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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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This may be a silly question but who staffs Castaway Cay? Does DCL use the same staff from the ship or do they have employees that "live" on the island? I was just wondering. Thanks.
Last edited by Belle*; 07-19-2011 at 11:05 AM..
Reason: newsletter07212011
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They have a mixture of both. If I remember correctly, there's a resident staff of about 35-50. Each ship adds greatly to those numbers - everyone in food service comes from the ship, everyone involved in the kids programming comes from the ship. I'm not sure how much of the water safety team is from the ship, or whether they have some permanent staff on the island.
Now, in addition to the resident staff and the ship's staff, there are also Bahamians who commute over to the island when a ship is in port - mostly the hair braiders, the folks in the post office, excursion and watercraft staff, and the like.
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Co-Author, PassPorter's Walt Disney World, PassPorter's Disney Cruise Line, and PassPorter's Disneyland and Southern California Attractions
I'm intrigued by being a resident employee as well. I'd love to know what they do on days when the ships aren't in port. I guess there's a lot of maintenance to do. I'd love it if someone did an article or a book about their lives on the island....
I'm intrigued by being a resident employee as well. I'd love to know what they do on days when the ships aren't in port. I guess there's a lot of maintenance to do. I'd love it if someone did an article or a book about their lives on the island....
Cheryl, I think you just gave yourself a new assignment! Considering what a good writer you are, I think you would be perfect to write said article or book. (And just think...it would require a business trip, possibly even overnight, to get the down and dirty details!)
In April I attended the Castaway Cay animal program they offer for Platinum Castaway Club. They told us with the expansion of the Castaway Cay and the addition of the Dream they now have up to 100 cast members living on the island. They have a full time cook staff who prepares all the meals for them. They also said it is very dark at night and the mosquitoes are bad.
Island crew members live in similar quarters to the cast members on the ships. Living quarters are small. The cast members have access to a recreation room with board games, books and television, a gym, store, cafeteria and free Internet room and free access in crew areas.
Also on Castaway Cay there is a team that assists an onsite marine biologist from Epcot’s Living Seas in the ongoing care and monitoring of the island’s own group of native stingrays. That team also supports ongoing research programs such as maintaining the health of coral reefs and other marine life native to the Bahamas. When I was there last September they were actually bringing two special tanks filled with fish back on the Wonder. The fish would be quarantined for six months than added to the tank in the Living Seas.
In April I attended the Castaway Cay animal program they offer for Platinum Castaway Club. They told us with the expansion of the Castaway Cay and the addition of the Dream they now have up to 100 cast members living on the island. They have a full time cook staff who prepares all the meals for them. They also said it is very dark at night and the mosquitoes are bad.
Island crew members live in similar quarters to the cast members on the ships. Living quarters are small. The cast members have access to a recreation room with board games, books and television, a gym, store, cafeteria and free Internet room and free access in crew areas.
Also on Castaway Cay there is a team that assists an onsite marine biologist from Epcot’s Living Seas in the ongoing care and monitoring of the island’s own group of native stingrays. That team also supports ongoing research programs such as maintaining the health of coral reefs and other marine life native to the Bahamas. When I was there last September they were actually bringing two special tanks filled with fish back on the Wonder. The fish would be quarantined for six months than added to the tank in the Living Seas.
What a cool experience, Carol! I am about to hit gold status so it will be a bit before I am platinum. But would love to do that kind of presentation. I am sure the staff don't have the glamorous life we imagine when we think of living on CC!
I was at a talk with Carol and it was very interesting
They told us how they get all their fresh food from the ships so they are even more disappointed than the passengers when the ships can't dock at Castaway Cay.
They also told us that there is a colony of feral cats that live on the island. They feed and vet them.
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