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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Okay, I just have to sulk a bit here before I go order a new Passporter. A terrible thing happened today.
I took my daughter to the doctor this morning, and I took my Passporter in to the doctor's office to work in it while waiting. When I got out to the car, I put it on top of the car along with some other things, while I dug out the keys and got her into her car seat. A friend had called to check on her while we were inside, so I called her back and chatted with her as I got myself and my things into the car.
So as you might guess I, the idiot, somehow didn't get the Passporter into the car. Unfortunately, I didn't realize this until I got onto a pretty busy road and got up to a good speed. The minute I heard the thump, I just got this terrible sick feeling. I knew instantly what had happened, though I don't know quite how I knew what a Passporter would sound like as it bounced off my car at 43 miles an hour...
I managed to get turned around in time to see 300 pages of Passporter blowing across a two-block area, landing in puddles, bushes, and the middle of the road. The road was really busy, so I never got the chance to stop safely, though I did turn around once more to see if there was any way to save any of it. The binder itself was in the farthest lane, where I would have to cross two busy lanes to reach it. I could tell it was already smashed beyond saving, but I thought of doing so to recover what little I could from the pockets. I didn't, though--I finally decided that my safety unfortunately trumps my Passporter. It was a terrible decision to make!
I have cried all day. I know it's silly to be so attached to a planner/book. And at least my day-by-day plans are safe in my computer. But to think of all the work I've done and time I've spent highlighting and marking pages, etc. All the little things I had tucked into the pockets--certainly replaceable with a little work, but heartbreaking nonetheless. So many small details--the markings I made on the maps of the direction our touring plan takes us, the Disney character tabs I added, the stars by my favorites throughout the book. It just kills me to think of starting over!
Luckily, my husband hasn't made a big deal about me wanting to go buy a new one. I hadn't bought a new binder since 2003, and I was lucky enough to win the 2007 filler when I submitted a tip earlier this year, so I haven't actually bought a Passporter in quite some time. He also knows how important it is to me--he teasingly (and somewhat irreverently!) calls it my Bible. I'm glad he understands...well, at least somewhat...
So anyway, this is basically a pointless post--just a chance to dwell for a little longer in my glumness of the moment...
Any of you ever had such terrible idiot-moment consequences???
Sorry about the passporter but you made the right decision....you are more important then chasing after the 200 pages flying over the expressway...
But just think of all the fun you will have with your new passporter....(I know the old saying you can't just replace something....my mother told me this when I borke her favorite vase when I was 10) but my mother has been more in love with the new vase my father bought her to console her...lol
I've done that with leftovers that I really wanted to eat the next day.
Sorry that you did it with our beloved Passporter. In all good fun, we know we totally adore these incredibly-written books when we contemplate running across several lanes of on-coming traffic to try and salvage pages flying about the pavement!
I do hope you are able to replace it soon! I'd be lost without my PP!
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i'd react the same way you are!! i treat my deluxe like a baby. it's never even been out of the house. just look at the bright side...you get a new one, and you get to spend more time planning! (well, that'd be a bright side to me anyways. i like planning.) more 's for you!!
Awwww... I'm so sorry! I didn't something similiar once long ago, only it was a jar full of coins that I left on top of my car. Can you imagine the mess???
Look on the bright side -- you could get a 2008 deluxe edition, as it'll be here in a few weeks.
Usually for me it's the berry sundae from Costco; however, my run-in with PassPorter was when our puppy stole it off the couch and chewed it to bits, although the insides were mostly OK.
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We all feel your pain..... But just think of all the fun you will have when your new PP arrives and recreating all that work WAHOOO
As we all know planning the trip is just as much fun as the trip
I am sure most of us can relate to the sense of loss. It's alot of time and effort to put into something just to have it blown across a busy road. But think of the positives, the updated passporter you will buy will have so much new material and fresh new pages to scribble all over. I know it doesn't make it all better, but I hope you have fun with your new one.
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WDW Fort Wilderness Cabins Sept 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013 and AoA Lion King Suite September 2013
I would like to ask that we all take a moment of silence to remember the hard work and love that was put into our long lost friend, happyhedgehogs' deluxe passporter. May happyhedgehogs receive peace in knowing that she has, while quite unknowingly, shared the magic of passporter with TN department of transportation. We only ask that, through this, many others will come to know the way of disney living and planning that is Passporter. I also ask that God restore happiness and joy to happyhedgehogs when the new passporter is received.
Amen!!
for your loss! My deepest simpathies are with you!
jenblondie, thanks for the eulogy! I haven't laughed so hard in at least...oh...an hour or so. (OK, so I've laughed all morning--the kids and I are having a Disney movie marathon today...) But really, though, that was hilarious, and really lifted my spirits! Thanks to all for the pixie dust! And I solemnly swear never ever to put my Passporter on top of the car again...
Last edited by happyhedgehogs; 10-28-2007 at 11:02 PM..
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