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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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.
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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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I set my alarm so I would get up pretty early and possibly take care of a little work that didn’t get finished last night and to also get breakfast before my day started…but I was moving a bit slowly today.
I got showered and tackled just a small portion but I knew I really didn’t have time, so I gave up on it since I knew I really didn’t have to have it done till Friday.
Once dressed I headed down to breakfast, but decided I should get an outside picture first.
Time was ticking away and I was already running late for park opening, so I quickly ate and got on the road. I swear each time I visit Orlando the traffic gets worse and every crazy driver was out this morning. I did finally arrive and got parked up and did my best speed walk (which is not really that fast these days) and headed to the security check.
I got in the single rider line for Gringots. It was listed as 30 minutes and that is pretty long for that line so I knew the park was going to be pretty busy today. It did take pretty much all of that 30 minutes to get there too, but I do love this ride.
I got a scoop of blonde brownie and salted caramel. YUM! I had been dying to try this place out and it was always so busy in the past but the line wasn’t too bad this morning.
I then left Diagon Alley in search of other rides. Since I was staying offsite I did not have express pass today so I would have to either do single rider lines or wait in the regular line.
A nice start to your day in Universal and looks like you are covering a lot even without an Express Pass! Looks pretty crowded today!
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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!
I liked that The Springhill Suites was in a secluded area also as most of Orlando feels so built up now that it reminded me of the old days back in the 1970's and 80's when there wasn't much around! I enjoyed the free breakfast there also. Sounds like you got through security pretty quickly at Universal. Hope you didn't have to wait in long lines all day.
We said exactly the same about the traffic and the crazy drivers on this trip too! Wow, it does look pretty busy in the parks.
So many crazy people driving.....I am not sure if it is the locals or just a bunch of people renting cars like me and just are clueless where they are going...or a combo of all the above.
It was really busy today. But honestly, even busy days at Universal you can do quite a bit.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperDave
A nice start to your day in Universal and looks like you are covering a lot even without an Express Pass! Looks pretty crowded today!
Yes, that is the nice thing about Universal. Even without express pass there are some rides that just don't usually have super long waits. I chose what to do based on wait times and I did do single rider lines for anything that had one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
Great start to your Universal day, especially that tasty ice cream cone.
The ice cream was amazing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lindawdw
I liked that The Springhill Suites was in a secluded area also as most of Orlando feels so built up now that it reminded me of the old days back in the 1970's and 80's when there wasn't much around! I enjoyed the free breakfast there also. Sounds like you got through security pretty quickly at Universal. Hope you didn't have to wait in long lines all day.
It really was a nice to be out away from the crowds there. I loved the location.
They do seem to have their security area down. I rarely ever have to wait too long.
Jimmy’s new ride wasn’t open yet but I took a picture. Right after I came home, of course, they started doing test rides and one of my friends was able to get on.
I also did a first for me….I rode the Dragon Challenge….both sides! I believe I liked the blue side better….whichever side you go left to ride…that’s the one I liked better. The walk back there is far….really far and you can have NOTHING on you…no cell phones, no change, no wallets….nothing! You go through a security scanner once you get closer so if you have something you will have to walk all the way back to the front and to the lockers. If you want to ride again though they have a cut through where you cross over and it is right back at the security spot. I wish you could forgo security that second time though. I can see why not though as there is a look out spot near the cross over so I guess technically others could try to come in who have not been through security.
My friend “J” was flying into Florida today. She was doing the Disney races and not coming to Universal, but she told me to message her and we could possibly meet at Disney Springs for dinner. She had arrived and was over getting her race bib and she said the lines were massive.
I kept moving around IoA and headed to Seuss Landing.
I was getting hungry. I hadn’t had a real meal since breakfast…a couple of butter beers, a pretzel and ice-cream are not really the best choices but they sure are tasty. I messaged J and let her know I was just too hungry to wait and meet up later and I also think I will stay for the Mardi Gras parade. This would be my only chance to see it as we were told we would be riding the floats on Sunday. I wanted to see it from the ground too!
J said that was fine as she was still tied up getting her stuff and would probably just get some basic food herself now since it was getting late and she needed to be in bed early.
Margarittaville! I love this place. I got a seat at the bar and ordered a club sandwich. We had this several years ago when Skip, Claire and I went. We had shared this and nachos and both were so good….but the nachos are huge and I have had them a couple of times now, so I went with something I could finish.
A nice day so far and you certainly got a lot in at Universal. Nice overview of the attractions as looking forward to experiencing this on my next trip to US as been since 2009 and just so many new and great things to experience here and especially HP! Love the Blues Brothers show as I always try to catch that if I can!
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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!
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A nice day so far and you certainly got a lot in at Universal. Nice overview of the attractions as looking forward to experiencing this on my next trip to US as been since 2009 and just so many new and great things to experience here and especially HP! Love the Blues Brothers show as I always try to catch that if I can!
they are constantly adding stuff. I already want to go back and see the new stuff.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Wow, those crowds were insane and as for the 70 minute wait - no thank you!
It was really busy...and Kong is a fast loader...with I believe each truck taking 72 people at a time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lindawdw
Looks like a fun day at US! The park didn't seem super crowded with the exception of Wizard World. Your club sandwich looked so delicious!!!
It actually was pretty busy, but I did a lot of single rider lines. And Universal tends to not be as busy in the evenings either, which is nice.
When I was done I headed out and over to Universal Studios. It had been hot today but now it was cooling down. I had my jacket in my van out in the parking garage but no desire to go get it….I’ll be fine…right?
Another family came and sat by me after a while. It was getting quite chilly now and I was wishing I had a jacket. I noticed the lady next to me was cold too and after a bit she went into the gift shop across the way and looked for one. When she came back out empty handed I asked her if she went in search of buying a coat and she said yes…but the only one in there was a Terminator one and it was like 150. LOL. She said she would suffer.
I wiggled around trying to stay warm and keep the blood flowing. Finally the parade was starting. I taped it on my phone with one hand and took pictures with the other when I could. They were throwing beads so at times my video is quite crazy as I went to catch them.
Oh My Gosh!!!! That was so much fun. I was so glad I decided to stay and see it from a spectators view. I now had an idea of what would be coming on Sunday and enjoyed it from the sidelines too.
I made my way to the parking garage…figuring it would be total chaos, but really it could have been much worse.
I found my van easily and set Siri to get me back to Springhill Suites and took off. The drive back was much easier than this morning…a little less traffic. I parked and then decided I should take a picture of the van.
I called Skip and Claire and talked to them a bit and then went in and bought some overpriced pop and a snack from the little marketplace and headed back to the room. If I had been smart, I would have headed off to Target or Walmart to pick up some goodies at a fraction of the price.
At some point today…I can’t exactly remember when, a got a message from this young guy I had met when I cruised the Caribbean Princess a few years ago. He was a real nice young guy and his mom, dad and sister were sailing as well. I talked to them daily and they were a lot of fun. He and his mom were coming to Universal this week and wondered if I would be around. Unfortunately I had a pretty busy schedule on the days they were going to be in the parks so I wasn’t going to be able to meet up with them. I did tell them I would be in the parade on Sunday night and if they came to let me know where they were standing and I would wave to them if I could.
I chilled out and watched some TV and then headed to bed. Tomorrow I had no official plans….it was such an odd feeling. I had some ideas of things to do and I figured I would sleep till I woke up and then decide what sounded the best. The only thing I had to do was pick Lenora up in the evening. It was nice really just having no plans though in a way.
The parade looks like a lot of fun and how neat to see shots of the Universal resort at night. I just realised looking at your photos that we've never seen it after dark. My goodness, we'll have to put that right on our next visit.
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Wow, it does look pretty busy in the parks. 
Looks pretty crowded today! 
I enjoyed the free breakfast there also. 
Dinner looked great, too. 
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