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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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.
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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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Stay onsite or off?
DH and I are planning on going either next october or november and well be staying onsite at WDW for a 4 nights and plan to spend two days at universal. is it worth it to stay onsite or are we better off staying off site? Also what hotel do you recomend onsite and why? TIA!!
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My friends went to Universal and there is (was?) some sort of deal where people who stayed in their resorts could have perks similar to fastpasses. I don't know if this is still happening, but it might be worth it to stay there.
Two of the main benefits to staying on property at WDW are proximity to the parks and EMH. You won't need these perks if you're taking a few days to go elsewhere. I guess you'll have to decide if the hassle of moving outweighs the savings and/or benefits of staying elsewhere.
Good luck!
We think it's totally worth to stay in one of Universal's onsite resorts, especially for "front of the line" access for resort guests. Just show your room key to the ride attendant "Team Member" and you will be directed into the Express Pass line - this perk is unlimited for resort guests. Usually the Express line has little or no wait.
You can get 2 days worth of FOTL (Front of the line) with one night's stay. Arrive at the hotel early that morning and check in. Most likely your hotel room won't be ready, but you can obtain your room keys and head to the park. You can use your room key for FOTL all day. The next morning that you check out your room key is still good for FOTL the biggest part of the day. Sometimes the expiration time varies. It has been 3 pm in the past, and some times it's good all day until park closing. But, this way you can get two days for the price of one night's stay.
Another perk of staying onsite is the close proximity to the parks from the onsite resorts. You can walk to both parks if you stay onsite. Add this to the FOTL for resort guests and you've got an easy way to experience all the attractions and still have an afternoon break in your room or at the pool.
October is busy with Universal's Halloween Horror Nights. November is probably a slower time, and you may not need the FOTL access to do everything. The Doubletree at Universal is a great offsite resort, very close by, great rooms and amenities, and reasonable rates.
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We think it's totally worth to stay in one of Universal's onsite resorts, especially for "front of the line" access for resort guests. Just show your room key to the ride attendant "Team Member" and you will be directed into the Express Pass line - this perk is unlimited for resort guests. Usually the Express line has little or no wait.
You can get 2 days worth of FOTL (Front of the line) with one night's stay. Arrive at the hotel early that morning and check in. Most likely your hotel room won't be ready, but you can obtain your room keys and head to the park. You can use your room key for FOTL all day. The next morning that you check out your room key is still good for FOTL the biggest part of the day. Sometimes the expiration time varies. It has been 3 pm in the past, and some times it's good all day until park closing. But, this way you can get two days for the price of one night's stay.
Another perk of staying onsite is the close proximity to the parks from the onsite resorts. You can walk to both parks if you stay onsite. Add this to the FOTL for resort guests and you've got an easy way to experience all the attractions and still have an afternoon break in your room or at the pool.
October is busy with Universal's Halloween Horror Nights. November is probably a slower time, and you may not need the FOTL access to do everything. The Doubletree at Universal is a great offsite resort, very close by, great rooms and amenities, and reasonable rates.
I would say with these benefits, it would be worth the hassle of packing up from one location to the other.
We've stayed onsite at Universal for the front of line access twice now. The Royal Pacific is a gorgeous hotel. It's great being able to take the boat to the parks and use the room key as a "fastpass" all day. I would recommend staying onsite at least one night.
We stayed one night at HRH then moved across the street to The Doubletree. From HRH we were able to walk quicker then taking the boat. We also walked one morning from Doubletree, it took us 20 min. Doubletree also has excellent shuttle service to and from Universal all day long, not just at opening and closing times. They also have a shuttle to Seaworld.
With a 2 day only stay, I'd just stay onsite. We were in Orlando for 10 days, and did alot of moving around!
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NYC-Canada Cruise Sept 2012
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