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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
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12-02-2006, 01:04 PM
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#1
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Community Rank: Explorer 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Longfellow's "Jewel by the Sea"
Posts: 14,165
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Pregnancy AFP Test
[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zwavin.gif[/img] Evidently I elected for the screening for spina bifida and Down's syndrome. I'm scheduled to get my blood drawn on the 12th, but I'm starting to think twice about it. I wouldn't terminate no matter what the results, and I hear they come up with a lot of false positives, and I really don't need the stress.
What do you think? Did you or your loved ones have an AFP? I'm curious about your experiences because I'm leaning towards cancelling it. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/thanx.gif[/img]
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12-02-2006, 01:10 PM
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#2
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Community Rank: Trailblazer 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Houston
Posts: 5,162
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Re: Pregnancy AFP Test
I chose not to do it. The peace of mind might be worth it, but I heard also about all the false positives and I just didn't even want to risk the possibility of THAT stress. I chose to believe that since I was healthy, had no genetic history of those and doing everything right during the pregnancy, the odds were overwhelmingly in favor of having a healthy baby, so I went with that.
Good luck with whatever you choose!
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12-02-2006, 01:11 PM
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#3
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Dopey's biggest fan!
Join Date: May 2004
Location: China Spring, TX
Concierge Level: 9
Posts: 26,975
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Re: Pregnancy AFP Test
Even though I, like you, would never have terminated no matter the situation, I still elected to have it done. It wouldn't have mattered to me if Emilie had been born with a birth defect or Down's but I wanted to know just so that in case she were to have been, I could have studied up and learned the ins and outs and any special things we might have needed to know to care for her. Her test was negative, but my OB told me that in the event a test comes back positive they retest to double check that it wasn't a false positive.
ETA: If I wasn't as paranoid as I tend to be sometimes, I totally would have thought the way Melanie did. Seriously. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/roflmao.gif[/img]
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12-02-2006, 01:14 PM
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#4
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RED SOX NATION!!
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Connecticut
Concierge Level: 9
Posts: 136,854
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Re: Pregnancy AFP Test
I elected not to do it either time [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502no_prv.gif[/img] As you, I wouldn't have terminated, and with the high risk of false positives (confirmed by my OB), what was the sense [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502no_prv.gif[/img] I didn't want to worry for nothing [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502no_prv.gif[/img]
My OBs were very supportive, and one had said his wife elected it, and came back with false positives every time (3 kids). No thanks [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502no_prv.gif[/img]
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12-02-2006, 01:23 PM
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#5
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Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Northern NV
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 12,516
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Re: Pregnancy AFP Test
I had it all three times, but had very difficult pregnancies. I too wouldn't have terminated in any case, but I would much prefer to be prepared and research about any problems. No false positives either.
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12-02-2006, 01:38 PM
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#6
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Community Rank: Explorer
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Cypress....Deep in Southern Illinois, close enough to see the Kentucky blue grass
Posts: 9,546
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Re: Pregnancy AFP Test
I didn't have it done and Justin came out fine. I mean he is a mean cranky butt teenager now but health wise he is fine.
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12-02-2006, 02:07 PM
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#7
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Community Rank: Trailblazer
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Houston
Posts: 5,162
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Re: Pregnancy AFP Test
[ QUOTE ]
I didn't have it done and Justin came out fine. I mean he is a mean cranky butt teenager now but health wise he is fine.
[/ QUOTE ]
Yeah, if they'd have had a Brat Test, I would have signed up for that. Then I would have been prepared. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
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12-02-2006, 02:54 PM
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#8
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Club Ichthyologist
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: Merrimack, NH
Concierge Level: 5
Posts: 2,566
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Re: Pregnancy AFP Test
Nope didn't get it. Like everyone said it wouldn't matter either way [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
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12-02-2006, 02:57 PM
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#9
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Community Rank: Jetsetter 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Michigan
Posts: 2,081
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Re: Pregnancy AFP Test
I refused with my forst DD but the second time around I took the test. They called me with the results and said it was "great", I had ONLY (???) a 20% chance of having a downs baby! That's great news? They said it was due to my age (over 30) but I was not thrilled with that answer.
If you are a "planner" and feel like you would want to know, you could have the test but with the # of false positives I would say why put yourself through the worry? You're going to love your baby no matter what!
Overall, it's a personal choice. Good luck!
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12-02-2006, 03:34 PM
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#10
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Community Rank: Jetsetter
Join Date: May 2003
Location: too far away from my happy place!
Posts: 2,298
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Re: Pregnancy AFP Test
I had one with my second child, oldest DD. I did have the false positive and like you told the doctor I didn't have any intentions of terminating the pregnancy. They had me see a specialist to discuss what the outcome could possibly be. DD was born perfectly normal and doesn't have any problems what-so-ever! I didn't have the test done with my last two children because I wasn't going through all that again!
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12-02-2006, 03:37 PM
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#11
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Community Rank: Jetsetter
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Ma. Home of the Red Sox!
Concierge Level: 8
Posts: 2,061
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Re: Pregnancy AFP Test
I chose not to do it- for the same reasons you mentioned. It would not have changed anything. My OB kept pushing it saying that I was 'older than the average first time mother' and that I had a greater potential for birth defects. I have a happy, healthy almost 6 year old son who is my pride and joy!
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12-02-2006, 03:38 PM
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#12
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Community Rank: Legend 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Indiana , USA
Concierge Level: 7
Posts: 26,527
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Re: Pregnancy AFP Test
I chose to have it done every time. With the last 2 kids, I would have terminated. (when you have one disabled child, the prospect of another is daunting)
If the results had been that I would have a diabled child, I would have insisted on more tests.
I do know people who have had the test, had it come back that there was something wrong - and it's true. The time between diagnosis and birth gave them the time to mourn a bit and come to an acceptance of a disabled child, instead of doing it after birth. It also allowed them the time to educate themselves about the disability, find experienced Drs., locate therapy services, and get support from other parents. That way, when their babies were born, each couple was able to welcome this child, and celebrate its birth, not mourn the loss of a dream.
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12-02-2006, 04:04 PM
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#13
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Community Rank: Explorer
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Longfellow's "Jewel by the Sea"
Posts: 14,165
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Re: Pregnancy AFP Test
Thanks for your input all. I think I will cancel it. My sil works in the NICU unit and she tells me that most of the Down's syndrome babies come from moms who are 40+ and I've been taking folic acid and chances of a spina bifida baby in the US are .0007. I'll have an ultrasound at 20 weeks, that should give us some indication on whether we need to prepare for something severe. My OB didn't push the test, his nurse offered it to me at the intake and I was like "yeah, sure" but I didn't realize they administer the test at a certain time in the pregnancy so you'd still have an "out." I was shocked when I learned that. Wish me luck!
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12-02-2006, 04:22 PM
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#14
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RED SOX NATION!!
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Connecticut
Concierge Level: 9
Posts: 136,854
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Re: Pregnancy AFP Test
[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/luck.gif[/img]
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12-02-2006, 04:24 PM
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#15
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Community Rank: Explorer
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Near a Tower of Terror at the moment...
Posts: 13,884
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Re: Pregnancy AFP Test
I didn't have it either and I'm glad. I would have stressed too much. BTW, oldest DD actually has a form of spina bifida that would have shown up on the test as a positive, only we didn't even know about it until she had a spine x-ray when she was 16 years old. It doesn't effect her in any way at all, but it's still there and I would have freaked out BIG time when I was PG with her.
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