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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 got to spend this past week with most of the people who will be heading to WDW in April with me, and we finally made some headway on what we want to do. I already knew MOST of it, but I finally have a firm grasp on where to start planning.
Who: Me, Keith (32)
GDF, Beth (30)
DM, Mom(59)
DF, Dad (60)
DS, Jen (36)
BIL, Mark (36)
DN, Jack (10)
When: April, 2011!!!
Where: WDW baby!!!
Why: It's been 4 years, we need to go back!!!
Wednesday afternoon I sat down with Beth, Mom, Dad, and my Sister to talk about what we want to do and how many days we want to spend on our April trip. So, we picked a day, or... well, the boards helped ME pick a day and tell them that's when we're going. We decided on April 2-10, which should give us 7 days in the parks. and possibly more for Beth and I.
Dad suggested leaving thursday and coming home friday, but I'm not sure about that plan. It would be March 31-April 8. Still 7 days in the parks, and then a couple of days to recover before having to go to work. I like the idea, but still mulling that over.
The plan now needs an actual... Plan. We know that we're not all staying together. We're going to all stay in different resorts, which sounds like great fun! Our plans were always to go as a family, and also as 3 couples(with a rugrat).
Mom wants the Wilderness Lodge, Beth and I want one of the Epcot resorts, and I think Sis is going for a value resort. Last time we went, Mom and Dad would be up and ready to go at 7, and the rest of us would sleep in until like 9. This way, they can get a head start and go do their own thing most days, and we'll only HAVE to be up for breakfast mornings. Plus, last time we had a rental, and 45 minute drive. we all had to be up for anyone to go. this time, it's a free for all.
I figure we'll plan a couple of mornings where we can do Character breakfasts together, or possibly just breakfasts without characters, since Dad, Bro-in-law and Nephew pretty much don't care about the characters. Unless it's Cars for the 10-year-old.
So, my plans for that look like this:
If we get EMH at AK one morning, we can head there and check out all of the animals and then head to breakfast at Tusker House. After breakfast we can hang out in the park for a while and then do whatever.
Otherwise, On an Epcot day, we can have Breakfast together at Cape May Cafe...
Or on a MK day, Breakfast at the Kona Cafe, which Beth and I are doing this December on our primer trip.
We can do one, two, or all three of those. I think it would be fine if we just did one. The whole idea behind staying at different resorts is so we don't feel that we have to spend every waking moment with each other.
Talked to Mom and Dad and they both agree two breakfasts seem to be enough, so I think the plan is to do Tusker House and hope that there are Early EMH at AK one of the days of our trip and pick that day. That schedule should be out before October, right? At least I hope so.
The other Breakfast will probably be Ohana or Cape May. I think I like the Cape May idea better, but I think the whole family will like Ohana more. I am glad I have lots of time to figure all this out, and honestly wish I was getting some help from the family.
Hearing "yeah, that sounds good. Whatever" when I toss out ideas isn't making this fun. Half the fun of planning is doing it together!
How can I convince y family of this? hehe.