My Very "Meety" Christmas Party - COMPLETED!! 12/15/10 - Page 23 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Finally got a chanca to catch up - love all the pcitures and what wonderful meets. How fun to get to meet so many wonderful people and get to share the world at such a special time. Can't wait to hear more.
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Oh Cindy, I could feel the magic when you were describing the Osborne Lights! I saw the lights during my stay that week but it was amongst the masses so it must have been extra special having a special performance for your group
the photopass pics are so marvelous. i am noticing that when you were at MK on wednesday the garlands were across mainstreet. these garlands disappeared on thursday...i am wondering if it was because of the parade taping? i am glad to see they really are up as i missed them this year. and yes, i can only imagine having the same sort of "moment" with a private osborne lights party...wow.
Thanks for the comments, everybody! And Sheri, you're right -- they must have taken the MK garlands down for the parade taping. I really loved the way they looked, strung across Main Street.
I forgot to say that as we all quietly headed back out of the park when the last Osborne light faded away, my heart was so full I just felt I had to express myself to a Disney Cast Member. There was an older CM standing right by the entrance/exit to the park, holding one of those light sticks. I walked up to her and said, while I was still a bit , "Thank you all SO MUCH for sticking around so that our group could have this amazing time."
She smiled, knowing we'd just had a private Osborne lights and music experience, and said, "Whenever I see those lights, I like to think that Walt would be proud."
Of course, that made me all over again, but it was worth it. I replied, "That's part of why I'm so emotional right now. I think Walt would absolutely love that his legacy lives on and that people running the company still know how important it is to create magical moments."
Many people in our group were staying over until Sunday afternoon, but I knew this was my last chance for hugs and goodbyes. I made so many friends on this trip -- I sure hope to meet you all again!
Thank you to all at WDW and a huge thanks to Beci and Annette at Mouse Fan Travel for setting up that amazing sequence of surprises.
Love all the PP pics, but especially the castle with the fireworks behind you! What a very special evening. The Osborne lights are awesome and how to get to see them in a private showing.
Your photopass pics were great - especially the fireworks & castle ones. But your Osborne lights story made me cry!! Can't imagine being there to experience it like that!!! So cool!!
Cindy it was so much fun hanging out with you. You made me laugh so much my face hurt by the end of each day. Thank you for being who you are. Your trip report brought me right back to our happy place. I was bawling while I read through the part about the Osborne Lights. It really was a special moment and I'm so happy I was able to spend it with some new great friends. I hope our paths will cross again sometime. You are are special person and I feel so blessed to be able to call you my friend.
Cheers
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, "Thank you all SO MUCH for sticking around so that our group could have this amazing time."
all over again, but it was worth it. I replied, "That's part of why I'm so emotional right now. I think Walt would absolutely love that his legacy lives on and that people running the company still know how important it is to create magical moments."
to get to see them in a private showing.
Susan
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