When it feels like your world is crumbling.... - Page 4 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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It is time yet again to bring up this post and ask for some more pixies!
My friend "S", the one battling melanoma -- just had to go in this week to have a full hysterectomy. The melanoma had made it's way to her ovaries. I am beside myself once again. She's scheduled for another scan around the 11th of October. But, I'm not sure how I feel, as in the past, the scans have been positive, only to find out later (like now) - that the cancer has moved elsewhere.
I went back to work in July (there's another post about that somewhere around here) and am approaching my 3 month mark. A few weeks ago I suddenly felt a hole in my molar. I thought I lost a filling (it's been YEARS since I've been to the dentist .... bad, I know .... but I have a terrible fear/anxiety of the dentist) -- turns out, it was a cavity that just sort of made it's way thru the tooth until it was a "shell" and then it broke. After a stressful visit to the dentist, I found that I had 2 teeth (they took x-rays of the tooth that had the hole, and with the xray got a view of 2 other teeth as well - and found 1 of those to ALSO have a deep cavity). My choices: have them pulled, or root canals and crowns.
It wasn't an exciting choice. The thought of having them pulled was too much to handle, but root canals and crowns weren't very thrilling either (and EXPENSIVE!!!!!). I'm over the hardest part (it wasn't easy, let me tell you ..... I've never shook so bad in my life .... I was terrified) - but I do have to go in this coming Tuesday to have the crowns put on permanently. I am still not looking forward to the appointment - AT ALL.
And, then there's the bill. *sigh* (we are currently without health insurance - I'll be able to apply next month and it kicks in November 1st)
Soooo -- just send positive thoughts and pixies .... to me, and to "S".
First trip DW--Nov. 1975; Senior Class Trip DW--Oct. 1979; First trip w/kids--Oct. 1995; Halloween at DW--Oct. 2002; Spring Break at DW--April 2004; Christmas/Pop Warner Nationals-POR--Dec. 2005;Cruisin'--April 2008; Mom/Son trip-POP--March 2010;Taggin' along w/DD on DH's conference-BWI--Oct. 2011; 50th birthday with the Gartner Geeks--Adults only!--BWI--Oct. 2012; The Trip That Almost Wasn't--BWI--Oct. 2013; We climbed The Summit (National Cheer Competition)--ASMovies--May 2014
Lots of pixes and many thoughts and prayers for you and your friends I just read your saga as I was pretty out of it when you started the post (major health issues). I do believe in the power pf positive thinking and hope you can all keep the faith during these hard times.
Thank you all for your kind words, good thoughts and pixie dust.
Tomorrow is my dentist appointment, and I'm just trying not to think about it.
And to make matters worse, last night I started feeling off. My throat felt scratchy, and exhaustion hit me hard. Today I haven't felt any better. I think it's the start of a cold. I thought maybe allergies -- but I don't think allergies would make me feel so tired and achy. I'm about to climb into my bed and spend the rest of the evening there (and it's only 6pm).
The dentist visit went well. No tears! LOL!!! It didn't hurt, so that was a HUGE plus. So glad to be done with that now.
My friend is home, and healing. She's sore. Very sore. Said it feels as if her insides were torn apart. I think we're about 9 days out from her scan now. Hopefully they get positive news.
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