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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We are going to Disneyworld for our second time in Sep/Oct 2012 and our daughters want to go to universal. We have never been to these parks, so I have two questions. Will we be able to see everything in 2 days or should we go 3? And should we do one of the cheapest hotels that are associated with the universals or try to find our own. We don't care about the universal experience in a hotel, this is a sidelight to our anticipated disney trip. I need cheap and inclusive without ending up in a scarey hotel. Any suggestions? We are driving so distance isn't too much of an issue
Even the cheapest hotel at Universal is not that cheap so you may want to look at one of their partner hotels that are just down the street if cost is a consideration. The one advantage to staying at their resorts is the Universal Express Ride Access that your key gives you (it's like an unlimited Fast Pass), although it doesn't work on the FJ in the WWOHP and I don't think it works for the Rip Rock Rideit Roller Coaster. You can pay for an Express Pass if your not staying at one of their 3 resorts but it only allows you one entry per ride whereas the onsite guests can go as many times as they want. If you are going at a busy time, this feature alone can be well worth the extra cost of staying at their hotels.
You can probably do everything in 2 days, but then again, it all depends on how crowded it is when you go. Sept/Oct is not too bad and 2 days should be plenty.
How old is your daughter? The rides at IOA inparticular are not like Disney rides; some of them are quite intense. If she's up to it, you can do both parks in 2 days. As a previous poster stated, the 3 on-site hotels cost as much as a Disney Deluxe but they do have front-of-the-line privileges
You can do both parks in two days. I wouldn't try to cram them both into one day though.
One thing to keep in mind is that Universal has their annual Halloween Horror Nights in late Sept. and Oct. This may increase crowds levels somewhat. Whichever park is hosting the event will close early to regular guests as HHN opens in the evenings. HHN is not for children or the faint at heart. You might want to check the Universal website to see if the dates for HHN have been posted to help you plan you trip dates.
Our favorite offsite hotel is the Doubletree at Universal. It's very close to the parks - some rooms have theme park views. The rooms are very spacious and nicely decorated. There are several restaurants in the hotel, including a Pizza Hut and Starbucks. They have a shuttle to the parks as well.
The onsite hotels are pricey if you pay regular rack rates. There are discounts out there, so you might check into that to see if a discount rate would fit your budget. The two biggest perks are walking to the parks from your hotel and unlimited "front of the line" access.
We go to US every year when we go to WDW but we always stay on-site at both. The express pass & being able to walk to the parks are great perks. With the express pass, we are able to cover each park pretty well & stil be finished by 5-6 pm. We ride just about everything at both parks. We belong to AAA & usually get a good deal buying room & ticket combos.
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