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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We will be cruising soon on the Magic with our 11 and 9yo boys. We were on the Magic last when they were 5 and 3.
I'm sure they both will love all the activities available.
My worry is about my 11yo. I understand that he will be able to come and go at will to the Edge club for Tweens.
So when he is moving about the ship, how can we keep in touch with him and know where he is and what he's doing, and how can he find us when he needs us?
I'm not worried that he'll be looking for trouble; he's a good kid. But it's a big ship and he's pretty young to just be on his own.
Last edited by Belle*; 09-06-2011 at 10:16 AM..
Reason: newsletter09082011
You can make use of the cordless Wave Phones that now come with every stateroom. There are two included at no extra charge - keep one, give the other to your son. If you decide you would like more phones, they can be rented for $3.50 each per day. There is a stiff ($250) charge for a lost phone, though. The phones work throughout the ship, and on Castaway Cay.
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Co-Author, PassPorter's Walt Disney World, PassPorter's Disney Cruise Line, and PassPorter's Disneyland and Southern California Attractions
When my son was first able to move around by himself, we set a rule that if he was going anywhere other than the kids' area, he must leave us a note inside our stateroom. This was before wave phones, but we will still require it on our next cruise. Each time we looked for him, he was exactly where he said he'd be -- he knew that if he abused this privilege, we would have to keep him with us whenever he wasn't with the counselors.
I also used the note rule when we cruised on the Magic last summer. My daughter was 10 and we let her check herself in and out of the Oceaneers Lab and roam the ship with her on board friend. She had to leave us notes on our Stateroom Door telling us where she was going to be. She will be in the tween club in November on the Dream and the phones will be great, especially considering the size of the ship. Its not so easy to keep returning to your stateroom to leave notes.
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Margaret and I got to see the Cubs play in October. They won!
They're on all ships. They actually were installed on the Magic and Wonder before the Dream went into service.
(click for larger image)
You can more or less judge the size by comparing them to the electrical outlet behind them. They're around two inches wide and about four inches long, maybe a half-inch thick. In other words, the size of a small, cordless in-home phone.
They don't come with a lanyard attachment, but they fit very nicely into the inside pocket of our PassHolder Pouches (we haven't thanked DCL for being so thoughtful! )
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Co-Author, PassPorter's Walt Disney World, PassPorter's Disney Cruise Line, and PassPorter's Disneyland and Southern California Attractions
Back before wave phones, we also had our DD tell us where should would be if she left the kids clubs. We had her utilize either one of the 'house phones' throughout the ship (usually near elevators) to call our room and leave a message or we also had a pager from the clubs for her younger sister. using a house phone to call eliminated the time to walk back to the room to leave a note. We also told her previouslly that if necessary, ask one of the counselors to page us with her location. Actually back when she was only 11 and checking in and out/ we received a page notifying us that "dd checked out of the club, she stated she was going x'. Worked great. I am not sure that they still do that - as that was a few years ago.
With the wave phones on our most recent trip she didn't want the hassle and responsibility of having to keep up with it, so she still utilized the house phones. She just called our wave phone instead of the room - which was more convenent and we were able to keep up with her and she didn't have to keep up with the wave phone and worry about losing it.
This is great news about the Wave phones! We must have just missed this when we cruised last year. Our older children (11) did well with the kids' club, though, and enjoyed the relative independence of being able to check themselves in and out. We felt very comfortable with the whole process.
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