A mini PTR for my birthday weekend getaway to Universal Orlando - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
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.
A mini PTR for my birthday weekend getaway to Universal Orlando
I'm having a really blah day and I need these next two weeks to fly so I decided to start a little PTR of my birthday weekend Universal Orlando trip.
Here's how it REALLY started...
March of 2009 my fiance, Gary, and I took his two boys to Disney from a Tuesday to a Tuesday. We had oodles of fun, and I hadn't been to Disney since I was a kiddo so I was thrilled to be there. Within the month after our vacation, we got engaged, bought two adorable kitties, Karma and Bonsai (sisters), and then proceeded to fall into the unemployment blues. Money wasn't a terrible issue, but lack of work was down right depressing. BACKSTORY SENTENCE: Gary lost his job the day before we left for Disney.
Last year it was the beginning of June and Gary called me to ask how much credit we had available on the credit card... I told him and he continued to tell me that he just found really good flight prices through JetBlue to go to Orlando on my birthday weekend. Sweet! I then went online and started researching what hotel we would want to stay at and ticket prices. It all fit together! Gary made a quick phone call to his travel agent (after already booking the flights) and we were all set with a Friday to Monday stay at the Hard Rock Hotel with Multi-Park Passes for our entire stay! Oh, and a shuttle to get us from the airport to the hotel of course
We left bright and early on that Friday July morning, and hit about everything in Universal Studios that afternoon. Okay not about everything, we did the entire park. We did the entire Islands of Adventure Park the following day. It was perfect. Having the Express Pass, staying in luxury. We were living the life
This year, I decided to have my revenge on the business that had let Gary go the day before our Disney trip and then RE-HIRED him in October of 2009... and I booked another Disney trip for the SAME week as we went the previous year. That's where my Most Magical Moments TR comes in
So earlier THIS week, Gary sends me an email that says that JetBlue is having special $10 pricing for flights from SYR to JFK for the weekend. Well that could be cool because we have some friends down that way and a weekend trip to the city would be fun. Well it didn't work out... but it DID get me curious...
I proceeded to change my destination from JFK to MCO and change the dates from June 19th to July 2nd...
Less than 12 hours later it was booked, and we're having a repeat travel year and going back to Universal for my birthday weekend again!!
Who's Going?
Me - Melissa (23, turning 24 in two weeks!) I'm a Document Control Coordinator for a medical device company and I LOATHE it here. I'm currently looking for other opportunities
Fiance - Gary (32) He's a morning radio show host for the local top 40's radio station and he is my rock!
When?
July 2nd - July 5th
Where?
Universal Orlando
Staying at?
Loew's Portofino Bay Hotel
Add-ons?
We've scheduled a Mears shuttle for airport transportation.
We also picked up Meal Deal passes for two of the days we'll be there.
Why?
To celebrate my birthday and all the wonderful things to come in the year of 24! Universal, Disney, Jamaica, and getting married!
Up Next: More Details... Universal is much simpler than Disney unfortunately