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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Hi, just hoping to get some feedback on this. I suspect this may be a must for our first visit during the summer season (visiting with dh, 10 and 6 year old). We are debating whether drive from WDW or stay on property for a couple of nights prior or following WDW. Thoughts??
I would hate to do Universal in the summer without express pass. I probably would stay onsite a couple of nights before going to WDW. In fact last time we did it, we did a split stay at WDW and did Universal in the middle
We were at Universal last July--we went one day, we stayed at the Hyatt at MCO as we were sailing the next day--and we had Express Pass. We also had a park to park ticket so we could do both parks AND ride Hogwarts Express. Most of the time, Express Pass saved us time. We had also pre-ordered Photo Connect, Universal's version of Photopass and noticed that some ride photos were taken "pre-ride" and not in the Express Pass queue. We asked at ride exits and were taken to the right area and had pictures taken. That being said, we were glad we had spent the extra money.
Good luck with your decision and have a great trip!
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I've done three trips without express pass, one was a day in early August, and two were during spring break weeks. We did have to stand in some long lines, but we were able to do everything we wanted and still not have to stay until closing. If you are on a budget and don't want to buy EP or stay at a deluxe onsite hotel, it can be done and pretty painlessly. Just get there before the park opens, hit the things throughout the park that you really want to do first and then do Harry Potter toward the end of the day (the lines do get better as it gets later, and since there is no EP for the main rides there, no use getting in them until later).
On the otherhand, we were at US/IOA in December, staying onsite for a change, and we loved just being able to walk to the parks and take our time. EP was really nice to have.
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We stay onsite for 2 nights, then go on to WDW. Your tickets and express passes are good the day you check out of the hotel, so after we check out and load the van, we head to the parks to enjoy our second day there. When we're done, we simply go back to the resort, hop in the van and it's off to WDW!
You will need the park-to-park passes to ride Hogwarts Express. And in Hogwarts, there's now a thing like the Phineas & Ferb at WDW that the kids can do with their magic wands (if they buy one). We saw some kids having fun doing that in March.
If you're staying onsite at one of the deluxe resorts, you'll get the front of line, unlimited passes to go along with your tickets. Those are good for everything but FJ and Gringotts.
If you're staying at their value resort or offsite, there is an express pass you can buy that gives you a limited front of line..... 1 time per ride only. We did that the first time we went, I think I paid about $25 per person for those. You could hit the parks and if it's crazy busy, with long lines, buy the pass when you get there.
I have stayed at PBR and RPR and love the Universal hotels. I have had much better service at them than any Disney hotel and I find the rooms and grounds beautiful. I would stay at one of them, even if just for one night to get front of the line access.
I actually have just been looking for next year and if you buy the unlimited express pass bundled with park entrance it come a fair bit cheaper than buying separately so if you wanted to stay at a cheaper resort and buy those it would probably save you a bit.
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