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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Universal directly?
AAA?
Other? Heading to HRH end of Sept/Beg of Oct with family of 4; 10 year old son and 12 year old daughter. We have our HRH room reserved but haven't purchased theme park tix as of yet.
If you have access to a Costco, they have had tickets available that were good for 4 days and did not expire in the normal 14 days from first use. If you have plans to be back there in the next couple of years (I think I've seen expiration dates of 12/31/13 and 12/31/14) these would be a great option.
I have also purchased tickets from Undercover Tourist. They are very reliable and are recommended by many people on this site.
I've always gotten good deals from AAA, including this summer when we paid ~$600 for 4 days, both parks, for 4 adults. That boils done to less than $40/day apiece, which is hard to beat for theme park tickets nowadays.
We're getting ours from AAA. They cost about the same as the Universal website but include transportation apparently. We are staying on property in Disney and will be able to be picked up at our resort, taken to Universal and when we are ready to leave, call them and they will pick us up and take us back to our resort.
Sorry to piggyback on your thread but I am curious. If you are staying onsite but you buy your tickets elsewhere do you loose early entry or do you get that regardless of how you get your park admission? I saw that if you buy the tickets direct through US and use an AMEX card you get admission to a special lounge. I wonder if it's worth it.
Kynna - I think your room key would let you in early entry, but I'm not 100% sure since I've never done it. For Express line entry you just show your room key, so I'm assuming it would be the same.
Sorry to piggyback on your thread but I am curious. If you are staying onsite but you buy your tickets elsewhere do you loose early entry or do you get that regardless of how you get your park admission?
When we were at US/IOA in Nov and waiting for early entry, they were telling folks that you had to have either a room key or a ticket with a special code on the back.
We're getting ours from AAA. They cost about the same as the Universal website but include transportation apparently. We are staying on property in Disney and will be able to be picked up at our resort, taken to Universal and when we are ready to leave, call them and they will pick us up and take us back to our resort.
Kyrie70, when are you going? Do you know if that was a one time special offer or something AAA does all the time?
We're getting ours from AAA. They cost about the same as the Universal website but include transportation apparently. We are staying on property in Disney and will be able to be picked up at our resort, taken to Universal and when we are ready to leave, call them and they will pick us up and take us back to our resort.
Kyrie70, when are you going? Do you know if that was a one time special offer or something AAA does all the time?
We purchased from Undercover Tourist, which was the best deal I could find. Our AAA chapter didn't offer the transportation option, and the UT prices were better than the AAA prices I could find.