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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 just want to beg everyone: Please please please do not leave a 6-year old child unattended. I'll end with this: my husband was on the scene of a rape and murder of a 6-year old child. The parents put her to bed and went to play cards at the trailer next door in a trailer park. It haunted him. Children are precious, please don't take chances.
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OP here. This is a pretty old thread. I have an update on what I ended up doing on page 1. Spoiler: I didn't leave my 6yo alone.
At Disney, it seems the magic age is 7. On our last trip he got cold feet (on Gadget's Go Coaster) and the CM allowed him to wait for us at the exit. Felt totally fine with that, and the CMs were A-OK too.
Although heinous crimes can and do occur in public spaces, they are RARE. He's much more likely to be abused by a friend or relative, and like Kynna has been saying, I've done my best to give my son the language and skills to avoid being abused both by strangers and people familiar to him as well.
But, I do let him use the bathroom at DL (and pretty much any other public space) while I'm in the women's bathroom. We meet outside. If I'm worried that he's taking too long, I give a little whistle and he whistles back to let me know he's ok. I also send him on errands at the grocery store to get something while I'm in another area.
I really think the "culture of fear" thing has gone way to far in this country. I'm not willing to let it be a major driving force in my parenting.
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The worst thing we've encountered at WDW, was the four year old that was left to play in the play are in AK while her Dad rode Dinosaur. She decided that we looked like a good family to play with. After we realized there was no parent (and she couldn't tell us where he was), we told a CM about the situation. We didn't feel we could move on until her parent showed up. When we discovered the reason.....ugh. The CM told the Dad he couldn't leave her alone anywhere in the parks and would have to skip rides that she couldn't ride. I hope he listened.
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OP here. So, DS is 8 now. I did leave him once at DLHK in June to ride the frontier land coaster single rider. I was a little anxious to do it, but I prepped him on safety and who to talk to if he needed help. Turned out fine. I won't be doing this on our Shanghai visit, as I expect him to be mobbed by Chinese visitors wanting selfies with him (blonde). We've considered a no selfies please tee-shirt...
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Chiming in long after the party to say that I wouldn't send a child under 9 into a washroom alone for multiple reasons. I'd use the family washroom. Especially at wdw, where some of the washrooms have more than one exit and kids and adults get disoriented all the time.
I did leave DS at the Lego building station in the Star Wars launch pad in Shanghai yesterday, while I ran to the lockers at the entrance. I was gone 15-20 minutes. But each of these decisions is an individual one based on the specific circumstances of the situation.
Also making a late chime in, because this got me thinking.
I think this is a hard one to answer (at least for me). We go to Disney A LOT, so I can skip a ride or two and not worry about it, because I know I'll be back. But not everyone has the opportunities I have, and if I were going once, and this might be the only time I'd ever go, I'd probably ride and have my child wait at the exit.
Even so, when I first read this, I was thinking NO WAY.
But then I remembered--when my son was 3, we went to the movies, and I had to go to the restroom. He DID NOT want to go and I could tell, if I took him, a melt down in the theater was going to ensue. But I had to pee, and it was a "not gonna hold" situation. He'd been to the movies a lot with the daycare, and there was only one other family in the theater sitting way down in front. I made a snap judgment, ran as fast as I could, unbuttoning my pants on the way, to the restroom, peed, and came back. I was seriously gone maybe 3 minutes. Kid was fine. Still just chilling and watching the movie. But when I told my husband, he about had a nervous breakdown. My point here is--everyone is going to be different, because our kids are all different, and our parenting styles are all different. So, while I'd like to say I would NEVER do this, I have in fact done it once. Don't know that I'd do it again, but if you'd asked me beforehand, I would have told you I'd never do it.
Interesting to read everyone's responses and see how different we all are in our parenting styles.
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