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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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How fun! As a homeschooling mom, this is right up my alley.
Here are a few ideas:
1. Writing prompt - Who is your favorite Disney character and why?
2. How many countries can be found in the World Showcase? You could ask a CM in each country to write your child's name and/or a particular phrase in their native language.
3. Make a list of the different animals you encounter at Animal Kingdom and the part of the world they come from.
4. Let your child predict how far they think you will walk each day. Wear pedometers and keep track of how far you walk. You could even graph it as a visual for her.
5. How many licks does it take to get through the chocolate on a Mickey Bar?
I have been really pleased with the "homework pages" at Mouseforless.com
There are journal pages with writing prompts for each of the parks (What I learned at China... My favorite ride.. my favorite meal... etc) also word searches and matching games. We used the Epcot ones last year when DD missed some school.
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You could ask her how many countries are in Epcot and at one point how many you have visited and how many are left. If you also use the Kidcot stops, you could count those and ask her to tell you about one important thing per stop and country.
Also since you are going during Christmas, if you stop and listen to each of the Santa's in Epcot, you could use their stories for a learning tool as well. I think you can get a list of who has the Santa's and google some info about each country's traditions. That would be good for trivia questions while you are there.
If you have a meal planned for Epcot, you could eat in the Land and take the boat ride through the garden exibit for good questions as well. Talking about veggies and how they are good for you and asking her what her favorite one was would be very educational.
Good luck on this and I hope you get some good ideas.
I was going to put make a journal for dd (6yo in 1st grade) but ended up getting Guide to the Magic for Kids instead. They have great journal pages at the back ...a double page spread for each of 14 days... w/ writing prompts.
Dd loves the book.
In addition to the journal pages there are stickers for each ride/attraction, a place to write a mini review of each, and space in the Epcot section for stamps, autographs and a flag to color for each country.
The book is kind of big so I am planning on only taking it to Epcot and then having her write in it back at the resort each day.
Living with the Land is very educational. It shows different climates/regions and how man has impacted these regions. It shows really cool ways to grow food and fish farming. It is great for a tie in with animal habitats or farming or space exploration for that matter.
We love to do scavanger hunt photo albums. You could do flag, foreign word, and export for each country in Epcot and of course take your child's photo in each country. They are fun and great scrapbooks. AK- a photo safari and then a fact by each animal photographed.
writing prompt - find an out of the way park character (like "PUSH" or "Figment" - ie not a Disney movie character) and create a story about their day in the park.