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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Please don’t take pictures with baby animals or any animals during your travels!
I just returned last week from a Western Caribbean cruise on the Fantasy. I was pretty upset by something I saw at Costa Maya. There was a tent at the port where a man was selling pictures with baby leopard cubs for $25 each. It was called “Cubs Paradise 4 Help” and they claimed to give the proceeds to a Wildlife refuge in Mexico City. I could tell right away something was fishy about it. People were paying to get a picture of holding the animals while they cried & struggled. The man was handling the cubs very angrily and roughly by the scruff when they wouldn’t get in the right position for the photo. They were just being passed from visitor to visitor in the heat. When I returned home, I immediately searched the internet and sure enough, there is no such refuge that the proceeds goes to.
What I found out was awful… It turns out these babies are taken from their mother very early and routinely drugged in order to make them more docile. They sometimes have their mouths wired shut or their claws and teeth removed. And worse, when they grow too large, they are either killed or sold to a filthy roadside zoo or circus to live out their lives in tiny cages.
These photo ops are immoral, not only because they are wild animals, but they are also dangerous to travelers. Wild animals carry E. coli which can infect passengers and crew. Not to mention, they are wild animals that can attack.
I know it’s hard to resist… I wanted nothing more than to hold them, but please don’t do it. And if you see other people waiting in line to do it, please tell them the truth. Because it is a third world country, there are no laws against this and so the only way these criminals will go away is if they don’t make money from it.
If you're interested in more info: Photo Props
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That is awful. I am constantly appalled at these people that take advantage of others whether human or animal for their own gain. Makes me sick!!! Thanks for making people aware of this!!!
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Thank you for the information. I would probably have felt sorry for them on my own, but I have logged your comments into my brain & will never pay to have photos taken with animals while on vacation.
I feel sorry for the horses that I see with the carts in Cozumel & I even feel sorry for many, many animals that are used for entertainment in our own country. I am not a tree huger, a vegan or a vegetarian. We in fact have tons of our own animals both livestock & pets. Any animals in our care are treated with love & respect.
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Planning a trip to WDW is like planning a wedding... If you expect things to be flawless, you will be sadly disappointed. If you know that there will be less than perfect times & decide to just laugh them off, then you will be excited when you find the magic all around you.
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Maybe Disney should talk about those kinds of scams when they have the port info sessions. I hope more people read this post and ignore the horrible scam artists.
Maybe Disney should talk about those kinds of scams when they have the port info sessions. I hope more people read this post and ignore the horrible scam artists.
I emailed DCL to suggest exactly this and got the response that I half expected...
"Please be assured that, as a company, we genuinely care about the
treatment of animals. However, we hope you understand that the company
you mentioned in your email is not owned or operated by Disney Cruise
Line and we do not promote or support its activities."
I do understand that DCL doesn't own or operate this company, but I do think they could warn people away from certain scams at various ports, especially ones that are right there as you get off the boat...
I do understand that DCL doesn't own or operate this company, but I do think they could warn people away from certain scams at various ports, especially ones that are right there as you get off the boat...
I don't know law but I would think from a legal standpoint, Disney (or any other cruise line) can't get involved otherwise they could end up with some sort of lawsuit on their hands. No one (or company) is going to purposely put themselves in that kind of position. And IMO that's exactly what Disney would end up doing if they tried to tell people to avoid those businesses. All they can really do is what they already are - say they don't promote or support it.
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