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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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Got a couple of questions for the US pros regarding tickets:
1. Do tickets have expiration dates on them? I've seen the recent promotion for 7 consecutive days' admission, but in all of the FAQs and disclaimers, I couldn't find any mention of a date by which they must be used. I know that they end 7 days after first use, but is there anything I'm missing in the fine print that states that they flat-out expire as of a certain date?
1a. Is this 7-day pass a particularly good deal for US, or do they frequently run variations on the same theme? In case you can't tell, our next trip to Orlando is still quite a few months away, but I'm trying to determine if it might make sense to purchase now.
2. Does US offer any multi-day tickets that are similar to Disney's non-expiring passes? In other words, do they sell a ticket that would be good for 4 or more days admission, which we could use over a period of several years until all of the "days" are gone?
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
1 - I'm not sure of the answer to that question - that is something I would like to know myself - I may do some investigating to find out.
1a - yes - this is a good deal. In the past Universal has offered 5 days for $99, so the 7 for $85 is better. This $85 deal has been out for several months, and I'm not sure how long it will last.
2 - not that I'm aware of. They used to offer a 2 day/2park ticket, but I didn't see it listed on the website. In the past they have offered 1 day, 2 day, or the special 5 day which has been replaced with the 7 day current offer. But no 4 day "park hopper" so to speak. They do have several variations of annual passes. We usually get the 2 park power pass, which is an annual pass with blackout dates, usually holidays are blacked out. That's an option if you plan to return in less than 1 year. Universal's APs are much cheaper than Disney's.
1) There are no expiration dates on Universal Studios ticket offers, currently. If you do an advance purchase online, those tickets are good, whether you print them out at home or retrieve them at the front gate's advance ticket terminal, until they are activated at the gate....
1a) That's a pretty good deal, and it's along the lines of what they've been offering recently. The offer that I got last year I think was a little better for my family of four: they had a buy-one, get-one free deal on all 2-day advance online ticket purchases, plus 3 days free... So, we purchased two 2-day tickets (they were $100 each last year) and got two 2-day tickets free, and those tickets were actually good for 5 continuous days from first use. It cost my family of 4 only $200 to have access to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure for 5 consecutive days. This year's deal is $85 per ticket for 7 continuous days from first use, so it would cost my family of four $340 for 7 consecutive days.
2) No. I've never seen Universal offer a no-expiration ticket...I think they tend to see their market as a one-trip-at-a-time market.
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
1. Do tickets have expiration dates on them? I've seen the recent promotion for 7 consecutive days' admission, but in all of the FAQs and disclaimers, I couldn't find any mention of a date by which they must be used. I know that they end 7 days after first use, but is there anything I'm missing in the fine print that states that they flat-out expire as of a certain date?
From what I've seen, the 7 day, $85 ticket has not expiration date on them. You can buy them now and use them next year if you want. Unless the ticket mentions a specific timeframe of usage or the ticket is for a special event like Halloween Horror Nights, tickets generally do not expire until you first use them. I once dug up an annual pass renewal ticket from 2002 and I was able to use it in 2006!
Quote:
1a. Is this 7-day pass a particularly good deal for US, or do they frequently run variations on the same theme? In case you can't tell, our next trip to Orlando is still quite a few months away, but I'm trying to determine if it might make sense to purchase now.
Deals come and go at Universal. I've seen a lot of ticket deals over the past few years. The 7 day, $85 ticket is the best I've seen. Usually, the deal is buy a 2-day ticket, get an extra day free. You can wait or buy them now. No guarantees, but I'm sure if the ticket deal will expire, I will assume Universal with make a big deal about it.
Quote:
2. Does US offer any multi-day tickets that are similar to Disney's non-expiring passes? In other words, do they sell a ticket that would be good for 4 or more days admission, which we could use over a period of several years until all of the "days" are gone?
The closest I've seen was a 3 day/2 park pass where the days never expired. I haven't found that ticket sold in a while from the Universal website, AAA, or other ticket brokers like Ticketmania. I haven't seen a Magic Your Way type ticket from Universal recently.
If you're thinking about visiting within a year of your visit, you might want to look into buying a preferred annual pass. AAA currently has a special deal of buy 1 year, get 1 free through August 31, 2007. AAA is selling the AP for $184.95. Renewals for preferred annual passes are $96.95 through AAA. So if you renew, you can break even after 2 visits. With the discounts and free self-parking, the deal is even sweeter.
Thanks for all of the great answers. That's exactly what I needed.
We've been to Disney a dozen times in recent years and decided it might be time to start trying some of the other alternatives in the area. So, I'm trying to compare prices for places like USF/IOA, Sea World, NASA, etc.
Back in May I attended a conference at Portafino Bay and received a pass to visit both parks. I hit about 6 or 8 of the big rides (Spiderman, MIB, Mummy, etc.) and had a good time. I also brought back some maps and such, which got the kids interested in USF/IOA.
But I'm still trying to find the best mix of fresh entertainment and reasonable prices. The current offer sounds great, until you factor in our existing APs for Disney vs. the nearly $400 it would cost for the USF tickets--even more if we stay a night at one of their hotels to get the FOTL access.
While we would certainly spend the better part of one day at USF, I don't know that we would ever make it back later in the week. And we almost certainly won't be back in the area for more than a year, so annual passes are out.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised that both US and Disney have the same ticketing concept--make people pay a fair amount up-front and then give additional days virtually for free. I was just hoping there might be some long-term ticket I could buy and re-use on subsequent visits like a non-expiring Disney ticket.
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Another thought to consider with FOTL is that with one night's stay you can get 2 days' worth of FOTL. The day you arrive, you can check in first thing that morning and pick up your room keys. Your rooms won't be ready, but you can head to the parks. And the day you check out your room keys will be good for FOTL.
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Here's what we did last year.
We've been to Disney multiple times, always staying on site. And never visited the other parks as a family. We decided it was finally time to go to the other parks, so we decided to skip (yes, skip) Disney parks for one trip and concentrate on the others.
So for Spring Break 2006, we stayed at the Marriott World Center (free with points).
We used the Universal/IOA tickets that I bought two years earlier during a deal (pay for 2 get 3....and get a second ticket free <AAA>....so our tickets for the four of us were about $217)
I bought SeaWorld tickets online at a discount.
And we used Disney Rewards $ for tickets to Typhoon Lagoon.
We arrived on a Saturday...and went to DTD for the evening.
Sunday: Seaworld...changed our tickets for ones that could be used for 7 days after entering the gates.
Monday: Universal
Tuesday: IOA
Wednesday: Typhoon Lagoon
Thurd: US/IOA
Friday: Seaworld in the am, resort swimming/activities in the afternoon
Saturday: Drive home
We usually left the parks around 3pm each day, as they really got crowded. Swam at the pool and then either had dinner at the Marriott, went to DTD to eat/shop, or ate offsite.
The visits to DTD in the evenings really helped keep us from missing the Disney parks. And we knew we'd be back again.
My advise is to wait for your APs to expire and then plan a trip to the other parks...and skip Disney that trip to save money. That way you don't feel like you are wasting your AP money on days at other parks.
Oh and if you can find a deal to stay onsite at Universal...do it. It's fun to be right there and able to walk to the parks ( did it on a trip with my sister). Otherwise, I recommend the Marriott (you can see the Disney parks from it and watch Wishes and Illuminations from your balcony each night! )
My advise is to wait for your APs to expire and then plan a trip to the other parks...and skip Disney that trip to save money. That way you don't feel like you are wasting your AP money on days at other parks.
I was actually thinking about a variation of that plan.
Right now it's only my wife and I that have APs. I was either going to get APs or 7-day Disney tickets for the kids.
Instead I think I'll get them 10-day, non-expiring passes for our next trip. That will leave us with 3 or 4 days left over when we can use next time we are in town. The other 2-3 days we'll devote to Universal, and most likely stay a few nights at one of their hotels, too.
It would have been nice to try something different in '08, but the accountant in me says it makes more sense to wait until '09. To compensate I'm planning a lot of extra Disney things for our '08 trip--Typhoon Lagoon, DisneyQuest, pirate cruise for the kids, etc.
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I'm pretty sure you can buy tickets now and not use them. I checked the Universal site and the only "expiration" term I was seeing was they expire in 7 consecutive days including the first use.
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I was just hoping there might be some long-term ticket I could buy and re-use on subsequent visits like a non-expiring Disney ticket. 
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