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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Oh, and good idea about dressing them in bright colors. I even go as far as dressing my boys in the same exact shirt. That way if one gets lost, I can look at the other one and say "he was wearing that!" Great idea about the cell phone picture!
__________________
Lisa
With Mickey at Animal Kingdom, on a very cold day in Jan. 2008
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thank you all for your great ideas. I the necklace idea, my DD will really enjoy it. As for the clothing part, with a DD and a DS, I'm also planning similar outfits but in summer time, my DD prefer dress!
I also know Mabel’s Labels | return address labels that have really nice return address that you could stick on your kids...
But I hope nothing happen to anyone I just hate those kind of stories. Right now, there is this little girl (9years old) that disappear this summer when she helped a man find his lost dog! Since then, my kids are alwas holding my hands in public and never outside by themself.
I bought silicone bracelets for my DD and they were really inexpensive (think under $5) with our info on them. I will try to find the link to the site and post it for you.
We have been using the travel system stroller for DS (age 5) the last two summers. Haven't been to WDW, but we have been to Wildwood and to several amusement parks. We have a deal - he can walk beside the stroller as long as he keeps a hand on it at all times unless he's holding mine, DH's, DMIL's, or her SO's hand. If he lets go for any other reason, he loses that privilege and has to ride in the stroller. It's become a kind of game to him - to see how long he can remember each day to keep a hand on the stroller. We break it up and keep 'the game' fresh by giving him lots of opportunities to be 'hands-off' in playground areas, wide-open spaces, at shows, and on rides.
He knows his full name, but can't pronounce it very well, so I made a little ID card for him and attach it to his belt loop with a ballchain every day before we leave our room. It lists his name, mine, my husband's, and the names of the adults traveling with us along with my DH's and my cell phone numbers, the name of the hotel, and the phone number for the hotel. We also drill him every day before we leave the hotel about who is a 'safe' adult to go to for help if we get separated. At Wildwood, he's to flag down a Tram Car operator, lifeguard, or police officer and ask for help. At Knoebels, he knows to look for a woman wearing a t-shirt or polo shirt with the Knoebels logo or if he's near a ride we go on a lot - he can ask any ride operator for help. (We spend a lot of time on the kiddie trains and the bumper cars and the ride-ops all know us because we vacation there every year.) Knoebels is a very small park and DJ knows it like the back of his hand as well as knowing many of the ride operators by name. It's the one place where I know he knows who to go to for help. It's also one of the reasons it's our home away from home.
I just ordered the bracelets, and I got one for everyone going. They all match and they say:
On the front of everyone's: Disney World, New Year's 2008
On the back of my sons is their names and my cell #
My bracelet says Lisa "Mommy" Renninger
Grandma's says Karen "Gamma" Renninger
We did them for the grandparents too, just in case anyone asks them for ID, at the very least they can show them that their bracelets match the kids.
__________________
Lisa
With Mickey at Animal Kingdom, on a very cold day in Jan. 2008
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I always attatched a label to our kids at the bottom of their shirts. I also do this on our traveling days, just in case we would get into an accident. I have a different label for traveling days that has all our info, emergency contact number, their blood types and that they have no known allergies. This label is a tad bigger, because I want it to be seen it we are in an accident and DH and I cannot respond. For our 2 year old. I did the little kid leash and it worked perfectly. It gave him a sense of freedom, but we had a hold of him. I too teach DD, 4, to look for a Mommy with kids. if she is separated from us. I am going to order the shoe id though. I really like that idea! Thanks!
Well maybe I'll order the bracelet, or just do the labels again, both kids will want to wear their Mickey crocs and I don't think the shoe id will work.
__________________
Darcie
Last edited by tndisneyfam; 12-05-2007 at 12:34 PM..
My son has had a brain injury, one of the effects is that he will wander off VERY fast. When we go to Disney, we insist he wear a harness and leash. I always thought they were harsh, but ever since he came out of the wheel chair it became impossible to keep up with him. (same way when shopping, he either wears the harness or he is in a shopping cart.) He is 6 and as soon as he found out we were planning a new trip in Jan/Feb, the first thing he did was go and get his harness!
I also like the label in his shirt, as well as the bracelett... now I have lots of ideas for him and his older sister!
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The bracelets and stickers are a great idea but something that also worked really great for us was we taught the kids to STAY PUT if they got sperated. I was always keeping on eye on all three but there were a few times we quickly got seperated and because I would notice it quickly, we were able to backtrack and find our son right were we lost him (and they always point out that it was us that lost him). This worked wonders for us and the kids have often told us that they remembered we told them to stand right there and we would come back and get them.
__________________
Margaret
I am not a Disney employee. The postings here are my own and do not represent the positions or opinions of the Disney Company
When my son was a young buck, I would have him keep a room key in his pocket...tell him that if he were lost to find a CM, and give them the key...who I was.
Also, 4 is not too old for a Disney stroller. I kept John in one until he was 6.
Just curious... What info did you put on the braclet besides a cell phone #?
The bracelets I had made say "If lost call my mom at 843- ___-____. The other side says, "If lost call my dad at 843-___-____
Another idea. I knew a guy who's wife made the family custom t-shirts each day. The back, at the collar all had the same design so they could spot each other both coming and going.
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Okay I got lost in Disney as a kid before the age of cell phones--actually we were at Epcot in line to see Captain EO and I wandered off to look at a fountain. Make sure you give your children instructions on what to do if they can't find mommy or daddy. I was instructed to go into the nearest store and tell the clerk what had happened. I wandered through the really long line screaming Mommy for awhile before I remembered what to do. A kind Daddy actually picked me up and put me on his shoulders to see if I could see Mommy and Daddy. (I was about 7) Mommy came looking for me at the nearest store and found me. The clerk was in the back when I disappeared with Mommy--I hope she didn't go out looking for me!
Okay I got lost in Disney as a kid before the age of cell phones--actually we were at Epcot in line to see Captain EO and I wandered off to look at a fountain. Make sure you give your children instructions on what to do if they can't find mommy or daddy. I was instructed to go into the nearest store and tell the clerk what had happened. I wandered through the really long line screaming Mommy for awhile before I remembered what to do. A kind Daddy actually picked me up and put me on his shoulders to see if I could see Mommy and Daddy. (I was about 7) Mommy came looking for me at the nearest store and found me. The clerk was in the back when I disappeared with Mommy--I hope she didn't go out looking for me!
Captain EO....man that brought back memories of my first trip to WDW. I was talking with my mom about this thread and she reminded me that we lost my brother at WDW. He was about 5 at the time. I looked around and saw Goofy in a space costume and there in line waiting his turn was my brother. He only wandered about 15 feet away, but still that was far enough to worry Mom and Dad.
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the necklace idea, my DD will really enjoy it. As for the clothing part, with a DD and a DS, I'm also planning similar outfits but in summer time, my DD prefer dress!
I just hate those kind of stories. Right now, there is this little girl (9years old) that disappear this summer when she helped a man find his lost dog! Since then, my kids are alwas holding my hands in public and never outside by themself.
the kids and I in Cayo Coco, Cuba. March 2011
It's also one of the reasons it's our home away from home. 
Margaret
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