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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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But locking backs means you can neve take them off ever right? thus you cannot "trade" the pins anymore once you lock?
by the way is there much pin trading in the resorts/hotels?
I'm not too sure about never being able to take them off, but it's difficult. (I've been researching them ever since I found this thread. ) I'm putting my 'never-ever-trade-no-matter-what' pins with locking backs. Like my bottlecap collection, Mickey collection, ticket book collection and my mouse-head flag collection. The ones I get on purpose to just 'trade' I'd put on a lanyard w/o locking backs.
Pin Trading is probably one of the top most popular things to do at Disney, every CM has lanyard with pins they have to trade to the guests. It's suprising to find someone not wearing a lanyard covered in pins!
BTW : Hobby Lobby is a store that has tons of supplies for people and their hobbies, such as airplane models, sewing, general crafts, framing, etc. They have tons of crafts and stuff. Kind of like a Michael's store if you have one of those.
I found that Hobby Lobby is less expensive than Michael's and JoAnn's also.
The locking pin backs come with a mini allen wrench that you use to lock and unlock the pin backing with. The only way you'd never be able to remove them (besides breaking it off) would be if you lose the allen wrench (then you just buy another pack of locking backs and get another one, though).
A CM at DL gave me this "Disney Secret" to keep our pins on our lanyards. You'll need to take scissors with you. Most of the pins come on a black plastic card with a velour-type setting for the pin. You cut that card into squares (probably about 1/2 inch or so), push your pin through the lanyard (or whatever you're putting the pin on) and then push one of the squares onto the back of your pin (creating a new hole on the piece of the pin card; don't use the holes that are already on the pin card). Then to keep yourself from getting poked from the back of the pin, you put the original pin backing on next. It is very difficult to pull the pin off then. The mouse backing may still fall off but the pin card doesn't come off until you pull it off. The CM demonstrated it for us and it works very well. You also don't have any extra expense; just extra time to cut the pin card and put it on the back of the pin. Hope that helps!
My DH and oldest DS got big on pin trading and collecting on our last trip, and we got some of the locking backs, they come with a tiny tool for putting them on and taking them off, but they are somewhat expensive if you are looking at buying them for 40 or 50 pins like they had. so what we did was buy them to use on the "keeper" pins, and a cast member suggested we try a pack of backs they sold at their stand, they were different colors and shapes, like a sorcerers's hat, mickey hand etc. and they were much more secure than the backs that came on the pins and much less expensive than the locking ones, and the cast members they traded with always told them to keep their own backs, so a pack of 20 or so went a long way.
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12/05 FT Wilderness Cabins
10/06 POP Century
11/17 AS Sports
Just a note on the locking backs... the price is I think $9.95 for 15 backs @ the parks, but only $7.95 at the resorts. We found this out after being put off by the price @ the parks, losing a prized pin, breaking down and buying backs at POFQ gift shop. Great investment!
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Jen
Mom to 4 Disney Lovin' Kids: Kyleigh, Connor, Caden & Kellan
Kyleigh & Connor Opening the Magic Kingdom!
We use the locking ones for our "keepers" as well; but also for ones we trade, but we keep the backs -- that's how it works (I like that!). They're on eBay for 5.95 for 12 or 17.95 for 60 of them (plus shipping).
I just like to know my pins aren't going to end up in someone elses collection.
I think the locking backs cost me about $7 for a bag of 10 or 15. We had the most problems with the larger, heavier pins and less trouble with pins that had the "mickey head" backs. They are difficult to get off. I noticed that several of the CM's used the backs that you can buy at Hobby Lobby for Jewelry making. I haven't done it yet, but plan to go buy a bunch of those before we go. They are really cheap and should work like the locking backs without the hassle of unscrewing them.
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I think the locking backs cost me about $7 for a bag of 10 or 15. We had the most problems with the larger, heavier pins and less trouble with pins that had the "mickey head" backs. They are difficult to get off. I noticed that several of the CM's used the backs that you can buy at Hobby Lobby for Jewelry making. I haven't done it yet, but plan to go buy a bunch of those before we go. They are really cheap and should work like the locking backs without the hassle of unscrewing them.
Do these work well? And how much are they? I'd like to pick some of them up.
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) I'm putting my 'never-ever-trade-no-matter-what' pins with locking backs. Like my bottlecap collection, Mickey collection, ticket book collection and my mouse-head flag collection. The ones I get on purpose to just 'trade' I'd put on a lanyard w/o locking backs.
DS 3 meeting his favorite lion. how sweet !
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