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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Chapel Hill, NC USA
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 36,592
Post Thanks / Like
Cabana Bay Beach Resort review
DD and I stayed at Cabana Bay for four nights last week.
We loved it! The resort is just so clean and new feeling.
The rooms are small (we had a standard room, not a suite) but very comfortable.
We thought the towels were pretty good quality for a value resort and the shampoos and soap (VO5 and Zest) were both a flashback and quite good for use.
The resort is very large. We had a room on the 7th floor of the Americana wing and it was a really long hike to get there. It did keep us from using our refillable mug a couple times, because the thought of the walk to get to the Bayliner Diner was just too much.
Speaking of the Bayliner Diner.....the food we got there was very good. They are similar to the food courts in the Disney Value resorts in how they are set up. The dining room is large and airy. Overall I thought it nicer than any of the Disney ones.
We were on the side with a zero entry pool and the lazy river. We used both quite a bit due to the heat while we were there. We brought our own 36" float tubes and had them filled at the place where you can buy them by the river. You don't have to have one to go in, but it was nice to just relax (as much as you can with kids zooming by you without one) in. They had a DJ on Saturday and Sunday from 1-4. The one on Saturday was a lot of fun and really had the kids up and dancing.
We did take a walk to the other side to visit the other pool area. You have to go through the main building to go between the two, so a cover up is essential. There is a walkway to the second floor that you can take so you miss the lobby and leads to a path on the other side. Both sides have bars and the one on our side has a grill where we ate our first meal (sandwiches with fries or fruit). Tasty and fairly quick. We refilled our mug here a lot.
There were a lot of things we didn't take part in that are offered - games outside like pool and cornhole, an arcade, a fitness center, a bowling alley (with a restaurant), and movies on the lawn at night (we couldn't find it the night we tried and I sent a note about needing better signage to the resort).
The bus service was pretty good. Our first day we had a bus waiting each time we got to the stops. The second-fourth day, we had to wait at least couple times a day. They did run frequently so the waits were less than 15 minutes. Drop off is under the area between the parking deck and the entrance to Citywalk and an escalator ride to get to the entrance.
We did walk the pathway past Royal Pacific to our resort one night at closing to avoid the bus crowds. It's a long walk, but well lighted and no difficult terrain.
We would definitely stay there again. A very good value for the money and lots of fun.
PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Chapel Hill, NC USA
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 36,592
Post Thanks / Like
It really didn't seem like a value resort at all. The amenities are great for their rates.
I forgot to mention that we did use Early Entry on two days. We were able to get a lot done in the Harry Potter areas (and Despicable Me) before the rest of the world was let in. Crowds didn't start really showing up until 10:30-11am at which time we were like salmon going upstream to get back to the buses to enjoy the pool at the resort. We did the parks in the morning and evening, spending our afternoons at the pool.
Thanks for the information. The hotel really does look like a fun place. I would be tempted to stay there on our upcoming trip, but our Universal day is in the middle of our Disney stay. We are using our DVC points, so all of that has already been planned. I'll have to give it serious thought before our next Universal visit.
Thanks for the review. I will be staying onsite next year, and I know we would have loved Cabana Bay, but I feel RPR is a better value with the unlimited Express Pass. That upgrade is just too expensive to do as an add-on. It's a much better value to get it with the resort.
I understand Universal's desire to appeal to families onsite. It's just not the best fit for our next trip.
PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Chapel Hill, NC USA
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 36,592
Post Thanks / Like
We love RPR. Stayed there in March. Great resort. And having EP included is really wonderful (but I'd never pay for it seperately). You'll love it!
For DD and I, EP wasn't a necessity because we didn't plan to do many of the rides that get long lines and we could be flexible about our schedule. With four days in the parks, we had plenty of time to do things without long waits.
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
Thanks for the review on Cabana Bay. This will be our first trip to a Universal and doing the 3 night/2 day stay before moving on to WDW. We plan to go October 2016 and thought this resort looked the best for a 10 and 5 year old. But I do have a question for you experts. I know we will have early entry but no express pass. How important is that for mid October when the park is not as busy?
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.
I have never been to Universal in October and never been without staying onsite with front of the line access but what I have found is no pass is really that necessary (although makes it very easy and fun) during the week. It was very important on weekends when the parks get much more crowded.
I have never been to Universal in October and never been without staying onsite with front of the line access but what I have found is no pass is really that necessary (although makes it very easy and fun) during the week. It was very important on weekends when the parks get much more crowded.
We've been three times in June, and we have generally visited mid-week. Specifically, twice we were there on a Wednesday, and it was crazy busy both times, so for me the ExpressPass has real appeal.
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
Linear Mode
