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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Yep, pretty easy accessibility is why we never got a GAC for my DH. He can't walk for any distance and thus uses a scooter in large stores, malls and at WDW.
Yeah, the vast majority of queue's now are wheelchair- and even ECV-accessible. The couple days I was in a powerchair after hurting my foot this past January, the most I got was being asked if I could transfer to a regular ride seat or not (so they'd know if I needed to be put on a particular, specially-adapted ride vehicle or not).
Mostly, between attractions, I just had to look out for stairs, and then look around for alternate routes from A to B.
Oh, and dodge other guests, kids and adults alike, who kept thinking it would be a good idea to dash in front of a power chair with only 2-3 inches to spare.
Oh, and dodge other guests, kids and adults alike, who kept thinking it would be a good idea to dash in front of a power chair with only 2-3 inches to spare.
Did you get anyone who gave you a dirty look because obviously it's all YOUR fault?? Lenny gets that on occasion and I usually just shake my head and say "you need to pay better attention people." As we keep going, I don't know nor do I care whether they heard me or not.
Did you get anyone who gave you a dirty look because obviously it's all YOUR fault?? Lenny gets that on occasion and I usually just shake my head and say "you need to pay better attention people." As we keep going, I don't know nor do I care whether they heard me or not.
Unreal how some people can be
this will be our families first time renting a scooter and honestly I am not looking forward to it because I see how scooter people are treated
Unreal how some people can be
this will be our families first time renting a scooter and honestly I am not looking forward to it because I see how scooter people are treated
It happens but I grew a thick skin long ago. I don't have to live with those people so I'm not going to let them being rude ruin my trip.
It's just habit, not so much rudeness, I think. People simply don't register as being near someone whose head isn't at about shoulder level or above.
Unless you're familiar with someone using a chair or have used one yourself, you tend to behave as if surrounded by the ablebodied and expect those around you to move quickly to avoid invading YOUR space. People honestly are unaware that chairs can't move aside or stop as nimbly as feet can.
I know I didn't realize how difficult it could be to maneuver a scooter without hitting people until I used DH's some while recovering from surgery. I hadn't realized either until then how much more "space aware" I needed to be of someone using a chair.
__________________
“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” —Winnie-the-Pooh
I truthfully don't think that's a valid excuse. Wheelchairs and scooters are everywhere nowadays. You can't tell me that these people who are oblivious go around life and never see a scooter or wheelchair anywhere - or even a stroller for that matter (yes, a stroller can stop quicker than a wheelchair or scooter, but it's still lower to the ground and you need to be aware of them). Every weekend when I go to the grocery store (I avoid mid week trips usually) there's always one, if not two or three people using a scooter or wheelchair (or the occasional stroller) in the store. I tend to go at different times of the day so it's not the same person week in and week out. The same with Walmart or Target when I go there. Disney is no different only you see a lot more of them in one day.
Darlene, I didn't mean it to excuse people. I know full well that there are SOME who really aren't thoughtful of how their actions may affect others.
I was speaking only of general awareness. I'm more aware of the difficulties of maneuvering in crowds both because of DH's and my own (quite limited) experience. I acquired a somewhat different space awareness when learning to push DH's wheelchair safely during the year he was off his feet. Before then, I didn't realize how much more space to maneuver safely someone in a chair requires because of the additional space the chair occupies.
I truly think that able-bodied people who don't live with someone needing mobility aids or haven't ever needed one themselves simply are unaware and not intentionally rude oftentimes.
__________________
“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” —Winnie-the-Pooh
Last edited by Her Dotness; 07-09-2014 at 01:40 PM..
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Darlene, I didn't mean it to excuse people. I know full well that there are SOME who really aren't thoughtful of how their actions may affect others.
I was speaking only of general awareness. I'm more aware of the difficulties of maneuvering in crowds both because of DH's and my own (quite limited) experience. I acquired a somewhat different space awareness when learning to push DH's wheelchair safely during the year he was off his feet. Before then, I didn't realize how much more space to maneuver safely someone in a chair requires because of the additional space the chair occupies.
I truly think that able-bodied people who don't live with someone needing mobility aids or haven't ever needed one themselves simply are unaware and not intentionally rude oftentimes.
I think you are right about not realizing the space requirements or stopping speeds etc. It's the same for people who switch stollers to something considerably different size-wise or people who seldom wear a backpack. I've been smacked by more than one backpack by someone who forgot how much more space they occupy.
Thanks, oldmom. Different stroller sizes are a good example of something else that requires a different awareness.
Plus, at Disney both adults and children are so distracted by excitement and all the stimulation of their surroundings that people generally are less aware of others around them. Those are big factors that may make otherwise considerate people appear quite thoughtless and rude.
__________________
“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” —Winnie-the-Pooh
Did you get anyone who gave you a dirty look because obviously it's all YOUR fault??
Almost. Every. Time.
... I swear, if I ever end up in a chair or ECV permanently? I'm adapting something they have for bicycles - laser emitter that paints a bike lane behind the cycle. I'm going to have it paint a two-foot-around-me perimeter, with the words "NO STEP" along the edge (animated to circle me - and cycling between, say, the dozen most commonly-encountered languages at WDW). :P
The worst thing is, I wasn't concerned about me - no, I'm a big guy, I'm not delicate, I can handle being bumped into. But, I'm a BIG guy, and together with the chair itself, I'd be surprised if the total gross weight was less than 500 or 600 pounds. That much weight rolling over some kid's foot would end the family vacation, right then and there ... to the sound of breaking bones and shrieks of pain. And that would put a serious damper on MY vacation, in turn, 'cause I'd feel responsible, regardless of whether I actually was.
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