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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Here we are….fresh off the Bar Mitzvah Bash. Trust me, we don’t usually clean up so good!
The Cast:
Danielle: What can I say? I love going to WDW and adore surprising my kiddos with impromptu trips! Paul: My darling DH who takes all my craziness in stride. I guess he finally figured out he was fighting a losing battle! Andrew: My awesome son. (Nothing beats maternal pride) This will be his first trip to the World as a ‘Teenager’. Isabelle: My equally awesome daughter. Two parts princess, she is sure she descended from royalty.
This trip is seriously all Princess Sharon’s fault….so much so, that I am thinking of sending her the bill! You see, about a month ago, I was happily finishing up her infamous Frozen Beverage TR when she hinted of a quickie, surprise trip. Since I have absolutely no patience, I PM’d and pestered her until she finally gave in and told me her plans! That particular day, as it so happened, DH was traveling and I was feeling oh-so-sorry for myself. The idea of a whirlwind trip seemed like just what the doctor ordered. With that, I emailed Wendy, my TA. Sadly, AP rates had not been released and rates were a little higher than I would have liked. I made up my mind to be fiscally responsible and nixed the idea of the trip. With that, I shut down my computer and went to bed.
Of course, you all know what happened next, don’t you? I kid you not, the next morning I get an e-mail from Wendy that AP rates had just been released and they looked pretty decent. An hour later, I get an email from Dollar Rental on a new coupon code for our timeframe. Is this fate or what? I start rationalizing and doing the math….we all have APs already, we have free airfare, reduced car rental, good hotel rate. Oh, and I have a tidy little sum on my Disney Rewards Card, too. I PM some of my PP buddies…of course, they don’t try to talk me out of it. No, they are applauding my “Disney Math”, applying their best peer pressure with PMs like “do it”, “you have to”, “it was meant to be”… You know who you are….I am not mentioning any names….(WHMom, Nala, Caldercup) On second thought, perhaps I will send them the bill, too!
Now, this trip idea is gaining momentum. I look at the calendar and see Memorial Day weekend would be perfect opportunity. I log onto Southwest and discover a kink in my plans….rewards travel seats are sold out….apparently many people actually make plans for Memorial Day Weekend in a more timely fashion. But me, I am not deterred, I whip out the calendar once again….alrighty, Andrew is done with school May 30th. We will go for a long weekend starting May 31st. Another email to Wendy who confirms great AP rate, Southwest is wide open to book flights, Dollar had great rates. Yippee Skippee…I book it all.
Next on the agenda? I have to get DH to agree to this trip….remember I did all of this while he was traveling for work! I knew I had to choice my timing carefully and definitely had to work my mojo to get him onboard. His initial response…”I’ll think about it”. In my household….that is a good as a yes. I was dancing around the house like a fool! I swear DH to secrecy…this is going to be a surprise trip. He reminds me we haven’t actually decided to definitely go. Silly man.
Anyone want to venture a guess what happens next? A few days later, I get a phone call that makes want to scream. Andrew is on a waiting list to see some big GI guru/specialist….his current appointment is the end of August. Well, wouldn’t you know they got a cancellation….you guessed it…right smack dab in the middle of our trip. Arghh! Of course I want Andrew to have timely medical care….still… I am so bummed; DH takes it in stride. I am, again, pulling out the calendar. There seems to be no way to reschedule the trip within the timeframe we were looking at. My perfectly fated, karma-laden trip was off.
Up Next…Of course something happened next…or else I wouldn’t be writing this PTR!
__________________
~Shoot for the moon, if you miss, you will land among the stars~
Oh my Gosh! Everything was working out so perfectly!!!!! Luckily I know the trip is still on, like you said, b/c you have started this Pre TR. Can't wait to hear it was able to still come about!
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Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
About This Page: 
You see, about a month ago, I was happily finishing up her infamous Frozen Beverage TR when she hinted of a quickie, surprise trip. Since I have absolutely no patience, I PM’d and pestered her until she finally gave in and told me her plans! That particular day, as it so happened, DH was traveling and I was feeling oh-so-sorry for myself. 
The idea of a whirlwind trip seemed like just what the doctor ordered. 
With that, I emailed Wendy, my TA. Sadly, AP rates had not been released and rates were a little higher than I would have liked. I made up my mind to be fiscally responsible and nixed the idea of the trip. With that, I shut down my computer and went to bed.
applying their best peer pressure with PMs like “do it”, “you have to”, “it was meant to be”… You know who you are….I am not mentioning any names
….(WHMom, Nala, Caldercup) On second thought, perhaps I will send them the bill, too!
I was dancing around the house like a fool! I swear DH to secrecy…this is going to be a surprise trip. He reminds me we haven’t actually decided to definitely go. Silly man.
Andrew is on a waiting list to see some big GI guru/specialist….his current appointment is the end of August. Well, wouldn’t you know they got a cancellation….you guessed it…right smack dab in the middle of our trip. Arghh! Of course I want Andrew to have timely medical care….still… I am so bummed; DH takes it in stride. I am, again, pulling out the calendar. There seems to be no way to reschedule the trip within the timeframe we were looking at. My perfectly fated, karma-laden trip was off.
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Pixie Dust
How fun that it's going to be a surprise trip for the kids! Hurry back with more, please!
it!!! I would love to do an impromptu trip like that!! Don't leave us in suspense for long!!
Waiting anxiously to hear how you managed to rework your plans.
Previous trips: POFQ 2005 & 2007, Boardwalk 2008, BCV & AKLV 2009 (our honeymoon) & 2012, BCV & BLT 2011, BCV 2013, AKLV 2014
Hybrid Mode
