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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 have WDW vacation booked for President's Day weekend, Wed thru Tues. We had been planning on letting the kids know on Christmas, but they were so excited by other presents we just never got around to it. Now I'm wondering if we should let them know before or just wait until the day of? Our flight leaves at 3, so we won't have to leave home until 12:30. I'm thinking about sending them to school like normal and doing all of my packing that morning, then picking them up from school. Any suggestions?
The idea of sending hem to schol while you pack and then get them in time for flight, sounds like a great plan (if you can do it all very quickly and can keep the secret that morning as you send them off to school). Lots of people do these kinds of surprises, and I bet th kiddos love these kinds of surprises. (I know I would love someone to tell me we are going to the airport...heading to Disney and everything is packed and ready to go)!
I love your idea! I'm going to try to pull off the same thing next month....except our flight leaves in the morning, so we'll wake them with the news. I think it's something your kids will never forget! I don't know if I could pack in just a few hrs. Is there a place to hide a suitcase so you could get a head start? Good Luck with your plans!!
I had a friend who told the kids they were going to 6 flags-what a surprise. I wouldn't tell your kids and pick them up and drive to the airport and see if they figure it out. If not let them be surprise when you get to Florida.
I picked my kids up from school early for a labor day weekend camping trip. When they got home I let them watch a dvd that at the end told them they were going to Disney World and we were leaving right now. The excitement was amazing. The whole way to the airport my 8 year old kept saying I can't believe we are going to disney again
I've planned a surprise trip for DD's 8th bday 3/2-3/6. originally we had a 3:55 flight, for which i would have had to pick her up from school at 1:30ish. The original plan was to pick her up, no prior notice, and just drive to the airport...see if she guessed it when she saw we were at the airport.
But, now I've changed the flight and we leave at 12:15 instead. I'd have to get her from school by 10 and since she doesn't even start til 9 and has a special at 9:30, seems silly to even send her! LOL! So, as of right now, my plan is to "over sleep" and then wake up and run around like a mad person "getting ready" for school and have to drive to school cause she missed the bus...but we'll go to the airport instead.
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I did a surprise trip in Oct '09 --- 8 months of secret planning --- was SOOO HARD TO CONTAIN MY & DH's excitement, but SOOOO WORTH IT! The kids actually helped plan where to have TSs, parks or things to do, etc. as I told them I was helping teachers plan their trip. Then I secretly packed (wrote a list for each person) and quietly put clean clothes aside. (Given, Oct. here usually is not warm and easier to pack shorts and all). Day before, DH took them out for a few hours while I finished packing and put the suitcases into the trunk.
Next day, a school day, woke them up early (5 am--- had to leave by 5:30 AM) saying Grandma called and we need to go pick Papa up from the airport (took a red-eye in from Auntie's) for her and we would skip morning part of school and surprise him and have breakfast. Parked @ airport saying it was under construction and we needed to park to get him. Even w/ the t-shirts we made telling them WDW or Bust 2009... they still thought we were getting Papa! Then when they did a double take, they realized there were 4 carry-on suitcases (that's all I packed) in the trunk! And the airport shuttle man video taped it all! PRICELESS!!! And they even had their school bags with them, SCout shirt on, etc.. as a normal school day! We were even able to be Flag Family @ WL on the trip!
I will NEVER be able to pull something like this off again, but I can say I truly gave me kids a "surprise of a lifetime" once and to a place we as a family love sooo much! Keep it a surprise!!
The surprise is so worth it for sure. Did that in 2009-got them up for "school", said Dad was heading out for his work trip(to cover an oops of Dad's when they overheard him talking about going to Florida) and that he wanted a msg taped to take with him(to explain the video camera) could they please sit on couch and say a few words for Dad(lots of grumping etc)....then I said "Boys, I know what we're gonna do today..." handed them the luggage tags. Took a bit for them to believe us until I really had to stress that they really needed to get dressed or we would miss our flight. That whole first day, even walking around the resort, they just kept saying they couldn't believe it and kept thanking us! Have fun no matter what you decide!
We tried one trip and it didn't work. We packed and loaded the car during school hours and had him in pajamas and went on a drive. We told him we were just going for a drive and to watch his movie and fall asleep. We woke up in the resort parking lot. As soon as he woke up he said "oh we're at disney, i have to pee). But then we got about 2 times a year so he just believes it is his birthright. We were able to suprise him a little better for our cruise. We wanted to have a character call the night we were leaving but that wasn;t available so we had it the night before. He was super excited. He did know that we were planning a suprise for the weekend since he was off of school.
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Then I secretly packed (wrote a list for each person) and quietly put clean clothes aside. (Given, Oct. here usually is not warm and easier to pack shorts and all). Day before, DH took them out for a few hours while I finished packing and put the suitcases into the trunk. 
Keep it a surprise!!
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