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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
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.
Hey there! THis is the time of year when it seems that all my old students or their parents are calling to catch-up and ask questions about next year. I work with all sorts of students preschool thru college. THe issues are as varied as there are individuals.
Here's my rant: Most of my kids have something that makes them different, something in their speech, the way they look or act, or maybe they are not as "quick" as the others. Maybe their writing is not up to par or their spelling is not great.
You know what becomes the biggest issues of all? Mean spirited behavior from their peers!
Can someone explain to me WHY people feel the need to exclude or belittle others? Why would anyone waste their energy making hurtful comments, even if they do it in the cowardly behind-the-back way? Mean kids spend so much of their time just gossiping about other kids or, worse, picking on them to their faces! I mean, really! Get a hobby! Read a book, kids!
I'd love to hear what people do to teach their kids not to pick on those who are not as rich, educated, social, or street smart as they themselves might be?
I'm curious, if you see adult acting that way, how many out there have the courage to say something to that person? Do you jump on the cruelty bandwagon? Do you figure that as long as no one finds out it's OK?
I agree Sandy! It breaks my heart. I think in some cases it is a defense mechanism for the one doing the bullying, but then there really are those out there whose parents teach them that as lons you are on top who cares how you get there. Kind of like a "if ya ain't first, you're last" kind of thing.
I teach my kids to be kind to everyone. You never know when you are entertaining angels! I hope that when they are out of my hearing/sight they treat others with kindness and dignity. If I ever heard about mean behavior from either, they would be in deep trouble. Unfortunately, one of the effects of my kids being kind and gentle to others is that they in turn become prey for those who are unkind. Why is that a "reward" for compassion and empathy?
As for other adults, if I see the behavior at work I stop it immediately. You would think I wouldn't see it much, but man...some folks act like they are still in High School. Outside in the civilian world, I do not tend to correct the other individual, but use it as a teaching tool to show my kids how mean behavior hurts others.
I absoutly HATE this having been the victim when I was a kid. And I'm seeing sort of a repeat pattern for my DS (not my DD though). He just can't understand why some kids feel the need to pick on other kids.
All their lives I've taught my kids that they have to be POLITE to EVERYONE. I WILL NOT TOLERATE bullying or mean teasing in any form and if I have heard that they are doing it they are in big trouble. Now they don't have to LIKE everybody, or even hang out with everybody, but they can't be impolite. So kids they don't like they need to try and avoid, but if they are thrust into a social situation (like a church youth group) where they have to interact with those kids, then they just need to suck it up and be as polite as possible.
I had to have a chat with our church youth director over this and her explanation is that in middle school it's almost like in the wild where the preditors are looking for the weak to attack.
All I can say is that as painful as it was to go through, it made me a better person. People that act that way tend to be very narcissistic - "I have to feel better about me so I'll put you down". It's really sad. Just insist that kids be polite. How can they argue with that?
I'll say something in a heart beat. I had a cousin (now deceased) who was mentally challenged. I lived with hearing people make fun of him, and I got in a lot of fights because of it.
I made sure my children understood the importance of being kind to others and to never make fun or belittle people what ever the case. We are teaching our grandchildren the same thing. I've always taught mine to go the extra mile to be kind, offer assistance, give a dollar if needed. We are a very service oriented family that has been taught through the generations.
Just want to add this. This week a young boy attending a school in the Atlanta area committed suicide because he was constantly being bullied. I think he was about 11 years old. People need to realize that what you say can make or break a person. Those wounds go straight to the heart.
Just want to add this. This week a young boy attending a school in the Atlanta area committed suicide because he was constantly being bullied. I think he was about 11 years old. People need to realize that what you say can make or break a person. Those wounds go straight to the heart.
We had an eleven year old child commit suicide here last week, too He was a football player, basketball player, and Boy Scout. Other kids had been teasing him since September, making fun of his clothes, calling him gay, etc. His mom had been to the school and written to the school board with complaints and no one helped this child. The story makes me ill and angry.
I just have to say that I HATE BULLIES!!!! Ok, deep breath.... moving on. Kids pick on kids for all kinds of things. For years my beautiful DD got picked on because she was taller (I'm 6 ft.... she's only gonna get bigger). Then it was because she was better at math... the next year it was because she wasn't interested in talking about boys (OK people.... 8 yr olds shouldn't be doing that ANYWAYS)!! It got so bad that I ended up homeschooling until we moved across the country. When I met the parents all I could say is "oh...... well that explains a lot". I think people use cruelty to overcome their insecurities and they pass that on to the kids, They think if they make someone feel low than that makes them better than them...... I was a children's librarian for years and I have to say that I became so jaded about people that I just couldn't take it anymore. Grown adults egging their children on to be mean, or just saying awful things around them as is they aren't there. The biggest bullies at school were the ones that would go the library and be treated horribly by their parents.
OK sorry, big issue with me..... I'll stop now
Great thread Sandy!! I for one, will not jump on mean bandwagons and those near to me know it. I have no tolerance for mean and unkind people and will stand up for what I feel as right. I really upsets me when others won't.
I've worked with a non-profit organization for the past 11 years that runs schools for children with autsim, and programs for aadults with developmental and mental disabilities so my kids have grown up knowing others who are less furtunate than they are in many, many ways. They've become friends with many of these people and this has caused them not to tolerate unkind and mean also which makes me very proud.
I agree with you. Adults are just as bad. I work with several who act that way. I have a coworker who is challenged and very slow. But she trys. Last week I had another coworker say to me what a waste of DNA. Refering to the challenged coworker. It made me so mad. She couldnt understand why I was so upset. Kids learn by example. And that was a bad example.
I agree with you. Adults are just as bad. I work with several who act that way. I have a coworker who is challenged and very slow. But she trys. Last week I had another coworker say to me what a waste of DNA. Refering to the challenged coworker. It made me so mad. She couldnt understand why I was so upset. Kids learn by example. And that was a bad example.
If anyone ever needed to be slapped...NO ONE is a waste of DNA...
Okay...so we agree that this is terrible and it is out of control...beside teaching our kids/grand kids/nieces/nephews to be kind and polite what else can we do in our communities to mitigate this behavior?
I remember being picked on terribly at church (YES at CHURCH!) because we were poor and I didn't attend the local Christian school. I was picked on at school because I was skinny...and BF was picked on because she was chunky (not fat, just not trim).
Bad thing is...kids can't get away from it...it is at school, in Girl/Boy Scouts, church, on-line, pretty much everywhere.
It is tragic that an 11 year old child would feel the need to take his own life because he felt that insignificant.
Maybe their writing is not up to par or their spelling is not great.
This one kills me!! If a person has nothing better to do other than pick on someone's spelling and writing skills there really is something wrong. Talk about mean and unkind!
I couldn't agree more with you. It's terrible to see the way some people behave towards others. That's why I love these boards so much, because it's like the ideal we should have everywhere, with everyone treating others - and their opinions - with respect and looking after people.
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
Why is that a "reward" for compassion and empathy?
Danielle Harmon
PassPorter Guide Author
Hybrid Mode
