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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 am surprising my best friend, Jamie, with her very first WDW vacation for her birthday this year. She is always telling me how we should plan a trip when we can both afford it because she has always wanted to go. Although I have been planning for months, she still has no idea that she will be standing in front of Cinderella Castle in just a few short months. I have taken care of everything (plane tickets, MYW tickets, resort, meals, etc.), so she will not have to worry about a thing. The time has come now to let her in on the surprise (so that she can save her vacation days). I want it to be something she will always remember. After all, the first trip to WDW should be magical! I wanted to know if anyone had any suggestions as to how I can surprise her.
I have a couple of different suggestions. How about printing off a fairly large size picture of Cinderella Castle from the Internet and then taking some small photo you have of her, cutting her shape out of it and pasting it on the castle pic, then showing her standing in front of Cinderella Castle. You could then set this masterpiece up somewhere you know she will find it and then stand by with a little envelope at the ready with all your plans to date in it. Then all that remains to do is yell surprise when she looks at the photo.
Another option would be to get one of the wonderful fairy godmailers from this list to mail a postcard of her favorite Disney character to her name but care of your mailing address. Just ask the fairy godmailer to include in the post card an invitation to come down and visit them. At the end of the postcard could be written, "If you want to know more, just ask Erin." When you receive the postcard, you can take it to her and with a smile, say, "Jamie, for some odd reason, some mail for you got delivered to me by mistake."
No matter how you decide to surprise her, she's going to be absolutely thrilled. You're such a WONDERFUL friend to do this for her!
I like the pic of a castle idea. Or you could make an autograph album and get some mouse ears and give them to her and when she looks puzzled about the items you are giving her you can say surprise and give her an envelope with the info.
First of all, you are so sweet to be doing this for your friend! She's a lucky gal! There are a few things that you could do.
I love what Joan W did for her dd....it was a slide show presentation on power point, or something like that. If you didn't see her post I think it's in the Porch forum (she has pictures of her dd's reaction!). You could do something as simple as letting a fairygodmailer do it for you with a postcard from Mickey.
Another neat idea would be to have personalized t-shirts made for y'all, whether you made them yourself or ordered them from Disney Direct, and you could wrap it for her as an early gift. If you could have her spend the night at your house, you could decorate the bedroom she sleeps in with streamers, balloons, etc., along with a banner announcing where you are taking her for her b-day. This would be especially great if it were really close to the actual day, like the morning before!
A delivery of some sort to her place of work would be cute....you could send a cookie cake, flowers with Disney balloons, Disney themed birthday cake, or those cute cookie bouquets....oh, or a singing telegram, those are funny!
That's all that I can think of at the moment, should anything else pop into my head, I'll post again! HTH!
You've already gotten some great suggestions and my DH will tell you I'm not very good at surprised, but I think what you are doing is so wonderful!! Good Luck with the surprise!
You've already gotten some great suggestions and my DH will tell you I'm not very good at surprises, but I think what you are doing is so wonderful!! Good Luck with the surprise!
You are a wonderful friend to do this! !
I would send her a birthday bouquet with Disney balloons with a note attached that says "call me for the rest of your surprise!" If her birthday is Nov. 15, send it on June 15.
I also like the idea of having a fairy-godmailer sending her postcard. I'm going next month and would be happy to do it for you.
tenya
Wow, what a great surprise - you're an AMAZING friend! I really like the idea of blowing up a picture of the castle and putting a little cut-out picture of you and your friend on front of it.. that's a really cute idea! Let us know what you decide
Erin,
What about buying her a passporter and putting all the reservation info on the correct pockets?
I also like the idea of a fairy-godmailer. We are taking my mom in Nov., so I had someone send her one for mother's day to tell her. It worked out great because it came the day before and we were visiting her. The look on her face was priceless!
I think it's so great that you are doing this for your friend. Whatever you decide, have a great trip!!
Well....since you are being such a good pixie! How about a little pixie dust... Take one of the previously mentioned idea's and have the info in a really special envelope that also has some glitter (pixie dust) in it so it will fall out when she opens it. Maybe you should be outside!! Unless you like glitter in the carpet....but the effect would be wonderful. Let us know what you do!! Travelinsara
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There are a few things that you could do. 
Amy
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