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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
I know you're still midway through posting, but I am loving all the shots from Universal on the other side of the country.
Even though both parks have many of the same attractions, I felt like Universal Hollywood was much more... umm, lively doesn't really describe it. It felt more hustle-and-bustle-y. Maybe that's due to there being an actual working studio there? Who knows!
__________________
Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
Fascinating to see the views from the escalators - that is very neat, I've only ever seen that before at the San Diego Zoo and I find it such a unique way to get around.
I think there's something extra special about Universal Studios Hollywood. That is one non-Disney park I'd love to visit. Speaking of visiting, that is another thing my son will be doing on his student trip next year. I'm not jealous at all.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Great photos at Universal and you're certainly having a great time! I too love the Mummy coaster, but only rode it in Orlando a number of times. Just quite unique and in some ways reminds me of EE in the AK and you probably know what I mean! Been since 2009 that I visited Universal Orlando. Hope to go back soon with all the new stuff like Harry Potter, I have yet to experience here!
So what do you have in common with Homer Simpson? DOH!!
__________________
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!
UGH caught you in the middle of posts. I am loving the US update and want to know about the rest of the day. BTW what is up with the Joe Dirt Movie posters visible from you Lowes Hotel room? Isn't that movie like years old?
Fascinating to see the views from the escalators - that is very neat, I've only ever seen that before at the San Diego Zoo and I find it such a unique way to get around.
The amazing view was one of my favorite things about the park! With all this movie production stuff going on in the middle of a city, it really made me feel like I was inside a movie set.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MayraLR
I think there's something extra special about Universal Studios Hollywood. That is one non-Disney park I'd love to visit. Speaking of visiting, that is another thing my son will be doing on his student trip next year. I'm not jealous at all.
Maybe you can compromise - you volunteer as a chaperone, but for a different group of kids not including your son!
Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperDave
Great photos at Universal and you're certainly having a great time! I too love the Mummy coaster, but only rode it in Orlando a number of times. Just quite unique and in some ways reminds me of EE in the AK and you probably know what I mean! Been since 2009 that I visited Universal Orlando. Hope to go back soon with all the new stuff like Harry Potter, I have yet to experience here!
So what do you have in common with Homer Simpson? DOH!!
Universal's rides tend to be exactly the same in different parks, but with minor cosmetic differences. The Mummy is actually my favorite ride at Universal!
And read the next update to find out what I have in common with Homer.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cubfancolleen
Something about your pictures of the Minion ride make it look like a Haunted Mansion knock-off.
It's nothing like it, so any resemblance is accidental.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
Sounds like a fun tour! Too bad the WWoHP wasn't open yet. I would have looked to have seen photos of it.
I was hoping to get a peek at it myself, but no luck.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lindawdw
Sounds like a fun tour and the food for breakfast and lunch looked delicious!!!
The food was as good as it looked.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mommapants
UGH caught you in the middle of posts. I am loving the US update and want to know about the rest of the day. BTW what is up with the Joe Dirt Movie posters visible from you Lowes Hotel room? Isn't that movie like years old?
I think it was for Joe Dirt 2, actually. Not a smash hit, obviously.
__________________
Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
My apologies for this loooong update, but I want to get this TR over with! Also, there are a lot of photos, so that helps.
Day Eleven, Part Two Stepping off the tram tour
Once everyone was back at our meeting spot, we made our way down to the lower lot again. We passed Sideshow Bob, which about made my day! I would’ve loved to meet him, but our front-of-line access didn’t include meet and greets, and there were always crazy lines.
It was time to do the tram tour. Except we didn’t take the tram and we didn’t do the tour. Actually, we did a modified version – we were able to stop at points and even get out a few times.
Trailers for the actors
The Mindy Project was in production
These bungalows are where the writers work
A lot of the buildings were familiar from various films and TV shows.
It’s hard to believe some of these are only façades!
Then we went into the Earthquake section of the tram tour.
I didn’t get many useable photos. In fact, I only got one.
Sort of
Then into the little town of Amity where there are rumors of sharks in the water…
I was on the wrong side of the tour bus to get any really good shots.
Next were the residential sets.
Check out those cool street names
Joe told us a story about Steven Spielberg. Before he was a big shot director, he used to sneak his way into the studio. He made friends with someone in security and started to come in every single day and just work in an empty office. After a while, everyone just assumed that he belonged there! Then, he was approached by someone (whose name I don’t remember now, ) about what project he was working on. He didn’t want to lie to the guy and blow his shot at legitimate work, so he confessed that he wasn’t actually working on anything, but pitched the guy some of his ideas. He got hired and a star was born!
Then we got back on the tram to finish out the tram tour portion. Incidentally, there are a couple of attraction-type parts of the tour that I didn’t (really couldn’t) take photos of. There is a Fast & Furious movie part and a King Kong movie part. They are both 3-D movie simulator type things. You’re in the tram, but the entire area around you is the screen, so you feel like you’re inside the movie. It’s well done! But back to the tram tour.
With that done, we were paired up with another VIP tour, and their guide (whose name I didn’t write down and don’t remember now) took turns with Joe telling us information. We went into the prop warehouse, which I’d heard was one of the coolest part of the tour.
It was huge, with everything you’d expect to find in anything ever. They explained to us that a set designer will come in and choose stuff, which will then be tagged for them and put in place when appropriate. There was a lot of stuff marked for the show Scandal.
About This Page: 
Maybe that's due to there being an actual working studio there? 
Who knows!
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
I'm not jealous at all. 
I too love the Mummy coaster, but only rode it in Orlando a number of times. Just quite unique and in some ways reminds me of EE in the AK and you probably know what I mean! 
I would have looked to have seen photos of it. 
Holly: 
) about what project he was working on. He didn’t want to lie to the guy and blow his shot at legitimate work, so he confessed that he wasn’t actually working on anything, but pitched the guy some of his ideas. He got hired and a star was born!
Linear Mode
