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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Some of you know that my DDad is the president of the Vietnam Dog Handlers Association because of the CNN article I posted a link to a couple of weeks ago. Well, when DDad and DMom came back from the VDHA reunion in CA early last week, he informed me that next year's reunion is in Orlando. Awesome right? Wrong. The reunion is set for either late October or early November. We have been planning a trip to WDW in late November to celebrate my DD's 16th birthday. It was supposed to be me, DD, DBF, Dmom and DDad. The Xh and his GF are also supposed to join us. If I can figure out a way for my DB and his family to join us, I will do that too.
Well, with the next reunion going on just before we are planning to go, DDad has to choose one or the other. He can't afford to do both. He has already told me that he plans to choose the VDHA. It has been on the back of my mind and has become much more bothersome to me. I was looking forward to having DDad experience WDW my way. Every time he has been to WDW he has stayed off property and then complains about how much it costs to get food and tickets when he gets to the park. He spends the day complaining about money and then when we leave the park to "rest" he refuses to go back. I am positive that if he experiences WDW the PP way -- staying on property with a MYW and dinging package -- then he will have a much better experience at WDW.
I am considering moving our trip to early November. It will be closer to DD's actual birthday (Nov 6) and then DDad and DMom might be able to just stretch their trip out a little bit. Since they have to stay at whatever hotel the reunion is at, they can just come over to a Disney resort when the reunion is over. However, if I do that Dd will be out of school for a week as opposed to just a couple of days if we went at Thanksgiving break. If we go in early November, the prices will be a little cheaper also. UGH!
There are a couple of good points to changing our dates, but DDad is also saying that even if I move our dates up, then he still doesn't know if he and DMom can stay that long, because he doesn't know if he will be able to afford it. I am trying to make it as cheap for them as possible. I am even willing to pay for their entire stay. (I will be making a down payment for the trip soon.) He is hemming and hawing and it is really starting to tick me off. He isn't a big Disney fan and he has even told me that I need to take DD somewhere else for vacation so she experiences things in the real world and not just a fantasy world all the time. Yes, there are clearly other underlying issues to this whole thing.
What bothers me the most is that he has already said if he had to choose between celebrating his DGD's 16th with her and going to the reunion, then he would choose the reunion. He has always been very big on family togetherness and being there for each other. To me this just flies in the face of all he has taught us as we were growing up.
It sounds like he doesn't really want to go to Disney.... I think I would just plan the trip for the original dates you planned and have a great time without him. I know your dissapointed, but if he really doesn't want to go and tends to complain, maybe it's for the best anyway.....
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Never force someone to do Disney your way! You will regret it. Many people do not think Disney is the be-all and end-all of all vacations. I love Disney but to me a good trip is 5 days max and we would never do dining because we don't eat that much. We go at least once a year, but it has never been our "big" vacation.
MY DD and I can go repeatedly, my boys have both turned down trips.
I understand why people love Disney but I also agree with your dad that there are other places to see. When people ask me about my best vacation (and one that I most want to do again) I always say our trip to the Grand Canyon, Bryce and Zion National Parks with a few state parks thrown in. To me that was the most magical vacation I have ever taken.
Have a nice home cooked family dinner for your DD's birthday if you want to be all together.
Enjoy your Disney vacation with the people you know enjoy doing it your way. It's not worth the emotional cost to be upset if others don't agree with your plans.
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I agree. I would not move the dates to force him to do Disney with you. It sounds like he doesn't enjoy it that much and I don't think that flies in the face of family togetherness. You can still do dinner or some other outing with him for her birthday.
If you change your plans so that they can join you for the day you run the chance that he still won't like it...and then you would really be upset.
I'm not sure this is the right vacation for your father and I'm just concerned you and your dd won't have a good time if he's miserable the entire time you're there. Go to WDW w/o Dad and have a good time w/o him and do something else w/him later would be my suggestion. Good luck!
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