Lessons learned in checking school calendars - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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'm soooo glad I didn't book our vacation for the first week of September before Labor Day. I went on the school website to get information registration for first grade and they had the school calendar up already for the 09/10 year. School starts August 31st, the day after we get back. This is a first for me since I thought schools around here started after Labor Day. This was a close one and taught me a valuable lesson on not assuming anything.
We usually start school after labor day but in 2009 it is quite late (Sept. 7) so I am certain many schools will adjust their calendars, ours is not out yet but I expect we will go back before Labor Day. Glad things worked out for you though.
Why do you go back so early. We never start before labor day. I hope our district didn't change too since Labor Day is late this year, I'll have to go to the schedule and check
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Glad your plans won't be messed up!
Our schools always start on Aug 25 (mandated by state). We used to start anywhere from Aug 9-15, and got out before Memorial Day.....I liked those days better.
In our county, schools tend to start one week before Labor Day, so August 31 this year (so we will return from WDW a little less than a week before school starts). It always seemed early to me since when I was a kid I always started back to school the day after Labor Day. I just wish the kids got out earlier for summer (last day of school this year is June 18th).
We go back the week before Labor Day every year, but DS & DD are in Catholic school, the public schools usually start later. Although, in recent years with so many snow days, they have been starting earlier and earlier as to not be in scool in July (this year, some of our public schools are taking back vacation weeks to make up days so they are not going into July.)
So glad you don't have to change your plans. That is a close call!!!!
We start the second week of August and are out the third week of May. I like it like that because it feels like they have more summer time off. That was also our schedule when I went to school.
We missed so many days of school this year b/c of hurricane and actually had 2 snow days. Instead of us going longer in May, they added 14 min to each school day. It makes dd get home later in the day, but at least they don't have to go any longer in the end.
Wow, you got lucky!! Our school starts mid August, but for next year, I emailed our Superintendent early in this school year telling him I needed the calendar for next year(they always have it out a year early). He gave it to me in September, but it is still not up on the website. In the end it didn't matter as we moved our trip from November up to June!
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This is a first for me since I thought schools around here started after Labor Day. This was a close one and taught me a valuable lesson on not assuming anything. 
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