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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Today, however, we took Merlin to the vet so he could be checked over and issued his vet certificate for international travel.
We were asked if we wanted the one page form or the six page form. Not knowing exactly what we would need, we decided to err on the side of caution and get the six page form. We also needed to have a copy of his rabies vaccination certificate. Unfortunately, his certificate still had his shelter name and did not have his microchip number. So we ended up heading over to the vet that issued the certificate and they happily changed the information for us. They were very happy to see Merlin as the last time they had seen him, he was nothing but skin and bones. (Today, he weighed in at a very healthy 47 pounds compared to the 36 pounds he was when we adopted him.)
His vet certificate, rabies certificate, adoption info, and Bahamian permit are all safely tucked away with our other travel documents now.
We leave for Austin this afternoon to spend the night at a hotel so we can get to airport bright and early tomorrow.
I'm glad Merlin's paperwork is all in order. I hope all of you have a fantastic vacation and that Merlin's presence enables Ramoan to have a more comfortable travel experience.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Ms. Butterfly, Questions for you...
You said "They also have other requirements about proof that the dog is a service dog and such."
What proof would they want? A certification certificate? A letter from a medical person that suggested a service dog? paperwork from a certified service dog training facility?
Have you traveled out of the country with a service dog before? If so please tell us more .. Also wondering if there is any trouble with stray dogs in other countries giving you issues? I have heard of packs of strays running loose is some countries..
Sorry I haven't been back on the boards in a while; life has been up and down and all around!
The proof part is for Hawaii and they require proof of training if the dog is from an ADI-acredited school (Assistance Dogs International) or, if the dog is not from an ADI school, they require a doctor's letter stating the person is disabled and such. Here are the specifics from Hawaii's site: Guide & Service Dogs Entering Hawai`i — Hawaii Department of Agriculture
Yes, I go on at least one to two international trips a year, land trips and cruise trips. It can take a lot of research (if it is a country you haven't been to before), work (getting the right requirements and paperwork in line), and money (rabies titers are not cheap and some of the other expenses - such as express-mailing fees and paperwork to get an import permit a few days before the trip according to the country's timeline - are not cheap). It is worth it, of course! I love to travel.
Some parts of the U.S. as well as some other countries do have loose dogs. I've encountered one in Key West, Florida; one in Mexico; two (different times) in the Bahamas (and always see lots roaming the streets when we're driving around); a loose pack in the Turks & Caicos; and maybe another I can't recall. None have ever tried to attack my dog, though a couple tried to distract her by wanting to greet her. If you are travelling alone, strangers sometimes help keep the loose dog away, but other times you have to avoid them and make sure your dog "leaves it". If you are travelling with someone/others, he/they can help you.
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
Also, there is a line saying that the permit is valid for one year from date of issue. So if we decide to book a bounce back cruise, and travel before Oct. 7, 2012, we don't have to apply for the permit again.
The permit is only good for ONE entry, so if you use it, you cannot use it for another entry. If you book another trip, you will have to apply for another permit. If you don't use the permit within a year, it expires and cannot be used - this is what the one-year thing is about. On a cruise, the permit will be used even if you don't get off the ship, as the cruiseline will give it to the Bahamas for you.
Oh - and the paperwork doesn't specify, but titers for the core vaccines (distemper et al.) are accepted; you don't have to over-vaccinate your dog to get into the Bahamas.
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Last edited by Ms_Butterfly; 01-21-2012 at 04:47 PM..
Sorry I haven't been back on the boards in a while; life has been up and down and all around!
The proof part is for Hawaii and they require proof of training if the dog is from an ADI-acredited school (Assistance Dogs International) or, if the dog is not from an ADI school, they require a doctor's letter stating the person is disabled and such. Here are the specifics from Hawaii's site: Guide & Service Dogs Entering Hawai`i — Hawaii Department of Agriculture
Yes, I go on at least one to two international trips a year, land trips and cruise trips. It can take a lot of research (if it is a country you haven't been to before), work (getting the right requirements and paperwork in line), and money (rabies titers are not cheap and some of the other expenses - such as express-mailing fees and paperwork to get an import permit a few days before the trip according to the country's timeline - are not cheap). It is worth it, of course! I love to travel.
Some parts of the U.S. as well as some other countries do have loose dogs. I've encountered one in Key West, Florida; one in Mexico; two (different times) in the Bahamas (and always see lots roaming the streets when we're driving around); a loose pack in the Turks & Caicos; and maybe another I can't recall. None have ever tried to attack my dog, though a couple tried to distract her by wanting to greet her. If you are travelling alone, strangers sometimes help keep the loose dog away, but other times you have to avoid them and make sure your dog "leaves it". If you are travelling with someone/others, he/they can help you.
This is very important info! I'm afraid that some people think it is easy to pass their pet off as a service dog, but here are some good reasons why that will not work in some situations.
The comment about roaming dogs is important. I know someone who's dog was attacked and, umfortunately, did not survive in Greece.
This is a potential problem for people with untrained dogs that they like to say are service dogs. I can't believe the owner is held completely responsible when the reporter was invading the dogs space and the dog was giving signals that he was not happy. I think this is also a really good reason for people with service dogs to make sure they have good liability coverage AND could proove that, at least, they had the dog trained properly, which might help a little bit in court.
Looking at that dog you couldn't pay me to get close to it, let alone putting my face in it's face.
But I can tell you this, If you had put your face near Miss Haley's you would end up with a face full of Whippet kisses!
People need to be smart with strange animals..
Wow, I agree that the anchor should NEVER have put her face right in a strange dog's face like that! The dog and the dog's owner warned her, too. The owner is also very much at fault for not having the dog properly vaccinated.
I feel bad for everyone in this situation. The poor dog just didn't have the skills to deal with having his space violated like that. This poochie is not a trained dog like the service dog I've seen. He isn't even a therapy dog. We have therapy dogs come to my school. They are not nearly as trained as service dogs, but they are SO sweet. The kids hang all over them and they don't say a peep.
I feel so bad for the owner who loves the dog and the reporter who made some bad choices, but sure didn't deserve to get bit.
This story really made me feel SO sad for everyone. I don't have alot of experience with service dogs, but what do you recommend to keep everyone safe?
I think it was Pam who said she would say "He's working" to keep people away. What do you do if you have a service dog and people don't listen to cues that they should back off?
Where did you see it called a service dog? I really have strong doubts that it is or ever was one..
Deb,
I just went back to my original post and saw how it could be taken as this was a service dog. I edited the post to be more clear.
This was not a service dog OR a therapy dog. I didn't see anything that said he had any training at all. That's why I think this is a good lesson for people who like to put a vest on their dog without the training.
I have a feeling if the dog and the owner had some training, the bite would have been avoided. I've also heard that some dogs who can be a little twitchy might fail as service dogs or therapy dogs, but go on to be adopted and are fine family dogs.
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