PTR-Celebrating Retirement with a European River Cruise - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We are under 2 weeks and counting! Wow!! Wade and I talked about the Amsterdam sight seeing the other day and decided to purchase a 48-hour I Amsterdam card. This card will get us a free canal tour, free entrance to the Van Gogh museum, free bus transportation and discounts at a number of restaurants in the city. The cost for the card is 57 euros, so based on what I can find, I think we will just about break even, depending on how much bus riding and eating we do. It will be worth the cost, especially in time in lines waiting to purchase tickets. Unfortunately, it does not cover the Anne Frank museum. It does, however, cover a lot of other museums, churches and sights that we might make use of when exploring. I’m sure we will enjoy some of those that we might not have taken in due to the added cost without the card. We will make that purchase upon our arrival, for even if we purchased on line, we would still have to go to a location to pick up the cards. It is supposed to be available at many hotels, so hoping our hotel is one of those.
Right now, we are at the stage where there’s not too much to do but wait. I have exactly one full week of work left, followed by the one day after Memorial Day. I can’t believe that a 34-year career is wrapping up! Many mixed emotions flowing, but mostly happy ones. I’ve been packing up my room and bringing things home a little at a time. Much of what I have collected is staying and being given to fellow teachers. I’m even leaving all the posters on the wall, for the teacher who is moving into my classroom is a good buddy and doesn’t really have posters. I was digging in my desk the other day and found a collection of paper clips with Disney characters on them. I put them in a little bag with a note for him to give them to his daughter who is about 7. ☺ Some of my good co-workers are having a little party for me on Friday, as our last day with students is Thursday. Next Tuesday, I will start the day at the County Office for a retirement breakfast with the superintendent, then return to my school for our end of year luncheon.
Last night I looked on the Delta website and found the May movies for our flights. I couldn’t find the June ones for our return, but that can wait. Looks like I should be good as both “Saving Mr. Banks” and “Frozen” are on the list. Also, “Despicable Me 2.” I have 2 of those on my iPad if I need it, but it looks like I won’t. Once I see the June list, I can remove them from my iPad to make room to upload pictures if possible. Also, last week one of our house sitters came by to meet the fur babies and see the house. We have 2 college girls who work with DD and DSiL sitting for us, as we just couldn’t see boarding the dogs for over 2 weeks. Thursday, I had to administer an Advanced Placement test at work. While there I spent time making up 2 lists (the only way I get stuff done!). One is my to-do list for everything between now and the trip. Some of those items will be assigned to DH, who is out of school now, although still has meetings and such. (He’s a college professor.) The other list is all the things I need to put on the house sitters’ note. I’ll type that up as it gets closer to time, as I keep remembering more things that need to be added.
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