Forums Closed
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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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Best wishes for a wonderful and magical new year!
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Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
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09-16-2001, 12:08 AM
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#1
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Community Rank: Traveler 
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Dallas
Posts: 269
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The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave
My dear Passporter friends-
I know that all of us have been deeply saddened by recent events. I have cried so much this week it's a wonder I have any tears left--and still they come, welling up at the slightest provocation. I realize that it is hard for many of us to think of moving on past this tragedy. We will never forget what happened on Tuesday. However, if we shut ourselves away in fear we will have given the terrorists exactly what they wanted. We must press on as a living legacy to those who died. This is the greatest nation on earth, filled with amazing people of strength and character. We are blessed with friends from so many other freedom-loving nations. Please, try to have as normal a life as possible. I just found out a conference I was scheduled to attend(nowhere near New York or D.C.) has been cancelled out of fear of more attacks. This kind of alarmism gives terrorists far too much power over our future. We must take our lives back! We can not allow fear to govern us. I truly believe that though an evil enemy may cause buildings to collapse and take the lives of innocent people, they cannot cause the collapse of the American Spirit nor take our will to live our lives in a free and open society.
I post this here because I feel so fortunate to be a part of this remarkable "Passporter family". You are the most compassionate group of people I have ever "met". The way everyone here has reached out to each other this week is wonderful! This is where I've come when the news was too overwhelming. You make me feel blessed!
Hug your kids, tell them we are still the strongest nation on earth and that they are safe. Pray for the victims, their families, the rescue workers, and our nation's leaders. Love your neighbor. And live your life to the fullest.
God Bless You
God Bless America
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09-16-2001, 08:12 AM
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#2
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Community Rank: Legend 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Posts: 17,365
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Re: The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave
What an awesome post! These are my setiments exactly!! I know of two of my clients who have canceled ALL travel through the end of the year!?! And I hear of dear folks on this newsboard considering canceling their Disney trips, and elsewhere people making a run on gas, stockpiling cash, talks of selling off stocks for fear of a stock market crash, etc.... the terrorists are winning if we stay in their grip of fear! [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img]
Thanks for just one of the best posts I've seen since this happened!
GOD BLESS AMERICA!
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09-16-2001, 10:38 AM
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#3
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Community Rank: Trailblazer 
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Posts: 5,094
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Re: The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave
So very well said. We can't let them win - moving on is the only way. Yesterday when I went out and saw flags literally everywhere I kept thinking how much it must tick them off to see that on news broadcasts, to see us all banding together and showing our support.
As for this Passporter family - I, too, feel so fortunate to be here. I'm so glad to have found you all, you've really helped me get through and for that I thank you. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
Peace šoš
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09-16-2001, 10:58 AM
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#4
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Community Rank: Day-Tripper
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Ocean View, Delaware
Posts: 6
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Re: The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave
Everywhere I go I see not only American flags but the words God Bless America on signs on banks, fast food restaurants, shopping plazas, gas stations, makeshift signs in yards. You can't go a quarter mile in rural Delaware without seeing the words God Bless America. I would imagine it's all over America. It's so heartening to see that so many people everywhere are recognizing where our true strength is and utilizing the freedom this great nation gives us to express what we believe -- on banners for all to see! Until watching television Friday I had not realized how much people in other nations long for what we have. The ideal that America is a worldwide ideal, a shining light of hope for the world. Something that moved me greatly Friday night: a French woman standing amidst tens of thousands of French citizens, saying to the cameraman, "Today, we are all Americans."
Already the terrorists are defeated. The spirit of America that so many admire and are adopting for themselves grows stronger by the moment. God bless America.
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09-16-2001, 11:50 AM
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#5
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Community Rank: Traveler
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Western New York
Posts: 268
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Re: The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave
It is one thing to say "tell your kids they are safe", but it is another thing to do it. I for one feel anything but safe.From my classroom at school I can the bridge crossing into Canada and kept but think that maybe terrorists are trying to blow it up or cross it at any time. 15 minutes away from us is Niagara Falls, a huge source of electric power for the eastern section of the nation and a possible target. I truly admire those of you that have it within yourselves to go on with your lives. It is going to take a while for me to feel as you do. Going to WDW in November for me is going to take more courage than I have right now.
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09-16-2001, 01:28 PM
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#6
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Community Rank: Day-Tripper
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Ocean View, Delaware
Posts: 6
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Re: The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave
To Sue and all others who fear: Courage doesn't mean not fearing. It means walking into, going through and coming out the other side of fear, teeth gritted if need be, with your spirit, the person you are, intact, unchanged. Courage means staying who you are and doing what you feel is right, fulfilling what is your role in life, no matter what happens, guided not by fear and hatred, but by love, love for family, love for God, love for country and all it stands for, love for a way of life, love for everything the name Walt Disney stands for.
Walt started early in life letting his spirit shine in this world. He did his part in the military. He faced more trials than most imagine. He had a hard time in early years, harder than most today. In adulthood he constantly took leaps of faith, backed by around-the-clock work, even put his own home and all that he owned on the line to support his ideals, the very ideals that are America. Look what we have because Walt Disney faced, walked into and through his own personal fears to fulfill his dreams and make reality of his ideals.
Defeating fear: Whenever I am overcome with fear I get out my gratitude list. A long time ago when someone assigned me the project of being grateful in times of great trials, I really had to stretch my immagination to think of anything to be grateful for. I remember starting with the most simple things, the licks my dog gave me, gravity (!) that caused order and without which we can't function on earth...I was really desperate. Today, my gratitude list is limitless. Fill your heart with gratitude and find something positive you can do to show your gratitude, and you will overcome your fears.
Positive actions we can take: Invest in your country by buying a stock in the Disney Company above and beyond what you might already have. $25 will do it. Fly a flag. Give a hug. Spend the dollars (wisely) you have been holding back on spending and put a shot of confidence in the arm of our economy. Be an active part of rallying this country. Let's show the world that terrorism has no hold on us. Misguided terrorist acts accomplish nothing real, for though they can destroy material objects and kill, they cannot destroy what this country is founded on -- the spirit of its people.
In actuality, we are safer today than we were two weeks ago when this heinous deed was being planned. I'm leaving for Walt Disney World in December by air and I'm going to celebrate. Join me! We will get through this together, hand in hand.
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