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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Hi All
I am heading to Universal Studios for the first time with my family in October. I have not been to Universal for 15 years My family and I usually go to Disney and I can tell you everything about Disney but I know nothing about Universal. I know we are staying at Portofino but I don't know which park to go to first? Should I use a dining plan? I am travelling with all adults so we are interested in City Walk and the Halloween Horror Nights. Can anyone please help me plan this trip to make it memorable and so we see everything we can. We r staying for 3 nights. Is there any transportation I can get from the airport to the hotel and then from the hotel upon checkout to a Disney hotel?
Thank You all
Grace
Welcome to the Boards! Congratulations on your upcoming trip!
Dining Plan--Universal has recently changed their dining plan so it is now more like Disney's. They are also offering free dining for dates this fall, so if you like and are familiar with Disney's plan, you may want to add Universal's plan to your reservation.
Since you are staying on-site, you will get early access to Islands of Adventure for Harry Potter. This may be a great advantage. You will also get Express Plus--which will allow you access to select rides and attractions. So either park first will be just fine.
Yes, there are shuttles available from MCO to Universal and the last time our travel agent checked they were around $50 per person round trip. If you are using a travel agent, have them check for you, or ask for a recommendation from Universal and/or Portofino. Others on the boards may also have recommendations.
Have a fantastic trip!
We too are taking our first family trip to Universal, this year, in October. We will only be staying 2 days & 2 nights & then moving on to another hotel to see Legoland, Seaworld & other places. We rented a car through National Car. We will pick the car up at MCO & then drop it off at the Disney Car Care center in Disney World before we check-in to our hotel there. I think that the total for a 7 day car rental was $209. for us. So it is worth it to have a car before we get to Disney World.
On another note, does anyone here know which Universal park that HHN is held in? I can't find the answer on their website & I want to avoid that park on the night that HHN is held. We have 2 young children & I don't think that HHN is for them this year.
Thanks!
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HHN is at Universal Studios, and you're right...they tell ya right in their website site that it's geared to the older set, not little ones. Both of the parks are rather small, so I wouldn't be concerned about "seeing it all" because it'd be pretty hard to miss anything. We went our first time last year and 2 days at the parks were plenty. DS was 10 at the time. We went back again this spring for 3 days at parks because of the package we got with Royal Pacifica. But we didn't need the whole 3rd day at the park. We also don't kill ourselves getting to the park extra early for WWHP. The later in the day it gets, the thinner the crowds up there. They don't track ride times well. The first time we rode forbidden journey their sign said 120 minutes wait. We were in line maybe 20 min. Not complaining, but just sayin'. Don't forget to put your bags in storage BEFORE you get in line. You won't be happy if you hit the halfway point and have to leave the line to find a locker, because they do NOT let you take them on many of the rides at these parks.
HHN is at Universal Studios, and you're right...they tell ya right in their website site that it's geared to the older set, not little ones. Both of the parks are rather small, so I wouldn't be concerned about "seeing it all" because it'd be pretty hard to miss anything. We went our first time last year and 2 days at the parks were plenty. DS was 10 at the time. We went back again this spring for 3 days at parks because of the package we got with Royal Pacifica. But we didn't need the whole 3rd day at the park. We also don't kill ourselves getting to the park extra early for WWHP. The later in the day it gets, the thinner the crowds up there. They don't track ride times well. The first time we rode forbidden journey their sign said 120 minutes wait. We were in line maybe 20 min. Not complaining, but just sayin'. Don't forget to put your bags in storage BEFORE you get in line. You won't be happy if you hit the halfway point and have to leave the line to find a locker, because they do NOT let you take them on many of the rides at these parks.
Thank you so much for all of that wonderful advice!!!! I never really thought about the bags that way. I usually carry a small sling bag through Disney World with my camera & such in it. Will I be able to take my small camera on the rides with me? Or my cell phone? I'm not sure where I will put them if I don't have my little bag. Any suggestions for me on that?
Thanks so much!
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I learned the hard way about the bags. Was one of those that had to leave the line. Now I wear the kind of shorts that have the deep pockets that button shut. That way I can put my camera and cell phone in them for the rides. If you do take a bag with you, then I would suggest trying the locker area to the right, when you first enter WWHP. Folks are so busy looking at the train conductor and engine, they tend to miss it so it isn't as crowded as the one by FJ.
I learned the hard way about the bags. Was one of those that had to leave the line. Now I wear the kind of shorts that have the deep pockets that button shut. That way I can put my camera and cell phone in them for the rides. If you do take a bag with you, then I would suggest trying the locker area to the right, when you first enter WWHP. Folks are so busy looking at the train conductor and engine, they tend to miss it so it isn't as crowded as the one by FJ.
I really appreciate all of your advice. It will help our day go much, much smoother. Do they not allow you to take a small camera on all of the rides or just the larger coasters & rides? Thanks so much again!
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On rides like FJ and Hulk, you'd be better off putting it all in the locker if you don't have deep pockets that fasten shut. My camera is really small and I hang in on my beltloop, so they usually don't notice it. But I keep it fastened to my beltloop AND tuck it away in my pocket to keep it safe. But I've known of folks losing their cameras & such on those rides. FJ has you going in all directions, so it could slip out of a regular pocket and into no-man's land easily and quickly,
Plus if you want to hit any of the "water rides," and you plan on keeping your cell and camera in your pocket, I would suggest putting them in a Ziplock baggie too. Just in case. I also tend to do this with any of the other misc. things I may want to have with me (lip gloss tube, a small compact, and any other girlie necessities ) that DH then holds in one of the pockets in his cargo pants -- that is, if I'm trying to forego my own usual bag. This way I can just grab the baggie without having to carry everything individually, worry about dropping something, etc.
If you look really close at the seats on FJ, you'll see a small compartment that can hold a small camera or wallet. Be careful...the ride loads on an omnimover (like the Haunted Mansion), so don't squint at the seats too long or you'll hit the end of the moving sidewalk!
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Now I wear the kind of shorts that have the deep pockets that button shut. That way I can put my camera and cell phone in them for the rides. If you do take a bag with you, then I would suggest trying the locker area to the right, when you first enter WWHP. Folks are so busy looking at the train conductor and engine, they tend to miss it so it isn't as crowded as the one by FJ.
) that DH then holds in one of the pockets in his cargo pants 
-- that is, if I'm trying to forego my own usual bag. This way I can just grab the baggie without having to carry everything individually, worry about dropping something, etc.
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