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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 are getting ready to book our first trip to US/IOA for next September Our TA has a package priced out at Cabana Bay, but it doesn't include the front of the line pass. As I understand it, we can purchase this separately, but is it the same as if we stayed at Hard Rock (this is the other resort we are considering) Are all other amenities the same, such as early entry? I would really appreciate any advice and/or opinions. I am totally lost lol.
TIA
Yes, you still get early entry at the deluxe resorts, Hard Rock, Royal Pacific, and Portofino Bay. And, yes, the Express Pass essentially costs the upgrade to one of the deluxe resorts. We just booked Cabana Bay, but we did it because all the others were fully booked for our dates. We bought the Express Pass separately, because our park time is limited and we wanted to limit wait times as much as possible.
If I were booking deluxe, I think Hard Rock is a good choice. We stayed at Royal Pacific a couple of years ago, and although it is pretty, I hated our room location. It was also problematic trying to get a quick breakfast, which we like in the morning. Also, whether or not this matters to you, the layout of the rooms was not conducive to my mom's scooter. It was very hard to maneuver it in and out of the room without a good deal of effort.
Hard Rock is the closest hotel with a walking path to City Walk. I can't really advise about the hotel itself, though, as we've not stayed there.
PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Chapel Hill, NC USA
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 36,592
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If you plan on buying the express passes for everyone if you stay at Cabana Bay, I would definitely choose to stay at the Hard Rock instead. I've stayed at Cabana twice, but didn't buy passes, which kept our expenses down.
I've also stayed at Hard Rock twice. Walking to the parks is so easy from the Hard Rock, the rooms are nice and spacious. Having express passes included makes the higher cost for the room much better. And if you have several people in your party, can actually save you money over a value resort and buying separately.
Early Entry is available at all Universal resorts.
My pluses for Cabana Bay- Great food court, great pool area and pool bar, relatively inexpensive, Starbucks in the lobby
My pluses for Hard Rock- Location!, nice pool, large room, nice restaurant, express passes
Thanks for the responses, we are definitely leaning towards hard rock. Are all parks an easy walk from there or will we still need to use buses/boats? Also, how is the food court at HR? My guys, (husband and 2 boys 15 and 11) are all fairly picky eaters, but burgers and fries and pizza are sure crowd pleasers lol.
PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Chapel Hill, NC USA
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 36,592
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Hard Rock is the closest. Royal Pacific and Portofino are a bit further away but easily walkable, people opt to boat from them, but I've never done that.
Cabana Bay and Sapphire Falls are walkable, but it's a much longer trek, and usually a bus or boat respectively would be what you'd choose.
Hard Rock does not have a real food court.
There is a little shop that sells some to-go things and ice cream.
The only real food court (and it's great) is at Cababa Bay. The other resorts just have restaurants and a little snack shop.
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