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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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The post about First Communion invitations made me remember what happened years ago when my Tricia made her First Communion. I was the lector at the Mass, and so I had come early to the church with Trish. We had carloads of people come to the Mass - grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, friends. After the Mass I helped clean up a bit. I looked for Trish and couldn't find her. I figured DH or one of her aunts or grandparents had taken her home. I get home a little after everyone and started taking people's coats, getting drinks, putting out snacks, etc. One of my nieces said "Where is Trish?" I said "Somewhere. Go find her". I'm still in hostess mode when 10 minutes later same niece says "I can't find Tricia". So I shout to the 35 people at the house "WHO BROUGHT TRICIA HOME?" Silence. Trish was still at church !! DH rushes back to church where he finds her grandparents (my in-laws). They wanted to take her home but she said "No, I'm waiting for my mom!" They hadn't closed the church up yet, and everyone knew her since she was my daughter, so she wasn't in any danger, but still, did I look bad! DH brought her home and she came into the house and burst into tears! My mom had brought a cake that had one of those plastic statues of a little girl kneeling at a Communion rail. DH attached a little piece of paper to it, like a balloon in a comic, that said "Dear God, Please have Mommy remember to take me home".
Don't feel bad! The night of my oldest DD's HS graduation was a mess. The ceremony was AWFUL and we were all ready to get out of there, but it was a chaotic madhouse. Bad me assumed that people would go with whom they came and I even gave verbal instructions to "make sure you have so and so". So, we arrive at the Village House and the first thing I ask when I walk in is, "Where's Megan?" (then 15). The look of panic on everyone's face sent me into Mommy-Mode. I ran to the car and drove back to the university where the graduation was held and there she was, in the parking lot with another girl (one of the grads!) My mom had taken DD's purse, so she had no cell phone and the same had happened to the other girl. I let her use my phone and no one would come pick her up! They were awful to her. I offered to drive her home, but she wouldn't let me, but did have me take her to the after-party that was on campus. I went with her to make sure they had her on the record and all checked in before heading home w/ DD. By the time all this happened, dinner was over and the party had dispersed. It didn't help that DD is bipolar and she FLIPPED OUT on my mother for forgetting her. It's a major sore point to this day and no one likes to mention the Day Megan Was Left Behind.
The views and opinions expressed on this post are mine and do not necessarily represent or reflect those of The Walt Disney Company and Affiliated Companies
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Awwww...poor Tricia. Instead of Home Alone, it was Left At Church. I know the tears she shed, on the first day of kindergarten I exited the school to see that all my classmates were met by their excited moms, so I stood there and waited for mine. She never came, I walked home by myself. I guess that's what happens when you're the third child!