The attraction JAWS will be closing permanently! - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Wow really? I only went on it a few times. I thought that the last time was kind of cheesy, but it was still fun. I wonder what they will do there now. Some new type of scary ride?
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What a shame! We're going to IOA to see WWOHP but won't have time to make it over to Universal to ride this. Too bad, DH and I love that movie and I know he would have gotten a kick out of it.
That's too bad. We tried to go last trip and it closed down just as we were getting in line. We've done it before, but it would have been nice to ride one more time. Thanks for the news!
I got the email as well. It only said "an exciting new attraction" will be replacing it and on their Facebook page they said: "We can't express how EXCITED we are about the new, innovative & amazing experience we're going to be bringing you."
The rumor mills are swirling with things like a Harry Potter expansion (wherin you'd take a Hogwarts Express train to and from the WWOHP). I have also seen rumors of them adding a Twilight themed area/ride . . . as well as the addition of the big Transformers ride that is opening this coming year at Universal Hollywood. Here's what the email said:
Quote:
On January 2, 2012, one of Universal Studios' most iconic rides is heading out to sea for the last time. In order to make room for an exciting new attraction, Captain Jake's Amity Boat Tours is closing and we invite you to come celebrate with one final ride of JAWS®.
Come relive your favorite memories and get ready to scream as the Great White Shark takes its last bite.
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We rode JAWS once and were done. Personally thought it was really lame. Sorry to those who enjoyed it, but hope something worthwhile replaces it. (The movie JAWS is a favorite. Go figure.)
We rode JAWS once and were done. Personally thought it was really lame. Sorry to those who enjoyed it, but hope something worthwhile replaces it. (The movie JAWS is a favorite. Go figure.)
I have to agree. I love the movie Jaws, but I didn't find the spirit of it in the ride at all. I wasn't the least bit scared....just annoyed that the shark pushed a huge wave of water on to me - JUST me out of our whole boat! LOL
I am looking forward to seeing what replaces it.
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MNSSHP 2015: DH (Bane), Me (Batgirl), Genie, and our friends
For what it's worth, there's one potential flaw with using the Jaws space for the WWoHP expansion - it almost undoubtedly would require Park-to-Park Access (park hopping), which is, for now, still optional. Somewhat like the Disneyland monorail, would you have to use park admission to board the Hogwarts Express? Yeah, it's one way to get folks to upgrade their tickets, and considering the likelihood that an unusually high number of IOA guests are buying single-park admission, Universal has a motive and a pretty good lever to convert them to Park-to-Park. But I'm not sure how many of those guests would have a warm, fuzzy feeling about Universal's management if they did it. The phrase, "Been there, done that, not going back," comes to mind.
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There's a whole new generation who probably have no idea what Jaws was! 
NYC-Canada Cruise Sept 2012
PassPorter Guide Author
I can see why though, as it was a bit lame and a bit out of date, but I liked it.
Michelle - with my step sisters!
I have to agree. I love the movie Jaws, but I didn't find the spirit of it in the ride at all. I wasn't the least bit scared....just annoyed that the shark pushed a huge wave of water on to me - JUST me out of our whole boat! LOL 
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