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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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The race starts this Saturday. With my working all day with no 'net access I guess my updates will be daily... not hourly .
There were a couple of articles in the Anchorage Daily News today. One about the Iditarod Royalty (Families Mackey, Reddington, and Seavey) and another (an Op-Ed) about who is capable of winning (which I disagreed a lot with).
Lance Mackey - Will this be a three-peat for the current reigning champ? He's changed up his training habits this year, and bowwed out of the Yukon Quest citing timing issues. He's training new dogs and a new handler. Is this the distraction he needs or will it bite him in the butt? He was the underdog story, now he's an overnight success.
Jeff King - The fourtime champ made a name for himself as Susan Butcher's rival in the 90s, and he's the class clown. The innovator has created the old man's sled (seat on the back of the sled so he doesn't have to stand all day and night), handle bar warmers (which on the first Iditarod trial run set the sled on fire), and has been known to put a dog in the sled in a crate to give it a rest. He always has an interesting soundbite, and his 'war stories' on the trail are second to none. He's been on Mackey's heels the last two years, and a bonehead mistake (falling asleep) cost him last year's race.
Martin Buser - Another four time champion, he's been critisized for babying his team and making it more about fun than competition. Still, he's always willing to change his styles and breeding in order to stay in the mix. Last year he jumped a huge number of places to come in fourth. This year he ran the Yukon Quest as a rookie to give his dogs more conditioning. We'll see if it pays off. His dogs are known to run better in bad weather years.
Mitch Seavey - the 2004 Iditarod Champion has a strategy of numbers. He counts hours like a CoP judge counts revolutions (only he's better at counting!). His dogs are from the original Iditarod dog line, and his family's been in this race from he beginning. He's quiet and keeps to himself, which makes him seem aloof and not that entertaining, but he's not in it for the entertainment. It's serious business. His team won the Alaska Sweepstakes last year, and they were still newbies... now they're seasoned competitors and he considers them the best team he's ever had - including the 2004 championship team.
DeeDee Jonrowe - She has yet to win in all of the years she's run this thing, but she's always in the mix. She's also the token big name female musher. She loves her dogs, and she loves the race and she's one tough cookie. She is a breast cancer survivor.
Other Mushers of Intrest:
Rachel Scdoris - she's back. She'll most likely never win this thing, but you can't help but cheer on the legally blind musher from Oregon. Tim Osmar will, once again, be her guide along the trail.
Dallas Seavey - The youngest musher ever to finish the race, he was 18 the day the race started in 2005. He will most likely hold the title of youngest forever (he says his parents planned it that way :laugh: ). Dallas will be entering his third Iditarod with his own team of dogs - most of which were bought out of his dad's (Mitch Seavey) kennel. He is also a World Class Wrestler and was on his way to the 2008 Olympics when illness and injury sidelined him in 2006/07. In the summer Dallas runs the Wildride Sled Dog Rodeo here in Anchorage, and just happens to be my boss (or was, not sure I'll be back for a third summer : )
Jen Seavey - Three years ago Jen Podzemny came to Alaska looking for a dog team, and she found a musher instead. Jen met and fell hard for Dallas, and they married in early 2008. I have to say they are a perfect fit, but don't think he'll be showing his wife the ropes. She already knows her way around a dog team, and this Iditarod Rookie won't be babied by her hubby or her father in law. She's been quite competitive in the mid-distance races she's entered this season, and I wouldn't put it past her to stay one step ahead of Dallas in the race.
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Iditarod 2009!!!
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(or was, not sure I'll be back for a third summer 
: )
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