Live, Laugh, Relax with Cam and Fam Completed 7/31 - Page 85 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We have really enjoyed reading your trip report. Thank you for bringing some Disney magic to us! We hope to try our hands at writing a trip report for our December trip. Hopefully we have learned a thing or two from you.
Sorry your trip report has ended. We will be in withdrawal!
Great wrap up Cam, although I have to say I'm sorry its finished! I really enjoyed reading the updates every day! Looking forward to seeing you next June!
I spent quite a bit of time catching up, Cam. As always, you have a wonderful way of showcasing your trip through words and pics. Thanks for taking us all along; it has been a great ride! Love the final thoughts, especially about not getting it all done but enjoying family time....we are much the same way.
Danielle
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~Shoot for the moon, if you miss, you will land among the stars~
Thank you, thank you, Cam! This was a wonderful report and I'm going to miss the daily installments. I hope you start your pre-trip report for next June very early. I'm not sure I can wait until June for my dose of Stefanisms. She is just a joy!
Thank you so much for sharing your trip report with all of us! I got a bit teary eyed at your last line .
I cannot tell you how much I have appreciated your insights and observations. Our family does better with things when we know what to expect (I think that was a reason for the tough trip last year). After having read your TR and seen all of your pohotos, I feel like I have already been to the BC. I have "been" to the lobby. I know how to walk through the international gateway. I know not to leave my towel unattended at SAB. You have brought it to life for me. I will feel like I am returning to an old familiar place.
In addition to making me feel good about our trip, your TR also altered a few plans for us--we added an ADR for 1900 Park Fare (that took persistence!). I have made notes to stop at Basin for Dr Spot. We have made Sum of all Thrills a top priority for our DS. I know there are others that escape my mind at the moment.
I love how you divided your final thoughts up into different categories. I may have to borrow that structure.
Great wrap up Cam! I loved reading your TR and living vicariously through you! I am glad you all had such a great vacation and enjoyed Beach Club. Our plans for next year (*fingers crossed that Tim gets the time off from work*) will be us hopefully staying at the Beach Club June 11 - June 19. This will be our first WDW vacation being DVC members!! I had Tim & Bri look over your TR and they fell in love even more with the Beach Club!
Enjoyed your final thoughts! I know that you guys are palnning away for your next trip...as I am planning like crazy for ours!!!! Cant wait for your PTR! I should be starting mine here very soon!
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Me and Cole in the Sears Tower Skydeck, 103 floors up, in a glass box hanging off the side!
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for me you are the gold standard of trip reports, as I've started mine I keep thinking, I wish I'd gotten a photo of this or that? Oh well, next time, I did take over 500 pics on a 4 day trip but I've narrowed it down to 189 favorites!