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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I have been unable to find touring plans for Universal/Islands of Adventure. I am unsure of how long it will take us to complete a day at each park especially being we are going near a holiday. Well June 26th is the date of our first visit to IA. Either way, it's going to be hectic crowds I'm sure. We are early risers so that will be helpful but I've been spoiled by the Disney experts who have the trip reports and what you should do first and how long each ride is and anything you could possibly want to know about Disney and they just don't have the same information that I could find anyway regarding Universal or Islands of Adventure and I'm a planning junkie and I need a fix! It's not that serious but some direction would be great. Do any of you know of any sites that has trip reports and the like for Universal parks?
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I can relate to your feelings of being unable to find information on US/IOA. I am in the same boat...but my trip is at the beginning of May. I did some research and ended up purchasing Universal Orlando 2008 by Kelly Monaghan. It is awesome! It gives touring plans of sorts...discriptions of all the rides, shows, theming, and food. It has made me feel like I will not be lost when we get there. It is a fabulous resource for the obsessive planner in me...
The other advice I would give you is to read through all the archives on this board. There is a lot of information to be found here.
Good luck on your US/IOA adventure...and I will try to do a quick trip report when we get back so that what I find might help you. Do know, we are only going to get a taste of the two parks, as we are only headed over there for one day. I do not expect, nor are we going to try to see it all! We just want to see how much time we should plan for this park on future visits...as I am sure we are going to love it.
That's great. Please post a trip report as I do check often for them in the Universal Studios part of this site but it's all about Disney in here! You get a drop or two of info about Universal but not enough to know what to expect now. Thanks.
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I don't know of any touring plans out there. I think you won't have to go as "commando" at Universal parks as you might at Disney, so you can plan a more laid back pace. You're right, there's not as much info out there on Universal (one of the reasons Jennifer and Dave added this forum).
We've been in July several times, and went over Labor Day weekend last year, and had no problems. My best advice is to get there early. You didn't mention if you're staying onsite or not. That will help a lot because Universal resort guests get "front of the line" access at the attractions. What that means is when you show your room key to the team member at each attraction entrance, you will be directed into the Express pass line. You can use your room key all day long as often as you like.
If you're not staying onsite, plan to be at the park gate around 30 minutes prior to park opening, because they often open the parks earlier than the posted opening time. If you're staying at Disney, I would leave at least one hour before park opening. Universal has a parking garage where you park. Then you will walk or take several moving elevators to CityWalk. Once you exit the parking structure and enter CityWalk, IOA will be straight ahead, US will be on to the right. You'll probably want to get that photo taken in front of the big Universal globe when you arrive and everyone still looks "fresh", so allow some time for that as well.
Universal crowds tend to arrive later, so take advantange of the short lines first thing in the morning. At IOA, ride Hulk and Spiderman first, then back through Suess Landing to Lost Continent and ride Dueling Dragons. These attractions will have the longest lines during the day. At US, I like to walk straight through to the back of the park and ride Men in Black first. Most people don't go all the way to the back first, so there is usually no one in line at this time. However, MIB has a single rider line which will cut down your wait time any time of the day, so if you don't mind splitting up your party you could wait on MIB. Same thing with Revenge of the Mummy. Do it early, or plan to use the single rider's line. Shrek 4D is a good attraction to hit early in the day.
I think you can see the majority of both parks in two days.
The only guidebook I've used for Universal was the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World which had a Universal section. My copy is pretty old, so I don't know if it still has info on Universal. I've heard very good things about Kelly Monaghan's Universal guidebook, and it's available in the Passporter store:
Have fun!! I think you'll enjoy what Universal has to offer! Just go with an open mind and don't try to compare the Universal parks to Disney, because they're not the same. Both are equally fun and interesting, but in different ways.
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Michelle - with my step sisters!
Last edited by Shell_of_the_South; 03-16-2008 at 08:20 PM..
Wow thanks a lot Shell of the South! Lots of great info that definitely will help. We may add a third day since I'm about to purchase the 7 day deal they have online. Depends on how tired we get. We are staying at a condo and will be in orlando for two weeks but have a heavy schedule of Disney as well. I defintiely don't confuse the two parks. I love them both for very different reasons. I can't wait to come see all the changes through the years.
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It's not that serious but some direction would be great. Do any of you know of any sites that has trip reports and the like for Universal parks?
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Michelle - with my step sisters!
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