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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 a class scheduled for a Friday early in October. I would like to stay over until Sunday and go to Busch Gardens on Saturday. This is one park that I have NEVER visited. I have several questions.
Is it possible to go for one day and really see anything?
I have been to their website and it looks like it would be good to take one of the scheduled tours (probably the longer one since it includes the shorter one.) I believe that it includes lunch so the meal ticket (mentioned below) may not be necessary.
Can anyone give me some advise on which of the rides cannot be missed and if there is anything else that I should try to do? I do like to ride coasters.
The unlimited meal ticket looks good. Has anyone tried this? Any suggestions on where to eat.
We've been to Busch Gardens plenty of times before for one day. We don't do the coasters, we just go for the animals, and we've seen pretty much all the animals in a day.
Rhino Rally is a lot of fun. It's bumpier than Kilimanjaro Safaris, and it's not designed for you to really take photos on, so if you want to do that, be prepared to shoot as you go round is my advice for you, as they won't stop for you to get your shot.
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We love Busch Gardens! But we went for 2 days in the spring for our first time. It was packed and we rode only a few rides the first day because of the length of the lines. So the next day we bought the express pass that gave us one ride each on the coasters. That way we were able to hit the big rides and still have time to look around. If you're into rides, then I'd suggest 2 days.
I've been to BG many times and it is definitely worth doing. You can take pix on the Heart of Africa Tour. All of the coasters are worth doing. The Skyride gives you a great view of the park and it's a quick way to get to the other side of the park. The animals are very cool
Just came back from Florida and we went to Busch Gardens for 2 days but you can definitely do it in 1 day.
My son LOVES Roller Coasters. He says that Montu is his favourite. DD who is 7, couldn't get enough of Cheetah-it is smooth, and fast. Kwazi was abit rough. Sheikra was good too. It is definitely a great roller coaster park.
Rhino Rally was not up and running when we were there and I would have liked to go on it.
I enjoyed petting the kangaroos.
We never ate there, but I remember thinking that the pop wasn't that badly priced.
Thanks for all of the info. I am still in the planning phase and should make the final decision on the trip later today. I have looked at the money and have to decide if the classes will really benefit me enough to justify the anticipated cost approaching $900 when I add in the side trip to BG and one of the tours. I am self employed so I have to carry all of the cost. I know that the longer tours would give me more animal time but would not allow much time for rides. In addition, my planned day at the park is Saturday so I would probably be faced with long lines for the rides. Decisions----Decisions.
I went a few years ago with my oldest son and we had a blast. I felt like we did all that we wanted to do in that one day. The only thing I didn't like was they didn't have lids for the pop I bought and birds swooped down and literally grabbed fries off of my plate. They were pretty brave. I'm sorry that I can't give you any insight on anything else but I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Also note that if you're going in early October on a Saturday, Busch Gardens will be holding it's Halloween event, Howl-O-Scream. The park will generally be open for day guests until 5 pm. Then Howl-O-Scream starts at around 7:30 pm. You get to go through haunted houses and ride roller coasters in the dark. Howl-O-Scream tickets are generally $40-$50.
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busch gardens can be done in one day.there is a lot to do there even if you skip the roller coasters.if you want to do a tour you may want to add on a second day which can be done near the front of the park for only 10 dollars.
Thanks for all of the information. Unfortunately I have chosen NOT to attend the workshop in Clearwater. This means no trip to BG or WDW at this time of the year. Certification training for my job followed by a heavy work load through the end of March will be taking priority. Maybe an Easter trip will be possible. Perhaps I will be able to use the info when I start planning for a trip then.
If you do plan a Busch Gardens trip, we found we needed 2 days to do the rides, shows, and everything. We like the coasters, and there are many! And also enjoy the shows. There's one similar to flights of wonder, a almost Broadway type production, and some smaller shows too. We found we barely fit it all in with 2 days. We had an Orlando Flex ticket which included SeaWorld, Busch, bus transportation from SeaWorld to BG, and Universal Tickets.
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Thanks for all of the information everyone has given me. DW and I will be going to Busch Gardens at Williamsburg VA the week before Christmas this year. I know it will be cold and no animals but this one is closer to her family which has taken on a very high priority. Her dad has been place in an assisted living Alzheimer's home and requires frequent visits from her. The home is in VA and is about a 6 hour drive from our home. She is also responsible for taking care of all of his ongoing financial issues and overseeing the repairs on his home so it can be sold. This situation is not getting any better. Lots of pixies would be appreciated.
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