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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I'm the cookie mom for DD's Girl Scout troop. Because I had my kids so far apart, 10 years between the first 2, then 5 years before the next one), I've been a cookie mom for better than 18 years. I've got it down to a science, and I do fine no matter how big the troop is (had troops with 5, troops with 25)
So, I always tell the parents when the day that I need their money is. I always give myself lee-way, but try to make sure the parents have enough time to collect the money. I have to have this year's money in the bank on next Wednesday.
I sent out a note (on their cookie money envelopes), plus an e-mail, plus a note in their girl scout folders that I needed the money by Saturday morning at the latest.
Well, I just got an e-mail that one of the sets of parents are out of town, and another set is just "too busy with other stuff" to get me the money before next week! I DO NOT have time for this!! I have to go back to school next week, and I didn't plan this in my schedule. Plus, if the money isn't in the bank on time, the troop gets penalized!
Been there, done that. One year the troop leader was the one who wouldn't get me the money. (I think she was having financial problems and was using the money to make it to the next paycheck) When I did it we were told to go ahead and make the deposit and turn in a form stating who had not paid. They sent those forms to a collection agency. As a last resort I would just tell the parents that I didn't have an option because I was if the money wasn't in by a certain day I had to fill out the form. Somehow they always found a way to get me the money.
That sounds good, threaten with the form. They know they have to have that money in to you....good gravy! One year the troop we were in had to actually get an attorney on the case (local council did this actually) because a parent wrote a bad check... we were not directly involved, we were just another family in the troop. But, GS will take legal action of folks do not turn in the money.
We always only accept cash with our troop and since this is our last year.....no more headaches.
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Yeah, I know about the forms. Been there.
Had parents take off with all the money.
Had them give me a bad check.
Had a leader arreseted for not turning in ANY money (this is when I was a Service Unit Leasder)
I don't mind being mean, I just hate being put in this position!
like you, my girls are 10 yrs apart, and I've been with GS for many yrs. not only am I a co-leader but also cookie mom. I've tried in the past to have other moms in the troop do it, but it seems they can't handle all the work and call me with 101 questions, so I find it easier to just do it myself. The only part I really hate is collecting the money from parents.
I've been cookie mom for both DD's troops and I have to say I've not had that problem. How about making the Leader go after them?
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First trip DW--Nov. 1975; Senior Class Trip DW--Oct. 1979; First trip w/kids--Oct. 1995; Halloween at DW--Oct. 2002; Spring Break at DW--April 2004; Christmas/Pop Warner Nationals-POR--Dec. 2005;Cruisin'--April 2008; Mom/Son trip-POP--March 2010;Taggin' along w/DD on DH's conference-BWI--Oct. 2011; 50th birthday with the Gartner Geeks--Adults only!--BWI--Oct. 2012; The Trip That Almost Wasn't--BWI--Oct. 2013; We climbed The Summit (National Cheer Competition)--ASMovies--May 2014
This post is making me glad that my girls are more into sports and have never shown interest in the Girl Scouts because Cookie Mom is something I know I would get roped into somehow I must have pick me written on my forehead !
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My Irish Princesses !!!
Irish Fall Festival, North Wildwood, NJ
September, 2007
Who woulda thunk that the Girl Scouts would be total shakedown artists? Seriously though, good luck Teresa. It sounds like a total pain in the you-know-where.
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Karen, aka Zack's Mom - Lover of all Things Disney and the San Francisco Giants!
All this, for 65 cents a box... I mean, I love GS Cookies and all, but man, for what the troop gets, it's a lot of work.
Thank you, though, to all you GS leaders and volunteers who DO take on the Cookie job.
Wait, you get 65 cents a box!?!?!?!?
We get 50 cents. Unless we improve on last year's total, then it's 55 cents. And, they raised the price this year without raising our cut! (and, from the research, when they raise the price, there is a 30% drop in sales, but we only get the 5 cent bonus if we sell MORE!)
To those that are thinking - Thank goodness I'm not there! , I've got to say that I enjoy it. I don't like the hunting up money, but the rest of it I love. Especially telling the leaders and the girls how much the troop has made, and helping the girls pick out their "prizes" they get for selling (the more boxes they sell, the better the prize)
Oh, and thanks for the pixies, etc. Most of the parents came forward today and paid up - just a few missing money, and they should get it to me tomorrow - guess the "I'll turn you in to Girl Scout Headquarters as a dead-beat" worked.
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Cookie Mom Rant!
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Been there, done that. One year the troop leader was the one who wouldn't get me the money. (I think she was having financial problems and was using the money to make it to the next paycheck) When I did it we were told to go ahead and make the deposit and turn in a form stating who had not paid. They sent those forms to a collection agency. 
As a last resort I would just tell the parents that I didn't have an option because I was if the money wasn't in by a certain day I had to fill out the form. Somehow they always found a way to get me the money. 
!
Seriously though, good luck Teresa. It sounds like a total pain in the you-know-where.
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