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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Another year has rolled around, and it's time again to set our goals for another reading challenge.
Last year I set my goal at 70 books because that had been my 2014 goal, but I didn't meet it. I really wanted to see if I could do, and actually achieved that plus some with 72 books read.
For this year's goal, I've considered lowering my goal because at times I felt frantic to get enough books read in a month to keep up. I really don't like falling behind because it seems so difficult to catch back up. But I've decided to stick with my goal of 70 books for 2016.
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My goal last year was 40 and I actually read 41. But I think I'm going to stick with 40 books again, because I felt that was a comfortable goal to work on.
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I began a book on December 17 that I wasn't able to finish until today. The holidays began for us on the 19th so I didn't have lots of time to read. But that means I now have my first book completed for the new year.
#1 -- A Cast of Stones by Patrick W. Carr. An interesting fantasy novel with several endearing characters in a classic battle of good versus evil. It is the first in a trilogy.
I've gone way over my goal every year except this last year. Lots of 'big' books this past year and I've been training several new employees at work over the last few months that has taken away my 'down' time (aka reading time) at work.
I've never participated before since while working I rarely read for pleasure. Now that I'm retired I try to read every day. I think I'll set my goal at 40. We'll see how I do with this. I finished my first book this morning.
#1 Once We Were Brothers written by Ronald H Balson It was excellent. It's about growing up during the Holocaust. I won't say more than that because it's just that good.
I attempted this once and failed miserably. This is the year I'm going to get back to reading. I'm going to start with something attainable, so I'll say 25.
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I attempted this once and failed miserably. This is the year I'm going to get back to reading. I'm going to start with something attainable, so I'll say 25.
Finished my first book of the year early this morning.
Goal 72
#1 Rabbit Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington Tells the true story of three aboriginal girls who are forcibly taken from their families in 1931 to be trained as domestic servants as part of an official Australian government policy. They make a daring escape and embark on an epic 1,500 mile journey to get back home - following the rabbit-proof fence that bisects the Australian continent - with the authorities in hot pursuit
I read this book because I had just seen the 2002 documentary film by the same name. There was a whole lot of differences between the book and the movie. And I just found on another website that most of the happenings in the movie were very fictionalized. So much for a true story, lol.
It's exciting to see some so many folks joining in our Reading Challenge this year. to everyone. I'm also thankful for the mini reviews of the books we've finished reading. I've gotten some great ideas for future reading from these.
Finished #1 - The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George
I thought this book sounded wonderful by the synopsis on the cover, but it dropped the fun "floating bookshop" idea very quickly and became "how many times can each male character cry?" It was insufferable.
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MNSSHP 2015: DH (Bane), Me (Batgirl), Genie, and our friends
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to everyone. I'm also thankful for the mini reviews of the books we've finished reading. I've gotten some great ideas for future reading from these. 
<--- Disney Fantasy 2016!
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