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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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So, we are definitely going to try to make it to US/IOA on this next trip. But, I'm undecided on when to try to do it.
We are thinking a one night stay at one RPR to get the early access and fastpass perks. Either at the beginning or end of our Disney trip.
We are planning to go 11/17-11/22, pending Southwest releasing their dates and looking at cost.
The easiest thing to do is Universal at the beginning, rent a car, pick up at airport and take it back to the onsite location at Disney once we transfer. However, this leaves us without one day of early access to HP (the main reason for going). I'm also wondering if it might be better to be at US with the fastpass access at the end of our trip, as we're coming up on Thanksgiving and crowds are going to be picking up.
I guess we rent a car on site and Disney and return to MCO, right?
Any other suggestions to make it work??
Thanks!!
We are actually doing Universal during the middle of our trip, but we are in Florida longer, from June 3-13. We will stay overnight at RPR to get early access and fastpass perks too. It just worked out best for us that way.
I didn't look up the days of the week, but Universal is much busier on the weekend. Lots of locals go. The other thing is depending where you are staying at Disney, I would go to the nicer hotel latter. All the Universal hotels are probably the equivalent to a Disney deluxe.
And join the Loew's frequent guest club-https://www.loewshotels.com/youfirst/benefits
After only two visits, you get some good upgrades.
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We tend to do Universal in the middle of our trips. I think it is because i always love to end my trips at MK and start at EPCOT so that only leaves the middle.
We were there March 23-Arpil the 9th and we did 1-4th at Universal. It kinda felt like we had 2 Disney trips as Universal split them apart.
Thank you for the suggestions! I just booked everything and we're going to do Universal at the end. I would love to begin and end with Disney, but it's not going to work out that way...
Our Universal days will be a Monday and Tuesday, so hopefully not as bad as the weekend, but it will be Thanksgiving week. I'm hopeful that the Express Pass will help out with that!
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Thank you for the suggestions! I just booked everything and we're going to do Universal at the end. I would love to begin and end with Disney, but it's not going to work out that way...
Our Universal days will be a Monday and Tuesday, so hopefully not as bad as the weekend, but it will be Thanksgiving week. I'm hopeful that the Express Pass will help out with that!
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Just remember, the FOL passes do not get you ahead of line for FJ and Gringotts. They'll sure help with everything else though! You'll have so much fun and the RP is a beautiful resort! Handy walk to the parks or you can take a ferry. It has a Great pool area for the kids too. We loved it there.
My experience, although not recent, is that Universal has a lot more locals who come on weekends. If schools are in session the days you will be there, the crowds should be under control. I love the Universal resorts, their customer service was extraordinary when I have been there. And when we have been on our spring break-end of April into May, the crowds have been negligible. It was pre-Harry Potter though.
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