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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 went to Universal for the first time in December 2008. Here's my opinion on Universal.
1. What can you see in two days?
Yes. We were there for 1 1/2 days and saw everything. Since we are not thrill ride people we did not go on any of the rollercoasters or water rapid rides. That said we went on just about everything else and still had time for a leisurely lunch at Margaritaville...both days! I would recommend the express pass if you are planning to go on the coasters.
2. What is the "atmosphere" of the park? Is it like Disney where you are immersed in the area or like Six Flags where the theming is just in the ride? Universal does a good job of executing their theming. The decor in most areas is very dynamic and beautiful. Unfortunately we found many of the area themes were more geared toward "Baby Boomers" and their adult children. Most specifically Toon Landing at IOA. My 11 yo DD had no idea who most of the characters in this area were. Beetlejuice Graveyard review was lots of fun, but again many of the kids in the audience had little reference for the music or character. I would really like to see Universal update their themes a bit. Last is the characters...I was shocked at how shabby many of the costumes were. Definately not as well done as Disney.
3. What help should I expect from "cast members"?
We found the cast members to be very polite and helpful. However, be prepared for the "Timeshare People". It was very much a hard sell atmosphere...we were approached at least a dozen times each day. A huge difference from Disney's much more relaxed selling.
Honestly, we enjoyed the park for the most part. We will be returning again this year because we want to see the Harry Potter area and there are a few rides we would like to enjoy again...MIB, Simpsons and Spiderman are our favorites.
This info is invaluable. I've instructed both "children" to "do their homework"! So we'll see if they do. I still think I'll probably have better answers from this thread than they find out! LOL
This is a VERY interesting thread. Thankyou for asking these questions. I have one more to add:
Is Universal in Florida, the same as Universal in California???
This is my wild card for not knowing if we will go or not to this park. I think I want to go more than anyone because I want to ride ET, jaws and a few other "non coaster " rides. I also want to see the tribute to Lucy. We never went to Universal in LA and I don't know if I missed out on anything.
A very silly question....... when you see that things are filmed at Universal studios....where do those things happen???
This was all good stuff. I got a little dizzy reading it all -- kind of that dizzy with wanting to be there already and be in the middle of it right now!!!
I can't wait!
DS says "Go, it WWOHP looks interesting", DD is a Disney Darling, so she wants to spend the rest of her time at MK. It may come down to the guys against the gals! LOL!
I'm not going to say too much, because I'm really just a Disney fanatic, but Universal feels very different from Disney. Not the same friendliness or atmosphere at all, in my opinion, and sort of a little bit tacky, believe it or not. Just my opinion! The attractions are impressive, though. I'm very tempted by Harry Potter, so we're thinking about taking time out of our October Disney trip to make the trek over to Universal.
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