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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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This is the first trip where it will be just me and my son. Usually we have enough people to make sure everyone stays together. I am worried that we will get seperated, which has NEVER happened in the past. I don't know what to tell him to do. I was considering getting him a cheap cell phone so he could call me but then I realized he usually has on gym shorts with no pockets and the phone would have nowhere to go. I don't know what kind of plan to have in place should we be seperated. Any advice for me?
I live near a Six Flags and one thing that I see alot is people wear the same neon colored clothes - for instance you'd both wear day-glo yellow t-shirts. If he's old enough for a cell phone though that probably wouldn't work.
Other than that, I'd say just continuously discuss it. Like, when you go to the bathroom, instead of saying "I'll meet you outside", say "I'll be by that garbage can and if you're out before me, just wait there for me."
Some cell phones do have little clips though, so that might not be a horrible idea.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lisa Renninger I have two bits of advice:
Tell your kids to find a mom if they get lost -- find a woman with kids. No offense to guys out there, but the numbers are pretty overwhelming when it comes to predators -- they are mostly male. And no offense to the male CMs, either -- I'm just saying, a lost kid is better off finding a mom. A mom is going to stay with that kid until that kid is safe back with his/her mom.
Also, make sure your kids know their own full name AND your name. If all they know is "mommy" or "grandma Smith", it's not going to help. I practice with my kids, and do a little drill "little boy, what is your name? What's your mommy's name?" It's the first thing a cop or someone is going to ask them, and if they are confident about the answers, they won't be so scared to answer more questions.
Thanks for the bracelet and bead necklace idea. I'm totally going to do that with my boys, and I'm sure they will love their special name Disney bracelets!
Thank You soooo much for this post!!
Twice in 9 days we lost our dd or ds.
It is hard to identify cast members when you are small because they are all dressed differently. So, I told them if we get separated to find a mother with kids and tell her you are lost.
We were in the living in the seas pavilion and ds9 had to go to the bathroom. My dh took him, and my ds7 said he needed to go too. I told him to hurry and catch up to his father. I watched until he was next to him. DH didn't realize DS7 was with him.
He met me with ds9 and he asked were DS7 was......
I alerted a cast member right away that my ds was missing. Another cast member radioed his description to other cast members in the pavillion. Within 5 minutes we found him cluthing the arm of a wonderful mother who was wiping away his tears. DS refused to go with the cast member who had located him. He told him that he was supposed to stay with a mommy if he got lost. He gave my cell number and my full name to the mother(not the cm) and he was crying, but he felt safe.
What a great idea! And one that I never would have thought of. You guys are so right, who better to keep my son until I got there. He is 8 but I still don't like the thought of him getting away from me. Like I said, we usually travel in large groups so it is easier to keep track of the little kids with us. He knows my full name and my phone number including area code so once he finds someone he should be able to get me with no issues. I was also considering making him a dog tag at my local Wal-Mart to wear around his neck. The tag would include his name and my number should he get lost, this could come in handy.
Another thing I heard is take a piece of tape (masking tape, I guess) and write his name and your number, and tape the tape to the inside of his shirt (so that random people can't see it). That way if he gets terrified or can't remember, at least he'll know to look at the tape. I'm sure everything will be fine!
Also, was just listening to Martha Stewart and she was doing some scrapbooking thing about WDW? And she said that she was told by CM's that no child has ever been lost there...HA!
Also, was just listening to Martha Stewart and she was doing some scrapbooking thing about WDW? And she said that she was told by CM's that no child has ever been lost there...HA!
Ha. Of all the places packed with people we are supposed to believe no child has ever been lost there? Right....well, I guess they aren't really lost, they know where they are, at Disney! Apparently it is the parents who get lots from the kiddies.
I've given DD a business card sized piece of card stock with my cell # on it. She knows to find a mommy with children, and say, "I can't find my mama, will you please call her and tell her where I am?" We've actually practiced it with friends (and 1 really nice stranger) at other parks in our area. She keeps the card in her shoe or in her little fannypack where she also keeps her pressed penny stuff... she's 5yo btw
Another thing I've heard is to make sure that your child can describe what you're wearing in addition to knowing your name etc. My kids are older (9 and 12) and we always talk about where we're going next once we leave a ride or attraction and if we should get separated, go there. We've been doing Disney for several years now and am happy to report we've gotten separated. I'm sure your trip will go smoothly as well.
That CM is right - I don't think there's ever been a time when a kid has been permanently lost.
My first recommendation is to teach your son how to recognize Cast Members (name tag is the best way). Every Cast Member is trained how to handle lost children. Meantime, other park guests (moms or dads), may not necessarily know the best way to help (they might just wander the park in search of you, without getting help from Disney). If you get separated, you can go to any shop, and tell a cast member that you need to be reunited with your child. They go to a computer terminal to check the message system, or pick up the telephone and call a central number. The cast member your child has hooked-up with also uses the central message system. They'll match the two of you up very quickly.
Many of the other suggestions here are also helpful, depending on the child's age. Disney cast will look for name tags and other ID on/inside clothing for smaller children. Older children will be good with cell phones, etc. You can also select specific rendezvous points in the park, but don't be too general about things. "Meet me right here!" works a whole lot better than "Meet me at the castle." The castle is much too big - you could both be there and still not hook up.
Don't worry too much about having pockets for a cell phone. There are cell phones intended for kids that have lanyards (much more secure than a child's pocket).
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Co-Author, PassPorter's Walt Disney World, PassPorter's Disney Cruise Line, and PassPorter's Disneyland and Southern California Attractions
Before we travel I always make a little laminated ID Card that my girls keep on them that has my cell phone #, name of all the trusted adults in our party, (in case we seperate the CM knows its OK to release my child to my family) and their allergies in case of a medical emergency. Also I take a picture of both of my kids with my digital camera so I can show people what they are wearing. This has come in handy when my youngest wandered off at a 4th of July Festival. (SCARY)
What great ideas!!!! Thank you all for sharing your thoughts and ideas with me....I keep checking back to see what other creative things you guys come up with!
Before we go away on vacation we watch the video by Adam Walsh, The Safe Side, I believe they call it? Anyhow, it helps teach your children about "Don't Knows" and who are your safe side adults. You can also let your children know how to recognize cast members they can ask for help as well. We also bought "tattoos" that say if I'm lost call xxx-xxx-xxxx (your custom number is used). They stay for at least the duration of the day or longer in some case. You can order different allotments of them.
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Of all the places packed with people we are supposed to believe no child has ever been lost there? Right....well, I guess they aren't really lost, they know where they are, at Disney! Apparently it is the parents who get lots from the kiddies. 
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