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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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My DH's 35th birthday is in about 2 weeks and I have literally nothing for him. Not so much as a card. I am stumped. He's a techno nerd (Nerds are HOT!!! ) and loves gadgets, but I am not so good with the shopping for such gadgets. My last big purchase for him was a 5 disc DVD changer and he loved it, but I picked the brain of a friend here at PassPorter that time for help with the selection. (Many thanks to mattjs! )
I don't think there's a gadget left that we don't own in some form or another. I often buy desk toys for Walt. He works in a cubicle and hates it. So I like to provide him with toys to fill those long, quiet night shift hours. (DH has a lot of down time as a nightshift helpdesk analyst. He does internal support rather than customer support for the power company. They don't have much downtime at 3 AM. )
So, know any good websites for fun gifts for guys? Techie, exec. toys, silly things, anything a guy might like. Thanks in advance for the help!
Sorry, I got a power tool kind of guy. So any time I'm stumped I buy him a gift card to a place where he can buy a circular saw or an air compressor or something dumb like that!
Stitch's 35th was last week and he got a "Grown-ups only" weekend away plus tickets to a Red Sox/Yankees game. Does your DH have an iPod or mp3 player? The other thing Stitch wanted was really good headphones for his iPod. He already has the iHome stereo for his office which he loves.
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A mini dvd player/screen? I got one for DH for Christmas and he was able to use it during band recording, not just for watching dvds. Wally is so weird and specific that I have to listen to clues that he drops throughout the year and then I usually end up on ebay----last year I ended up getting a Texas Instruments computer with Speech Synthesizer because it's what Kraftwerk used in the 80s. Oddly enough, I had the pick of the litter there were so many on ebay.
Since he has so many gadgets, how about something totally different? How about a massage at a local spa, a nice dinner out, or tickets to a concert or sporting event?
I think going away from the gadget spree is a good idea. There's nothing left that we don't have that he still wants. :shrug: I'm going to take him out to our favorite restaurant and send DJ to his grandma's house overnight. The restaurant is Aladdin's in Allentown. Middle eastern food and entertainment. We went there for our anni last year and he just loved it.
Got a sitter for the Saturday after his birthday. An overnight sitter. Nobody's sick right now and I hope it stays that way. Keep your fingers crossed! DH and I haven't gone out alone except to go bowling in ages!!!
My DH's gift was a sentimental gesture. He'll get it Sunday. I bought one share of Disney stock and had both our names put on it. They framed it and it has one of Walt's great quotes on it. I am going to tell him that since it is our fave place on earth we now own a piece of it together. I purchased it at oneshare.com. I can't wait.
Glad you are getting a night out. We haven't done that in years!