Need to let off some steam. . .(sorry, long) - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Okay, I had the most INTERESTING day today. I went to an Advanced Reader luncheon for my DS9 at his school. I happened to run into the mother of a boy who was in preschool this year with my DS5. She is on the PTO there, and her son (like DS5) will be attending kindergarten there in the fall.
She said something about the boys maybe being in class together, and I said "well, Nick will be in 1/2 day kindergarten - will Neiko?" And she tells me that she signed Neiko up for full day. Then she tells me that there might not BE a 1/2 day kindergarten at our school. Those who signed up for it would be referred to a different school in the district!!!
So after the luncheon, I went down to talk to the principal. He told me that there will be at least one full day kindergarten at our school, probably 2. Since there are only 2 kindergarten classrooms, they would be "assessing the demand for 1/2 day kindergarten, and the location."
In other words, when they send out the classroom assignments in late August - the week we will be in WDW - I could have gotten a letter telling me that my DS5 would not even be going to school with his brother! And if not for Neiko's mom, I would have never known there was a possibilty of this happening!
So I told the principal that I want Nick going to that school, even if it means full day kindergarten. When I originally filled out the paperwork to sign him up for school, it said that the full day might not be at every school - 1/2 day would. Apparently the demand for full day was greater than they anticipated, and they changed the way that they are doing things - without notifying the parents!
My heart is still going a million miles a minute. I am so upset. Could you imagine finding out 2 days before school starts (that is when we will be home) that your sons will be in different schools? The grade schools here (5 in all) have 2 different start times. I could have had the two of them, in different schools, starting at the same time. As it is, I won't know until 2 days before school starts if Nick will be going for a full day or a half day.
I am not a happy camper.
Sorry, I REALLY needed to vent.
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That's pretty poor planning by your school district in my opinion. Our district has a full day kindergarten and half day (AM & PM) at every school except for ours. Our school started off the year with 4 half day classes (2 AM and 2 PM) because they thought the kindergarten population would be larger at our school. They ended up cancelling one of the PM classes and now only offer 3 half day classes.
If we had wanted DD to attend full day we would have had to send her to a different school in our district on a space available basis. We decided it was more important for her to attend with and get to know other kids in our neighborhood, so we kept her at our school with the half day class.
I think full day kindergarten should be an option at all schools, but not a requirement. Since most charge extra for full day (at least around here) they should have both full day and half day available.
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My Happy Place
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"When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionable." ~ Walt Disney
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It seems unfair to wait until the last minute to tell parents these things. You would think they would know more ahead of time if they need a 1/2 day program or not. Perhaps someone here who works with the education system can explain the reasoning behind this.
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Wow! That is a little... irresponsible of your school district I'd have to say. They ought to let the families know as soon as they make the decision. I can't blame you for being upset!!
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Boogie down!!! __________________________________________________ ______ "Life's like a movie, write your own ending. Keep believing. Keep pretending." from The Muppet Movie
I'm so glad you found out now instead of later!! I hope they get it worked out....I don;t understand schools sometimes. We had a simular problem at the beginning of this school yr. I had 1 son in 1st grade(K&1) are in their own school here...then we have 2 schools -grades (2-5)...and my DS9 was in 2nd grade last yr....well we moved over the summer....and which would have switched both boy to the other (2-5) school, which I do not care for....so I went and filed for school choice. I got the letter for DS9 (who had already been in the school that I wanted for the previous yr...starting that he would continue there....GOOD!! That's what I wanted....then when DS7 letter came it had him going to the other (2-5) school.....I even got letters from the bus company and a letter from his teacher.....
I went into the DISTRICT offce then and there!!! I said my boys are NOT going to 2 different schools....I filed the proper paperwork, NOT my fault. Well they fed me this line....well the other school doesn't have any room., so on and so on....
WEll, I had to get DH involved but we got it FIXED!! Why on earth would they want to split up brothers???
Our school district only offers 1/2 day, but you don't find out whether you are morning or afternoon until 2 days before school starts. I think it is ridiculous. How can parents be expected to arrange day care with 2 days notice??
Our school district only offers 1/2 day, but you don't find out whether you are morning or afternoon until 2 days before school starts. I think it is ridiculous. How can parents be expected to arrange day care with 2 days notice??
That is how ours used to be - and you found out about a week (or less) before. Last year they offered full day at one school only, and told everyone ahead of time where it would be. This year full day was supposed to be at a few schools only. I don't MIND him going full day, but I requested 1/2 day because basically, from what they were saying, that was the only way to guarantee you stayed at YOUR school. Now it is the opposite - but they didn't tell anyone!!
that things work out OK. It would have been good if the school had said something in the initial form about the need to evaluate the length of the classes!
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How can parents be expected to arrange day care with 2 days notice??
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