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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 have a great opportunity to take a trip to China this summer! It will be a trip for educators, with all arrangements taken care of via the tour company (visas, flights, hotels, meals, guides, etc.). I'll have to pay my own way (mostly - there might be a little bit of money available from my district) but the cost is extremely reasonable and a colleague of mine is also interested so we'll be able to share a room and costs. I'd never be able to manage such a trip on my own. What a great opportunity-we're so excited! It'll be 9 days, visiting Beijing, Xi'an, and Shanghai. The itinerary is pre planned (and very exciting) but we'll have a little bit of time on our own, mostly hours in the evening after dinner. I'm already trying to figure out if I'll have time to go to Shanghai Disneyland! It'll be a short time if I can manage it but if I can do it, even for a few hours, I'm going to! So excited,and I had to share.
That sounds fabulous, both professionally and personally.
If you can steal even a few hours at Shanghai Disney, all the better. That'd just be thicker icing on the cake.
You ARE doing a TR, I do hope!
It is so exciting! I teach in a small school district in a college town. We have a large number of families from China that attend our small school (250 students). I do plan on doing a TR.
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Originally Posted by MayraLR
OH MY GOSH! How exciting!!!! That is my dream trip!
It is so exciting! I would not have dreamed that I would be able to visit China. I am so excited for the opportunity.
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Originally Posted by cubfancolleen
So awesome! I love Beijing & Xi'an. Shanghai, not so much, so I'd totally take time out for Disney there. Although do go to Yu Garden in Shanghai.
There is a pretty tight itinerary, I won't have a lot of choices of what to see and do. The purpose of the trip is cultural awareness as well as learning about the educational system in China. Some of the places we'll visit:
Beijing: The Great Wall of China, Ming Tombs, The Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, the Hutongs, Confucius Temple, Lama Temple.
Xi'an: Terracotta Warriors, Xi'an Bell Tower, Giant Wild Goose Pagoda.
Shanghai: The Colonial Bund, the French Concession, People's Square, Xintiandi fashion district, MSU Arts Village, Old Town Shanghai and the Shanghai Museum.
There are also school visits, martial arts, cooking and art classes, dinner with a local family........
VERY exciting! So, I've seen all you're seeing/doing in Beijing & Xi'an. Hopefully in Xi'an they're also taking you to dinner at the famous dumpling restaurant. It's right across from the bell tower, and the dumplings are works of art. They are shaped into whatever is inside them. So, little ducks, pigs, mushrooms, etc, with the dough the color of the item, too!
I've seen most of what you're seeing in Shanghai. If you have the option, a river cruise at night in Shanghai is beautiful - there is a LOT of neon in Shanghai!
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Oh wow - that is very cool - colour me jealous! I hope you're going to do a trip report, as I'd love to read all about it.
I want to tour China one day. I know what tour I want to take, it's just finding the time and the money - it would take in Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, Chengdu (panda nursery! ) and Hong Kong, so I figure add in Shanghai Disney at the front end and Hong Kong Disneyland at the end, as they've added so much since we were last there.
Sounds exciting. I passed on a one week trip to China with my sister and brother in law last year. I just couldn't manage the flight in cattle class. Are you taking a charter? They enjoyed their trip but are in no hurry to redo the 20 hours on a plane.
VERY exciting! So, I've seen all you're seeing/doing in Beijing & Xi'an. Hopefully in Xi'an they're also taking you to dinner at the famous dumpling restaurant. It's right across from the bell tower, and the dumplings are works of art. They are shaped into whatever is inside them. So, little ducks, pigs, mushrooms, etc, with the dough the color of the item, too!
I've seen most of what you're seeing in Shanghai. If you have the option, a river cruise at night in Shanghai is beautiful - there is a LOT of neon in Shanghai!
I know a dumpling meal is in the itinerary, but I think it is in Shanghai. Thanks for the tip though, as if I can check that restaurant out I will.
One of our evening options (in Beijing ?) is either an acrobat show or the opera. I'm leaning toward the acrobats. Any input?
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Originally Posted by chezp
Oh wow - that is very cool - colour me jealous! I hope you're going to do a trip report, as I'd love to read all about it.
I want to tour China one day. I know what tour I want to take, it's just finding the time and the money - it would take in Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, Chengdu (panda nursery! ) and Hong Kong, so I figure add in Shanghai Disney at the front end and Hong Kong Disneyland at the end, as they've added so much since we were last there.
I'm so fortunate that I'll be able to do this. Time and money are always the big issues with travel, aren't they? I'm fortunate that I'll have a little support with both! More on that later in the post.
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Originally Posted by Belle*
That is amazing!!! I can't wait to read about it.
I'm going to try my best to do a trip report. My colleague and I are probably going to have to do a presentation on our trip when we return so that will help me keep organized for a trip report.
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Originally Posted by Disneybine
Oh wow, that's amazing! Can't wait to hear all about your trip!
I almost can't believe it
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Originally Posted by Huntermom
Sounds exciting. I passed on a one week trip to China with my sister and brother in law last year. I just couldn't manage the flight in cattle class. Are you taking a charter? They enjoyed their trip but are in no hurry to redo the 20 hours on a plane.
I'm not exactly sure. I'll probably know more once we are actually registered.
Update: My colleague and I met with our principal on Friday. She let us know that there is some professional development money that we can use to help pay for the trip. And it was twice the amount we expected to receive! This is a huge help. My colleague also contacted the company organizing the trip to find out which airport we would be flying out of. This would impact our OOP costs (getting to the airport, perhaps a hotel the night before, etc). Turns out, we might actually be flying from our local airport! If we did have to travel to an airport out of state, they would organize a van for those traveling from CT so we could split the cost.
I was feeling a bit guilty for spending the money on myself and not on a family trip, especially as I'll be in China on my son's birthday. I talked to him about that and he said, "Mom, it's just a day. We can celebrate when you come home. It's not a big deal. How can you pass up this opportunity?" He's a really terrific kid! I'll have to pick him up something special in China for a birthday gift.
Everyone in my family is very excited for me, with the theme being "How can you not go?!?" The extra money from my district makes this such a ridiculously good deal financially, I would be foolish to pass it up.
Registration and deposit are due soon. Once I am officially going (registered). I'll start a pre trip report. Oh, and a parent of one of the students in our school offered to come into classrooms to do a presentation about Chinese culture. We contacted her and explained our trip and asked if she would meet with us. She's very excited to do so! We don't have a date yet, but it could be as soon as this week! I promise I'll include that in my PTR.
How great to be getting more funding than expected!
With regard to opera vs acrobats, that's a tough call. The acrobat shows are indeed spectacular. But if they do 'mask changing' at the opera, that is incredible to see. Honestly, you can't go wrong with either.
Some disappointing news on this trip. First, we heard that our superintendent would not approve the larger reimbursement, just the smaller amount. A let down, but not the end of the world. But as we called to register, the person organizing the trip said there wasn't as much interest as anticipated. They are extending the registration deadline by 2 weeks but they still need another 18-20 people to commit to the trip in order for it to take place . Trying to be optimistic but also realistic. My colleague and I think that seems like a large number and it will probably be unlikely that so many will come forward at the last minute. Wish us luck! I'll keep you posted on any news.
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I hope you're going to do a trip report, as I'd love to read all about it. 
. Trying to be optimistic but also realistic. My colleague and I think that seems like a large number and it will probably be unlikely that so many will come forward at the last minute. Wish us luck! I'll keep you posted on any news.
that enough people come forward!
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