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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Glad to see you've started, Jill! I was really tempted to hop on a plane and join y'all! I loved all the texts you and Thom sent, but it's not like being there with you! I'll just have to read the TR and pretend I was there!
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
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We had been steadily packing clothes throughout the week leading up to our trip, so by the time Friday rolled around that chore was complete. I had even ventured out to the dollar store the weekend before to buy several ponchos since there was a chance of rain in the forecast while we were there. The funny thing was that as soon as I returned from the dollar store with 8 ponchos I checked the weather forecast again which had suddenly turned to no chance of rain throughout our entire stay. Apparently, the old adage about carrying an umbrella to keep the rain from coming works with ponchos too.
I had a cooking class scheduled for the night of our departure, so Thom took the girls out to eat while I went to my Provencal lobster class. Work had been crazy and a tad stressful that afternoon, but my cooking class turned out to be a wonderful attitude adjuster and a great way to slide into the weekend.
When someone hands you a glass of champagne as soon as you walk into the room, you know it’s going to be a good night. This turned out to be one of those evenings where people stay after class and start buying bottles of champagne, but I had to beg off after the first bottle reminding everyone that I had to be on a train in several hours and didn’t need to be drunkie. That would not make for a fun train ride.
The girls were pajama-ed up and ready for bed when I got home. We tucked them in, said goodnight (for now) and then I moved it into high gear. I was showered, packed up and ready for bed within an hour. Of course, my excitement level didn’t allow me to go to sleep until 11 p.m. so I didn’t even have 2 hours of sleep before the alarm was going off.
Thom and I threw on our traveling clothes and then went to do the fun part - - waking up the girls! We went into their room, turned on the light and started shaking them and loudly telling them that it was time to wake up. If someone had woken me up in that manner, I probably would have had a heart attack . . . but they merely sat up with heavy eyelids and confused expressions. Mary Devall actually got out of bed and then immediately said “I’m going back to bed.”
I stopped her and said “You can’t go back to bed. We might be late for the train.”
Aaaahhhh . . . the mention of the train made those little eyelids pop up and the confused expressions turn into ones of wonder. Before Thom could even say the words “Disney World” they had on their faces. Within seconds, Maddie had grabbed two fluffies, scrambled off her bed and was ready to go.
The reality of the situation began to really sink in by the time that we got downstairs and they saw the packed suitcases. These were some happy girls.
Mary Devall did admit that she figured we would be going at some point because we never actually said no when she asked if we could plan a surprise trip. Looks like Thom and I need to up our game if we’re going to outsmart an 8-year-old in the future. Out and out lying works much better in our family than the “being coy” stuff.
Once Thom loaded our few bags in the minivan, we all hopped in and headed for the train station. We were moments away when ironically we were stopped at the train tracks to wait for a train to pass. At first, we freaked thinking it was our train, but then quickly realized that it was just a cargo train.
We weren’t checking any bags, so we were soon sitting in the waiting area. Maddie had other ideas though . . . oddly enough, she had been talking about the vending machine at the train station earlier that week and asking if she could have something out of it the next time that we went to Disney World. I was in the middle of trying to put eye drops in her eye, so of course I said yes since I quite often use the bribery technique in my parenting skills. And of course . . . she remembered that little conversation the moment we walked into the train station.
I had brought plenty of change with me in anticipation of this moment, so off we went where she immediately set her sights on a gigantic Hershey bar. Oddly enough, my other little candy fiend didn’t want anything, but then again she’s not one to eat when she’s not hungry (I just don’t understand that girl sometimes ).
The train was behind schedule and didn’t arrive until after 2 a.m. We were the only people boarding the sleeper cars, but this time no one came out to let us on the train. It was cold standing out there, so Thom took off down to where they were boarding the coach passengers and asked someone to let us on. Poor Mary Devall almost started freaking out thinking that they were going to leave us.
Apparently the person who was supposed to let us on had fallen asleep, but we were soon being helped by another attendant who quickly got us to our room. We had barely stepped in our room when the train started moving, so maybe I should have been freaking out like Mary Devall.
Although Mary Devall declared that she had outgrown the luggage compartment, Maddie decided that she wanted to try it out this time. I got her all snuggled in with a sheet, blanket and pillow before I took the top bunk and Thom and Mary Devall shared the bottom one. Everyone else seemed to fall asleep pretty quickly but it took me forever to succumb to sleep. Thankfully, we were all able to sleep to almost 8 a.m. so I didn’t feel like the walking dead all day.
Great start Jill. I'm glad you were able to surprise the girls. What was wrong with Mary Deval, not wanting chocolate? Riding the train sounds so relaxing.
Liz
All aboard! Time for another TR! Glad you guys squeezed this one in! Also glad that you decided not to do the President's Day Weekend--because this year's is the evil trifecta--its President's Day, Valentine's Day, and Mardi Gras--so kids on vacation--couples proposing and tons of people from Louisiana!
All aboard! Time for another TR! Glad you guys squeezed this one in! Also glad that you decided not to do the President's Day Weekend--because this year's is the evil trifecta--its President's Day, Valentine's Day, and Mardi Gras--so kids on vacation--couples proposing and tons of people from Louisiana!
In hindsight, this worked out for the best. I would have hated for them to miss the snow that we're having right now too!
Heather, I have two pictures to send to you - - they had a blast spending their gift cards from you!
Great start Jill ! I guess I was half asleep when I read your first entry. I thought you were going to be there on President's day and that your countdown should be five days instead of 50 ! Looking forward to more.
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Disney Magic - Oct 2015
Apparently, the old adage about carrying an umbrella to keep the rain from coming works with ponchos too. 
Work had been crazy and a tad stressful that afternoon, but my cooking class turned out to be a wonderful attitude adjuster and a great way to slide into the weekend. 
This turned out to be one of those evenings where people stay after class and start buying bottles of champagne, but I had to beg off after the first bottle reminding everyone that I had to be on a train in several hours and didn’t need to be drunkie. That would not make for a fun train ride.
. . . but they merely sat up with heavy eyelids and confused expressions. Mary Devall actually got out of bed and then immediately said “I’m going back to bed.” 
Before Thom could even say the words “Disney World” they had 
Looks like Thom and I need to up our game if we’re going to outsmart an 8-year-old in the future. Out and out lying works much better in our family than the “being coy” stuff. 
Susan
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