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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Ok, we're going Nov 28-dec 12/10, and as I have 3 kids, DS14, DD 11, DD7, we "have to" do WWOHP & the rest of Universal
We're planning 2 days, 1 day at each IoA & UO.
How busy do you think the park is those dates? We were planning on staying @ POP or POFQ, and bussing it or renting a car to go to universal, but would we be better off to actually stay on site @ Universal for the Express Passes?
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Kris
Mom to:
DS Chris age 17; DD Lizzy age 15; DD Ashleigh age 11
I'm thinking the parks won't be terribly crowded. Weekends at Universal are much more crowded than weekdays because the parks are very local. Harry Potter should boost attendence for a solid year, so that will be interesting. If you're spending 2 full days at Universal, you won't need the express passes in my opinion especially at that time of year.
We were at Universal from December 3-6 2009 (Thursday - Saturday in the parks, home on Sunday). Express passes were totally not needed. Most rides, including coasters, were a walk-on or close to it. The one exception being Rip Ride Rockit, but it didn't have an Express line, anyway. We had 3 days, but my husband was laid up with a sinus infection the first day, and it rained most of the second - so 2 days would have covered it. We didn't do shows or water rides, and my kids would have loved more time in the Jurassic Park section, but I still think we could have done it in two.
That said, we stayed onsite and loved it. The service and amenities at the hotel matched, or even exceeded, what we have experienced at Disney. Being able to walk over to the parks when we wanted was great. And just like staying at Disney makes it "part of the magic", we found the same thing at Universal. I wrote a trip report in this forum - it's pretty short, but it may help you out.
November 28 is still Thanksgiving weekend, so I'd go later and avoid that day. We've been around Dec. 15, and the parks weren't crowded at all. We didn't stay at a Universal hotel that trip and didn't need Express Passes.
However, I love the convenience of staying onsite. You can walk to the parks - Universal Studios is literally in the Hard Rock Hotel's back yard!
MammaKat! How do you BUS to USO? I can't find it on Lynx. I will be there at the same time as you and we are going on around Dec 5, 6 or so. (mid week). I'm still trying to figure out how to get there that doesn't cost 30$.
for my group of 5 for 2 days it's $180; we may end up renting a car if I can get a good deal as My brother really wants to go hit a mall and go shopping.
I also want to go to sea world..... Kids still want to do a water park - told them that a water park is totally dependent on the actual weather once we get down there! lol!
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Kris
Mom to:
DS Chris age 17; DD Lizzy age 15; DD Ashleigh age 11
there is a trip planner function, and you can pick from thir list of links or type in an address!
I searched from downtown disney, as we're planning on staying @ POR, we can go to the "superstop" in the Pleasure Island area, and take Link #50 to 6600 Sea Harbour Dr 35 min trip, incl a 5 min walk to the front gate! - for $2 per person! also from TTC for a 41 min trip!
to get to Universal, from the superstop we can take link #111 to Florida Mall, then #37 to the universal bus loop and be within 5 min walk of citywalk time: 1hr 40 min this route also works from the TTC, with a est. time of 1hr 56 min!
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Kris
Mom to:
DS Chris age 17; DD Lizzy age 15; DD Ashleigh age 11
That seems like a lot of time riding - it's about a 20-30 minute trip from Disney to Universal. You'd have to leave at 6:45 am if you wanted to be at either park gate by opening.
that is true, a lot of time to go to/from Universal...
but if you are from small town in Canada and freeways are not what you're used to driving on....
I wonder how it compares to Mears shuttle travel times?
__________________
Kris
Mom to:
DS Chris age 17; DD Lizzy age 15; DD Ashleigh age 11
I have to agree with Shell - that really is an awful lot of time spent on a city bus just to save a few bucks. I'd rather spend a little extra and maybe split a meal or pass up a souvenir instead of riding the bus for 2 hours -- especially on the way back to your resort after spending the day in Universal. That's another consideration too - you might have some large bags with sweatshirts or something to carry with you after your day at the parks and it's not always the easiest thing to do with city buses. I'm from small-town Saskatchewan and don't like driving in Winnipeg, so I know how intimidating the FL freeways are!!
Depending on how many of you there are, Mears may be a good option or getting a cab might be a better option. I just checked taxifarefinder.com and it's US$38 incl tip (not sure if it includes tolls which might add another couple bucks) for a one-way trip and only about 20 minutes.
Last edited by GoofyMom; 02-03-2010 at 06:43 PM..
Reason: deleted the part that makes me look stupid for not reading the question properly! D'oh
I don't know if you will have access to a vehicle, but you can easily get to Universal from Disney without taking I-4. We do it all the time. Our first trip to Universal we got stuck in I-4 traffic and missed a dining reservation at the WL - and this was on a Sunday! After that we found a non-interstate route, and it works well for us. Just wanted to throw that out there in case the interstate was the only thing holding you back from driving yourself.
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