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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Thanks for that! (Just a note: whenever PassPorters post info from another site, it's best to do it in quotation marks and provide a link to what you're quoting.)
Eileen
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 5SOXFNZ
But, really, those aren't fan clubs, those are a situation where you pay for a service and are afforded extras perks as part of that service.
Hey, i'm not saying I came up with the concept or that I am sure this is it, I'm just saying this is my theory,just like others have voiced their theories on what it is. Sorry if i overstepped somewhere I feel like I'm being attacked.
I'm sorry if you felt attacked. I think both myself and Heather were just simply stating our opinions, based on what you'd typed. I'd still like to RESPECTFULLY disagree with you; for the most part, the reason that people buy Disney Stock definitely isn't because they think it's a great investment (at least it hasn't been for several years now); it's because they DO consider themselves "fans" of the brand. My husband and I own shares in Disney, not because we ever believe it'll make us rich, but because we want to invest in the company that we love.
Same goes for DVC. There are plenty of timeshares available in Orlando, or even the US, that are cheaper, and offer better amenities than DVC. But we bought into DVC at a time when we could barely afford it, because we knew that we wanted to be able to appreciate Disney for the next 50 years of our lives, and instead of going with a cheaper timeshare in Orlando, we stuck with Disney because we love the brand. After we paid off our initial contract, we just bought into Bay Lake Tower, again, not because we needed to, but because we wanted to be a part of BLT. So if that doesn't make us fans...well, then we're definitely pretty foolish with our money.
But anyway, like I said. I definitely didn't intend to make you feel attacked. I was simply responding with my opinions on why I don't feel that the "23" campaign is a new fan club. I'd also like to add another reason why I doubt it's a fan club - in this current economy, I doubt that Disney is banking on the fact that people are going to throw money on something that is not a necessity...especially when everyone's disposable incomes are shrinking, and Disney themselves are throwing free promos at customers in the hopes of getting them in the park.
I didn't mean to make you feel attacked at all. I'm just frustrated by the idea that Disney wants MORE money from the people who are constantly supplying them with $$$. It wasn't aimed at YOU at all! Sorry if you felt that way!
There are some fascinating theories out there. The fan club one is interesting, but I'm not sure I like the idea of paying out more money for it... now something for free would be good for us true Disney fans. Maybe we could answer a test to join!
I'd also like to add another reason why I doubt it's a fan club - in this current economy, I doubt that Disney is banking on the fact that people are going to throw money on something that is not a necessity...especially when everyone's disposable incomes are shrinking, and Disney themselves are throwing free promos at customers in the hopes of getting them in the park.
Very well said, Molly.
I've been reading this thread with interest and felt it was a "deeply-felt discussion," which can sometimes -- on discussion boards -- feel a little heated to any party in that discussion. I'm glad everyone is playing nicely together and continuing to express their opinions in the respectful manner that we at PassPorter are known for.
I'm sorry...I apparantly, unknowing posted wrong...without a link and quote...i tried to quote the original post but couldn't figure out how. I deleted the info, not to be a "sour sport" but rather because I did not want to break any rules.
Sometimes, writen word tends to come across in the wrong tone. Especially, if you are a new comer to a place that has a lot of "regulars" it seems as if new ideas are not welcome. I apologize for my response to you opinions.
And, i didn't say i thought it was a good idea, the fan club, I was just reporting what I found...LOL!! (Trust me, if I had an extra $100 lying around it would go towards souviners not a fan club!...Hmmm...unless the fan club got me free souvineers...).
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Especially, if you are a new comer to a place that has a lot of "regulars" it seems as if new ideas are not welcome. I apologize for my response to you opinions.
New ideas and discussions are always welcome on PassPorter -- we do try to be careful not to express our opinions in a fashion that would offend or intimidate anyone else, especially someone new to the boards. I'm sorry that you felt attacked and I hope you've been able to go back and read the whole thread in a new light, now that others have offered their sincere comments that they had no intention to be read as attacking.
I think this whole discussion has been interesting, but I'm also pretty sure that we'll come to discover -- in hindsight -- that the '23' campaign is rather lame -- or, at least, not worth the energy we've all put into it in the past few days. That was certainly the case with the Leibovitz pics from the other year.
Especially, if you are a new comer to a place that has a lot of "regulars" it seems as if new ideas are not welcome.
I've found that most new ideas/comments ARE welcome - there are just some discussions that do bring out more comments than others. The big one that comes to mind is the dining plan and whether it's worth it or not. That subject is entirely a varies by user type of thing so it can get very heated with back and fourth. I've found that if I post in a thread where I feel attacked, it's not me personally, it's however I've expressed myself. Sometimes I can correct it, other times I just let it drop because I can't really get across my feelings in the correct manner without coming across as attacking someone else. I've been there and done that, so please don't take it personally and continue to post here.
Sometimes, writen word tends to come across in the wrong tone. Especially, if you are a new comer to a place that has a lot of "regulars" it seems as if new ideas are not welcome. I apologize for my response to you opinions.
Again...I feel Ihave tripped up my own words...I was not saying in any way shape or form that here I feel like new ideas are unwelcome...i guess what I was trying to say is that as a newcomer...IN MY MIND...I may feel like I'm breaing into an already established group....It's like walking into a party 20 minutes late and trying to find a group to join in...the first comment you make everyone turns and looks at you silently.......know what I mean!
I think I'm going to stop typing now!! LOL!!
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I'd join, but then again, I just discovered how truly obsessive I am 
Anywho - I gave them my email address!
I didn't mean to make you feel attacked at all. I'm just frustrated by the idea that Disney wants MORE money from the people who are constantly supplying them with $$$. It wasn't aimed at YOU at all! Sorry if you felt that way!
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