Forums Closed
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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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Best wishes for a wonderful and magical new year!
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01-20-2005, 10:35 PM
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#1
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Community Rank: Adventurer 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Hudson Valley, NY
Posts: 621
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Nautical Nonsense - AKA Travel Agents in the World
Cast of Characters
Jeannine, 31 – wife and mother of a two year old, whose main goal of this trip is to break in her new baby – the Canon Digital Rebel. 
Courtney, 24 – wife and currently 5 months pregnant, whose main goal is to eat her way around the world. Literally. 
And, Courtney’s baby, in utero (does that count as a character?) 
When will we be there?
Arriving: Tuesday, January 25 (for Courtney), Wednesday, January 26 (for Jeannine)
Departing: Monday, January 31
Where are we staying?
All-Star Music (for Courtney’s first night), Yacht Club, and Coronado Springs
Why did we pick these resorts?
Since Courtney can’t fly into Orlando any earlier than 3pm on the airline she’s using, she needed to fly in a day before the travel agent program began. (Which may also help with her jet lag, so she doesn’t sleep through the first four hours of the travel agent program.  Because that would be embarrassing.) Since All-Star Music is her favorite value resort, and she will only be sleeping there for one night (and will only be sleeping, or will be up half the night watching infomercials since she can’t fall asleep) it seemed like a perfect choice.
We both decided we wanted to stay an extra day after the travel agent program was over, and Jeannine is a value resort snob (Courtney’s convinced she needs a slide in the swimming pool to be happy), we chose Coronado Springs, a resort Jeannine hasn’t tried yet, and Courtney wishes she could live in. And besides, Jeannine will need a strong margarita by then,  after she spends a week with a pregnant woman.
Disney chose the Yacht Club  for our lodging during the travel agent program, and we decided not to argue with them about that. Stormalong Bay’s slide will be closed, but the rest of the pool will be open, and we have been told we will be allowed to use the Keister Coaster at the Boardwalk Inn, should we feel the strong urge to slide at any point during our stay.
How are we getting there?
Courtney will be using a credit from a previously booked Southwest trip to fly to Orlando, connecting in Albuquerque. Southwest decided that it would be intelligent to have only a 40 minute “layover” (can they even call it that? Like Courtney will have time to “lay” anywhere?) between flights. It’s a good thing Albuquerque isn’t a big airport. Courtney will be arriving at Walt Disney World on Tuesday afternoon at 3pm (which of course means she has to leave San Diego bright eyed and bushy tailed at 6:30am).
Jeannine, keeping in the Music theme (and in case you missed it, the music theme being that Courtney is spending the first night at All-Star Music…pay attention people!), will be flying on Delta Song arriving Wednesday afternoon.
Both of us are using the Mears shuttle to get into Walt Disney World, as provided by the travel agent program. Courtney will be using Mears on the way out as well, while Jeannine, who will be tired of Courtney by the 31st, has an early flight, and will be using Quicksilver for her escape. Gregory at Quicksilver has chosen to charge Jeannine a special travel agent rate of one million dollars.  He also mentioned that gratuity is not included. Thanks Gregory! 
Courtney will also be using Quicksilver for a side trip on Wednesday morning…more about that later. (And since she is a better tipper, her rate was not nearly as high as Jeannine’s. 
Why are we going?
Disney Travel Agent Graduate Program (and a little fun on the side, since the hubsters aren’t coming!)
Who will we see there?
Besides the usual folks: Mickey, Cinderella, and Winnie-the-Pooh, we’re hoping to meet up with Kristin (lkmom) and her family, and run into Kelley (MegglesMom). We probably won’t REALLY run into her,  because we don’t want to knock her down. It’s her birthday. That wouldn’t be nice.
What will we be doing while we’re there?
Most of the time, we will be occupied with the travel agent program, but in our spare time, our tentative plans include a trip to Pleasure Island (where Courtney will be the designated driver…er…designated walker) to visit the Adventurer’s Club, extra magic hours at Disney-MGM Studios, miniature golf (we’ll be flipping a coin to decide which course), a visit to Beaches N Cream  (is any trip to WDW complete without it?) lots of buffets for Courtney, and at least one character breakfast. Must-do rides include Aladdin’s Magic Carpets, Stitch’s Great Escape, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, and Peter Pan. And Jeannine will be attacking the mountains of the Magic Kingdom, while Courtney eats ice cream/French fries/turkey legs/hot dogs. Maybe we’ll find some time to sleep and go to the bathroom.
Stay tuned  because you won't want to miss the fun filled trip report when we get back... 
Jeannine and Courtney |
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