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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Okay, I rethink (some might say overthink ) my trips a lot, especially in the early stages of planning. All summer I've figured we'd stay at the Royal Pacific Resort next year in May or June. My biggest concern with them was our breakfast options. I don't generally spend much on breakfast. I thought about just splurging (and it would be a definite splurge) for club level, so that we could have breakfast provided every morning. However, if only we just had a fridge in our room, we really wouldn't need club level, but fridges cost extra at RPR, and that just irks me. One thing that annoys me about Universal is that they just seem to nickel and dime you to death...parking fee, fridge fee, microwave fee. I guess I'm just spoiled with free parking and the addition of a free fridge at Disney's value resorts.
Okay, so although it's a few dollars more, I now see that the Hard Rock Hotel has fridges in every regular guest room. We wouldn't have a microwave, but that would really be more of a luxury. The fridge allows us to keep drinks cold for breakfast, and we could easily do with fruit and muffins, along with said cold drinks. We could stay in a standard room, no club level perks to really entice me, so given that HRH would be less expensive for me than club level at RPR. I plan to use Quicksilver from the airport, so we would take advantage of their grocery stop for our breakfast items. I think this resolves my current issues, because we would usually eat lunch in the parks and dinner at City Walk.
So, all that said, how's the Hard Rock? I can tell you that my son is excited about this prospect. He would enjoy the rock n roll atmosphere a lot. He has, in fact, told me that if money were never an object that HRH would definitely be his first choice onsite.
I've never done Universal and never stayed in the HRH but I think your answer lies in this.
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in fact, told me that if money were never an object that HRH would definitely be his first choice onsite.
To me, reading your post it doesn't sound like the HRH is going to be too difficult money wise for you to manage so since Joel is excited about it, that's where I would go. Of course too, I have my own Autistic kid and she very rarely asks for things so the times she does ask or seems excited about something (as long as it's reasonable), I try my hardest to make it happen for her.
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By that time next year, most of the RPR rooms will have been rehabbed and have free fridges. They finished one tower this spring, will do another this fall, and the last one next spring. I don't think you need to chsnge.
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We've stayed at both, and HRH is the closest to the parks. If your son likes to swim, then I'd suggest Royal Pacific... Much nicer pool for kids. Our DS loved it. The HRH needing some sprucing up, and that's taking place. Next time we go, we'll probably stay at HRH again. The breakfast buffet at The Kitchen was awesome.
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) my trips a lot, especially in the early stages of planning. All summer I've figured we'd stay at the Royal Pacific Resort next year in May or June. My biggest concern with them was our breakfast options. I don't generally spend much on breakfast. I thought about just splurging (and it would be a definite splurge) for club level, so that we could have breakfast provided every morning. However, if only we just had a fridge in our room, we really wouldn't need club level, but fridges cost extra at RPR, and that just irks me. One thing that annoys me about Universal is that they just seem to nickel and dime you to death...parking fee, fridge fee, microwave fee. I guess I'm just spoiled with free parking and the addition of a free fridge at Disney's value resorts.
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