA a 2 day adventuret
The only thing about Express Pass - keep in mind that some (many) of the rides may not offer it. We were so excited to ride Rip Ride Rockit multiple times last December, only to find out that it didn't offer Express Pass - and this was 6 months after it opened. Express Pass will speed you through the other rides so that you have more time for WWoHP, but it may not help you there.
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I'd probably go in early November. I did a five day trip to US/IOA a few years back and it was a perfect time to go (my sister just did the same thing last year and felt the same way). Even if the crowds were up, it would probably bearable.
I've thought the same thing but I think it's going to be very popular for a very, very long time. We've been tracking this on Mugglenet for a long time since they first hinted at it and we are desperate to go!
We are strictly WDW people, but we are planning a day for WWoHP. We are staying on site at Disney Sept 3-11. I am hoping to visit IOA on Tuesday or Wednesday of that week. Hopefully one day will be bearable.
I would expect wall to wall crowds & extremely dense. From what I've seen on maps the area is going to be just one of the "Islands." Which as I understand it is only maybe as big as Fantasyland (not including Mickey's Toon Town) at WDW, if that big. Anyone who's been to US and has a better measurement than me, please chime in.
Judging by your countdown, it shouldn't be too bad in late September/Early October.... the majority of Universal guests at that time are going to the Studios for Halloween Horror Nights, not IoA.
That being said, we're holding off on visiting Universal this year (late August trip) and will go next year, in the hopes that most of the crowds will have seen it before then.
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I want to immerse myself in the experience, not fight a mob of people.
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Im no expert but if your really desperate I would try to stay onsite , in low season, during the week and get in at opening !? the crowds will HAVE to be lower RIGHT ?? 
PLUS staying onsite means you can get outta bed later and get onto rides quicker with the express passes!
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