The Continuing Story of the Adventures of a CM! - Page 96 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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OK, so we flew in from Ohio on Saturday evening. I'd booked a pirate room at CBR on our wonderful Cast discount to surprise DDs. It was also a way to get us airport transportation as I didn't know older DDs' schedule and airport parking was waaayyyy too $$$. 13yo was NOT a happy camper as we toodled along to DME. I know she's not always good with surprises, but sometimes she is, so I thought this would work, but : She pouted and cried on the bus the whole way to CBR. The plan was for older DDs to deliver my van to CBR on the way to work on Saturday. Of course, neither one did, and 21yo said she'd bring it when she got off (still should have been there when we arrived). Alas, no car. We had to use bell services. DDs were hungry and I wanted to take them to OPR for dinner, which is about when 21yo arrived. BTW, when 13yo SAW the pirate room, her mood lightened tremedously. 21yo arrives and says, "Your brakes SUCK" and huffs off with hardly any time for me to say thank you. Whatev. We hop in and sure enough, brakes are bad. By the time we get to OPR, they are worse. We ate dinner then headed back by which time they were pretty much coast-to-a-stop gone. Thank heavens it was late and no traffic.
Called a tow truck (it's midnight by now) and he arrived about 1am to tow the van to the car care center. I go in to start regrouping for work and realize that A) my dress shoes are in the van and B) I have no name tag. Can't find it anywhere.
Fall over in bed around 2 am for a 7am wakeup call. Got up, dressed and called for a cab to take me to the Car Care Center to get my shoes and give them instruction. I get there to discover they are closed. Fortunately the tow guy is there, but can't find the keys. We go to the van to find it had been sitting unlocked with the keys in it all night. I fished out my shoes and filled out the paperwork.
Oldest DD was supposed to be meeting me at BWI with my nametag then going over to CBR to get youngest DDs into the park. About the time she tells me she's at CBR (and NOT BWI), I got an email from the manager I was meeting with to ask me to cancel. What a relief!!! I was SO tired and stressed out, I really needed a little extra logistical planning time. I went to CBR instead and arranged for an extra night. 23yo took me to work, DDs to the park, and then went on to work herself.
I did my thing all day, AND had a wonderful, impromptu Passporter meet! Very exciting! I hopped a bus to the MK to meet up with youngest DDs for EMH. We arrived just in time for Wishes. Mickey MO-JO. I needed it. We went to Columbia Harbor House for dinner, then onto Haunted Mansion, Mickey's Philharmagic, Snow White, Pooh, the Carousel, and Peter Pan. We had some ice cream floats along the way, too. Even though it was midnight and EMH, Peter Pan was STILL a 25 minute wait!
Bus back to the resort and by the time I hit the pillow, it was 2am. Had to get up at 5am to go into work today. Oldest DD came to stay with us and let me borrow her clunker, errrrrr, car for today. She hung out at CBR w/ younger DDs.
I attended a meeting today that went really well and perked me up again along wiht my leftover dose of Wishes Dust last night. I learned that my car is the hydraulic system, including (but not limited to) the master cylinder. Upwards of $1000 for those repairs. We hung out for a bit at CBR to le DDs swim while I worked on a paper that's due tonight. Oldest DD had a few errands to run and her car died. you've GOT to be kidding me. She finally got it started and we are now safely home.
I have some more logistical challenges tomorrow, but then I should be back in business with my van, 2 days off to rest/pack, and regroup.
The views and opinions expressed on this post are mine and do not necessarily represent or reflect those of The Walt Disney Company and Affiliated Companies
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Sorry to hear about your brakes. I don't know if you can get it to someone you trust, but you might want a second opinion before such an expensive repair.
Wow, what a couple of days you have had. Sorry to hear the repairs will be so costly! Glad you got to enjoy some time at MK and at CBR though. I will be there in a few short days and can't wait for a little Disney magic!
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.
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.
Wow.... I am just getting caught up after being off the boards for a couple of weeks. So sorry about no extension, and your van. Crossing my fingers for your job interview and that your move goes well.
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I did my thing all day, AND had a wonderful, impromptu Passporter meet! Very exciting!
I wonder who that could be .
We were so happy to meet you and I'm sorry that we couldn't spend more time but you were so busy. You surely didn't look like a person that was running on low pixie power.