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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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A lady that I'll call J works for me. Her son was just diagnosed with bipolar about six months ago, and he refuses to take the medicine. He is 17 now, but quit school when he turned 16. He hangs around at her house all day, and has friends over. He is taking and selling drugs. He was selling to a guy a few weeks ago and that guy pulled a gun on him. So, Wednesday night she walks in the door, and her son and a friend are walking out. He borrows her car and says he'll be home later. Fast forward to Thursday morning, and no son or car. She tries his cell phone several times to see where he is at, and there is no answer. She finally finds out where he is at about 7:00 at night, he was in jail.
She called me almost in tears Thursday night, telling me that she is going to have to miss work again on Friday. She was going to have to take a taxi to get her car out of the tow yard. I ended up taking her to pick up her car and had to lend her $100, because it was $283 to get the car out.
She has tried to get her son counseling, medicine, and all kinds of help; but he just keeps dumping on her. She works two jobs, and has money problems now. Her ex-husband's house is paid for, his car is paid for, and has a ton of money in savings. He also sells pot, that is why she divorced him. He acts like he isn't\doesn't want to help. He was on a fishing trip with some buddies, and acts as if this is cutting into his time.
Would you bail the son out risking your house or car, even your credit to the extent you may have to file bankruptcy? I'm not sure what else I can do for her. I've tried to tell her that she can't ruin her life for his. She says she agrees, but she still hangs on to something in the back of her mind.
I think the time has come that she's got to cut the cord, no matter how hard it hurts (easy for me to say, I'm not in her position)! Will the son go live with his DDad? Since he's still under 18, does the DDad have any financial obligation to him so that he has to help her out, or because he's no longer in school, none of that applies?
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It's a tough call to make and I don't envy this woman's position. I think i'd leave my kid in jail, but then again, it hasn't happened to me. I think it may be time for some real tough love for this kid.
That's a tough decision to make, especially when it's happening to someone you love. Without trying to sound like a Monday morning quarterback, if she leaves him in jail and let the courts have at him the courts might decide to place him where he can get the medical help he needs for his bipolar disorder. I'm just saying maybe. I don't really know.
It's a tough call to make and I don't envy this woman's position. I think i'd leave my kid in jail, but then again, it hasn't happened to me. I think it may be time for some real tough love for this kid.
I totally agree! My parents went through something simular with my older sister (alcohol though) and left her in jail until they HAD to come and get her. After that they told us both that if we ever were in jail again....plan on staying there since they weren't bailing us out. Then they decided that if we weren't going to school (which we were at that time) that we would have to work, pay rent or get out. I know that they were practicing tough love and that it was hard at the time, but we both turned out great because of it. I also think that since they had already raised 3 boys, they were tired by the time they got to us.
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As a product of tough love, and a practicer of it, I have to say - leave him there.
She didn't put him there, he did. She did nothing illegal, he did.
HIS choices.
BiPolar does not mean stupid or retarded. He's a reasonably intelligent enough person to be able to understand: "The drugs will help with your disease. If you choose not to take them, they won't work. You will not get any better."
I've seen quite a few families destroyed from spending all of their time/energy/money on people who are biPolar and not sticking to the protocol.
Personally, I would insist the son get his GED (which can then be taken to the local High School, and he can be given a diploma and listed on the graduating roster), and that he is required to get and KEEP a job, and pay rent. Medication is mandatory.
If he didn't do those things, and he were my child, I'd have him declared emancipated, and give him 4 weeks to leave. Then, change the locks and the codes to any alarms or garage door openers.
I know it sounds harsh, but my Dad and Step-mama did it to one of her kids, and he is now one of the most successful of the bunch of us. And thanks Dad all the time for "Making me grow up".
I agree with all the good advice given already. My nephew is bipolar and was involved with drugs. His parents were going through a divorce and were to wrapped up in their problems, so it got dumped onto my parents. Being grandparents it was a lot harder for them to be tough with him. Finally after he began stealing from them and giving them a hard time, they told him that he had to leave and get help. He lived in a homeless shelter for a few months before he went for help. He is now living in a group home and doing a lot better. It is never easy to see someone you love in a bad situation but sometimes it is the best thing for them.
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What a sad situation. I can't even begin to comprehend if I were in her shoes what I'd do with my kids. My head says tough-love time but my heart says "that's YOUR child". I hope she gets some professionals involved no matter what....she needs that assistance.
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Lots of for her - but I agree the tough love route may be the only way at this point. And I would find out if Dad is responsible LEGALLY and force his involvement.
The dad gave up the money for a bail bondsman. He was released sometime on Saturday.
J said she wasn't sure she picked up the right kid. She said that he was yes sir and no sir to the bond guy. She also said that when she got him home, he asked for some money to go get his hair cut, and asked if he could have some new clothes. He said that he wasn't going to be able to get a job with his current wardrobe.
She walked into my office this morning and handed me the money I lent her and a card. I opened the card after she left and it was from her son. He was thanking my wife and I for helping out his mother with getting her car.
I hope he has seen the light. She said he came out and said he never wanted to go back in. They put him in the maximum security part of the prison. The closest person to his age was about 10 years older, and there was four all together. They all yelled at him and told him he needed to get his act together. They all held hands and prayed for him.
So, thanks for everyone's pixies. I think they helped him come around.
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