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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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So, when was the last time you bumped into someone you haven't seen in a while, and what's the story of it?
Here's mine:
Today, working at the karate studio, a lady walked in to get info on our classes and talk about putting her step-son in. I kept thinking I knew here, but couldn't place her. SHE finally asked: "Don't I know you?" and I said I thought the same thing. We talked for a while, and couldn't figure it out - went to different schools, graduated H.S. many years apart, lived in different parts of the city. Finally, she says "Ever had a child at Methodist hospital? I've worked there for a long time." And I said: "Mama Jean!!!" She was one of the many, many nurses who cared for Samantha when she was originally paralyzed and spent so many (9) months in hospital!! And, more than that - she had also cared for Samantha when she was in hospital at age 1 for complications of flu - at the same time my god-daughter was in for a mysterious illness that was killing her (newborn baby, she was home for 2 days, and got so sick she had to return). Mama Jean was the nurse who, after a month and the Dr's telling us to say good-bye to Karen-Faye, came up with suggestion of what was wrong with her - and now the kid is fine (and almost 24!).
So, I was able to fill her in on the fact that not only is Samantha still alive (wasn't expected to survive to teen years, let alone turning 25 in 2 days!!), but she's just gotten married! She was so happy, she started tearing up.
I don't know if it counts, but there is a certain Passporter ( you know who you are!) that, as I found out through a few clues, was from my hometown. I sent her a PM and turns out we were friends in Grade School! Talk about your coinky-dinks!
Oh - and this is the perfect opportunity to tell her: we're coming back home for Thanksgiving and I'd love love love to meet up with you!!! I don't have specific dates yet, but I will email you later when we have the schedule firmed up a but more. Will you be around?!?!?
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Boogie down!!! __________________________________________________ ______ "Life's like a movie, write your own ending. Keep believing. Keep pretending." from The Muppet Movie
Okay, so I just had this same experience a few days ago.
At the first daycare that my son went to, I made friends with a mother of a little boy who was in Jackson's class. We became great friends, talking everyday, stopping by each others house in the afternoons so the boys could play, that kindof thing. Well, Jackson got kicked out of that daycare in December 2004 (something about too much snot coming out of his nose and some biting issues) while my "friend" basically blew me and Jackson off.
Fast Forward to this past Thursday when Jackson and I went to his Kindergarten Open House. Jackson and I were sitting in his new classroom when I hear "Kim" I turn around and there is my "friend" and her son. Turns out, the boys are in the same class together! I'm glad that another boy in his class was on his teeball team so at least we have another family that we know instead of just them.
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lol.
Yesterday at school.
I was walking in the cafeteria after the freshman assembly and two kids walked up to me.
One of them said my name and asked if it was me.
I then recognized who it was.
It was my friend Santiago from elementary school!
I hadn't seen him since 5th grade.
I ran into one of my very good friends from high school last night at the mall where I get my hair cut - I had not seen him in about a year, but he's moving back to the area from Nevada, so I'll be seeing him a lot more.
No, since I moved 1000 miles away from where I grew up that doesn't happen to me.
The closest thing is when DS was 1yo. A new guy went to work for DH and shortly after there was a company picnic and his wife came. We were talking and I said you look familiar. Turns out she was my L&D nurse!
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I bumped into someone I hadn't seen for ages last summer in our local shopping mall - I seem to see quite a few friends from ages ago in there, as that's happened to me three or four times now.
When I started this job in Nov there was a woman in the class who looked familiar- I worked wit her in ICU many years agao--- I liked her then and I like her now!
I attended a wedding of some friends of ours a month ago. When I was at the buffet line, there was a lady across from me filling her plate too. Turns out she was DD's Grade 1 teacher. I haven't seen her since she retired a couple years later. I told her that DD was turning 19 in a few months and she couldn't believe it.
I just ran into one of my good friends from high school today at the mall. It's pretty funny cause the last few times I've seen her was while I was walking into a store and she was walking out.
Embarassing when you don't recall or remember who bumped into you...after 15 or so years.
A fews years ago while walking on a city street this man came up to me and asked, "aren't you Sgt. (gave name) Papa Mouse who was in the Marines in Camp Pendleton?" After a few long seconds of trying to recognizing him I said "Yes". He was happy to see me and we talked for several minutes longer. He again asked if I remembered him and said that he was in the same company that I was. I said yes again. He told me his name again and we greeted each other like long lost friends, talked more, laughted, chat-chat some more. He was happy to see me and me him.
We eventually parted.
I was in charge of a company's administration office, for years, did most all of various typing including daily diaries, payroll, discharges, daily reports, record books, etc., etc.
BUT.....who was this man who besides recogniging me knew me by sight, name and more? I did not remember his name on any documents, what so ever. I'm sure I would have.
I was to embarrased to admit that I did not really remember him by sight or name.
Papa
I had my "blast from the past" several weeks ago. One day at work I was walking down the hallway, and I ran into one of the OB/GYN docs that I used to work with at a different hospital. Then the next day, I ran into one of my best friends whom I hadn't seen in awhile. We chatted for a bit and got caught up on everything. The day after that one of my childhood friends stopped by my work as her dad was a patient in the same hospital where I work. So I chatted with her and got all caught up with her. It definitely is a small world.
Recentlly, I was at the American Heart Walk, when I ran into a friend I used to work with. I haven't seen her in years, in fact I stayed with 2 of her kids when she was in the hospital having her 3rd. Now the baby is 14 and growing like a weed. Talk about losing contact!!!
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I was sitting out at the pool while my DD was having a tennis lesson last week. It was lunchtime, and my high school best friend's college roommate walked in to do laps during her lunch break. We only had time to really say HI, as she was short on time. She would have been in the 1980 Olympics if it weren't for us not competing that year (darn Cold War). So, I'd just been thinking about her (like I do every four summers) while watching the swimming events during the Olympics.
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you know who you are!) that, as I found out through a few clues, was from my hometown. I sent her a PM and turns out we were friends in Grade School! Talk about your coinky-dinks! 
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