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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 was at BGA yesterday and they were selling Quick Queue passes, BGA's version of Fastpass and Universal Express. It costs $24.95 and $19.95 for passholders. It gives you express access to Sheikra, Kumba, Montu, Gwazi Lion, Gwazi Tiger, Rhino Rally, and Congo River Rapids.
In most rides, you have a special Quick Queue entrance (much like Fastpass). At Montu, it looks like they blocked off row 2 for Quick Queue. The ride ops will still fill empty seats in row 2 from the regular line. Rhino Rally, Congo River Rapids, and Sheikra had a special line for Quick Queue. I didn't see any rows blocked off on Kumba and I'm not sure how they load Quick Queue for it. I didn't ride Gwazi to check out the Quick Queue access. I haven't seen Quick Queue make the regular wait longer, as not too many people were using it. Besides, Kumba, Montu, and Rhino Rally had less than 5 minute waits when I rode. Sheikra had a 20 minute wait. You might have used Quick Queue for that, but the wait wasn't too bad.
From what I've heard, it is currently in test mode. With the busy season coming up, it might be a worthy investment to buy the Quick Queue passes. Still, $25 to me is lunch and souvenirs. I think $25 is better invested in food and drinks. However, since the busy period is around the corner, I can see the park getting a lot of sales with Quick Queue.
Quick Queue is available for purchase at any Admissions window or the Desert Grill information booth.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
That will be a great benefit for passholders who want to squeeze even more out of their frequent visits. I'm not sure if "day guests" will be too interested in paying an extra $25 for a Quick Queue, though.
Wow! thats $100 for a family of 4, for 1 day. I really don't agree with the trend for the parks to be selling the fast pass option. Next thing WDW will be too. It's just not right. But that's just MHO!!
Wow! thats $100 for a family of 4, for 1 day. I really don't agree with the trend for the parks to be selling the fast pass option. Next thing WDW will be too. It's just not right. But that's just MHO!!
I really don't agree with the trend for the parks to be selling the fast pass option.
Me neither. We spend enough money just to take the vacation. That's adding insult to injury IMO. You paid x amount of dollars. Now spend more and you don't have to wait in lines. Gee, if I had that kind of money, I wouldn't be staying in the cheapest hotel I can.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Busch Gardens Europe in Williamsburg just started testing the Quick Queue passes recently as well.
We went up this past Sunday and got a flyer about it as we came through the parking toll booths. They have the same pricing of $24.95 for day guests/$19.95 for pass holders.
As passholders, we would rather have a season pass of sorts where we could pay an additional amount for the length of our park season passes . . . much like Universal's Front of the Line pass they offer with their annual passes.
$20 per person per time we visit (which can only be between mid-March and earl September, as that is the only time of year the park is open) is pretty spendy!
When are you going? I'm interested to hear how things worked out for you. We are leaving Aug 4 for Florida, but not getting to orlando until Aug 18. Universal/Seaworld/Aquatica. After our 1 night at HRR, and our 2 days of the Univ. guest express pass, we weren't going to buy the "pay for" passes for the other 2 days. The plan is to see each park with the Express pass from the hotel, then the other 2 days alotted to Univ. parks just do our favs. We're also going to Seaworld 2 days & Aquatica for 1, or visa versa.
So I would be interested to know if you thought buying the pass worked well.