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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Here are a couple of NSMCM that those of us traveling with Special Needs tend to encounter. (Or at least we notice them more.)
Center Stoppers will suddenly stop in the middle of wherever they are: walkways, gift shops, whatever. This usually causes the scooter use to attempt (a usually futile) sudden stop. (Contributed by CinderAbby)
Dashers are kids who run in front of you because Mom and Dad aren't watching again resulting in a usually futile attempt at a sudden stop (Contributed by CinderAbby and Eeyore Tattoo)
The Gazelles are those that will try to jump over the feet of a wheelchair in order to get to their destination faster in a crowd during a mad dash. (Usually experienced at rope drop for Toon Town or DHS when heading to TSMM) (Contributed by PamelaK)
The Leaners - Who think that your wheelchair is their personal "lean rail"
The Player - Can be children or adults, people who think your chair is "just so cool" and want to touch it
The "Befrienders" - People who see you in line and feel the need to talk to you (even though they never talk to able bodied people in line). And of course what they want to ask you is about your illness/disability. Because what you want to talk about in Disney is being sick!
The "Befrienders" - People who see you in line and feel the need to talk to you (even though they never talk to able bodied people in line). And of course what they want to ask you is about your illness/disability. Because what you want to talk about in Disney is being sick!
Befrienders is certainly nicer than my name for them - the busybodies.
I'll go one better on the "befrienders"...we had a couple ask if they could be our "tagalongs" so they could go through the back entrance of Haunted Mansion-cause they were curious to see it.
The Elevator Jumpers - in their rush to try and get on an elevator in front of you (when you've been there patiently waiting) they impede the progress of those trying to get off. Once everyone is on the elevator, they turn into the cornerstones. They try to stand as far away from the scooter or wheelchair rider in fear they are going to be hit or run over when they should have just waited for the next elevator (or used the stairs or escalator like in The Land or The Living Seas).
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Yes this thread is SUPPOSED to be about the guests. However there are a couple of actual CMs that might fit into the category of NSM also. (I met one on our vacation in November.)
As for other guests:
The scowlers that will give you the "look" when you show your GAC because of a hidden disability and then they will continue to scowl at you the entire time you are waiting in line (if they can see you).
The Obli-rents (that is oblivious parents) that seem completely ignorant of the fact that little Johnny is climbing on the rails and kicking the wall or sliding on his stomach up UNDER the wheelchair in front of or behind them. (Saw them on TSMMM)
The want to Be's:
I had a man actually tell me he wished he could have a cool scooter like mine so he wouldn't have to walk, I was so lucky to be able to zoom around..
OhDebbbbb!!!! I think we met the same guy!!!! I countered with "You give me the kidney I'm missing, & I'll give you the scooter"...harsh, but the look on his face was SO worth it!