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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Usually on the 3rd of July, we'll go to the next town over for the firetruck parade at 6 and then go back for the fireworks at 9:30. Tonight I don't really want to for several reasons. Abby is getting older and not really enjoying them anymore (I think 5 trips to Disney is what caused it) and we wouldn't be going as a family as Lenny has to work until 9 (and with how bad the traffic gets, it will be a nightmare for him to find a spot to park and then find us). I also don't want to mess up Abby's bedtime too much - she's been going to bed about 8:30 but we'd be lucky to be home by 10:15/10:30ish from the fireworks (it's only 3 miles away but that's how bad the traffic gets). And that's not mentioning that I had to get up this morning at 4:30 for work (which that in itself was very frustrating and tiring today so even though I'm okay now, I know I'm going to end up crashing very soon).
So not looking forward to going to the fireworks, I had a thought. "Hey Abby, how about I go upstairs and find the Electrical Water Pageant and the fireworks from the Poly and we watch those as 4th of July fireworks instead?" Abby's response (well you already know it)? "That's the best idea ever." Needless to say, I'm very happy with her choice and she's not so patiently waiting for me to finish typing this so we can watch it.
Thanks for listening to me and I hope everyone has a Happy and Safe 4th of July.
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That is a great idea!! We don't know what we're going to do. Fireworks around here don't even start until 10pm (thank you, oh so much to Daylight Savings Time - something we never had until a few years ago). That's assuming the drought hasn't caused them to be cancelled. Lots around here cancelled. Plus, I have to be up early and go work a 12 hour shift Thursday, so I really don't want to do the fireworks. But, DH wants to take the grandkids.
Maybe I can sell the "Let's watch Disney's" instead!
Hope you and Abby have a great time and get to bed at a decent hour.
Well, with all our daylight, my family never bothers to go see the July 4th fireworks! It's a pain to have to wait until midnight, and it's not even dark! Fireworks lose something in the daylight.
I'm glad you found an alternate plan that works for your family!
I'm a little surprised though that WDW's fireworks have caused Abby to not be too impressed with your local fireworks. Our local fireworks show puts Wishes fireworks to shame...it is 1,000 times bigger and better! I am a complete sucker for a huge, patriotic fireworks display.
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MNSSHP 2015: DH (Bane), Me (Batgirl), Genie, and our friends
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I'm a little surprised though that WDW's fireworks have caused Abby to not be too impressed with your local fireworks. Our local fireworks show puts Wishes fireworks to shame...it is 1,000 times bigger and better! I am a complete sucker for a huge, patriotic fireworks display.
Trust me, if you've ever seen the fireworks around here, you'd understand. First of all, there's no music and second of all, I think ALL of the fireworks they use in the entire "show" probably equals what Disney uses in just their finale (so most of the show really is pretty skimpy in the fireworks department).