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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 think that I read this somewhere on this website, that sometimes they have a club for 11-13 or 14 years old? Does anyone know about this or have experience with this? I would like my children to stay together and they will be 11 and 13 at the time we sail.Thanks for any help. Deanna
The Stack is the teen club on the Magic (13-17). The Lab would be for your younger child (8-12). They might let the 13 YO go down to the Lab to be with his/her sibling, but they won't let the 11 YO into the Stack!
Last year at certain times of the day, they let kids up to 14 into the Lab (or quest, I can't remember the exact name). DS was 14 at the time and although he did spend most of his time in the Stack, he did go the Lab, too. We were on the Magic last April.
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When we sailed on the Magic in December the Stack was for 13-17, Quest was for 10-12, and Lab was for 8-10. They do move the kids around for different activities, so they do not get bored with being stuck in the same environment all the time. Some mornings the 10-12s are in the Stack (since teens tend to sleep late), other times they go to Lab while the 8-10s go to Quest.
When we sailed on the Magic in December the Stack was for 13-17, Quest was for 10-12, and Lab was for 8-10. They do move the kids around for different activities, so they do not get bored with being stuck in the same environment all the time. Some mornings the 10-12s are in the Stack (since teens tend to sleep late), other times they go to Lab while the 8-10s go to Quest.
The two posts about The Stack didn't sound right to me. We sailed on the Magic in June 2008. I just went and double checked my Navigator and this is what it states for the Magic:
Oceaneer Club is ages 3-7 (I think they kind of divide the kids up ages 3-4 and 5-7, at least that's what they did when my kids were younger).
Oceaneer Lab is ages 8-10.
Ocean Quest is in a seperate area (on the Magic) on deck 2. That is for ages 11-13. (So Deanna, if you are sailing on the Magic, your kids would both be in Ocean Quest, which is what you wanted.)
The Stack is for ages 14-17.
I know this because this is the reason we are sailing on the Magic again this summer vs. the Wonder. My kids will be 13 and 17 when we sail. They prefer to have a "vacation" from each other for part of our vacation , so this is the last year we will sail until oldest doesn't vacation with us anymore. The ages for the teen club on the Wonder are 13-17, which won't work for us to have the kids in seperate clubs.
Each of my kids loved their seperate clubs and thought it was the best vacation ever. DH and I thought it was a great vacation, too. We did a few days of vacation before the cruise and had lots of nice family time. Then on the cruise, we had the perfect blend of family time doing excursions, meals, etc. and also husband and wife time when the kids were in the clubs. We never have time alone at home, so this was wonderful.