A farewell note to all my fellow Passporters.... - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
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Well, in 24 hours we should be on the other side of the TSA, desperately searching for a decent cup of airport coffee. Or, we'll still be in the security line, desperately thinking that we'd rather be desperately searching for a decent cup of airport coffee....in other words, we're ALMOST there.
Before things get too crazy today, I wanted to take a moment to thank you all for your friendship and guidance since April 2007.....we started the inklings of planning this trip in March 2007 (the "Hey hon, do you think chiefy is old enough for Disney"?? conversation). And it only took me a month to find you guys....without a Passporter!!!!
Thank you all for answering countless (newbie) questions over and over and over again. With each generation of newbies you induct, the Magic and vision of Walt Disney lives on through you. You are a special group of people, and I have really enjoyed getting to know you through your posts.
Because of you (my English teacher grandfather is rolling over in his grave because I just started a sentance with because!!) our trip is probably going to be the most spectacular family vacation we've had so far. I'm not expecting things to go perfectly our way, but if/when they don't I will have back up options!!!! When my hubby asks some sort of OBVIOUS newbie question (that I have already asked all of you, but since I now know the answer, makes me a little bit better person than him !!) I will be able to offer the gentle, loving guidance that such a tender intellect requires. And (there's another one Gramps!!) if he still chooses not to listen, I will say authoratatively "But that's what the Passporters SAID!!!", and he will roll his eyes and follow along becasue he loves me that much. (That last part has actually happened on a few occasions...I'm afraid this vacation has revealed to him the depths to which I am capable of submerging myself in detail oriented, color coded, laminated cause it's important, eyes glazed over from the sheer possibliities, trip-planning frenzy)
So Thank you, sincerely, for helping me to plan the best family vacation that I am capable of, given our budget. Thank you on behalf of my son, who is getting ready for his FIRST TRIP EVER, and who for the last week has been stopping anyone who would listen (ANYONE within earshot, to be honest) "We're going to Disney on Saturday". It is for him that I worked so hard and picked your brains so often....and it is he who will truly benefit from the knowledege I have learned from you. The hubby and I are just along for the ride and the photo ops!! Thanks guys......
YOU ROCK !!!!
Okay, now I'm all teary eyed! Have a blast! Let us know how great it was when you get back, or while your there if you can! Say hi to Mickey for me and remind him it will be my turn in just 16 days!
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My 19 year old hero! Hurry home! (A.K.A. D_Stitch)
Have a wonderful magical time. We want to hear all about it and see all of your pics as soon as you get back! I am so jealous...I still have 36 days to go til I'm there!
Have a wonderful time!! I know your grandfather (despite the Because, and the And) would love how heartful and expressive your note is!! Enjoy every minute!!
That was the most BEAUTIFUL send-off! Have a FABULOUS time!!! So jealous but I'll be there in 19 days!!! Have so much fun and can't wait to hear all about it!
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