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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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A.K.A. Darlene. 11th trip to Disney. Because of all my magic with money, I was able to make this trip happen this year. It was so nice when I figured everything out and surprised Lenny with the fact that we could go earlier than expected. It was even better to see the smile on Abby’s face when she found out - it makes all our penny pinching worth it.
The Penny Princess
A.K.A. Abby. 3rd trip to Disney. We had originally thought a trip would happen no sooner than 2010 so this was a complete surprise for Abby. To give her the news, we had her help make our ticker timer. When it sank in what it meant, Abby was really surprised. "Mommy, we’re going back to Disney this year? Not in 2010?" When answered yes, she was so happy. She’s also happy to be finding more pennies to fill her books.
And Introducing:
The Penny Hunter
A.K.A. Lenny. 3rd trip to Disney. Not only is Lenny looking forward to finding more pennies this year, he’s also looking forward to spending his birthday there again. And all of this is so ironic because before the first trip to Disney, he was really a big time Disney Downer and just miserable about the whole thing. Until he got there that is and the rest is history.
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love the title too many people were waiting for this so i see you gave in and i love the pictures especially the one you picked for lenny
I've been wanting to post it for the last week and 1/2. Since you guys don't seem to mind that it's not quite 100% I decided why not. And thanks about Lenny's picture. I didn't have a stuffed Grumpy otherwise I would have used him instead.
Quote:
(Plus I like all of Abby's pennies.)
That's the before picture. Hopefully I'll remember to take a new picture of all the pennies when we get home. We are on a penny pressing mission this year.
August 8th and 9th - Home to Hagerstown Maryland for the night, then on to the Auto Train out of Lorton Virginia.
August 10th to the 17th - AS Sports Resort with the Disney Dining Plan
August 18th and 19th - Leaving Disney for the Auto Train out of Sanford Florida then to Scranton Pennsylvania for the night.
August 20th - home sweet home
How it came about:
Despite all the problems we had before last year’s trip (anyone remember all my issues with Paula?), we went to Disney and had an absolutely wonderful time. We came home and both Lenny and Abby asked if we could bo back this year to repeat it. At the time, I figured there was no way we could afford it so I said no. And it was actually really depressing me that I couldn't make it happen. So I stopped coming here and I really tried to avoid all conversations that concerned Disney.
Fast forward to our February school vacation. Lenny had been really stressing for about a month but would never tell me why. Turns out our truck (conversion van really) was starting to have some problems that he didn’t want to tell me about. Since the truck was officially 12 years old and rotting (literally) I said maybe we should seriously think of replacing it. He of course, being a typical guy, said "it’s not necessary. I can probably fix it." Well let me tell you, if he could fix whatever was wrong, he wouldn’t have been stressing so badly. So I took the bull by the horns and started looking online. I finally hit upon the perfect vehicle for us. It was a price we could afford, it was a newer version of our conversion van, and it was a white high-top (what Lenny always wanted). So I told Lenny about it and he said "I thought we weren’t going to look. We were going to wait." So I said back "what’s it going to hurt to look. Looking doesn’t mean we have to buy." So he agreed that after he checked it out online for himself, we could go to the dealer and see it for real. So when Lenny came home from work that day and saw it online, it was love at first sight and he was excited at the thought of a test drive. We went to the dealer that night (a Friday) and once we drove it, we knew it was ours. Monday we went back, paid what needed to be paid, signed enough paperwork that I thought we were buying a house and then we took possession of our new conversion van.
On the way home from the dealer, Lenny made that fateful comment. "Can you imagine us driving THIS to Disney?"
I could very easily see us driving it to Disney. This of course kinda got me depressed again as I wanted to make a trip happen this year for us. So in an effort to make myself feel better, I started thinking of our trip in 2010 (when we figured we could afford to go back). I thought of things we’d do, where we’d eat, etc. The more I thought, the more I started crunching numbers. And the more I was just lying to myself that all the work was for a trip next year.
Great start, Darlene! It's terrific that you get to "go home" earlier than planned. I can just imagine Abby's face!
DH just to collect the coins as well. You probably already know this, but Presscoins.com - The Unofficial Walt Disney World Pressed Coin Guide has wonderful listings of the current coins at WDW as well as past lists from a year or so back. I have our list from past years so I can compare it to the updated one, see what has changed and what hasn't, and keep track of the coins as we get them. Before we go, I make a list for DH of the needed coins in each park/resort and where they are located. It cuts down on lost time for all the machines we find and then realize we already have the coins (not to mention the lost $$$ for all of the repeats!) Have a wonderful time! Happy (penny) hunting!
PS Say Hi to Scranton for me! I grew up not too far from there!!!
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Can't wait for more as the cast of characters is great!
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to collect the coins as well. You probably already know this, but 
Karen
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