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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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If I decide to go to IOA from AKL, will we be able to find a bus from Disney property? I thought that years ago you could get one from DTD area. We are using Magical Express and Disney transportation and will not be renting a car. Is there any transportation to IOA? I wouldn't mind getting a taxi, but am wondering if there is an easier way. Thanks.
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Sue
Last edited by Belle*; 04-26-2011 at 07:33 AM..
Reason: newsletter04282011
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Yeah you can call Mears or get a taxi. I found out last year that Mears takes alot longer to and from...Next visit we will be taking a cab to save some time. Good luck!
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I'm guessing you want to visit Harry Potter and friends. If you aren't using a Universal package you won't get early admission and it's important you be at the park when it opens in the morning. I'd take a taxi to have more control over your schedule.
we uses tiffany town car it is $80 roundtrip. we are planning to use them again next oct when we go back to universal.
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Heather - "I'm Tinkerbell's biggest fan!"
WDW - August 1997 Off Property
WDW - January 2005 AKL
WDW - May 2006 Pop Century
WDW- november-dec 2007 pop century
WDW- dec/jan 2009/2010 pop century
WDW- oct/nov 2012 art of animation
WDW- sept 2013 port Orleans riverside
WDW- july 2015 beach club
A one-way taxi fare from the Magic Kingdom area (such as BLT) is around $44, according to Mear's taxi fare estimator. The trip will be on the meter, however, so it may be higher or lower.
There are several other options. First, Mears Transportation offers shuttle service to and from many Orlando attractions, including Universal. The rates are zoned, but I think the current rate from most WDW locations to Universal is around $16 round-trip. You have to contact Mears Transportation at least one day before your trip to make reservations. I'm pretty sure your WDW resort's Lobby Concierge will help you make that booking.
You can book a town car service like Quicksilver, Happy Limo, etc. Most of them offer a rate that matches (or sometimes beats) the cost of a taxi, with the added luxury of a town car.
There's currently a deal where, if you buy Universal's equivalent of a one-day park-hopper (a one-day Park-to-Park ticket) from a travel agent, you can also get free shuttle transportation between a WDW area hotel and Universal. If you use an agent, this is definitely worth asking about. And, since it seems agents can sell these to anyone, in theory you could call an agent even if you haven't purchased the rest of your travel from her/him. I'm sure most agents would be happy to do this, even though there's probably very little money to be made on their end - a Universal ticket today, perhaps an entire vacation sometime down the line. In the agency business, it's all about building relationships. (Apparently, this only applies to one-day tickets. Multi-day tickets don't offer this, probably because the discount on the extra days would make free transportation for each of those days a real money-loser for Universal.)
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Co-Author, PassPorter's Walt Disney World, PassPorter's Disney Cruise Line, and PassPorter's Disneyland and Southern California Attractions
"Destinations in florida" offer a one day, two park with shuttle ticket. Costs about the same as gate price ticket but includes transport.
I can't say if they are good because I haven't used the tickets yet (going in September, not happy about my day away from WDW...)