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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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AS Jimmy said, if you're here in NYC, you can watch it live in Times Square:
Folks wanting to see the historic landing of a NASA probe on Mars next week will want to head to Times Square. NASA officials say the large Toshiba Vision screen in Times Square will broadcast live mission coverage of the landing of the Curiosity Rover as it lands on the Martian surface around 1:30 a.m. Eastern time next Monday.
I just heard that you can also watch - live from Mars - the landing at Colorado University in Boulder. The Denver Space Museum was also hosting a viewing but it has sold out.
How very cool!
My FIL worked for NASA and my dad did some contracting via GE on the Apollo projects, so we're space geeks here.
I'm sure my DH and DD will be watching for webfeeds.
"Space geeks" - that's very cute! My husband is one of the CalTech employees at JPL, so he works on NASA projects but in not really a NASA employee. The difference is minute, all JPL engineers depend on NASA funding to some degree.
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Yep -- I realized today (and observed on Facebook) that my daughter has enough NASA / KSC / Airplane themed tee shirts to wear a different one every day of our "Sky" Vacation Bible School.
"Space geeks" - that's very cute! My husband is one of the CalTech employees at JPL, so he works on NASA projects but in not really a NASA employee. The difference is minute, all JPL engineers depend on NASA funding to some degree.
My husband is in a similar situation. He works at NASA Glenn research center but is not a civil servant. He works for one of the companies that contracts work from NASA
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What a night!!! It was such an incredible experience to be among the engineers and other members of the JPL family last night as we watched (well, really heard) the LIVE landing of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), Curiosity. The MSL was designed, engineered, and built by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory here in Southern California.
The tension in the room was palpable as we waited for the transmissions that told us that each stage of the landing was happening as planned. There were so many things that had to be perfect, it seemed impossible that it would actually be successful. I don't think I've ever seen my husband so nervous! He has been at JPL for 20 years and this is probably the one of the last space missions he will be involved in from start to finish.
We were all given bottled water labeled "Martian Water" with a likeness of Curiosity, Mars bars and a MSL pin. The cheers in the room were deafening when the landing was confirmed. People were hugging and crying when we saw the first images sent back, especially the shot from the Odyessy Orbiter that showed a picture of Curiosity's shadow. She was beautiful!!! We're expecting detailed, true color photos within the next two weeks. Unbelievable!!!
It was a phenomenal night and I was so proud to be able to share it with family and friends.