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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Do you buy gift baggies for your kids' parties? I'm thinking of not doing them for Lauren's party this weekend. We're having a pizza/roller-skating party, and also planning on giving the kids $2 each for the video games.
I really dislike the idea of spending $3-$7 MORE each child for stuff that will get thrown away/lost within a couple of days. Plus, I don't have much time for shopping - so it's all got to be done in just a couple of hours.
BTW - the party is for her 10th, and all of the kids that will be there are 10-14, so I think they're mature enough to handle not having stuff handed to them as they walk out!
I do if we are having the party at home, but this year we're having DD's birthday party at the bowling alley. I figure, I am paying for the cake, pizza, soda AND bowling for 14 kids . . . I probably won't do gift bags this time.
I did my last batch of goodie bags this past October for the HalloWeenie Roast we held. Half the kids either forgot to take home their goodie bags or their parents griped about the sugar/red dye/chocolate in the bags and purposely LEFT them behind. Whatever. I did a wide range of stuff in the bags so there was something for everyone and parents could just remove anything that didn't agree with their kids. We handed them out at my dad's on Halloween and they were a big hit.
I'm swearing off goodie bags. $2 in tokens is plenty.
We've always done them but we always do home parties. (And I have the kind of kid who can tell you now what she wants her party theme to be next January, so we also have plenty of time to think of how to carry out the theme without being too trinkety) I think with the roller skating scenario, and the age of the kids, the game tokens would be fine.
When I do have b-day parties I usually do give bags. But this being said I don't really do parties at all anymore. DD wants to have a roller skating one because she is turning 13 but I just don't think its gonna happen because we really can't afford it. For the younger two I do make the bags. I feel the same way. It always seems that you don't have the time to shop for the items and then you know that the stuff will either be lost or thrown away within a day.
Good luck and I think the token thing is fine!
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Gina Nov. 2000 - CBR
September 2003 - Fort Wilderness Cabins
August 2008 - Pop Century for Gracie's 7th b-day!
June 2009 - POP Century Family Vacation!
Yes, I do gift bags. For DS's party this weekend at the bowling alley, I've gone cheap on the bags. I've invited his kindergarten class (because he's friends with everyone)! For the boys, I went to Target and picked up 2 multi-packs of small Tonka trucks (like Matchbox cars). Each boy will get 2, a box of "conversation hearts candy" since DS is a Valentine's baby, and $1 in quarters to use at the arcade (so about $3 total). For the girls, I again hit Target and picked up small plush animals for each $1, a Valentine's pen ($1), and the candy box. They'll also get $1 in quarters, so they are just over $3 total.
Not bad as in past years I've spent well over $5 in "junk" for the bags. I feel this time they may get a little more use out of them
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I did at first, usually having some sort of scavenger hunt to find them. I learned that the stuff usually got tossed pretty quick.
What I started doing was buying things that fit the party theme,,that they could use at the party, or was something I knew they'd like. More often now as they get older, we make some kind of craft that they can take home as their treat.
For pool parties, I'd buy each kid a Noodle to use at the party and take home. Or one year each got a water gun.
The year DS had a Knight party, eveyone got a shield. Or DDs princess party, everyone got a crown. Leis and grass skirts for a Luau party of DD one year.
Last year DD turned 12 and the girls decorated flip flops with strips of colored fabric and had something to wear.
One year my son was into these top things (can't remember the name) and I bought one for each boy to put together and use (used a string game to find them). They spent the rest of the party playing with them and all my other planned games never got done.
You might think about just giving each girl (boy?) a $5 gift certificate to the rink, or maybe Starbucks, McDonalds, or bookstore or such, if you want to give out treats. I couldn't think of anything skating related to give as a treat.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RobDVC
If it's a house party, we make up goody bags.
If it's an activity party (ice skating, laser tag), no goody bags.
I like that rule.
So far, we've always done at home or at the pool parties. So, giving a treat has made sense.
This summer DS wants to do Paint Ball with four friends and DH, so I think the expense of that will keep me from thinking about any kind of treat.
I think the $2 in tokens is good for that age group. I'd rather have that than some of the junk that DS has come home with.
I'm putting together goodie bags for his party next month. I got some small toys that I know a 5 year old will play with. I'll also throw in some stickers and some candy. His birthday is the week before Easter this year so the Easter candy will be in full supply at the stores.
I think the tokens are enough. We don't do party bags even for home parties anymore. We do gift cards. We've done Baskin Robbins, 7-11, and Starbucks. The kids love them!
We do not give bags I think you are spending enough already on food decorations etc that you don't need to give out bags - sonetimes the kids (guests) ask where they are though!
I've always done home parties and always given treat bags. Usually they would have a picture of the group (polaroid) in a frame the kids would make as their craft. I would also throw in a book related to the theme, (low cost paperbacks). Other than that sometimes they would make their "treat"- like DD's fuzzy flipflops, puff paint t-shirts, or designer pillowcases.
For a party out like yours, I wouldn't spend extra. You're definitely spending plenty already! Hopefully kids in that age range would understand that and not expect a goodie bag.
I think the tokens are enough. If you want to stress that this is their goodie bag, tie the coins up in a little square of fabric and maybe add a pixie stick with the ribbon.
I think we're pretty much done with goodie bags. The kids are getting too old for that now. I think it is good to do a craft or a keepsake type thing. I agree that often, that stuff gets tossed pretty soon afterwards. I think the the bags are better when the kids are really little and helps them feel better about giving / receiving gifts.
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Whatever. I did a wide range of stuff in the bags so there was something for everyone and parents could just remove anything that didn't agree with their kids. We handed them out at my dad's on Halloween and they were a big hit. 
$2 in tokens is plenty. 
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