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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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O.K., I thought of another question! Would the chances of the return trip back (via Mears shuttle) to WDW resort about 3 or 4 in the afternoon (park closes at 6) be shorter than the trip TO Universal? If we have 5 pm reservations at Boma, I'm trying to figure out what time I need to leave. I called Mears and when we are going, the shuttle leaves at 3:15 or 4:15. I can schedule the shuttle to drop us off at Animal Kingdom Lodge. I realize it would depend on how many people and where they are dropping, but in general, do you think we'd make it Boma if we left on the 4:q5 shuttle?
If the shuttle left on time it could work. What day of the week will you be doing it-if it is during the week, you'll have to consider rush hour traffic and 45 minutes may not be enough time.
If you can do it, I would recommend a nice dinner at a Citywalk restaurant. I do understand if you're locked into something at WDW, but it might save your sanity to stay at Universal for a few more hours and have a nice dinner at some of the excellent Citywalk eateries.
If the shuttle left on time it could work. What day of the week will you be doing it-if it is during the week, you'll have to consider rush hour traffic and 45 minutes may not be enough time.
Hey Judy, I didn't know you read universal threads! Inever even considered rush hour traffic! Thanks for mentioning that. I wonder what time rush hour starts there. I think traffic in MN is starting earlier and earlier. It used to be around 5 or 5:30 and now it's way earlier!
If you can do it, I would recommend a nice dinner at a Citywalk restaurant. I do understand if you're locked into something at WDW, but it might save your sanity to stay at Universal for a few more hours and have a nice dinner at some of the excellent Citywalk eateries.
Very good idea but we have that darn free dining plan at Disney! (My mom has her heart set on Boma and when I tried to switch ressies, the earliest they had was 9 pm! I keep kicking myself for making 5 pm ressies, but at the time I didn't know we'd be going off property.) If we didn't have that, I'd go two days to Universal and skip out on one more of the disney days I had planned. We're only taking a short trip though and all the other days have table service meals planned for inside the parks. I hate to skip out on our free dining, being that's why we scheduled the trip!
After researching US and IoA, I want to try them both! I've been to disney so many times but we've never even left the property. I didn't know what I was missing. So, I've decided this trip (just mom and me) will just wet my appetite for Universal and next time, when I bring DH and the kids with me , ha, we'll actually stay at US and spend some quality (and quanity) time there! So beware, in two years (next summer is DCL Mexican Riveria and disneyland which I've never been to) I'll be back with tons more questions on the hotels at US!
Hi Michelle, Yes I do. Some weeks I read and respond a lot and other weeks I don't look at it at all.
When we go to Universal via Mears, we get the 7:30 am shuttle. We stop for a Cinnabon & latte in the City Walk area then are at the entrance before the park opens. We head for The Mummy first because that has the worst line.
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Thanks, Judy! I had thought I read in an earlier thread when I did a search that people often leave at 7:30 a.m. When I called Mears, they said they start transporting from Pop at 6:30 a.m. , so then I worried maybe 7:30 was too late and that I had remembered it wrong before.
How many warm bodies are coming along? It might be cheaper to take a taxi if you have a relatively large group. Most taxis in Orlando charge the same rate for up to 5 souls. A taxi might give you more flexibility in coming and going. Plus, there are like a million taxis lined up at the Citywalk taxi area!
How many warm bodies are coming along? It might be cheaper to take a taxi if you have a relatively large group. Most taxis in Orlando charge the same rate for up to 5 souls. A taxi might give you more flexibility in coming and going. Plus, there are like a million taxis lined up at the Citywalk taxi area!
Only my Mom and me - I'm leaving DH and the kids at home this time. We just kind of decided on US in the last couple of weeks. I'm checking it out with the kids in mind though (they aren't real thrill ride type kids). Next time I go to WDW with the family, I would like to stay at one of the US properties and spend a few days there, one for each park and one for pools. It would be a nice change for the family being we've never been off WDW property.
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So, I've decided this trip (just mom and me) will just wet my appetite for Universal and next time, when I bring DH and the kids with me 
, ha, we'll actually stay at US and spend some quality (and quanity) time there! So beware, in two years (next summer is DCL Mexican Riveria and disneyland which I've never been to) I'll be back with tons more questions on the hotels at US! 
, so then I worried maybe 7:30 was too late and that I had remembered it wrong before.
We just kind of decided on US in the last couple of weeks. I'm checking it out with the kids in mind though (they aren't real thrill ride type kids). Next time I go to WDW with the family, I would like to stay at one of the US properties and spend a few days there, one for each park and one for pools. It would be a nice change for the family being we've never been off WDW property. 
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