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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 agree with most of what's been said.
We dealt with this same thing, and still continue to deal with it a bit. DD Lauren is almost 14, in grade 8, and just this year got the "oomph" to tell a girl at school that "You are NOT being a friend. I don't want to be your friend anymore, don't drag me into your drama." The girl thought it was funny to pit Lauren and another friend at school against each other by telling lies about each of them to the other. Sound familiar? I think this behavior is indicative of a girl who doesn't understand that others can be friends with her AND someone else. She wants both girls to be her friend, but doesn't want them to be each other's friend!
It takes a lot of talking about what a friend is, and finding out if your DD is willing to put up with the bad behavior. Some girls are willing to deal with it, and do it very well while some can't deal with it at all and back off the friendship right away.
Don't worry about the "Best Friend" showing up. Some of us never had one, and never really missed it. I have 2 very good friends now, that I met in my 30s. My DD Samantha has had a BFF since they were 2 - they're now 28, she doesn't have a tons of just friends. DD Kathryn hasn't found hers yet, but she has tons of friends - she's 18. DD Lauren (13) found her BFF 3 years ago and also has so many friends it's dizzying.
You'll need to be there for your DD, be able and willing to offer a shoulder to cry on, but still just let her decide. It's hard watching your child hurt, but sometimes it works out for the best: your DD will learn what she wants and doesn't want in a friend.
I agree with Huntermom - is there something your DD is interested in? Not only will doing something and doing it well give her confidence in herself, it will probably give her a whole different friend base. Most of DD Lauren's really good friends come from karate. Now, they're boys, because karate is a male dominated sport, but they all love her and she loves them and looks on them as either big or little brothers.
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She is very into swimming and piano. Neither provide many friend opportunities, but she is gaining confidence because she knows she is good at these things and they are different things than the friend in question is doing which I think is a good thing. She definitely shines more when she isn't around this friend so I think that friendship just makes them both a bit insecure.
Teresa glad to hear your perspective on BFF's. I had a BFF in school and I honestly found it kind of limiting - always wanted more friends... So I do like that she seems to be friends with so many more girls and just want her to be ok with that too.
I went through this growing up with a girl down the street. She was fun and nice when it was just me and her, but when other people were around she was mean and nasty. I didnt realize til middle school that she wasn't a good friend. Its so hard to stand by and not take action, especially since I've gone through it. I always want to step in and I've only done it once but it wasn't someone we would ever see again. In the end I didn't feel right after I stepped in because i felt it show the best way to handle a situation with my daughter so I let her handle it now (though she is only 5). I def agree with activities, have you thought about girl scouts? That was one of my favorite things growing up and my daughter just started. I really hope things get better, will def be thinking about you!
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I agree with a lot that has already been said. I will say that my Step-daughter has dealt with this as well. The only issue is that her mom is best friends with the girl's mom. I just told my step-daughter that if her "friend" is not acting a certain way that she likes or is mean to her she needs to tell her. My DSD said she didn't want to hurt the "friends" feelings. I told her I understood but that she can tell her nicely how she feels. I explained that if she doesn't tell her "friend" that you don't like her being mean then how is she suppose to know. I also explained that if she is in a situation that the girl is making her uncomfortable or saying things she doesn't like she has the choice to leave. My DSD has come back and told me its worked. She said on occasion that when her "friend" wouldn't stop being mean then she would just go find something else to do. I have also witnessed her to say to the "friend" that she doesn't want to talk to her at the moment and when the "friend" persists then she says to her in a firm voice she doesn't want to talk to her. Whether its right or wrong I told her to keep being out spoken on what she needs to say. I told her to try to say it with some tact (which I sadly need to work on). When she's with us she knows if she doesn't like something or something happens that's really good that she can tell us. When we drop her off every Sunday we ask what was her favorite parts and the worst part of the weekend. I feel keeping the communication open whether its good or bad has really helped us be a strong family. I'm also really glad that when she doesn't like something that happens on the weekends we have her that she's not scared to let us know. I hope things get better for you little one. Sending you lots of
My older son is a great swimmer and became a life guard and later swim instructor-lots of friend opportunities in those once she is older. Is there a swim team she could join? DS1 never wanted to swim competitively until be became a life guard and the guards would have races and he realized he was much faster than they were. He had been really turned off to competitive sports by some bad coaching.
My kids piano teacher was also good at connecting kids. She would bring together kids to do duets. She also did regularly scheduled concerts at local nursing homes so the kids got together there, too.
One thing I think is important, especially with girls, is that they understand you can be friends with all kinds of people, all ages of people and both sexes. I think girls sometimes get boxed in to feeling they need another girl in their grade.
Two out of three of my kids were clearly preferred quality (not quantity) friendships. My older son has maintained most of his friendships from high school and undergraduate days and law school. Not the kid who needs to go to reunions and see everyone but the kid who has strong connections to those who meant something to him.
I don't know if your DD will play with the boys, but because my Dd had two older brothers, she interacted with boys a lot which made her pretty immune to girl dramas. We also emphasized that while having friends is good, it's about quality, not quantity,
That is so true. My dd has played ice hockey since she was 4 years old and was always on boy teams and interacted well with boys which has made her hate and avoid at all cost girl dramas.
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