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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 have a favorite Christmas tree ornament on your tree?
Is it a new ornament to your collection or is it an ornament that you have had for a very long time?
I don't have a favorite. I have a real variety of bought and handmade ones.
We get a new one for each of the kids each year, so that when they leave for homes of their own, they'll have enough ornaments for a tree. This year DD brought two from her trip to Germany this summer.
I have 2 that I put next to each other. When my DS was away (Navy - overseas) in the military, I made a Mickey head ornament with a red head and blue with white small dots for the ears. I bought in HS at WDW an ornament....the word PEACE with a small hanging Mickey. They were placed on the front center of the tree while he was away. They still are the first ornaments put on the tree.
I don't think I have a favorite but I have many that are special to me; ornaments made by my grandmother over 40 years ago, my Tinkerbell ornaments and my newest which is a handblown ornament my cousin brought back from a trip to Poland last year.
Funny this is the question as we just finished decorating our tree this very moment!
I don't have one, but everyone else does.
DH - a blown glass ship his mother gave him the Christmas before she died. He actually forgot about it for years, but now it's the ONLY ornament he even cares to hang. The rest don't matter.
DD Kathryn - she has to have the Barney she got when she was 2.
DD Lauren - for her, it's an ornament that I bought for her when she was 1. We got it in WDW, AK. There's nothing about it that screams WDW though. It's an ark with animals and very rustic/African looking.
Probably my favourite is the one of Eeyore we got on our honeymoon, as we got it personalised at the Days of Christmas store and it was the first thing to have my married name on it.
I really love all my ornaments, but the few that really get to me each year are: a small silver angel kneeling in prayer with a little bell attached and my name engraved on it that my grandmother got for me when I was very young and my dog ornaments. Each dog we have ever had has gotten a Christmas ornament on their first Christmas with us. I love hanging each one and thinking about how much I love (and miss, depending on who it is) each of my dogs. Also, it's not an ornament per se, but I love my angel on the top of my tree. It is a dog angel with a fuzzy golden head like a cocker spaniel. I got it on my first married Christmas because it looked just like my dog Charlie we had at the time. She was the first dog I had after I moved out of my parents' house. Charlie went to heaven years ago, and I love having her angel still on our tree.
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MNSSHP 2015: DH (Bane), Me (Batgirl), Genie, and our friends
My tree is 90% ornaments the kids have made over the years..... I love all of them.... especially the ones with their handwriting or picture on it as it really puts into perspective how much they've grown...
I have 2. One is a hand blown lantern and the other is a white one with swirls of different colors. My late DH bought them when we first got married.
Liz
I don't have a favorite ornament, but I have one that is special because it is my oldest ornament given to me by my first grade teacher. It is a small nativity set.