let's try this one for past Universal rides - Page 2 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 remember the old Ghostbusters show, where Twister now stands. I liked it, though I wasn't terribly in love with it. I do wish there was some representation o Ghostbusters in the parks today, though.
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I gotta say the Simpsons Ride is great, really cute and the line is so well decorated. Its basically the same thing as Back to the Future with a Simpsons movie.
I think Disaster was better as Earthquake! Except of course with the addition of Christopher Walken to the pre-show.
Anyone remember the Wild West Stunt Show?
Yes I remember the Wild West Stunt Show what is it now?
Earthquake! I liked Back to the Future, but love The Simpsons!!! Flying Unicorn Is the Animal Actors not there anymore? I thought I saw it last year, but maybe not!
It wasn't a ride but we loved the Hitchcock theater.
We loved that one, too! It had audience participation, with a volunteer to show how they did "The Hitchcock Zoom." And they had the entire setup of apartments from "Rear Window." It looked so real! As Hitchcock fans we really enjoyed the Hitchcock Theater.
We loved that one, too! It had audience participation, with a volunteer to show how they did "The Hitchcock Zoom." And they had the entire setup of apartments from "Rear Window." It looked so real! As Hitchcock fans we really enjoyed the Hitchcock Theater.
Yeah, the Hitchcock theater was cool. What is Fear Factor Live like?
the fear factor live show i cried the first time i saw it because i thought they were actually throwin a spider at me...that was in december and im 21 haha
i love the disaster ride, i prefer it much more how it is now to the earthquake ride, it really mades me giggle!
Last year was the first trip to US/IoA for the DW and I. I wish we had gone in the years past as some of the themed attractions you all have mentioned are things that I loved growing up. Cant wait to go again this year, nor for the new HP to open up
Miss KONG the most. Back to the Future was great & the Hitchock show was very good.
*Why does Universal close such good rides, they have more space/land for new attractions....right?
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I think it's a combination of wear and tear on the rides, and trying to keep the park as up to date as possible. I started in '90, before the park opened, and besides training on the rides, we were constantly running them for the engineers so they could fine tune, repair, and maintain the rides.
Most of the originals were state-of-the-art rides that had never been done before, and Universal really wanted them to be something to blow visitor's socks off. I started on Jaws, and we were working on that ride through park opening and for months and months after. We had times where it worked great, but then it just had so many recurring problems they had to shut it down.
After Jaws closed for remodeling, I moved to Kong, and while that ride ran much better, it also had it's share of breakdowns. Lots of hydraulic leaks, and just stress on the parts, especially the two Kong structures. Nothing like the ride stopping cold when you're driving the tram 35 feet in the air.
When the park opened, these were the originals:
Rides:
Kong (opened a cpl months after park opening)
Jaws
Hanna Barbera
Earthquake
Back to the Future (opened a few months after the official park opening)
E.T.
Shows:
Hitchcock
Murder, She Wrote (this was similar to the sound effect show at MGM)
Horror Make Up
Animal Actors
Stunt Boat show in the lagoon
Ghostbusters (I think this opened just a bit later than the official opening, but can't remember - hey, it was almost 20 yrs ago!!)
Wild West Stunt Show (same for this one)
Nikelodeon Tour
Backstage Studio Tour
During the first few months, Jaws and Kong had major issues and were open sporadically. Jaws finally got going and then Kong opened a cpl months later. BttF took a little longer, but ran the best. Universal gave out free park tickets to everyone during those first few months to make up for it.
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Is the Animal Actors not there anymore? I thought I saw it last year, but maybe not!
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