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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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When you read that title, you probably think that I’m talking about my frequent trips to WDW. Well, I’m not. I mean, it does apply, but that’s not why I named my PTR what I did.
I’m taking a trip to WDW with a big family group. My parents, my brother, his family. “So that’s it!,” you say. Well, no. I mean, I’m not sick of traveling with my extended family yet, but that isn’t what inspired the title either.
It really isn’t anything to do with me at all. It’s about my parents. They’re not sick of Disney trips, they’re not sick of family trips, but what they’re really not sick of is each other! In fact, this September they will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary! I suppose that’s got a little something to do with me.
We travel together as a large group once a year. It’s usually a Disney trip (especially since many most of us don’t want to go anywhere else). This year, we’ll all be staying together at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, and we’ll be celebrating a Golden accomplishment. I think I’d be sick of anyone after 50 years. Both my parents deserve medals for putting up with each other all that time! They’re kind of kooky sometimes!
For example, the other day, I needed to call my DM about something. I called their landline, and DF answered, letting me know DM was just on her way in the door after running errands. She rushed to the phone and I told her I needed her card number for something. She was out of breath (probably ran in the house for the phone), so I offered to call her back in five minutes. She was all, “No, it’ll just take a second!”
So she put down the phone on the counter to look for her card. And I could hear her and DF in the background talking to each other. This can often be amusing for a million reasons. Anyway, I hear her ask my DF to get the card. He asks which one. She tells him. He asks which one again. She tells him again. She walks over to him and gets it. She walks back and picks up a different phone. Her cellphone, which if I know DM, was probably sitting on the counter, charging. She doesn’t always (translation: rarely) take her cellphone when she leaves the house. But that’s another frustration for another day! Now I hadn’t called her on her cellphone, remember? So I can hear her saying the numbers into a dead phone.
Of course, I can’t actually hear the numbers, so this isn’t good. Did I mention I was at work? Well, I was at work. I don’t have an office, I have a cubicle. So I’m trying to shout as quietly as I can, “Mom! You’ve got the wrong phone!” After a while, I can hear her going, “Hello? Hello?” Then my DF has a temporary moment of lucidity and realizes she’s got the wrong phone. I hear him say so. Then, finally, DM picks up the landline and we can hear each other again! I have a million stories like these. I also have a million stories like this about DF, so I can see why they aren’t sick of each other after 50 years.
I haven’t got much time before this PTR becomes a TR, so I’ll get on with the cast. I wanted to post individual pictures of everyone (and my parents’ wedding photo), but I don’t have time to do that. I can’t even find ones I haven’t posted before, so I’ll just post a couple of shots that you haven’t seen in a while.
This is one of my favorite pictures of my parents
The rest of us
The group will be my parents, Mable and Ed. My DB Eric and his family were due to join us, but now it’s looking like they won’t be able to make it. Eric is the only one out of the group that definitely can come, but I’m not sure he wants to drive down from Atlanta by himself, so we’ll see what happens. I’m hoping there will be an outbreak of illness and they will have to skip work and/or school. DB Ed and DSIL Jackie and their three boys Noah, Daniel and Isaiah round out the group (which, if you haven’t figured out, also includes me ).
Up Next: Wow, that’s a lot of planning!
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
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Nothing better than finishing off a Princess Sharon TR to start a new one . What a great picture of your parents, definitely a wonderful milestone to be celebrating!!!
Can't wait to hear all about your plans...and love your choice of resorts.
Sharon, !!! That is such a funny story with the phone! I can totally picture it in my head and I'm cracking up! Can't wait to hear all about this years family trip!
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Tanya
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You parents sound hysterical....without meaning to be...
So fabulous you can celebrate such a momentous occasion at WDW. Love the pic of your parents at the GF...you can tell they are amazingly in love just by the way they are gazing at each other.
Can't wait to hear about all the plans!
danielle
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~Shoot for the moon, if you miss, you will land among the stars~
Our trips overlap! I will keep an eye out for you all and if you see a red haired girl starting every other sentence with "Princess Sharon said..." then you will of found me!
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Fifty years and still smiling! Love the phone story. Sad to say, that sounds like something "I" would do, including not remembering my cell when I leave the house. I hope Eric and family end up coming along. They missed last year, too, didn't they?