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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Oh my goodness, you are bringing back such wonderful memories of so many great LA landmarks that we've visited over the years. I am so sad though that it's no longer the Disney Soda Fountain. That's a really shame, but at least some Disney touches remain, I guess that's something.
As for your room and the view from it - wow! Absolutely amazing!
What a terrific day! The Endeavor with all its wear-and-tear scars is just incredible. The view from your room both day and night is beautiful. I think the lights at night are my favorite.
Wow, that was some hotel room!!
And now I'm dying for In 'n Out!! 6.5 months, and I'll be sinking my teeth into one.
It cracked me up that you were so excited to see the tar pits. We used to hate driving past when we lived out there because they stink!
I agree, the shuttle looks much better 'as is', rather than if they'd polished it all up.
Great photos of the Endeavor which looks amazing so scarred as she is! Nice room at your hotel and you got to see a lot of the town including the La Brea Tar Pits!
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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!
What a great afternoon/evening in Hollywood! Glad you were able to get your burger fix! Aaaaand.... now I want a burger.
Sorry about that!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Oh my goodness, you are bringing back such wonderful memories of so many great LA landmarks that we've visited over the years. I am so sad though that it's no longer the Disney Soda Fountain. That's a really shame, but at least some Disney touches remain, I guess that's something.
As for your room and the view from it - wow! Absolutely amazing!
I thought the Disney Soda Fountain was great, but I guess it wasn't successful. And that room was hard to leave!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
What a terrific day! The Endeavor with all its wear-and-tear scars is just incredible. The view from your room both day and night is beautiful. I think the lights at night are my favorite.
It was a fun day!
Quote:
Originally Posted by benchley
You couldn't be more centrally located if you tried. Fantastic views and accessibility from your hotel
That hotel is perfectly situated!
Quote:
Originally Posted by cubfancolleen
Wow, that was some hotel room!!
And now I'm dying for In 'n Out!! 6.5 months, and I'll be sinking my teeth into one.
It cracked me up that you were so excited to see the tar pits. We used to hate driving past when we lived out there because they stink!
I agree, the shuttle looks much better 'as is', rather than if they'd polished it all up.
Sorry about the 6.5 month wait, but I don't even know when my next In-N-Out burger will be, so at least you're not me! And yeah, I realize how weird it is that I wanted to see the Tar Pits so badly.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lindawdw
What a wonderful day you had exploring LA! I loved your room and that view was just fantastic. Looking forward to hearing about your US tour!
The view was amazing! I loved that upgrade!
Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperDave
Great photos of the Endeavor which looks amazing so scarred as she is! Nice room at your hotel and you got to see a lot of the town including the La Brea Tar Pits!
Crossing an item off the bucket list is always a good thing.
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
Day Eleven – Saturday, September 12 Behind the Scenes
After getting ready and packing up my stuff, I headed out on a mission. My allergies were causing me to have an annoying cough, so I needed to pick up some cough drops at a drug store. I did a bit of exploring on my excursion.
This walkway tells a story if you follow it through the whole Hollywood & Highland area - it ends at a "casting couch," so not sure what the real message is
Little-known fact about me: Judge Judy is my secret vice
Once I’d picked up my cough drops, I checked out of the hotel and drove to Universal Studios, which was pretty close if I remember correctly. The VIP tour comes with free valet parking, but I had a little trouble finding the right place to go. Once I found it, I walked to the entrance. It seemed different to me since my last visit there in 2010, but I could be misremembering.
The tour lets you get a closer look at some parts of the studio, including the prop warehouse and an actual set used for filming, plus a version of the regular tram tour. We also get to go on all the attractions in the park as a group, as well as a sit-down lunch, so understandably, the tour takes up almost the whole day.
I checked in for the tour and met my guide, Joe. Joe was a lot of fun and did a great job with us. You get to enjoy a nice little breakfast before venturing out.
Before we headed out, we were given lanyards with our front-of-line privileges, headsets, and a little gift bag containing small items like hand sanitizer and tissues and stuff.
Then we headed out to our tour bus. Our group was about 12 people.
See the Minions up there? This was around the time the last Minions movie was released
We made our way to our first attraction.
They couldn’t make up their minds about what time of year it is
The first attraction on the tour was Despicable Me: Minions Mayhem. It’s a 3-D/simulator ride. Universal does a lot of those. Just sayin’. It’s fun, though, so I can’t really complain can I? Even though I totally just did. This wasn’t open on my last visit, so it was new to me.
Then we did a bit of walking through the park to get to our next destination. Joe told us interesting stuff on the way, but it was nearly a year ago, and I can’t remember specifics.
Then we continued on. I’m being vague like this because I’m trying not to spoil it, not because I don’t remember the details so many months later. Really. Hey, look at these cool photos!
The Harry Potter section of the park was still under construction at this time.
We went through the Simpsons area and down to the lower lot. I used to be a big fan of The Simpsons. Now I’m less so, but I still hold a special place in my heart for the residents of Springfield, USA. Fun fact: Homer Simpson and I have something in common. Guess what it is!
I loved the mini Springfield, though I do think the entire theme park area suffers from everything being so crammed in close together.
It’s a loooong way down to the lower lot. About 4 or 5 escalators down.
I knew we were close to Jurassic Park because there was a raptor running loose in the park. How many movies have we seen and still they think this is a good idea?
It was a bit freaky, if I’m honest. But only because of how realistic it was, but also humanlike in its movements. Uncanny valley stuff.
We actually didn’t ride Jurassic Park yet. Instead, we did the Transformers 3-D/simulator ride. I did mention there are a few of these at Universal, right? Hey, they repeat themselves, so why can’t I?
There was an opportunity for a Transformer meet and greet.
I may be ragging on Universal a bit, but I did love all the fun character opportunities at their park.
Next we rode Revenge of the Mummy. Those in the group who didn’t want to ride were able to stay out with Joe. This is a fun roller coaster, not a 3-D/simulator.
Next up was Jurassic Park – The Ride. We were offered ponchos so we wouldn’t have to continue the tour all wet if we didn’t want to. I took a poncho, but I decided to wear it without putting up the hood, because I wanted to get a little splash.
I hate to say it, but this ride is badly in need of a refurb, to the point where it’s almost embarrassing.
We stopped to watch a little in-park entertainment.
And then, our tour guide joined the show!
That was fun! Joe confessed that he used to perform that show before he became a tour guide.
Next on the tour was the Animal Actors show. This is something I would’ve skipped had it not been on the tour, but it was cute. However, if you’ve got limited time, I’d say this is one you can skip.
It was time for lunch, so we went to a restaurant we’d passed earlier. There was a special buffet set up just for people on the tours that day. I asked for a table outside to enjoy the sunshine (though it was kinda cloudy, actually ).
After I’d eaten, I still had a bit of time, so I decided to get some photos of the buffet (and most of the people had already gotten their food, so I had an easy time getting shots.
Everything I had was just as delicious as it looked. Thumbs up for lunch! After grabbing a bottle of water (that they offered me, I didn’t pilfer it or anything ), I went out to wait for the rest of the group.
Up Next: Stepping off the tram
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
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Absolutely amazing! 
Nice room at your hotel and you got to see a lot of the town including the La Brea Tar Pits! 
And yeah, I realize how weird it is that I wanted to see the Tar Pits so badly. 
Judge Judy is my secret vice 
Really. 
Hey, look at these cool photos! 
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