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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
I empty the perishables that won't keep out of the fridge (like milk and lunch meats). I don't want to come home to a smelly fridge!
I take out the trash the night before I leave. I don't want to come home to a smelly kitchen, either!
I do laundry the week before the trip so I'll have clean clothes to take with me. I don't want to come home to a smelly clothes hamper, either, too!
I get a haircut so I'll be comfy in the Florida sun.
I take all my rolled coins to the bank and cash them in for spending money.
I empty my wallet, camera bag, and laptop bag of anything I won't need on the trip, and make sure that everything I DO need is in them.
I print all my travel documents and pack them up with my travellers checks, Disney Dollars, and park passes in one central location, so I will not forget anything.
I write all of my travel info (flight #s, confirmation #s, times and dates, etc.) in my trip notebook as an easy reference. My Passporters tend to stay at home on my bookshelf.
A day or two before I leave, I drop off my spare keys with my best friend, who brings in the mail and keeps an eye on my place while I'm gone.
Before I leave I turn off all of my electronics (computer, stereo, TV, cable box, etc), and the heat-A/C. No sense in having these things run while I'm not there to enjoy them! My friend turns the A/C back on the day I come home so it's comfy by the time I arrive.
I love pre-trip rituals, knowing that you're doing the final few things left to do before you leave!
We always clean the house and make sure that everything is neat and organized. We hate unpacking when we get home, so what could be worse than ALSO having to clean up the house? My Dad vacuums and my Mom cleans the bedrooms, while I clean my room and help with the Living Room, and Mike... well, Mike sits in the basement and plays video games [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/rofl2.gif[/img]
We also get rid of any food or drinks that could go bad while we're away. We're usually only left with closed cereal boxes and canned foods.
My Dad makes sure to shut off all the electronics in the house, and unplugs all of our computers. There's no point in them being plugged in if we won't be on them for so long.
We make sure we have everything packed and ready, and that we have everything we need. We either stop the mail, or make arrangements with family members to come pick it up. I usually spend the night wide awake in my bed, watching videos from past trips or my favorite vacation-related episodes of TV shows!
Clean the house, empty the garbages. Buy new socks ( why, I dont know). Write out bills that would have to be paid if the plane crashed so my kids wouldnt have to worry for a month. Neurotic, I know.
I'm another pre-trip house-cleaner. Gotta have clean sheets on all the beds, clean laundry, clean bathroom and the rest of the house has to be neat and tidy. After I come home from vacation, it takes me a few days to get back into my "real life" routine so I can't come home to a mess that needs to be cleaned.
I am with all of you that clean house before vacation - but I'm a little concerned about the Mousefest trip! Since John and the girls aren't going - I'm a little scared about what I'm going to come home to!
The girls, especially Jennie, aren't too bad at keeping up with what needs to be done - but they do need constant reminders. If you don't say "Put the dirty dish in the dishwasher" they won't! I don't think they see the dirt!
I treat myself to a manicure and pedicure. We recently had to reschedule from this month to January, so I hope in that weather the pedicure will still be worth it [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]
We also have a countdown calendar posted in the house, and a new ritual is to post the single digit dance to fellow Passporters [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zputer.gif[/img]
Like most, my pre-trip rituals include cleaning. I wash clothes so I have clean for the trip and something to wear when I get home. I vacuum, clean the kitchen, cook dog food, clean the kitchen, scrub the bathroom, wash the dog, scrub the bathroom... Think I need to rewrite my cleaning list a bit... [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]
I'm another one with the pre-trip cleaning ritual....DH and I have to clean the house before we leave. We have a huge To Do/To Take list and we have to make sure everything is crossed off before we leave. And then when we are ready to go,I get a little OCD...check the house about 10 times to make sure stuff is unplugged, locked up, etc. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]
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