It's going to be an "Incredible Summer" - Page 17 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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Okay, for the first time in a long time, I'm going to do this in the correct order: Introductions followed by the PTR versus the start of the PTR with the introductions somewhere in the middle
Cast of Characters:
Darlene (me): 40 something YO who grew up loving Disney. My first trip was at age 4 to Disneyland but it was for a few hours and I don't remember it at all so we can't really count it. The next few trips to Disney World - starting in 1980 when there was only the MK - aren't really remembered any better but it did start my love of the parks. This will be my 18th trip to Disney and my 10th with Lenny and Abby.
Lenny (DH): 50 something YO who visited Disney World for the first time as a 40 something YO adult. He was very anti-Disney before that trip. He didn't believe anything I told him about the parks - how immersive they are, how he can ride pretty much everything with our daughter (something he couldn't do at other parks) - and he didn't want to go as he felt he'd be on the sidelines watching things happen instead of being able to ride and take part. He went and by the end of the trip, I heard from him, not our at the time 6 YO child, "when can we come back?" While Lenny admits that it is an expensive trip, he does feel overall that we get our monies worth so this will be his 10th trip to Disney.
Abby (DD) - 18 YO Autistic recent High School graduate. This is also Abby's 10th trip to Disney World. My father always wanted to take Abby to Disney World but unfortunately he passed away before he was able to but it was something I always wanted to do too. I was able to go as a child so Abby should be able to as well With her being Autistic, I really wasn't sure how a trip would work but I did what I've come to do well over the years - I researched, did my homework and made lots of plans. The first trip was not without it's ups and downs but over the years, the trips have gotten better and better (and planned and replanned :wink and Abby has grown so much. We've gone from that first trip where Abby thought there was only one park and thinking when we left it the fun was over to going to every single park, some years park hopping, and having fun all week long, even when not in an actual park. She's riding rides by herself, talking with CM to trade for pins on her own, she's giving input on what she wants or does not want to do. She still struggles with parade and after fireworks crowds but overall, she has just grown so much and almost acts like a completely different kid. Is it any wonder why I want to keep going back?
Where:
All Star Music resort - our home away from home
When:
August 5th to August 18th
Why:
Do we really need a reason? Since we are going though we'll celebrate Lenny's birthday (August 17th so it happens while we are there) and Abby finishing High School.
How:
By airplane :-p - and lots and lots of hard work and saving. We'll take Southwest early in the morning and then use a rental car to get around the property once there.
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