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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
Trying to be as short as possible:
My older DD, Samantha, is a quadriplegic as is her DH.
My DH's family has ALL (and I mean ALL) of their family parties at his brother's house. It is a nice house, with a pool and a large walk-out basement. We don't even go upstairs for anything - kitchen, bathrooms, bedroom, TV, pool table, etc. all in basement.
In the past, when she was younger (and not married), we would carry Samantha and her manual (fold up) wheelchair down the stairs for these parties, Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc. Now, we also have her DH, who is a large man and needs some special adaptations to his wheelchair that can't be accommodated in a manual chair. No carrying him down.
They've come to BiL's house a few times, but if it's raining, snowing, has rained recently, or is icy out - it's tough. Their wheelchairs get muddy going through the grass around to the basement. There was one time I spent over an hour outside with them, hosing off their wheels and then drying them because they got so muddy (it was in November, so it was COLD!!).
The last couple of years, they've asked people to celebrate at their house. They also have a large home with a walk-out basement and multiple kitchens. They do not have a pool, but in the fall/winter this is not really needed in Indiana.
Every single time it's suggested, everyone in the family will agree this sounds like a good idea, but will eventually back out. This is usually lead (always, but I'm trying to be nice) by DH's oldest sister. There are claims that DD has cats and people are allergic to them. Well, when BiL had cats, everyone just took allergy meds or just coped. It's too long a drive was another excuse - well, you all didn't have any problem having me drive over an hour when I was 9 months pregnant. Last Christmas the argument was that one of the nieces (the older sister's daughter) was pregnant (like 4 months) and she shouldn't have to drive that far. Her mother also claims she's allergic to cats and we shouldn't ask her to take allergy meds - even though she goes to Samantha's house a lot with no problem with the cats.
This makes it so DD can't celebrate the holidays with DH's family. They're not her 'birth' family, but DH did adopt her, and they've always claimed to love her. This all makes her feel very unloved and un-cared for. It makes me angry.
I want to nip this in the bud this year. I think a nicely worded letter, explaining that Samantha feels unloved and unwanted by the family, and that this makes DH and I very sad would be good. I don't want to say We won't be ever celebrating a holiday with them anymore, but I do. We're open to suggestions. last year we even offered to rent a hotel suite or a clubhouse type facility so we could all celebrate together. We were shot down. Nope, SiL wanted to have it at BiL's house (her brother, not her house) and that was that. All the others follow her, even DH's father.
So - any ideas? I'm tired of all my kids missing out on seeing their cousins for the holidays. I'm tired of my DH being sad he has to choose between his siblings and his kids (he always picks his kids, but it's hard).
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
Threaded Mode
