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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I'm glad you had such a good time. We always Include US / IOA as well as Seaworld in each of our WDW trips. I never understood folks who never try US because it's 'not Disney.' All three parks are great
Well, I am a huge HP fan (read the books three times, have listened to Jim Dale read them to me at least twice, and of course have seen all the movies). My problem is that no matter how long I stay at WDW, I never run out of things to do on site. I've got a friend who's eager to see HP and so I may finally get to US-Orlando later this year. (It's a lot better than US in California, right? Even my non-Disney boyfriend Rick was disappointed with US in California when we were there in 2006 -- he said, "Disney is WAY better." And it IS.)
I'm glad you had such a good time. We always Include US / IOA as well as Seaworld in each of our WDW trips. I never understood folks who never try US because it's 'not Disney.' All three parks are great
Ah, my pet peeve. It's ok to love both (and SeaWorld too). I love that Harry Potter is drawing people in to give US a chance, although a lot of people go in with that preconceived Dark Side male bovine defecation. The mind is like a parachute - it works best when it's open.
That's why I loved reading this quickie trip report. Look! People really can have fun at Universal.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cindybelle
Well, I am a huge HP fan (read the books three times, have listened to Jim Dale read them to me at least twice, and of course have seen all the movies). My problem is that no matter how long I stay at WDW, I never run out of things to do on site. I've got a friend who's eager to see HP and so I may finally get to US-Orlando later this year. (It's a lot better than US in California, right? Even my non-Disney boyfriend Rick was disappointed with US in California when we were there in 2006 -- he said, "Disney is WAY better." And it IS.)
Yes, Universal Orlando (awesome) is better than US California (really lame in 2000). And I agree, if you go to WDW you could find stuff to do for weeks which makes it hard to find time to go to US. I combat that by sometimes not buying tickets to WDW and just make US my vacation destination. Yep. You can do that. Although this last trip I insisted on staying at Coronado Springs because I wanted the little bit of Disney touches like the resort music when I was there. And that totally worked for me.
I hope that others will write TRs (hint hint) about how much fun they had at US. (That reminds me... I have to finish my TR )
Ah, my pet peeve. It's ok to love both (and SeaWorld too). I love that Harry Potter is drawing people in to give US a chance, although a lot of people go in with that preconceived Dark Side male bovine defecation. The mind is like a parachute - it works best when it's open.
That's why I loved reading this quickie trip report. Look! People really can have fun at Universal.
Yes, Universal Orlando (awesome) is better than US California (really lame in 2000). And I agree, if you go to WDW you could find stuff to do for weeks which makes it hard to find time to go to US. I combat that by sometimes not buying tickets to WDW and just make US my vacation destination. Yep. You can do that. Although this last trip I insisted on staying at Coronado Springs because I wanted the little bit of Disney touches like the resort music when I was there. And that totally worked for me.
I hope that others will write TRs (hint hint) about how much fun they had at US. (That reminds me... I have to finish my TR )
I totally know what you mean! I must admit that I had some of those feelings too before we went. What I thought I would see and what I actually saw were totally different things. I was expecting something like Six Flags Over Texas, but I really saw how wonderful IOA really is! I hadn't been there since I was 6 and didn't remember much, but it was loads of fun!
Thanks for the review! We go to Orlando every year in October to stay at our timeshare and we always do Disney. There was one time about 5 years ago that we did IOA for one day. We decided this year we are going to focus on all of the non-Disney parks that we never go to. We purchased the Orlando Flex Ticket (through Undercover Tourist) so we will be going to IOA, US, Sea World, Aquatica, and Wet n Wild. We tacked on 2 extra days at the end of the trip and will be staying at POFQ and doing 2 days at Disney so we can get our Disney fix while we're there
I'm glad you liked Forbidden Journey - I have been really excited about going on that ride but have read SO many negative reviews about people getting sick or feeling sick after riding it. I am not a huge thrill-ride junkie (won't do Mission:Space Orange side or Tower of Terror) but I do love Expedition Everest and Rock 'n Roller Coaster. Hearing somebody say that they loved FJ gives me hope that I'll be able to go on it and enjoy it!
I agree Harry Potter in IOA is amazing i am not a fan at all... my parents are.. we spent about 3 hours there in total going on the rides seeing the Wand show, drinking Butter Beer which by the way tastes AMAZING!! looking around the Joke and sweet shop and taking way to many photos, i enjoyed it just as much as my parents and i have only ever seen the first movie.. its definatly worth a visit.
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I assumed that I should go to IOA first thing in the morning to see the Harry Potter stuff, but our summer intern (whose family lives in Orlando) says that EVERYBODY goes first thing in the morning, so he actually advised me to wait until after lunch to go to Harry Potter.
Is that your advice? What time of day did you get to Harryland? Thanks.
We always do Sea World and Universal on our trips to Disney. One time we even did Busch Gardens. For our upcoming trip in November we are doing KSC which I haven't been to since I was a kid, We will still do SW and Universal but we are doing a 1 day 2 park pass just so we can see WWOHP since we are ride wimps and have never been to IOA but I am trying to be brave to go on FJ.