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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Hope this is the right spot to post this! We are doing five days in Key West followed by four nights in Orlando and focusing on Universal while we are there.
It looks like we will be staying at the Renaissance Orlando Resort at Sea World because we got a killer rate. Has anyone stayed there?
Hi Chelledun17!! This is the right place to discuss anything Universal!! I've never stayed in the hotel you mentioned. I'm sure they have a shuttle to the Universal parks, most hotels in that area do. You might also post the question in the Sea World forum if that hotel is close to Sea World, maybe someone there has experience with that hotel.
Happy Universal planning!! Feel free to fire away with any other Universal questions you might have.
Hi Chelledun17!! This is the right place to discuss anything Universal!! I've never stayed in the hotel you mentioned. I'm sure they have a shuttle to the Universal parks, most hotels in that area do. You might also post the question in the Sea World forum if that hotel is close to Sea World, maybe someone there has experience with that hotel.
Happy Universal planning!! Feel free to fire away with any other Universal questions you might have.
Thanks! We've been to Universal Studios once, but never to Islands of Adventure so we're really excited. We're also pumped about the new Simpsons ride because it was under constructions last time we were there.
Anyone have good restaurant suggestions at either Universal park or the hotels? We've done Margaritaville and NBA Cafe, both just okay to me. We plan to go to Mythos.
I think The Renaissance will be great. We stayed at The Hilton Garden Inn next door, and we could walk to Sea World, and see the fireworks from our room window! Will you have a car? You will be near I Drive and there is a Bahama Breeze I like there. If you phone before you leave the hotel, they will but you on the wait list, so that when you get there the wait is shorter.
Will you be staying there while you visit Universal too? You may want to phone the Hotel to ask about Universal shuttles. There are so many restaurants in Universal, I can't remember all we ate at There was an Italian restaurant we enjoyed in City Walk, and Margaritaville of course! You'll love The Simpsons Ride!!! It's really so much fun. We rode it at least 5 times!
We are going to Key West too, in August, before we go to WDW. Staying at The Sheraton Suites. I'm looking forward to it, as we've never been to The Keys. WE are staying 2 nights. Then 2 nights in Cocoa Beach on the way to WDW.
I stayed at this resort in July 2008. I did a trip report with some mentions of the resort. It was just my 2 kids and I.
We arrived at the Renaissance and my jaw just dropped. That place was gorgeous. I parked the car in self parking, the kids and I grabbed our suitcases and we checked in.
My kids love hotel rooms especially ones as nice as this.
I walked around the resort and snapped a few pictures while the kids played in the room.
They just wouldn’t go to sleep either. They goofed and giggled until 11pm even when I made them hit the bed at 10pm. No surprise there though.
Pics of our room: 1059.
The other mention was the breakfast the next morning:
We went down to Tradewinds for the breakfast buffet. They had a chef who will make your eggs the way you want them, or make you pancakes or waffles. It was a great selection. I chose a ham and cheese omelet and Drama Queen went for her usual scrambled eggs. Dude decided on the waffles. Then we looked for bacon and looked for bacon and well you get the idea – they had no bacon. Only sausage – blech. Drama Queen and I had to settle for eggs and toast only. We also grabbed some delicious strawberries. Dude got the sausage much to his dismay later in the day. Dude didn’t like the waffle because it had cinnamon in it and refused to try anything else but at least he ate the sausage. They also had cereal as well as tons of other stuff that we didn’t pay attention to since we were in a hurry to eat and get to SeaWorld.
After our breakfast, we walked across the street to the SeaWorld parking lot. We had to be careful because there was a crosswalk but no traffic light. The street wasn’t too busy but it sure would’ve made me nervous if I had had younger kids.
Then the final mention in the trip report was about the pool.
After hanging out in the room resting our feet for 30 minutes we decided to hit the pool. That resort had a really nice pool and it had a pool bar which I had to try. I just realized I don’t have any pictures of it. Oops.
The kids had fun playing in the pool while I enjoyed a very expensive frozen margarita. I tested the water before getting my margarita and it was just right - not too warm, not too cold.
Just as I was finishing my first drink, the clouds rolled in and the thunder started. So everyone had to exit the pool.
We played a couple of games of foosball that Dude won but it didn’t clear up so we went to our room for a rest. The kids told me know they were too old to nap so they played video games while I took a quick nap.
I also had a note in the report about the fridge not keeping things really cold so I used the small cooler we brought along since we only stayed 2 nights and the fridge didn't matter.
At the end of the report, I mentioned that I'd love to stay there again sometime.
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Michelle - with my step sisters!
There was an Italian restaurant we enjoyed in City Walk, and Margaritaville of course! You'll love The Simpsons Ride!!! It's really so much fun. We rode it at least 5 times!
Only sausage – blech. Drama Queen and I had to settle for eggs and toast only. We also grabbed some delicious strawberries. Dude got the sausage much to his dismay later in the day. Dude didn’t like the waffle because it had cinnamon in it and refused to try anything else but at least he ate the sausage. They also had cereal as well as tons of other stuff that we didn’t pay attention to since we were in a hurry to eat and get to SeaWorld. 
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