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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 visited DW twice in the 90s, but my true Disney love came when our whole extended family (10 of us - Grandma, mom, dad, sister, myself, aunt, uncle and 3 cousins) went to DW in January 2001 for a week! It was a blast and have been hooked ever since.
Well, first and foremost, I was raised in the generation who had the Wonderful World of Disney to watch on Sunday evenings, so I guess you could say I got the bug from there. Then I went to Disneyland for the first time when I was twelve, and I just never got over it! I hit WDW for the first time in 1988 and was hooked on that as well!!!
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
I am assuming it's - how did you fall in love with the parks?
I went to DisneyLand in 1990 - to be honest I don't remember a lot of it, and the stuff I do wasn't the most magical (lets see Lincoln malfunctioned and 'died' on stage lol, Tinkerbell got caught in the cable at teh fireworks one night lol, my jelly shoes stuck to the sidewalk, and a bird ate my pancakes! top that off with mom freaking out about me dying on every ride, and yeah, there's my trip at age 5 lol) but I grew up totally in love with the CLASSIC Disney films... and every commercial made me want to go even more...
To be honest I don't know why I have always felt the need to 'live' in aDisney world... because everytime I go to the park I have 'bad memories'
I guess the Disney magic works even when you feel lousy! I don't know what it is!
I grew up watching the Mickey Mouse Club and the wonderful World of Disney on Sunday Nights. My First trip to Disney World was in 1976 and I've been going at least once a year since then.
Liz
Being there for the opening of Epcot. The 4 days we were there leading up to the opening we were aloud to play in Epcot after the MK closed for the evening. It was by far the coolest thing. We were there watching them put all the final touches on the park before opening day.
For me, I can't say a trip or show or anything specifically got me. I think it's just EVERYTHING all rolled up into one. The world we live in today can be pretty darn scary and there's one place on Earth I know I can go where everything is always wonderful. At Disney EWorld there's no such thing as a bad day! To me, the feeling of happiness, love and abounding joy I get from WDW is what Disney-fied me!
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Jen
Mom to 4 Disney Lovin' Kids: Kyleigh, Connor, Caden & Kellan
My family went to Disney every year in the 80s and early 90s and some other years and as an adult I go with friends, so going to Disney is just a normal thing for me. I still find it shocking to hear of people who have never been, LOL!
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Last edited by Ms_Butterfly; 04-30-2007 at 02:01 AM..
I've always loved Disney from a child, but I think we really found the magic on our honeymoon in 1999. That's when the Disney obsession really started for me!
I've always loved Disney movies and characters, but never really thought much about going to WDW. I never went as a kid and didn't give it much thought as an adult. Back in the late 90's I met a couple of friends who were Disney lover's and they talked all the time about their trips to WDW. Finally, DH and I took our girls in 1999 when they were 7 and 5 years old. It was so magical, we had the best time and I fell in !
My parents took me on our first trip in 1976, and we went every 2 or 3 years after that! They now go twice a year, and we were doing that until I stopped working (now I'll be lucky to go every other year)!
My parents first took me to WDW when I was 4 - and I've been in ever since (I joke that my first trip was actually before that, as my mom went for her first trip while she was pregnant with me - THAT'S why I'm so WDW-crazy - it was instilled in me from the womb!). Before my first "official" trip, I was already obsessed with the movies and The Wonderful World of Disney that would come on TV.
I always enjoyed going to wdw, but last april while planning our aug trip, I found this board and all of it's info. I've been coming back to this site since and am now known to my family as "obsessed about Disney"...LOL!! I'll see things that look like hidden mickeys and point them out to my kids and they just roll their eyes.. I'm in the mist of planning this aug trip(can't pass up free dinning-and we have almost $700 in SW credit) how can we not go?????
I grew up with Disney movies and the Mickey Mouse Club and watched DL being built on TV. I wanted to go as a child but didn't make it out there until 1969 when my parents took me for my 20th birthday. I thought I was too grown-up for it by then and didn't expect anything special. But I swear when I walked in the gates there was a rainbow over the castle and I heard the the Angels sing. I have been in love with all things Disney in an obsessive way ever since.
Suzie
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Disneyland 1969
WDW 1983-2004 Disney Village Resort,Fort Wilderness Trailer,CB, PO, Dixie Landings,ASS, ASM, ASMo, Contemporary, Polynesian,PORiverside,POP,AKL,Coronado Springs, Disney Village Resorts, Grovesnor, Lake Buena Vista Hilton, etc....
Feb.2005-AKL,Oct.2005-PopCentury,Feb.2006-
Contemporary,Aug.2006-POP,Dec.2006-POR,Feb.2007-POP,June 2007- POP,Dec. 2007- POP
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