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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Well, I had a date set up for Aquatica yesterday, but I got stood up. It was a little chilly that morning, so I headed over to IOA. I arrived at 11:00 am. I knew the crowds would be big, but it was more crowded than I expected. Waits were getting long. Here's a brief overview of the waits at around noon:
Incredible Hulk Coaster: 90 minutes
Spider-Man: 95 minutes
Dr. Doom's Fearfall: 30 minutes
Storm Force Accelertron: 10 minutes
Ripsaw Falls: 5 minutes
There were Universal Express kiosks around the park and the lines to buy them were long!
I did the single rider lines for Spider-Man and Fearfall. I waited about 15 minutes each time. The Hulk didn't have a single rider line. I would have expected it to open with a 1 1/2 hour wait!
The biggest wait was for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The standby wait to get into the land was 120 minutes. No, not to get into the ride, but the LAND! I got a return ticket (like a Fast Pass) to get in between 12:50 and 1:50 pm.
When I got into the Harry Potter area, the crowds were huge! It was wall-to-wall people. I don't think there was a spot on the land that wasn't occupied by a person. The waits there were 75 minutes for the Flight of the Hippogriff, 5 minutes for Dragon's Challenge, and 150 minutes for Harry Potter and the Forbbiden Journey. Yes, a 2 1/2 hour wait for the ride! I opted to do the single riders lines and waited less than 5 minutes each time. I did both sides of Dragon's Challenge too.
Then it was off to Jurassic Park. I did the Triceratops Discovery Trail. This attraction has been closed for years and is rumored to be open temporarily. The Triceratops (I saw Topper) never looked so good, although much of the trail was closed off and the encounter wasn't too long (about 5 minutes). The wait was about 10 minutes.
I saw the "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" show, which is now located in a sound stage. The show was pretty good, but it felt a little to syrupy. Still, 30 minutes off your feet was great!
The highlight of the day was lunch at Mythos. I had to wait 50 minutes for a table, but it was well worth it. I spent the 50 minutes writing a letter to the lady who stood me up. I had the bistro filet (awesome!). I came to Universal because I wanted to wallow my tears in the Bananna Gooey Cake. I call the Bananna Gooey Cake "Heaven on the spoon" and today it was! It helped me recover from being stood up on the date.
When I left at around 5 pm, the Hulk dropped to about a 35 minute wait. Not too bad...
Lots of people would shy away from visiting during peak times, but if you have to visit then, I would say arrive at opening and do as much as you can before the crowds come. IOA is opening at 8 am during these Christmas and New Year's weeks. I would suggest rolling out of bed early to beat the crowds!
I think you made the best of what started out as a bad day! Great report Barry! I can't believe someone would wait that long for a ride. Single rider lines are the way to go!
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Thanks for the report Barry. I'm stunned that you had to get a FastPass type ticket to get into the WWoHP! I totally believe it since it felt too crowded the days we were there and we were there on a slow day. Sounds like they at least have discovered a way to try to alleviate some of the space problem.
Great info - it helps to have a strategy (ie single rider lines) to get through on such a busy day. We will be staying on site and have express pass and will arrive before opening for their extra hour (I want to call it extra magic hour)
Did I hear right that the single rider line for FJ doesn't take you through the castle? So we should go at park opening and walk through the regular line to cehck out the castle and then for repeat trips we can do single rider, does that sound right?
Great info - it helps to have a strategy (ie single rider lines) to get through on such a busy day. We will be staying on site and have express pass and will arrive before opening for their extra hour (I want to call it extra magic hour)
Did I hear right that the single rider line for FJ doesn't take you through the castle? So we should go at park opening and walk through the regular line to cehck out the castle and then for repeat trips we can do single rider, does that sound right?
The single rider line at FJ bypasses about 90% of the queue. You can go to the ride at park opening and then use the single rider line for future rides. You can also take the castle tour and then use the single rider line.
Very cool Barry - thanks. I don't think I'd noticed anything about a castle tour before. I was a little stressed about the crowds when we first decided we'd try March break, but I'm feeling more confident now that I've got more information and can make a plan of attack. It'll still be crowded, but I'm sure we'll be able to do everything we'd like to do and the boys will be so happy to see WWoHP!
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It was a little chilly that morning, so I headed over to IOA. I arrived at 11:00 am. I knew the crowds would be big, but it was more crowded than I expected. Waits were getting long. Here's a brief overview of the waits at around noon:
I had the bistro filet (awesome!). I came to Universal because I wanted to wallow my tears in the Bananna Gooey Cake. I call the Bananna Gooey Cake "Heaven on the spoon" and today it was! It helped me recover from being stood up on the date. 
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Michelle - with my step sisters!
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Guess where we were headed??
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