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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Right now, the majority of my scrapbook albums are Creative Memories. I've been happy with the quality and I like the look of having the same type of albums on my bookshelf. That said, working on this past Disney album has been a challenge because of having to plan out my pages in advance (I'm using the old style CM album). The new side-loading page protectors and true 12x12 albums would help with that problem, but the cost is high.
In the past for gift albums I've made I've bought Chatterbox and K & Company albums which seemed to work pretty well. The Chatterbox albums especially had lots of room in the page protectors.
I'm curious if you have a favorite brand of album, or which ones you've found have worked the best for you.
I like...the ones on sale! I really like the 100 page albums from Hobby Lobby. When they have them for half price, they are $15 which is so much cheaper than buying an album and refills. I also like K & Company albums, they are good quality. Pioneer albums seem to be cheaper made, but I like the new post bounds they have which aren't posts but something else. I haven't bought one yet.
I've never bought a Chatterbox album, but I like the idea of not having to trim down pages to fit. I hate that!
I don't have a favorite brand of album, but I much prefer the new strapbound ones. I have never been able to figure out how to put the Creative Memories books back together and having to cut down all my 12x12 sheets drove me nuts so I gave up on them years ago.
If I end up getting a post bound album, I will buy the kit to convert it to a strapbound.
I don't necessarily have a favorite, but there is one brand that I DON"T like. That would be EK Success. They carry really cute Disney albums, but the quality and construction just aren't there. It might be fine if you didn't need additional page protectors, but that certainly doesn't work for me. The one and only album that I bought that was EK Success didn't have page protectors that fit. The ones that I was told would work had to have all the holes repunched in order to fit! Then once the additional pages were in there, the spine of the album bulged out very unattractively. I kept the album, but aesthetically it looks crappy! Sandylion on the other hand also carries Disney albums, and I was very happy with the one I bought.
I'm a cheapskate when it comes to albums. I can't really buy them in the States, as they weigh a lot to come back in a suitcase and they cost quite a bit over here, so I just go for whichever is the cheapest one available at the time.
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
I like the way the CM albums look, except the cutting down the paper part, but that issue has been solved with the new size of pages. I like the Close to my Heart post bound albums for Disneytrips and also the Baybox or Anthologie ?(sp)
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My bags are packed.....when do we leave??
planning the next trip...
I just bought the new Creative Memories album with side loading page protectors. Although, the price seems a bit higher, my CM albums have lasted for over 13 years with kids paging through them regularly.
My 2003 Disney album has 90 pages in it!?! I used their natural color pages, with lots of colorful matting.
I just bought the new Creative Memories album with side loading page protectors. Although, the price seems a bit higher, my CM albums have lasted for over 13 years with kids paging through them regularly.
My 2003 Disney album has 90 pages in it!?! I used their natural color pages, with lots of colorful matting.
Have you used the side loading protectors yet? I'm really curious to see how well they work and if they are worth the money.
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
I have tried several brands and always come back to Creative Memories albums..even with the need to cut down the paper to fit. They are very well made and are guaranteed for life. I lost the plastic strip that holds the pages together and when I asked my CM consultant if I could buy another, she just gave me a couple saying they are guaranteed for life! I bought a different album in the same strap style as the CM album but it wasn't as well made and I couldn't put as many pages into it. I bought a Disney album once-really cute but then couldn't find any extra pages that fit it...even at Disney. I was told that they don't make extra pages for their albums. So, I stick with CM. Even though they are more expensive, they are stronger, nice looking, guaranteed for damage & loss of parts and you know you can get refils for the pages. (not counting the change to the true 12x12 coming next fall.
I've used the new Creative Memories Album - My trip is in October, and I've already scraplifted a few page ideas from PPers. I'm just waiting to add photos.
I've purchased an album and side loading pages. The pages load from the inside part of the album, which concerns me a little bit. There is about a 3/4 inch cut at the top and bottom so you can load pages, however I am worried that this might cause a page to rip off altogether. My CM consultant says the pages are guaranteed, so I have to have faith that they will hold. 12 x 12 paper, not just CM brand, slide in nicely. No more trimming pages down is a nice change. The cost of the page is very similar to buying the pages and slip on page protectors. $25.00 for the slide in pages. I thought I'd give the new pages a try to make the album less weighty.
I did buy my daughter a princess album from another company ( not sure what brand) at Target that has top loading pages. The page protectors were a little smaller than CM and a little tighter to slide pages in. One page protector slit open on the side, so I am a bit concerned whether album will hold up to a five year old!
I'm a CM album lover. I've tried a couple others, but have always ended up back with the CM albums. I don't mind trimming the paper, and of course the new albums and pages will resolve that. They are pricey, but all the albums I have are in awesome shape compared to the others that I've created.
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Denise
Counting down to....
May 2017 - Poly (Grandma's 1st Trip to WDW)
Sept 2017 - DH's bday celebration
Aug 2018 - DCL Family cruise on the Dream
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.