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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 know you get free admission on your birthday, but whey do they ask if you are celebrating anything ( like anniversary or other achievement) on your trip and on your dining resies? Has anyone had anythig special happen while on vacation because of this. Just curious.
Mainly just a cupcake or a special certificate or maybe some confetti on the table. With so many coming to Disney for this promotion to celebrate some special event, the "celebrations" seem (to me) to be toned down a little, unless you get a great CM who makes it special.
Mainly, I think the birthday button gets you more attention -- when you wear it, CMs and guests wish you well.
Eileen
In the past, we've had a card and balloons delivered to our room for our anniversary and the same for my birthday. Sometimes, as Eileen said, you may also get a cupcake during a birthday meal.
For anniversary last year, we too received balloons and a card to our room , towels shaped into a pair of swans that then formed a heart, we have had confetti covered tables for a couple of our meals and cup cakes at Chef Mickeys pus extra interaction with characrters due the anniversary buttons we wore.
When we were celebrating our anniversary at CRT they gave us a table by
the windows, signed picture of the princesses, 2 toasting glasses (real glass),
and a small cake. All this because our ADR noted our anniversary.
Can we celebrate a few weeks early? We're going over Christmas, and our anniversary is Jan 14. We never do anything special other than go out to dinner, and DD is often with us. A little recognition for putting up with each other for 14 years would be nice!
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Looking forward to another Christmas with The Mouse!!
We were at WDW in July and were celebrating DH's Birthday one day and our Anniversary on the next day. We received two cards, each recognizing our occasion and containing a a special photopass card with 20% off one order.
I'm getting ready to order our photopass pictures now, and there is a place online to enter the ID number from the special card for the discount. With the size of our order, 20% is pretty nice!
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Katydid
10/96 - All Star Sports, 11/03 - CBR
9/05 - Wonder Cruise, 7/06 - Disneyland
11/08-All Star Sports - 7/09 Ft. Wilderness
11/14- AKL Jambo House
I was pretty disappointed with the lack of attention my children received. We were actually on property for my oldest DD's 16th birthday and even though I had ordered a special cake, all she got was a chocolate wave with a melted candle in it and a few Happy Birthday wishes. No confetti, no cards, no fanfare really. It was quite a let down to be honest.
Can we celebrate a few weeks early? We're going over Christmas, and our anniversary is Jan 14. We never do anything special other than go out to dinner, and DD is often with us. A little recognition for putting up with each other for 14 years would be nice!
From what I understand at WDW for things like anniverseries you can celebrate any time you want. You could ask about buttons for anniversaries at guest relations and maybe note it on a special ADR. Have a great trip!
DH & I celebrated our 20th anniversary with a trip to WDW, about 7 months after the actual anniversary date. They gave us "Happy Anniversary" buttons, a card, special seating for the Indiana Jones stunt show, a special dessert platter at Boma, and the best part of all...although I am not sure it had anything to do with our anniversary celebration...but we were upgraded from Pop Century to Yacht Club! A very magical surprise!