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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 my Disney trip is coming up soon... May 21st. Usually knowing that, I am bursting with Excitement, right??? Most of us DA (Disney Addicts) are excited from the time we are thinking about going to Disney, regardless of how much time before we ever get there!
However this trip's excitement can't really start until......
My 21 year old DS is traveling to Belize, Mexico for 10 days. It is a class that the college sponsors, which means he still has to get a good grade. He leaves on May 1st and comes home on May 10th. This is where my Disney Excitement is at this point.Yeah I know he is 21 BUT I am his mother and I will worry. He has never been out of the US (has been on a plane by himself) and Yeah I also know he will be okay.
So little things have gotten me to think about my own trip... like seeing the Disney World commercial....or someone mentions Disney..this is where my brain is at this point.
Anyway...has anyone had something that put a damper on their Disney Excitement prior to a trip? Please tell me so I don't feel totally alone!
After May 10 brings him home.... let the Excitement begin....!
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Kate in PA All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them- Walt Disney
My father in law was meant to take our dog, we asked him in November last year, he said yes. A few weeks ago he said he can't remember us asking and that he can't have her. We leave 16th May! Going to see a kennels today but it doesn't sit quite well with us leaving her in one 😢
Also last year ds took chickenpox 1 month before we flew but her twin didn't get them until 7 days before so was a worry that we might not get on the plane!!
So both my WDW trips have had been stressful pretrip! I just wanna be excited!!!
roll on 10th May!!
Suzanne xx
Oh and I have my final exam 13th May
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Disneyland Paris approx 2004, Caribbean Beach April 2013, Polynesian May 2014, Old Key West October 2015, Wilderness Lodge Oct 2017, Disneyland Paris October 2018 and looking forward to AKL Sept/Oct 2019 trip!
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This wasn't a damper, per se, but...My son had a similar class last year...2 weeks in Australia in May. He was 18 at the time. Australia is at least English-speaking, but the 12- and 14-hour time differences were daunting, and having to help him retrieve his passport long-distance (he left it in a hotel) was a real pain. This was his first time out of the country, too.
BUT...he had a great time and grew a lot. Like you said, your son will be fine, and he's with a school group. I'd just say to check with your cell phone company to make sure he can call and/or text from his location, and make sure he knows to keep his passport nearby at all times.
We leave on the 14th and I can relate. For some reason I'm not crazy excited about going at this moment. Maybe it's the long winter and lack of sunshine! I'm sure as the date approaches I will feel excited. I hope your son has safe travels! I'm sure he will be fine and what an experience. At this point I tend to obsesses and second guess everything maybe that's part of it.
I'm a mom so I totally understand. Every time dd has flown without me I track her flights online and I'm not happy until they show they are on the ground.
My son has travelled to El Salvador twice. The first time he was 16 and his friend's family had already gone down so him and his friend were flying alone!!! The second time he was 18 and flew with some friends as well. They did fine, I was so worried though! LOL! Make sure he turn data roaming off on his phone and use wifi or an international phone card instead. Otherwise you could end up with a very large phone bill!
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Margaret
May 1996 All Star Sports May 2000 Dixie Landings Dec 2001 Caribbean Beach - Barbados June 2002 Caribbean Beach - Aruba March 2003 Paradise Pier - Disneyland Aug 2011 Sheraton Vistana Aug 2014 Animal Kingdom Lodge (Yay!!)
A couple years ago I couldn't get excited until after DD graduated from college! It didn't hit me until I actually finished working about 12 hours before we left.
Yes it is a Great opportunity for him to go Belize, Mexico. And YES I am excited for him but yet at the same time I am worried too! Normal stuff!
Thanks Ginger and Margaret about letting me know about the cell phone. I made a note on my calendar to call! Didn't think about that...yet!
Suzanne- I hope that you find a place for your Dog! I am sure you will too! I am feeling for you! XX for you too!
Thanks LeslieW- me too!
Krisk11- I may be texting him when I think he should be off the plane! lol!
Leigh Ann- Thanks for the reassurance! I need it!
Tonight I was able to buy my return ticket- of course I spent way more than flying to Disney! And yeah I am flying home on Memorial Day.... bound to have a BIG price increase! LOL!
I hope everyone that responded, gets that Excitement to start very soon!
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Kate in PA All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them- Walt Disney
Saying prayers for your son!! I always hate and worry so much when my family members are travelling like that, so I know exactly how you feel! But don't worry, I'm sure everything will be fine. And then...let the Disney excitement begin!!!
So my Disney trip is coming up soon... May 21st. Usually knowing that, I am bursting with Excitement, right??? Most of us DA (Disney Addicts) are excited from the time we are thinking about going to Disney, regardless of how much time before we ever get there!
However this trip's excitement can't really start until......
My 21 year old DS is traveling to Belize, Mexico for 10 days. It is a class that the college sponsors, which means he still has to get a good grade. He leaves on May 1st and comes home on May 10th. This is where my Disney Excitement is at this point.Yeah I know he is 21 BUT I am his mother and I will worry. He has never been out of the US (has been on a plane by himself) and Yeah I also know he will be okay.
So little things have gotten me to think about my own trip... like seeing the Disney World commercial....or someone mentions Disney..this is where my brain is at this point.
Anyway...has anyone had something that put a damper on their Disney Excitement prior to a trip? Please tell me so I don't feel totally alone!
After May 10 brings him home.... let the Excitement begin....!
Yep, DD and I were supposed to run the Princess Half Marathon in February 2015 - but unfortunately, I ended up having foot surgery in February of this year. It will take nearly a year to recover so no training in time to go. Instead, we think we're going to try the Tower of Terror 10 miler in October 2015, but no guarantees, so I can't even get excited about our next trip yet because we don't know for sure when it will be.
I hope your son has a safe trip and that you have a wonderful trip to Disney! I'm sure everything will be fine. As a mom, I know I would be a nervous wreck!
DKA041177: Thank you for your Kind words...I will TRY to not worry, LOL! I promise to stop worrying AFTER May 10th! LOL!
Kris: Thank you for the Good Luck! Are you ready for the 24 hours? You may need the Good Luck! lol
Dolphin041599: Here's to having a speedy recovery from your surgery! I bet you will be racing before you know it.. and who knows maybe you will be better than before the surgery! October 2015 is still a ways away- however more time to get in shape and ready... and Disney will be waiting for you and your Daughter.... Positive Thinking! And Thanks for the kind words....
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Kate in PA All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them- Walt Disney
Kate, in all honesty, you are completely normal. While worry about your son is dampening some of your excitement, I think it's just normal even without something like that. I know whenever I book a trip (this year included) it's really exciting, I can't wait to go, etc. As it gets closer though, I always go through a period where I can't get excited and I don't really care about the trip. I don't know if it's planning overload, if I've reached the peak of excitement and then I crash (does that make sense), if it's because I've done absolutely everything I could to prepare and there's nothing left for me to do, I'm not sure but I do know it happens to me every year about a month or so before I go. It usually lasts only a week or two and then the excitement comes back. You'll hear Disney start calling you again and you'll be excited for your trip.
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I hope you can start feeling great about your trip soon.
) was a real pain. This was his first time out of the country, too.
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