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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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've just spent the last two days reading your trip report and all I can say is WoW! You did so much everyday, but you never seemed rushed!!
First let me say that I'm so sorry for your loss. Receiving such sad news at WDW is hard, but ya'll seemed to have handled the situation very well.
Now about your report....Your trip has made me change my plans several times for our November trip...which is a good thing!!
You seem like a person after my own heart....I LOVE margaritas, especially patron margaritas!! I sent my son a text the other day asking if he would be interested in doing Wild Africa Trek and he responded YES!!! So, that will be added.
I guess I'm trying to say, I truly enjoyed reading about you and your families adventures. Your daughter seems like a very sweet and precious young lady!
Thank you so much for sharing.
Glad you were able to enjoy some mk time before it all started to hit you on the drive back! What an emotional trip but it sounds like you were really able to make the best of the situation
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thank you - we always enjoy spending our last day at MK!
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Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
I've just spent the last two days reading your trip report and all I can say is WoW! You did so much everyday, but you never seemed rushed!!
First let me say that I'm so sorry for your loss. Receiving such sad news at WDW is hard, but ya'll seemed to have handled the situation very well.
Now about your report....Your trip has made me change my plans several times for our November trip...which is a good thing!!
You seem like a person after my own heart....I LOVE margaritas, especially patron margaritas!! I sent my son a text the other day asking if he would be interested in doing Wild Africa Trek and he responded YES!!! So, that will be added.
I guess I'm trying to say, I truly enjoyed reading about you and your families adventures. Your daughter seems like a very sweet and precious young lady!
Thank you so much for sharing.
Thank you so much for all your kind words!!!
Happy to have assisted with some of your plans! Hope that you enjoy them as much as we did!
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Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
Lisa, I was waaayyy behind! All caught up now though
I know it must have been difficult to write about the day you found out about you FIL, but at the same time I'm sure it was a little theraputic. I think you did the right thing not leaving early, it's times like that where you really need to have some good family time and what's a better place to do that than Disney right? You packed in a lot of fun and made some wonderful memories together in those last couple of days, I'm pretty sure that your FIL was smiling down on you the whole time, happy that you were happy.
Great information about checking bags! Lots of character fun at MK on your last day, especially with two of my favorites, Mary Poppins and the Penguin. I am so sorry that reality had to be so hard when you all got back.
Love that Cinderella pearl carriage. Just might have to add that to my wish list!
That rainy day parade was so cute! I've never seen that before (in person or in pictures).
I had no idea they had a rain contingency parade! How cute!!
Great final day, and I can imagine you felt the weight of the world descending on you as you pulled away from BLT...
This day, like the whole trip is full of such extremes-- highs and lows. I love the magical moment of the penguin dance-off, your lunch looked really nice, love the unexpected Character Cavalcade, and love seeing Emily eating the blue Mickey-on-a-stick! I'd never eat anything that color. Kids! And most of all, that magical cloud. Such a tough ending to the day, boarding the plane headed home to face the reality and pain. But you followed Scott's dad's wishes and this trip will always be a bittersweet, special one in your memories.
What a wonderful last day you had, with some great character interaction. I loved the Mickey shaped cloud as well. All in all, it sounded like a great day to round off your vacation.
You had a great final day, with so many unexpected surprises. How nice to be able to get into BoG again for lunch! And the little parade of characters was a great substitute for the parade on a rain day! Glad you got to ride all your favorites one more time before saying goodbye.
Glad you guys had a great last day at MK! Never seen that rainy day parade before! Great pictures! Sorry for all you're going to have to go thru once you got home!
All caught up. Your pace continued these last two days of the trip. I had visions of Scott leading you and Emily around behind his new tour group flag.
This has been a remarkable trip - looking forward to reading your wrap up.
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