I'm waiting for my heart to stop pounding - Page 2 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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What is it with the bears this year? We had one on Cape Cod this spring-- he made it as far down as Provincetown. There ARE no bears on the Cape! (They finally caught him and moved him to central MA, where he has at least a chance of finding a mate.
You and Charlie-- watch out!
YIKES! I don't want it in Central MA either!!
Sorry about your bear scare!! Too close for comfort if you ask me!
Karen, unless you are in Worcester proper, I'm going to guess there are some bears around. If they have enough territory, they seldom venture where there are people. I'm wondering if the mild winter upped the survival rate here. We have had several mothers and cubs sited nearby.
Good idea about the bells. Make a lot of noise and hopefully they will hear and smell you before you see them. I am not as concerned about bears as I am about the big cats. Now, they scare me.
What is it with the bears this year? We had one on Cape Cod this spring-- he made it as far down as Provincetown. There ARE no bears on the Cape! (They finally caught him and moved him to central MA, where he has at least a chance of finding a mate.
You and Charlie-- watch out!
I am from the Cape, sitting smack dab in the middle of it as I type this, and no in 34 years since I was born at Cape Cod Hospital, there has been no bears! Sharks... Bears :
Alaska is having a big bear year too, blackies and brownies are all over the place. Unfortunately several have already had be to shot..... Mostly because people can't seem to just leave them alone and play nice with the bears. Some people see great big teddy bears instead of wild, unpredictable animals with very long claws and sharp teeth or they just HAVE to get that perfect picture.
I check my yard each morning before letting the dog out just in case and I have never had one in the my neighborhood.....however in the past I had one looking in my office window (I had a basement office at the time so the window was at ground level) and I live a mile from my office, so it's not out of the realm of possibility. I, also, have a friend that has been having bears in her back yard for the past several years too. She apparently lives on a moose migration route and the bears follow the Mama Mooses and their new babies.....that's just snacks on the hoof as far as the bears are concerned!
All I can say is this.....make lots of noise while out walking in potential bear areas. Getting the bells is a good idea. Also, a canister of bear spray is something that our scout troop takes with it on every trip. Keep Charlie leashed and under control and take a buddy!! And if you do encounter a bear.....DO NOT RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!! Back away slowly and make yourself as big as possible....a walking stick can help with this (it makes you look taller and might fool the bear into thinking that you are bigger than him). Also, watch the area around you....look for the bears, cubs, scat or kills. Mostly just being aware of what is around you will do the trick. Nothing is foolproof, but you can be smart about getting out and about.
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Jennifer / Eeyore is my favorite!!
OMG - He's sooooo grown up!!!! And an EAGLE SCOUT!! I can still remember my cute little Tiger Cub! 2016 Reading Goal - 75 books
Start talking to the dogs/people while you walk. Loud enough that a bear can pick up on it. Most maulings/attacks are because a bear is SURPRISED to see you there and thinks you've gotten the jump on them. Fight or Flight... bears tend to the former, humans the latter. And if you do encounter a bear, talk calmly and softly to it while BACKING away - don't turn your back, and no sudden moves...
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My DS texted me Thursday morning. He commutes to school from one part of NH to the seacoast area where UNH is. He is taking a summer course there. He told me he had to stop the car and let a bear cub cross the road. He told me it was small, about the size of our Golden Retriever. I bet Mama bear was nearby! Living in the Boston area, my response was, "That's my kind of commuting traffic!" However, I wouldn't have wanted to be on foot walking my dog and run into Mama and Baby Bear!
Most people haven't seen bears, even when they live nearby. I did a little more research and the wildlife officials think we have 3 known families. Two in the south of town, where there are a couple of good sized conservation properties and one here in the north of town, where the landfill (now capped) is and a town forest around it. I live on a good sized brook that's stocked with trout, so I'm guessing, it was coming/going fishing.
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I've seen deer, wild turkey, coyote, and lots of small woodland creatures in the woods behind my house, but thankfully never a bear. I would not be surprised to see one though! There is not nearly enough wooded area for one to live "comfortably", but given they are taking up residence on the Cape now...
I talked to another neighbor this morning and she said someone up the street I am now walking on has a motion detector/camera and they have captured the bears several time at night. They are a family of three.
I actually feel better knowing they have been around for some time and yesterday was the closest I came to seeing one.
Sorry, One Little Sparks, I misinterpreted what you said. I actually was impressed that the Cape Cod bear may have swam over. I am assuming crossing a canal but that's a lot of stamina.
Sorry, One Little Sparks, I misinterpreted what you said. I actually was impressed that the Cape Cod bear may have swam over. I am assuming crossing a canal but that's a lot of stamina.
No problem, when I reread my comments I could totally see why you thought that. So the rumor on Cape...that someone tried to keep it as a pet and released it. Not a lot of people here seem to believe it swam across the canal.