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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I thought I might pick up where Lauren is leaving off.
My WDW Professional Internship was cancelled due to the economy, but I've been accepted into the Spring 2009 College Program and am leaving in 2 days to head toward Orlando (via Oklahoma). I check in on 1/7 and will find out my work location on 1/8! It has been a lifelong dream to be a Disney Cast Member and it is finally coming true. Surreal is the best way to describe the feeling.
For those who don't know, I have 4 DDs, ages 23, 20, 12, and 10. The older 2 were College Program participants in years past and both are now Cast Members at WDW, they loved it so much. The 23yo is at the resort call center (she answers calls for all the different resorts) and my 20yo is currently a Fairy Godmother in Training at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, but she starts training for the Kim Possible attraction Opening Team on 1/4, so that's very exciting for her!
My younger 2 are homeschooled and will be going with me. We will be living "offsite", so I won't have the insight into the housing complexes that my DDs did, but will be able to talk about the challenges of being a "non-traditional" College Program Cast Member.
My role is in Merchandise (just like my older DDs started out!), so I could be pretty much anywhere that has a shop (and we know how many of THOSE there are ) I did specifically request to work in the Animal Kingdom...I could use some pixie dust for that dream to come true!
Having had CPers for DDs, it's not all brand spankin' new to me, but actually being the one there with the Cast Member ID making the magic myself is something I'm REALLY looking forward to! I can't wait to share my experiences and meet anyone who is coming to WDW between mid-January and May 15th!
We've never corresponded directly ... but your posts are always so honest and open that they're required reading!!
I just wanted to let you know how AWESOME I think it is that you are living your dream. Your daughters are lucky to be able to see a mom who understands that life is about the choices that we make --- and that you are willing to make sacrifices for your and your families' happiness. I imagine that it will be hard doing the whole "uprooting thing." But you're teaching your daughters such an important lesson about obstacles and how they are only as tough as you make them ... you're moving mountains to do what you need to do! And it's so cool!
I wish you the very best of luck as you embark on your journey... and I, for one, will be looking for your "New Adventures" posts!
GOOD LUCK!
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-- Bri
Last edited by DisneyBri; 12-25-2008 at 05:38 PM..
Reason: spelling
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Location: Cypress....Deep in Southern Illinois, close enough to see the Kentucky blue grass
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Dawn I wish the best of luck and and am inspired by your starting a new career at an age where most would never consider it. I would love to be you but am too scared to let go of my safety net. I believe you will be able to give a different perspective to those you will be with and a great role model for your daughters.
Dawn... I think that it is just awesome that you get to live your Disney dream. I hope you get to work in the Animal Kingdom and that your new adventure leads to bigger and better things for you in the World of Disney and beyond. Let us know where you will be at I would love to pop in one day
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Aug,1978- LBV;Apr,1987-Disneyland;March,1993-offsite;Jan,1997-offsite;Aug,1999- CBR;Sept,2000- ASMo;Aug,2001- ASSP;Aug,2002- ASMU/AKL;Jan & July 2003-POR;June,December 2004- PC;January 2005- ASMU; Aug 2005-PC;Dec 2005-AKL;Jan 2006-CBR ; July/Aug-Saratoga springs; Dec. PC;April 2007- Disneyland;Aug 2007-Disneyland & So Cal;Dec 2007-POFQ; Aug2008-POFQ & Nov 2008 PC,Y&B May 2009 ASmu, June 2009 PC ; Nov 2009 WL & POFQ;Jan 2010 BW & WL; June 2010 POFQ ; Aug 2010 Poly ;Oct 2010 WL; Jan 2011 PC
So proud of you and the time and prayer you put in on this!! Let us know where you are as I may actually get 2 trips next year!! One some time around March and the other in Sept. And I want to pop by to say Hello if possible. I feel like weve been friends for years, so I say as a friend........ROCK ON DAWN, you'll knock em dead!!
I am so happy for you! The CP sure looks like an open window solution to your internship closed door. Give me a call or pm me after I get there, too ! We can get together when we both have free time (I know, what's that, right?) and compare notes.
Good luck with everything Dawn!! I wish you were staying until July so I could meet you!! How strange that you probably live close to me here in Ohio and I could have met you in Disney! I did have the wonderful experience of meeting your daughter at BBB and she is such a lovely young lady!
Location: Exported from Morgantown, WV to Shreveport, LA
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Dawn, I just want to thank you for reminding me that it's never too late to achieve our goals. Although I'm still in my 20's, sometimes it gets easy to fall into a rut and think, "Oh, I'm at this point in my life where I could NEVER do ___________." But watching you achieve so much lately, with you going back to school, and now working for Disney, you've reminded me that the only excuse that truly stands in my way is myself. So and
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! We can get together when we both have free time (I know, what's that, right?) and compare notes.
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