Feature Article: Preserving Memories with PassPorter - Making the Most of Your PassPorter - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Feature Article: Preserving Memories with PassPorter - Making the Most of Your PassPorter
Preserving Memories with PassPorter - Making the Most of Your PassPorter by Leslie Wiseman
Don't you wish that you could capture every minute of your vacation and etch it in your mind forever?
We put so much time into planning our Disney vacations. In fact, planning and reminiscing sometimes is the best part But do you actually take the time to stop and write down a special moment or memory? Sometimes it may seem impossible to do so because you are always on the go with so much to see and do. But you can do it! Many people have the attitude that they paid a lot for the vacation, so they have to fit everything in. I think we all know that time seems to go much faster when on a Disney vacation. Don't let those moments pass you by in the rush. Your PassPorter already has an area that is great for jotting down those memories. Yes, it's behind all the "good stuff" in the back of the book.
If you are waiting in line for an attraction, waiting for your family to finish eating, waiting for everyone to get ready, or simply have some time to kill during a ride on Disney transportation, use that time wisely. Grab a pen (the big autograph Mickey pen will even work), your PassPorter, and jot down the things you want to remember about the day.
If you purchase the Deluxe PassPorter, it's even easier. I simply remove just the PassPocket for that day from the ring binder, and throw it in my bag. This way, I'm not carrying around the entire book. It is then super easy to just grab the pocket and start jotting. Once that day is over, I simply put it back in my PassPorter.</p> Many of us will spend hours creating a perfect trip report on the message boards, to be read by people who we may never even meet, but do we do that for our families? Since my children, now 13 and 11, were tiny, I have been jotting down those vacation moments. My hope is that years from now, my family can have a Disney diary of every trip we took during their childhood. This will allow them to look back, laugh, smile and maybe even shed a tear about our many family vacation memories in the Happiest Place on Earth.
The best part is that not only does my immediate family enjoy reading this material, but friends or extended family read my journaling when visiting our house. Several family members who haven't been Disney lovers read my journaling, and decided there may be a Disney trip in their future after all!
After our trip is over, I take my PassPorter and get to work. I compile those moments into a typed journal of everything that happened on that trip, and place it in a scrapbook. My hope is that someday, when my children are older, they can read the journal and be taken back to that place and time, and remember the wonderful memories we made. Not only is it great for legacy, it's great for those moments when you need a bit of Disney magic. Nothing beats sitting in the living room curled up on the couch with a nice cup of coffee, watching the snow fall and reading about your past vacations in your Disney journal.
As the years fly by, many times I forget if we ate at a certain restaurant, of if we liked it. I use my journaling as a resource. I take a peek in a scrapbook! I can then read what all of us thought about a certain restaurant or attraction.</p>
I will never forget when my (then) 5-year-old daughter became so disappointed that the stunt show was cancelled by a tropical downpour that she said, "Mom, it's okay, they can wear nachos! We have our nachos to wear?" Of course, she meant our rain ponchos, not snacks! Would I have remembered that moment if I hadn't taken a second to jot it down? Probably I wouldn't, but I did jot it down and now six years later my husband will still tease her on our way out of the hotel room and ask, "Do you have your nacho in your bag?"
Our next trip will be my children's sixth visit to Disney, and they already have a four- to five-page journal of memories for every trip we've gone on. Time goes so fast at Disney and in our children's lives! They gone from being in awe of princesses and pirates, to autograph books and character meals, to Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, Yetis, and Test Track in what seems like a matter of minutes. Take a moment to jot down how you felt the first time your children saw Cinderella Castle. Write about the feelings you had when you watched Wishes or IllumiNations as a family.
Remember, Disney trips are blessings. Don't take them for granted. "Celebrate today, and remember tomorrow," is my motto! Take a few moments to answer the "Memories" section in your PassPorter PassPockets. Years from now, you and your children will be glad you did.
What do you think? Please add your own comments, experiences, or news related to this article in this thread! Reader feedback is welcomed and encouraged.
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