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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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You know Sha . . . ABD is hiring Guides right now and I think you'd be great!
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Originally Posted by chezp
I think you're right - it sounds like the perfect job!
Funny you should say that! Kim, the guide-in-training, said the same thing! I would do it if I could do all the different Adventures. I'm not so excited about doing the same thing over and over, though. That's the part just doesn't appeal to me.
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
The guide thing got me thinking.... What do the guides do in between trips? Some itineraries only have trips once a month, or less. Do they all have "regular" jobs, and schedule their ABD duties on vacation time?? You would be perfect for the job, but I do think it would lose its appeal if you had to do the same trip over and over.
The guide thing got me thinking.... What do the guides do in between trips? Some itineraries only have trips once a month, or less. Do they all have "regular" jobs, and schedule their ABD duties on vacation time?? You would be perfect for the job, but I do think it would lose its appeal if you had to do the same trip over and over.
I know that many of the guides do have "regular" jobs. A number of them are CMs at DL or WDW. When I took the Backstage Magic ABD, both of my guides were active DL CMs. They went right back to being CMs the day we left! If I remember what Kim said, the guides were given their assignments for the season (not the entire year) and they planned their time around it. They usually have at least a few days off between itineraries. Most of the time, a guide would do more than one itinerary in a season (for instance, I know Marco does both Viva Italia and Bella Italia). We talked about repeating the same stuff over and over during my trip. For example, the guides for my London/Paris ABD had seen the Lion King show over a dozen times! It's a brilliant show, but...
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
What a wonderful TR Sharon! I felt like I was right there with you in Italy! Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed report. I've already started reading your new adventure at WDW
What a wonderful trip! I probably won't ever get to see Italy in person so I really enjoyed all of your pictures and detail. Thank you for taking me along! Looking forward to reading about your Disney trip, heading there now. I learn so many tips from you.
I am going to have to check DVC points needed for an ADB trip!! Great report, as always. Thanks for sharing!
It's a lot! You have to pay for one person completely in points. You can't pay a combination of points and cash. The new itineraries for 2012 come out TOMORROW!
Oh, Sharon...I have enjoyed every second of this TR!!! And now crave a trip to Italy even more than before. One of these days I'll get there. But until then, I know I have more Sharon trips to live through vicariously
I purposely did not start reading this TR until I knew you were done, and then it took me a few days to get through it all. But oooooh Italy! I think ABD is so expensive that it probably will never happen for me, but boy do I LOVE reading your TRs and living vicariously through you!
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Saturday, October 9, 2014 - Kaitlyn and I before the Happy Haunted 5K at ESPN Wide World of Sports
PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Chapel Hill, NC USA
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 36,592
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It took me a while, but I made it through your trip! Thank you so much for sharing it with us. I don't know if I'm sold on ABD at this point (too expensive for a family of four), but your itinerary was pretty darn good!
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I think ABD is so expensive that it probably will never happen for me, but boy do I LOVE reading your TRs and living vicariously through you! 
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