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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We're going to WDW in July, staying at POR, just to enjoy the pools, do a water park, eat, shop, relax, etc. DH told me he didn't think we would go to theme parks because of $$ and the fact we've went last 2 yrs. in a row.
Now today, he says, "why don't we change our reservations the first few nights to a Universal resort and visit the Universal parks, then spend the rest of the week at POR?"
Now I don't know what to do!! He wants to do a Universal resort because resort guests get to go to the front of the line at the parks (so I've heard).
What do you guys think? I'm so confused now! [img]graemlins/dizzy.gif[/img]
Universal ROCKS! We did a Universal only trip last July for my daughter's birthday. Spent 3 days/4nights there and I thought originally, how in the world can I go to Orlando and not hit WDW?! Well, we just had the most awesome time! We stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel which is totally on par with our stay at the Grand Floridian - the hotel is superb in terms of amenities and luxury and has THE most comfortable beds and pillows of any hotel or resort I've ever stayed at! And YES! You do get front of the line access to the rides at both Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure! This benefit alone makes a stay at a Universal resort worthwhile! The standby lines in early July last year for the most popular attractions were like 1-2 hours. And we waited - seriously - for only 10-15 minutes for ANYTHING! It beats Fast Pass HANDS DOWN! So cool [img]images/icons/cool.gif[/img] and it was great to be able to re-ride attractions over and over that we really enjoyed! Honestly, I bet we got in three or four times more ride experiences than day guests. And, while the parks aren't Disney, they are very Universal! Spectacular and very grand attractions - many better than some of Disney's top E-ticket rides! IOA is more of a thrill park and VERY well themed. Universal Studios is more of a movie park where you experience the attraction. If you haven't been to Universal, I HIGHLY encourage you to do so - and you MUST stay onsite at one of their 3 resorts - they have water taxis that take you right to the front gate or to Citiwalk, but the resorts are so close, we found it quicker to walk! Good luck! You won't be disappointed! I want to go back now! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
We've never stayed on site at Universal but always take a day out of our WDW vacation to visit. (we'll be there 6/25!) One year we did RideTheMovies, which is great! Last year and this year, however, we are going to Islands of Adventure. The only truly long wait we had was for Superman, only because it broke down three times while we were in line, and because we had already waited so long, we didn't want to get out of line! This park is fantastic! We all love the roller coasters! One disadvantage is that it is set up in a large circle, so you pretty much have to go one way or the other. You really can't crisscross. Definately go! Even if you have Tiffany pick you up from Disney and you just go for the day! Its worth it! If you do decide to go only for the day, buy your tickets on line ($49.95 for adult ages 10 and over, $40.95 for children 9 and under) They will ship to you UPS and you won't have to wait in the long ticket lines.
We have been to Universal several times. It is great. Smaller and sometimes ledd lines. WDW always has more people however, US has more teens. You will have a good time. Do both! Have fun.
Universal, while not Disney, is still a lot of fun, and I really like IOA. Great theming, great rides. Try Mythos, a restaurant in IOA that is wonderful.
DH actually prefers the Universal Parks to the Disney ones.
UPDATE: I called Universal this morning and got ressies at the new Royal Pacific Hotel which doesn't even open until next week for $139.00/night. Got $20/night off with my Universal fan club card, which costs nothing to get.
So now we'll cancel our first 3 nights at POR and go to Universal instead. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] We've never been to the Universal parks, so this will be something different!
Here is an interesting note for families with more than 2 children: any of the Disney resorts with 2 beds would never let us book 5 people in a room. The Royal Pacific has 2 queeen beds. I told her 5 people and she didn't blink and eye. She asked if we needed a rollaway for $25/night and I said no, we had our own. She said ok, great. So this is a plus to us over Disney! We have an air mattress that we bring along and it has always worked fine.
Originally posted by tikibird: Try Mythos, a restaurant in IOA that is wonderful.
<font size="2" face="Comic Sans MS, Arial">I second that! We ate here for my daughter's birthday and it was wonderful - by the way - if it is your birthday, both parks have a daily celebration and give everyone free birthday cake!
UPDATE TO MY UPDATE: I was poking around the boards this a.m. looking for Universal posts and saw where Entertainment members can get rooms for $99/night at Royal Pacific. So I called Universal back. Now we are staying 4 nights at Universal's Royal Pacific in a water view room for $109/night ($99 standard rooms booked up). So I am even more thrilled than I was this a.m!
So now are plans are:
Sun - Thurs Universal Royal Pacific
Thurs - Sat PO - R
We would probably stay at Universal all week, except my inlaws and some friends are coming down Wed. night to OKW. PO-R is closer to them.
I just have to tell you guys, I haven't been very excited about this trip until now! Now I just can't wait until we go!
Tell me some more good eats at Universal - how's the Hard Rock Cafe?
Originally posted by MichelleC: Tell me some more good eats at Universal - how's the Hard Rock Cafe?
<font size="2" face="Comic Sans MS, Arial">It's big - we ate there - pretty standard Hard Rock food, which I like! Gosh, I can't remember off the top of my head but the Hard Rock Hotel itself had quite a few outstanding places to eat and Citiwalk has tons of places, too. I'm sure the Royal Pacific will have wonderful restaurants, too! You really MUST eat at Mythos, though!
I'm so excited for you! Please, please do a review of the Royal Pacific when you get back! I can't wait to hear about it! What an AWESOME rate!!!
We are leaving in SIX days! We are staying at the NEW Royal Pacific Hotel..we will be there for 5 nights and then moving over to WDW..for another 12 nights..I will make sure that I post my trip report and let everyone know how we liked RPH..US and IOA is a blast..we love it!!
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