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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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In less than 90 days I will not only be back in my happy place, but I will be staying in the one resort I have wanted to stay in for years and never thought I would be able to afford. I will also get to spend an entire week with my BFF Christina and her boyfriend Jonah who I haven’t seen in 18 months!
But, to really get this story started we need to get in the way-back machine and take a trip to 1995 and 7th grade gym class because that’s where Christina and I first met. I don’t remember the hows or whys, but we’ve been best friends ever since then…going on 15 crazy years.
Christina and Jonah met around 2002, they went to different colleges but had friends in common. Christina will be the first to admit that she was completely clueless that he liked her, but thankfully she put her big squishy brain to use and finally figured it out and on April 14th they will be celebrating 7 years together. I don’t think they have any plans on getting married any time soon, but as long as they are happy together that’s all that matters. I don’t get to see them as often as I would like because they live in Northern Virginia and I now live in Connecticut and that’s a long drive for both of us.
So, back to the present…or close to it. Last June I was talking to my mother and she happened to mention that the timeshare company they bought into (RCI) was now trading with Disney properties and if I wanted to I could use their week next year. Excited does not do my *squee*ing justice. It was now my mission to haunt the RCI website and look for a week I could exchange…and I looked…and I looked. And to be honest, there were weeks available but they were either in the middle of summer (blech) or at places I didn’t particularly want to stay at. I’m sure SSR and CSR are lovely but I was holding out for something better, something magical, something I found 3 weeks later: a week in April at Animal Kingdom Lodge. Needless to say that puppy was booked faster than you can eat a dole whip.
I knew that while I could just make it another solo trip, I really wanted friends to go with me and of course I thought of my BFF first. Turns out, the week I booked is their anniversary week and that as it was almost a year out they had no plans and could more than likely go with me! And so here we are, 3 months to go, and just the last minute details to be seen to.
Who: Myself (Ally, 27, NICU PA, 5th trip to the world), Christina (my BFF, 28, super secret gov job, 3rd (?) trip to the world), Jonah (Christina’s BF, 29, title analyst, 2nd trip to the world that I know of)
When: April 11th to 18th 2010
Where: Animal Kingdom Lodge – no idea which side, won’t know until the week before I guess
The Plans:
Sunday 4/11 – Fly in. Head to MK. 7:20pm dinner @ Crystal Palace.
Monday 4/12 – Whatever day. 7pm dinner @ Jiko.
Tuesday 4/13 – Epcot Day. 2:10pm High Tea @ GF. 7:10pm dinner @ Coral Reef.
Wednesday 4/14 – Whatever day. 7:05pm dinner @ ‘Ohana.
Thursday 4/15 – DHS Day. 6:45pm dinner @ Sci-Fi.
Friday 4/16 – MK Day. KTTK Tour @ 9am. 7:05pm dinner @ 1900 PF.
Saturday 4/17 – AK Day. 9am breakfast @ Tusker House. 6:30pm dinner @ WCC.
Sunday 4/18 – Whatever morning. My flight doesn’t leave until late afternoon.
Everything but Coral Reef and Tusker House will be new experiences for me.
And that’s where things stand as of right this moment. I’ve been pricing airfare out of Hartford since before Thanksgiving and it’s been ridiculously expensive with no signs of going down so I finally bit the bullet and booked a flight out of Philadelphia. I’ll be driving down to my parent’s house the day before and they will very kindly drive me to and pick me up from the airport. While it does mean a 3 hour drive for me on either end, it also is saving me a good $200 in airfare and $60 in parking. Plus, I can sleep in the car so, totally worth it.
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