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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 called my ex mother in law by her first name. My former SIL called her "mother" as did her own kids. It seemed way too formal to me. I did use grandma once she became one.
I know several people who use Mom and Dad for the in laws and think it's fine. I don't think it's an issue of layalty as much as comfortableness.
I only have one Mum and thats the only person I call it. I certainly wouldn't refer to MIL as that but thats a whole other saga...... I even call my stepDad by his first name. My own Dad died when i was 7 and my Mum remarried when i was 12. He was a widower with 2 girls and we were always told that no-one was there to replace our own parents. We weren't expected to call our new parents Mum & Dad but in all other respects they were our parents and we had to obey the new 'family' rules. I do refer to my stepsisters as my 'sisters' tho.
I avoid naming my in-laws at all costs. If I must mention them I say "Simon's mum/dad" or "Sydney grandma/pa". Not being disrespectful but I already have parents and my in-laws are not mum or dad.
My DH calls my folks by their first names. He asked them what they wanted to be called and they told him 'whatever'. He chose to continue calling them by their names as that was how he addressed them when we were dating.
I would be disappointed if my kids called someone else mum...
DH and I have been married almost 29 years and I met his parents when I was 18. I call them "Mom" and "Dad". I just have never felt comfortable calling them by their real names.
Our DIL calls us by our real names, which is just fine.
I guess it's just a matter of what you feel comfortable with.
When I am addressing them directly and my son is not around, I call them by their first names. (For example if I answer the phone and it's one of them I use their first name.)
When I am referring to them and my son is around, I call them Grandma and Granddad. (For example if we're leaving their house I will tell DS to, "say goodbye to Grandma.")
My husband's parents had been deceased for years when we met so I never had to deal with inlaws.
My dh calls my mother by her first name. Since he's only 2 years younger than her, it would be a bit weird if he called her 'mom'.
I have 3 sisters-in-law. Two call my mother 'mom' and the third is a Southern belle who's always called my mother Miss Paula.
Everybody calls my stepdad Chic, which is his nickname.
I call my in-laws by their first names, but it took a long time to get comfortable doing so -- and I dated DH for 10 years before we got married!
However, I do sometimes (fondly! ) call my FIL, "Pa." My MIL would call him that when he was getting ornery about something and was fussing up a storm in front of us "kids" (even though we were in our 20s and could curse a sailor under the table! ).
Otherwise, it's definitely their first names. . .finally.
I agree with the OP and always call my inlaws by their first name as my wife does with my parents. I have a sister inlaw who calls the inlaws mom and dad. When she comes in the door she always hugs them and says hi mom / dad making a big scene. Its all and act and makes me want to hurl!
I agree with the OP and always call my inlaws by their first name as my wife does with my parents. I have a sister inlaw who calls the inlaws mom and dad. When she comes in the door she always hugs them and says hi mom / dad making a big scene. Its all and act and makes me want to hurl!
She must be trying to make sure she's in the will!!
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I call my inlaws.... Mima and Papa. I couldn't call them mother and father, too wierd. And I couldn't call them Mr and Mrs W--- (like my SIL), also weird. So, I use the terms made by the first grandchildren (who were 8, 6, 3 and 1 when I entered the picture).
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Like you said, Teresa, "Mom and Dad" are what I call MY parents. 
) call my FIL, "Pa." My MIL would call him that when he was getting ornery about something and was fussing up a storm in front of us "kids" (even though we were in our 20s and could curse a sailor under the table! 
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