Forums Closed
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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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Best wishes for a wonderful and magical new year!
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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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12-16-2010, 05:10 PM
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#1
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PassPorter Guide
 Community Rank: Globetrotter 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 3,041
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Feature Article: Getting There is Half the Fun - Enjoy the Planning Part of Your Trip
Getting There is Half the Fun - Enjoy the Planning Part of Your Trip
by Dr. Kenne Whitson
I love the new Walt Disney World commercials that show families surprising their children with a trip to Disney on the day they are leaving. The reactions are classic! But for our family's first visit to Walt Disney World we decided to go a different route. If you have ever planned a Walt Disney World vacation you already know that it is quite an undertaking. Finances, scheduling, reservations, hotels, flights; it can almost be overwhelming, if it weren't so totally worth all of the effort. So as I began to plan our vacation, I decided to make it a process that lasted the year instead of just the one-time event. By doing this we were able to have our Walt Disney World experience last us all year long. There are many ways to approach your vacation, but I hope that the ideas we had will get your creative juices flowing so that your next trip will be all the more enjoyable.
As with most things, this family event started out as just a dream. After many years of Walt Disney World commercials, followed by "We should go there!" comments, I had the opportunity to visit the Walt Disney World resort for a conference in January. It was while I was visiting the Magic Kingdom for my first time that I decided, "We're doing it!"; and began planning.
I immediately headed over to the Toontown Hall of Fame Tent and got in line to meet the Princesses. My youngest daughter is four and loves all things Princess. I waited in line and then had my picture taken talking with the princesses and this was when they "invited" us to return and meet them as a family. When I arrived home from the trip I showed my daughter and son the pictures and told them that the princesses wanted to meet them, so we were going to go and see them. The kids were ecstatic and thus began the daily ritual of answering the proverbial, "Are we going to Disney today?" At that point we had 297 days until we left and we loved it every time she asked. The next surprise for the kids came two months later, when I arranged for them both to receive calls from Mickey and Minnie Mouse. The prerecorded calls were found through an Internet search and they once again had their "Disney fires" stoked. Next I ordered custom maps and the Disney vacation video from the Disney web site.
The maps arrived first, about four months before the trip, and we pored over them for several nights, dreaming about what things we would do. Three months to go and the video arrived! We watched with mounting anticipation as our dreams were laid out before us on the DVD. Now we all woke up each morning asking, "Do we get to go to Walt Disney World today?"
With two months until our departure I ordered us all Mickey Mouse ears and we wore them as we watched the DVD once more and scoured our maps. At this point we were walking salespeople for Walt Disney World. Anyone who asked us how or what we were doing was bombarded with plans for vacation. We were raring to go!
When the day arrived for us to leave for our trip, we loaded up and boarded our plane for the family's first plane ride together. We had planed to arrive early in the afternoon so that we could spend our first night in the Magic Kingdom. As we rounded the corner on Main Street USA and saw the castle for the first time I watched as both the kids' eyes filled with wonder, and then accepted hugs of thanks. We had managed to turn a year of preparation into a little vacation in and of itself.
There are many ways to prepare your family for a trip to Walt Disney World, but we sure did enjoy the experience of building anticipation together.
Added to PassPorter's Article Collection on 12-13-2010 11:12 AM
What do you think? Please add your own comments, experiences, or news related to this article in this thread! Reader feedback is welcomed and encouraged.
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