10 Nights of Magic in The Orlando Trifecta-TR - COMPLETE!! 12/10 - Page 12 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
Aren't the Harry Potter areas just amazing?? The theming is as good, if not better, than anything at Disney. I'm sorry you missed Escape from Gringotts. It's a really fun ride, although not as good as Forbidden Journey, IMHO. I Forbidden Journey! It was my second favorite ride anywhere (after Soarin'), until Avatar: Flight of Passage took the lead this past weekend. FYI, for your future trips, there is a somewhat hidden single rider line for Forbidden Journey, that is faster than the Express Pass line. It is across from the locker area. You go through a doorway and up some stairs. There is a sign, but it's easy to overlook. My family rode Forbidden Journey five times in less than an hour, and could have done more if we wanted to keep going.
Aren't the Harry Potter areas just amazing?? The theming is as good, if not better, than anything at Disney. I'm sorry you missed Escape from Gringotts. It's a really fun ride, although not as good as Forbidden Journey, IMHO. I Forbidden Journey! It was my second favorite ride anywhere (after Soarin'), until Avatar: Flight of Passage took the lead this past weekend. FYI, for your future trips, there is a somewhat hidden single rider line for Forbidden Journey, that is faster than the Express Pass line. It is across from the locker area. You go through a doorway and up some stairs. There is a sign, but it's easy to overlook. My family rode Forbidden Journey five times in less than an hour, and could have done more if we wanted to keep going.
The HP area is amazing and so well themed. I love the Forbidden Journey and glad I got to experience it a few times on my trip. Thanks for the info on the single rider line and will look for it on my next trip to USF as I loved this ride so much. I too like it better than Soarin', which is no small feat to accomplish!
__________________
October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
If Only They Were All Like This and I’d Take the Train Every Day!
Wednesday, October 4th (Part VI) I continued my exploration and adventures in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I thought I could do this in one update, but obviously not as so much to see. Next up for me is the Hogwart’s Express. I was looking forward to this as I’ve heard so many good things about it.
Posing for photos adjacent to the Hogsmeade Station
This is the one attraction in Universal Studios Florida you must have a park to park ticket to ride as it to and fro the two parks. Glad I had this as it would be worth it for this attraction alone.
Entrance at Hogsmeade to King’s Cross
It’s quite a station and love the theming on the walk to the platform, but forgot to take photos from the inside. When I got to the train platform, there was a train that was about to depart, so I’d have to wait for the next one. I only waited about five minutes until the next one arrived.
Not much of a crowd for the Hogwart’s Express as you can see, which was good.
My train arriving at the station
We were assigned numbered lanes and once we were given the ok to board, we boarded the car that corresponds to your specific lane. Inside the train it looked like one of the historic trains from years ago. I entered my car and the door to the seating area of the car, which I think seated four. I was lucky to get a window seat.
Once the train left it was quite an adventure from the view outside as well as a lot of things going on outside my car. I don’t want to give too much away but the ride was very active and enjoyed it so much. The ride lasted about five minutes and once it was over we arrived at the King’s Cross Station. If Only they were all like this and I’d take the train every day! I know the ride from King’s Cross to Hogsmeade is different than my ride, so I’ll have to do that on another day during my trip.
Once, I departed my car, the crowd waiting for the train was much larger than the one I had.
Once, I left the station I did more exploring in the area. I was now in the Universal Studios portion of the park having come from Islands of Adventure. This was still the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and the London portion.
This is the entrance to Diagon Alley, which I had forgotten about. I would remember on another day but forget about one of the attractions located here, Escape From Gringotts!
A scaled version of Buckingham Palace implemented into the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
More of the scaled down buildings and scenery of London
It was about 4 pm and time to return to my resort by water taxi as I wanted to get my bags and check out my room for a bit before returning to another Universal resort tonight for dinner.
The plan for tomorrow night and one of the things I was looking most forward to on this trip!
Love this park icon. Glad I was patient enough to wait until I could get most of the letters in the photo!
After leaving the Universal Studios part of the park, I walked over to City Walk and crossed the bridge and made a left to the NBC restaurant, where I’d get the water taxi back to the Royal Pacific below. I only waited a few minutes for the boat to arrive. There were quite a few resort guests waiting to return. Once we boarded and on our way, it was only a five minute trip.
Arriving at the Royal Pacific Resort
Another water taxi heading to Universal Studios
After the boat docked, I exited and headed back to the resort to check out my room for the first time. It was funny, as I mentioned a few posts back that I received a text that my room was ready, when I was walking to the water taxi dock several hours ago!
I walked back to the resort, which took a few minutes and took the elevator up to the lobby as I had to go there to get my bags from bell services which I left with them just prior to going to Universal Studios for the day.
A very HAPPY NEW YEAR to all Passporters and their loved ones!!! Hoping it's a good one for all!!!
NEXT: This is Bizarre and Never Had a Room Like This in Any Hotel!
__________________
October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Last edited by SuperDave; 12-31-2017 at 06:56 PM..
Love all your photos and descriptions of the Hogwarts Express! Your making me want to head back to US/IoA soon!
Glad you enjoyed the photos and details of Hogwart's as I guess I succeeded! I'm enjoying Universal so much and glad I finally got to stay here! Yet, it's only Day 1!
A very Happy New Year to you, Luke and your family! Just over an hour for me and two hours for you!
__________________
October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
The train ride is fun and a great way to get from one park to another. I found the boat so convenient to get back and forth from the parks.
I totally agree with you on both counts! Loved both of them. But the Hogwart's is such an amazing experience and just so unique with so much going on during the ride! It would be quite easy to miss something. Glad I had that window seat to see it all from there!
Happy New Year to you and hoping for a good one!
__________________
October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Great photos! I miss WWoHP so much, but your photos are such a nice reminder of what it’s like. We loved the Hogwart’s Express! It’s probably my favorite thing at Universal.
Glad you enjoyed the Hogwarts Express so much Dave! I've heard only great things about this ride and the theming in general for all the new Harry Potter areas.
We loved the Hogwarts Express - it was so much better than I expected it to be.
I remember how much you loved it and made me look forward to it even more! It didn't disappoint.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wheezie
Happy New Year’s!
Great photos! I miss WWoHP so much, but your photos are such a nice reminder of what it’s like. We loved the Hogwart’s Express! It’s probably my favorite thing at Universal.
Glad I could help. It was one of the best things at Universal with the other being the Forbidden Journey also in WWoHP.
__________________
October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Glad you enjoyed the Hogwarts Express so much Dave! I've heard only great things about this ride and the theming in general for all the new Harry Potter areas.
The theming is amazing here. I loved this attraction so much!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
What a great afternoon! The pictures are fantastic!
Glad you enjoy them and I was having a great time my first day at Universal.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pamcarey
I loved the Hogwart’s Express, too! Although I waited in a much longer line than you did.
Happy New Year to you, Dave!
Glad I lucked out with the line and probably helped being on a Wednesday. It's such a great attraction with a lot going on during the ride.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
__________________
October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
About This Page: 
Forbidden Journey! It was my second favorite ride anywhere (after Soarin'), until Avatar: Flight of Passage took the lead this past weekend. FYI, for your future trips, there is a somewhat hidden single rider line for Forbidden Journey, that is faster than the Express Pass line. It is across from the locker area. You go through a doorway and up some stairs. There is a sign, but it's easy to overlook. My family rode Forbidden Journey five times in less than an hour, and could have done more if we wanted to keep going.
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
I love the Forbidden Journey and glad I got to experience it a few times on my trip. Thanks for the info on the single rider line and will look for it on my next trip to USF as I loved this ride so much. 
Next up for me is the Hogwart’s Express. I was looking forward to this as I’ve heard so many good things about it. 
When I got to the train platform, there was a train that was about to depart, so I’d have to wait for the next one. I only waited about five minutes until the next one arrived.
I don’t want to give too much away but the ride was very active and enjoyed it so much. 
Hoping it's a good one for all!!! 
It would be quite easy to miss something. 
PassPorter Guide Author
Linear Mode
