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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 think this trade will affect Ortiz? I'm assuming he was the 1 of 25 players who voted not to trade him.....and we all know how well they got along. I hope he doesn't want to follow....
I don't think so, he was always sick of answering questions for and about Manny. He probably didn't want to see him go, but i would imagine he understands this is just big business.
I'm pretty sure Ortiz voted for Manny to stay out of loyalty and his always wanting to keep the peace. I'm willing to bet Ortiz will actually feel some relief now that he won't have to spend so much of his energy worrying about Manny and keeping him focused on the game instead of the nonsense. Up until this point, David Ortiz has always been level-headed (when we see him anyway) and grateful. That's why my mom loves him so much. For years she's been saying, "I like Big Papi. He always says thank you" I'm sure he'll miss Manny, but in the long run, I don't think he'll miss Manny Being Manny.
Dyan I'm so jealous you're going to Fenway! Have an awesome time and have a Fenway Frank for me!
My dad dropped off the tickets this afternoon. He doesn't always go to his night games and sometimes I get to reap the benefits. Hoping the weather holds out.
Thought these were funny and had to share!
But, seriously, these will be the moments Sox fans will miss the most!!
And I thought this quote by a fan was very nice:
"When he watched his home run off K-Rod in the 2007 post season, arms raised in triumph, we saw that same Manny that we fell in love with. Now that his time has come to move on, for whatever reason, I hope that we do not lose sight of everything he has done for us, and when we speak of him and his time in Boston, I hope we all realize what we owe to him. For the home runs, the laughs, the championships, the intangible sense of excitement that happened every time he came to bat in the late innings at Fenway; we owe him more than to think back fondly on his time here, we owe him our hearts." -- 7.31.08, Wolfe Coleman, via BDD comments"
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And I thought this quote by a fan was very nice:
"When he watched his home run off K-Rod in the 2007 post season, arms raised in triumph, we saw that same Manny that we fell in love with. Now that his time has come to move on, for whatever reason, I hope that we do not lose sight of everything he has done for us, and when we speak of him and his time in Boston, I hope we all realize what we owe to him. For the home runs, the laughs, the championships, the intangible sense of excitement that happened every time he came to bat in the late innings at Fenway; we owe him more than to think back fondly on his time here, we owe him our hearts." -- 7.31.08, Wolfe Coleman, via BDD comments"
Very nice quote, Dyan! While I'm not sorry to see Manny go from a clubhouse morale standpoint, I will miss the many times he came through in the clutch!
Here's hoping Manny finds happiness in Hollyweird
- Laurie
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Laurie (aka LeapDayBaby) having a blast with Mickey and Goofy at Epcot, August 2006
Seven trips to WDW (1975, 1982, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2013, 2014)! Next trip: Soon, I hope!
I've been jingled! Thanks Sandy!
I absolutely love that picture of Manny with his hands up after the homerun (or should I say during the homerun)! I thought I should share one of my favorites! I took it during the World Series parade - I have a bunch - but this one is my favorite of him!
I just love how he's sticking out his tongue - I'll miss that Manny!
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I'll miss the Manny we who was a power hitter, always came through in the clutch and could laugh at himself and goof it up in the clubhouse with the best of them. I will not miss "head case" Manny and all the negative stuff that came with him. But either way, he will go down in history as one of the best hitters the game has ever known so "Thanks Manny!"
Welcome to Boston, Jason Bay!!! What a great first performance in a Red Sox uniform!! Loved all the "Welcome to the BAY State signs" and the standing O he got in his first at bat!! (In the replay last night, it seemed like the ump was almost encouraging him to step back & enjoy the moment - even had a smile on his face) And, that final triple!! If this is any indication as to how this kid will perform, Theo absolutely made the right decision!! (We're also excited that Bay is DS' birthday twinkie!!! )
Leaving for my first BAYwatch in a little bit - hope the rain holds out.
We had that crazy midnight release party last night so I missed the entire game, but I heard about it and I'm so happy for Jason. Hopefully he'll be a good fit! Have a great time at Fenway Dyan! I hope the rain holds off for you
(who said you need to be there to participate in the wave?)
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Was hoping to post this earlier, but was sucked into reading TR upon TR! After driving through torrential rains to get there, DS & I had a wonderful time experiencing our 1st BAYwatch!
We arrived at the Forest Hills Station just after 4. The parking lot was flooded, so DS & I stayed in the car until it subsided and then took the T to Ruggles Station. Normally we skip the Localmotion (free shuttle to Fenway) and just walk as they don’t start running until 1 ½ hours prior to game time & we like to get there for park opening, which is 2 hours prior. When we exited the station, the shuttle was already there and the driver was setting up. The driver said she would probably head over at 5:15. Since it was 5:00 and we were worried that the rain could start again, we decided to wait. She allowed us and another couple on, while we waited. She ended up leaving around 5:10 and we were entering the park shortly thereafter.
Kyle had asked for a new jersey a while back and since he had such a great report card all school year, I told him we would do that. So, it was off to the Yawkey Way Store for a Dustin Pedroia away jersey. They only had one in his size, but it had something smeared on it. Neither of us wanted to pay that kind of money for a stained item. Then we both noticed a Jason Bay away jersey a couple of racks over. Kyle immediately decided he wanted that one instead. (We already decided Bay was going to be a good addition to the team since he’s Kyle’s twinkie, but it was then that we also realized his number is my parent’s house number – which will eventually be our house number. we are superstitious baseball fans) So, I purchased that and then we went in search of a t-shirt for me. I had been looking for a JD Drew shirt – haven’t been able to find one around here. When I saw they had Jason Bay’s shirts, I HAD to get one of those too. I asked Kyle if he would like a t-shirt too. He decided on Jed Lowrie, but they ended up not having his size. He decided on Papelbon instead. After spending a small fortune, we headed off to our seats.
The park was still pretty empty, so we just sat and took everything in. While we were waiting for the players to come out to warm up, Kyle creatively changed his shirt, without exposing any of his body. He also put on his new Bay jersey – he couldn’t get that thing on fast enough!
Then we saw all of the starting and relief pitchers come out. They all walked out to right field by the foul line and started playing catch. We’ve usually only seen the starting pitcher and catcher for the day come out. It was interesting to see something different.
Then they all moved somewhere else, except for Dice K. He was running around aimlessly in the outfield. It was a little odd, especially since he wasn’t going to be pitching. Then he stood like this for about 5 minutes (sometimes looking out), which I thought was even odder – so, I HAD to take a photo.
Kyle’s photo has a setting where we can zoom in better, so I got his camera out, but by the time I turned it on Dice K was gone. He was no where to be seen Very weird!
Anyway, not long after that Jason Bay came running out onto the field with David Ortiz. Of course, I was so mesmerized, I didn’t get them until they were heading back.
Ortiz, Bay and Lowrie
As Bay was announced in the starting lineup, I took this
Welcome to Fenway Park
Joey Kramer, the drummer from AEROSMITH threw out the ceremonial first pitch
Bay getting read for his first at-bat of the night
First swing
While I was taking this photo, Kyle loudly says, “Hit the Volvo sign!” I was like, “Good luck with that” as that certainly isn’t an easy feat. (I don’t have a photo from that night showing where the Volvo sign is, but you can see it here in this video from Opening Day if you're not familiar with where it is) Anyway, not 2 seconds after he says that, Bay swings and the ball hits the Volvo sign!! The guy in front of us turns around and starts asking, “Who said that?? Who said that?? Was that you??” Kyle couldn’t do that again if he tried.
Heading to 3rd
Getting a pat on the back from Mikey Lowell
Heading into the dugout (I think that’s the batboy)
A picture of Tek’s butt for Amy
In the end, it was an awesome game! After a rough first inning, Lester turned it around for another win! It was a very successful BAYwatch!!