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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 love these boards, but I couldn't plan a trip to WDW without the allears site. I like it for the menus, full descriptions of rides, etc.
Is there a similar site for Universal? I'd really like to check out menus for dining options.
I thought there used to be a Universal tab on Deb's site, but when I searched last night it came up with a page from 2008 -- not terribly useful!
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Carolyn
Last edited by Carousel96; 05-31-2010 at 02:29 PM..
Reason: mistyped the year
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Here's the current URL for the allears Universal website: Universal Studios Overview at Universal Orlando. You have to scroll to the bottom for the link to the Islands of Adventure. It's certainly not as up to date and the WDW pages are.
The only bummer with Deb's site is, it looks as though it hasn't been updated since 2008. I'm not sure the exact info you were looking for Carolyn, but I wish there was a site that also included the details of WWoHP area...
If you like cool rides, US / IOA is the place for you. Tha rides there are so mch better that an WDW. It might lack the magic, but the rides are great
We aren't ride people. I can't even do Splash Mtn without getting sick.
There are only 3 rides at WWoHP and I don't know that I'll be able to ride any of them.
Here's the current URL for the allears Universal website: Universal Studios Overview at Universal Orlando. You have to scroll to the bottom for the link to the Islands of Adventure. It's certainly not as up to date and the WDW pages are.
This is the same page I found -- I just mistyped the date in my original post.
But it's from 2008 which I don't think is current enough to be of much use when I'm looking for menus and such.
We aren't ride people. I can't even do Splash Mtn without getting sick.
There are only 3 rides at WWoHP and I don't know that I'll be able to ride any of them.
2 of them were already at IOA - Dueling Dragons would be a no-no for you - very extreme (but fun if you love coasters); The Flying Unicorn was a kiddie coaster - you can take a look at it and see if you can tolerate it. Best I can remember it was tamer than the Barnstormer at MK. I'll bet the new attraction will be somewhere in between these 2 rides.
Here's some menus, but I don't know how current they are since they include the Enchanted Oak restaurant which was demolished for HP:
My family is planning a Universal trip for next year. We are thinking April 2011. I too wish there was a really good website to help plan a trip. I did buy a book called Universal Orlando 2009 The Ultimate Guide to the Ultimate Theme ParkAddventure but since it's from last year there is no Harry Potter info in it.
If I find anything during my search I'll post it here.