Shucks--photo shop is closing! [update & question in post #8] - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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Shucks--photo shop is closing! [update & question in post #8]
I'm so bummed about this--the second Moto Photo in our area is closing Jan. 28! This one is about 15 minutes from my house; the one that was 2 miles away closed a couple of years ago. In both instances, I believe the owner just wanted to retire. I get all my photos developed there, and we've been getting family Christmas portraits at Moto Photo for so many years, I couldn't even tell you.
Don't know what I'm going to do for photo developing now! The drug stores and discount stores are fast, but the quality leaves a lot to be desired; mail-order places I hear have decent quality, but you have to wait days and days for them to show up.
Guess I'll have to see if there's anything else available in the area. If not, I'll try Target (I do not do Wal-Mart for any reason, so that's out).
I prefer Walgreens to most of our available options. Mind you it is a newer store with newer equipment. I do not like Walmart for photos...too big of a hurry and pics are always off. Rite Aid allows for the most editing options but our local one is outdated and therefore has reading my larger memory cards. I am always deciding at the last moment that I need b pics so mail order options are not that useful to me so I do not have much input for you there.
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Wow, I can't believe this: the camera store, just a little closer than the first Moto Photo that closed, does photo printing! 2 miles from my house, and really good prices! 4x6 prices are similar (24 cents), but they charge just $.99 for 5x7, and $2.99 for 8x10 and 8x12!
Guess I should've checked earlier...but I can't be sad that I helped support the Moto Photo. Still have to find a studio for future family portraits, but photo orders are taken care of now, yay!
I use Snapfish when I need/want prints of photos. They're good for quality, price & they always surprise me with how quickly I get my prints even when I've ordered a lot of them. I also think they're shipping is very reasonable.
I use snapfish or Shutterfly and have my prints sent to a local store,usually Walgreens. i have found the quality can vary. even at the same store My sister recently introduced me to groovebook. 100 prints for $2.99
So glad you found a photo shop close by! I use Snapfish and Shutterfly because there is nowhere here other than drugstores/discount stores and my photos have never turned out well there.
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Wow! I just had my first batch of photos developed at the camera shop, and I have to say they look fantastic, and cost less than where I'd been going (because the enlargements are so inexpensive).
Plus, I joined their photo club for discounts. Their five-year membership, which costs $100 (usually $30/year) includes not just a flash drive and coffee mug, but also a 16x20 wrapped canvas enlargement free--and this normally costs $100 itself.
I had my eye already on a photo I wanted to enlarge and feature in my new Disney-themed craft room, so I'll be getting that.
This is it--what do you think? Is it worthy of the wrapped-canvas treatment? Or should I maybe go with something lighter in color?
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Shucks--photo shop is closing! [update & question in post #8]
This one is about 15 minutes from my house; the one that was 2 miles away closed a couple of years ago. In both instances, I believe the owner just wanted to retire. I get all my photos developed there, and we've been getting family Christmas portraits at Moto Photo for so many years, I couldn't even tell you.
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I use Snapfish and Shutterfly because there is nowhere here other than drugstores/discount stores and my photos have never turned out well there.
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