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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 would say that the rights to use the Marvel characters is already in place, so I don't know if a new owner could come and undo it. I think Universal Hollywood removed the Marvel name from their park a year or so ago.
I just read this as well. This is a huge huge story to me. I'm not sure about Universal, did they get the rights for life or just a certain amount of years? This is going to be big for Disney. Movies, Comics, Theme parks...yowsa!
According to this article by The Orlando Sentinel, Universal has a perpetual contract for the Marvel characters for as long as the attractions are in operation:
According to Universal's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Universal Orlando retains American rights east of the Mississippi River for as long as its attractions are in operation.
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I read an article on Jim Hill today that broke down the acquisition and compared it to Disney acquiring the Muppets. It's been in the past few years that Disney's really stepped up with using Muppet merchandise (the Kermit "It's Easy Being Green" Recycling shirts keep popping in my head) in their stores, and that's basically because the rights/ties that other companies had on the Muppets FINALLY expired. So essentially it could be 10-15 years before we start truly seeing Marvel stuff at WDW. And no one seems to know how long Universal's got ties to Marvel in their theme parks, but personally, IMHO, if they were smart, they'd let Disney take over the characters, and they'd continue re-theming that section of IOA with more Harry Potter.
This article also stated that deals with movie studios for rights to certain characters/movies will stay with those studios until those rights expire. Therefore, Spidey will stay with Sony pictures, Iron Man will continue being made by Marvel Studios/Paramount, etc. at least until those projects either get made to completion (ie if they're contracted for 10 Iron Man movies, then all 10 will get made/distributed by those companies), or their options expire (a lot of story's "rights" get acquired by studios who think they might have a good story on their hands, but then sit on a shelf because other "more interesting" stories get made into films first).
Now, another article that I read (and of course, have lost the link for in my History folder) stated that Universal let their option expire for actually HAVING physical characters in their parks. So, we might very well start seeing Spiderman, the X-Men, Iron Man, etc walking around Disney Parks very soon.
Either way, as a Disney stockholder, I'm very excited about this acquisition. Marvel stocks, while not crazy fantastic, certainly do much better than Disney, so I'm not complaining about the bottom line!
Now, another article that I read (and of course, have lost the link for in my History folder) stated that Universal let their option expire for actually HAVING physical characters in their parks. So, we might very well start seeing Spiderman, the X-Men, Iron Man, etc walking around Disney Parks very soon.
As far as I know, the characters still appear at Universal Orlando. The contract is up for Universal Hollywood. We've had photos with the characters fairly recently, and Universal still offers the character breakfast with Spidey I think.
The contract for using Marvel characters in the attractions is perpetual, so as long as the attractions are in existance, they can keep the Marvel characters.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Shell_of_the_South
As far as I know, the characters still appear at Universal Orlando. The contract is up for Universal Hollywood. We've had photos with the characters fairly recently, and Universal still offers the character breakfast with Spidey I think.
You are CORRECT! I forgot to throw in that little bone - I wish I could find that article - it did specify that DL would probably see the characters before WDW.
DH mentioned this to me last night and we straightaway thought of Universal, but I figured they'd have contracts in place. Be interesting though when they're due for renewal.
Glad the Spidey attraction at Univ. is safe, it's one of my favs still! Sorry, I just can't see Spidey walking around WDW. It just doesn't say Disney to me.
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I forgot to throw in that little bone - I wish I could find that article 
- it did specify that DL would probably see the characters before WDW. 
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