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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Good luck with your training this week. Hope you and the girls had a great Valentine Dinner.
Dawn your statement on following your dream was great. I think that is why I enjoy reading your comments so much.............you are following a dream and too often we put it off for someday and someday never comes.
Dawn ~ how wonderful that you got alot accomplished over the past couple of days. Sending more for you and your girls.
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Oct '99: CSR ~ May '02: CR ~ Nov '04: SOG ~ May '06: SOG ~ Dec '07: Solo @ Pop ~ May '08: Pop w/friends ~ Oct '08: SOG ~ Dec '09: Pop w/LeAnn ~ Sept '10: Solo @ Pop ~ Spring '11: AKL ~ Jan '12: Pop for 1/2 Marathon ~ Sept '12: 1st trip for DL 1/2 Marathon? ~ Feb '13: Pop w/pals? ~ Mar '13: Tokyo Disney w/PP's?
Sadly Dawn, I see there is no time in your life right now for scrapbooking! But I hope you're documenting your experiences so that you can make an awesome scrapbook when this is over.
Glad you got caught up on your things to do. Hope you had a very nice dinner last night. The wheelchair idea sounds like a good one for your dd to be able to fully enjoy the experience! Good luck.
Call me crazy, but...I actually had a twinge of missing the Ohio cold today! It was a warm, beautiful day here, but I saw the weather back in Ohio and kinda missed being able to wear my sweaters and socks and curl up with my knitting whenever I felt like it. Yeah, then I got over it and enjoyed the sunshine!!!
Our Valentine dinner was yummy and the cupcakes were sweet. DDs used heart papers, then had heart picks to put in them. I took one in my lunch today and it made me happy. I went in at 1045, but didn't get my first break until 430!
I had a class from 2-4 today and I'm sorry, but all these videos they show us during training sessions MAKE ME CRY (and I think I'm the only one... ). Today was Walt talking about WDW. I love hearing his voice, it's like your favorite Grandpa talking to you, but here is the clip of him they left us with, "They [CMs] will be the people who give, who like to bring delight to other people, and therefore gain pleasure and satisfaction for themselves." Wow. Simply wow. He nailed it, at least for me.
One of the things I'm trying to do right now to be a better CM is to learn enough Spanish to be able to conduct a transaction and give directions (mainly to "el bano" ) I was so proud of myself for "talking money" today in Spanish several times! One guest even pointed to my "Deutsch" on my name tag and said, "German AND Spanish?" I laughed and said that I could only say VERY little, but he gave me 2 thumbs up anyway. I'm pretty sure I'll never be conversational (my brain can't think as fast as they speak!), but it makes me happy that I can make a tiny part of their visit less stressful.
I have another paper due tomorrow night that I've been struggling with. Then, I just realized I've been working on the wrong assignment for next week, too. It's my own fault for not reading the syllabus more carefully; it's a bummer that all of my thoughts/research have been geared to the wrong thing. urg. I have to admit, I'm very burned out on school. I'm more than halfway now, so I'm thinking I may take a break after this class. I can take up to 6 months off, so I'd sort of like to see where my path leads after May, try to get settled wherever that is, then start up again.
Lots of rambling today...I'm still on that adrenalin rush from how busy it was, I guess!
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Congrats Dawn for having fun and enjoying that sunshine. That quote from Walt is simply beautiful. I do hope that you reach all your dreams and that your stars shine brightly for you.
Dawn, so what has been your most enjoyable/memorable positive thing you've seen from guests?
Wow, Matt, that's a great question. I'm very happy to say that in the 5 weeks so far, I have yet to deal with one of "those" guests. Everyone has seemed happy to be there. Today, I was working at a register when a guest asked if I had a tissue, I reached for a paper towel under the counter when another guest walked up to the counter and pulled one out of her purse for him. SHE was feeling the magic and that made me warm and fuzzy. I've also seen guests in the Dinorama games hand children their unused vouchers b/c they've "won enough" or they'll give one of their prizes to a child. Or there have been guests who see a little one pin trading with me and just go give the child one of their pins. In training today, we talked about the ripple effect and how our actions as CMs impact the guests and I can honestly say that I see it happen all the time.
I also had a fun backstage moment today...Goofy was walking down toward our break area and as he passed he blew me a bunch of kisses and waved. I love how the characters even treat CMs special backstage and make US feel like we are guests, too.
Very cool! Before each trip, I order a lot of cast member pins on ebay. Then, I always end up chatting up a family with kids. I usually give one or two pins to at least one kid per day so he/she can have one and be ready to trade another. It makes me happy to see a kid get so excited!
Kisses from Goofy on Valentine's Day can't get much better then that!! lol Hope your DD's get to see the Tiger exam this week also. Have a Great Week and for the studies too, LouigiAnne
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Michelle - with my step sisters!
). Today was Walt talking about WDW. I love hearing his voice, it's like your favorite Grandpa talking to you, but here is the clip of him they left us with, "They [CMs] will be the people who give, who like to bring delight to other people, and therefore gain pleasure and satisfaction for themselves." Wow. Simply wow. He nailed it, at least for me.
I've also seen guests in the Dinorama games hand children their unused vouchers b/c they've "won enough" or they'll give one of their prizes to a child. Or there have been guests who see a little one pin trading with me and just go give the child one of their pins. In training today, we talked about the ripple effect and how our actions as CMs impact the guests and I can honestly say that I see it happen all the time.
Hope your DD's get to see the Tiger exam this week also. Have a Great Week and 
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