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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Need motivation to go to WDW
I NEVER thought that I would be saying this, but I am thinking of cancelling our trip in 24 days. We just became empty-nesters in August. My daughter has been my Disney buddy since 2012 when we started going to F&W festival and loved it Dh and ds had lost interest, and our "Girls Gone Disney" trips were great! We added other mothers/daughters to our trip after a couple of years and always had a great time.
I talked dh into going this fall thinking it would be fun to be able to do some of the adult events at F&W. We are less than a month out, and I am not the least bit looking forward to our trip. It actually kind of depresses me to think about going with my daughter. In my head, I think it would be a great (though expensive!) distraction of missing the kids. My heart just isn't there. I haven't even added our tickets to MDE, let alone make any FP selections - that's how bad it is!
This is a tough one, given that I am always looking forward to times when I can make my next trip to WDW. I think if I were in your situation, I would still go. When you get there, don’t you think you’ll be excited and happy and ready to do your Disney thing? Can you play some Disney music to get yourself motivated?
Oh my gosh.... Most of my trips to Disney were with my 2 kids. Now I am going solo...WITHOUT THEM! And even though it would be Fun with them...I am having a blast WITHOUT THEM! It is different but it is a different fun!
I would go...and make new memories....Enjoy your time!
I just bought my airfare for my next Solo Trip in May 2019! This will be my 7th Solo Trip.... Looking forward to it!
Have a Great time....and you will!
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Kate in PA All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them- Walt Disney
We are fortunate to take annual trips to WDW and have owned DVC for many years. When we first started going I really looked forward to the trips. However the last couple trips I have started becoming like the OP. I looked forward to the trip when we booked it but as the trip got closer I didn't really want to go. A couple weeks before those trips it became worse. I swore this would be the last trip and we would be selling our DVC membership. When the day came to go I started looking forward to getting there and once we were there it was great and didn't want to come home....as usual.
As I get older it seems like I prefer to be home more and maybe that's my issue. Nevertheless we have another trip planned and so far I'm looking forward to it.
We had a house fire in the spring of 2017. We had a trip scheduled for that August. I considered canceling it many time because it didn't sound fun right then. We were settled into a temporary trailer and work was starting on the house but I wasn't feeling the trip. I finally let my co-workers talk me into going anyway and we had a great trip. It was a much needed break in the routine.
Go and just relax, Do whatever strikes you at that time.
The past couple of trips, just about a month out, I didn't want to go, didn't care that I was going and thought "why am I bothering?" I think I was just burnt out from planning, from life, etc. Even though I was tempted to, I did NOT cancel either trip, I did go and I had fun. How close can you cancel? I'd give it a few more days and maybe as it gets closer, you'll get excited to do this trip differently. Adding your tickets is a simple thing it'll be done in no time and not making FP? There will still be plenty for you to do there and unless you'll still be able to get FP. Maybe not for "big ticket thinks" like FoP but if you go with realistic expectations, you'll do fine.. We went last month and I cannot tell you how many "extra" FP's we were able to get during the day, especially in the MK.
Oh I'm right there with you with the empty nest syndrome. My youngest is in college and I retired this year! I thought it woulld be great, I can do Disney at any time of the year now! However, my husband only tolerates Disney, sooo I'm not sure if we will be going anytime soon. The kids would rather do a nondisney cruise and I'm not even sure I will like it. What I really need is a Disney fanatic travel buddy!
I'd say go ahead and go - it'll be different, but try not to compare it to your experiences in the past but as a whole new thing. I agree with Ginger - try to meet up with some other Passporters.
I've felt not too excited sometimes and I think in the most recent years this has happened because of the way we have to do so much pre-planning compared to how we did it years ago. It involves some work.
But of course once there, we all love it.
Keep us posted.
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Don't let your heart be filled with sorrow, for all you know, tomorrow, the dream that you wish will come true.
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Dh and ds had lost interest, and our "Girls Gone Disney" trips were great! We added other mothers/daughters to our trip after a couple of years and always had a great time.
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