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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 wore it for one full day and a couple hours another day when we were having my birthday lunch, but I am an adult. I've seen people wearing it the entire trip!! Yup actually seen the same person over and over on different days!
It does not have to be your actual birthday, but when I was there once on my actual birthday it did make it feel more special to me somehow! How you decide to wear the button is entirely up to you. If you are going on a birthday celebration trip, wear it as you see fit for you!! Enjoy Your Trip!
It's your trip, whatever makes you comfortable/happy. Myself, I don't care for outside attention so I wouldn't even wear a pin on my birthday. Lenny on the other hand loves his pins. Last time we were there on his birthday, he took ALL of his b-day pins with him and put them on his scooter canopy (in the shape of a Hidden Mickey of course) and he wore a shirt proclaiming it was his birthday that a fellow PPer made for us.
I'm just worried that it'll seem like I'm taking advantage of Disney by getting one when it's not my birthday. But I just didn't want to fight the August heat and crowds.
My birthday is in August, but my trip is in September. I wanted to celebrate my birthday in Disney but didn't want to fight the heat and crowds.
Okay, now your comment makes a lot more sense but as I said in my other post - whatever you're comfortable doing. I know for us, Lenny has gotten lots of Happy Birthday's from CM's and other guests while wearing the pin and that was it in the parks. In 2010 (and only that year), he got cupcakes and/or a piece of cake at every TS meal we had (they asked for celebrations, I told them Lenny and the acutal day - they noted it everyday though). The other 3 trips we took over his birthday, he only got the cupcake/cake only on his birthday, not all week long. Since we've never gotten any kind of special treatment wearing the pin (other than cupcakes we clearly don't need), I'd hate to see you want to wear it expecting it and not receiving it, KWIM? If you want to wear it just to wear it and hear Happy Birthday all week, then go ahead - whatever you like.
As others have said, it's whatever you're comfortable with. We celebrated DH's birthday at DLR last year. We were there for 5 days, including his actual birthday, and he wore the pin almost the entire time. He figured that since the purpose of the trip was celebrating his 40th birthday, why not?
I will say that you shouldn't expect to get any special treatment by wearing the birthday button. We got a cupcake at one TS lunch and that was fine. The fun part was all the birthday wishes from CMs and from other guests (including others celebrating their birthdays!). One CM who was sweeping up some trash in DCA stopped and sang DH a whole birthday ditty that he appeared to just make up off the top of his head!
We are celebrating my 40th at Disney World in September (our trip begins about 2 weeks after my actual birthday). We'll be there for 10 days, and I don't think I'll wear the button the entire time. I will probably mostly wear it to the special F&WF events/meals that we are doing specifically to celebrate my birthday.
The kids wear theirs the whole week (actually the whole 10 days)...adults depend on how long they want to wear them. My son who will turn 35 on this trip will wear his the WHOLE. ENTIRE. WEEK! LOL!
I will wear mine on one day...and my oldest daughter will probably only wear hers to her birthday dinner. (yup, we have tons of birthdays on our trip!)
We are also celebrating our anniversary on this trip. And we have one person who will be sporting a 'My first trip' button. Between the 14 of us, everyone except one will have a button of some kind...and the one without is my 12 year old daughter who prefers NOT to be noticed and pretends she is not with the rest of us!
This is our annual WDW trip this year but happens to be a week before my birthday. I was thinking the same thing about wearing a button if it wasn't my actual birthday but you all have eased that concern and I think I will get myself a button and wear it proudly
We were supposed to be in Disney for ds and dh's third and fortieth birthdays, respectively. My Daddy was loosing his battle with cancer and we postponed by a month. We celebrated both of them on their birth day, just one month later. I turned 40 this year but I prefer not to do Disney in July, so again, I'll celebrate on the day just four months late.
We've always just worn our buttons on that day but I know plenty of people who celebrate their entire trip.
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Me ~ Christina; DH ~ '92; DD ~ '99; DS ~ '06
My reasons for breathing!!! MGM Studios October 2007
I say go for it too!! They ask you what are you celebrating, not what date is your special occasion. There may be a million reasons you couldn't do a vacation on your actual birthday, but that doesn't mean you're not celebrating it with that trip!! I think if you feel weird about it, when they ask what are you celebrating, just say "This trip is to celebrate my birthday that was in August!" Then if they decide to do something special, you have been honest so no guilty conscious.
I know DH and I wear our anniversary pins the entire trip; however, just for personal preference, I tend to wear my birthday button only on my actual birthday. The whole trip is special, but I like making the actual day just that much more all about that particular celebration.
That doesn't mean though that you can't do the exact opposite. Most CMs will ask, "Is it your birthday?" and you can simply say that the whole trip is a birthday trip. And, like others have said, if they then decide to do something extra, fantastic!
Disney knows not everyone can get away right on their actual birthdays, anniversaries, etc. I can guarantee they're just happy you're there to spend it, at some point, in the parks!
Just wore my birthday button on my birthday.I had a great day with my daughter at typhoon lagoon in the wave pool, a huge donut after, Dtd with lunch at raglan road and an evening walking around the boardwalk.A fellow who was using up his dining meals bought us a pizza also mmmmm.
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And, like others have said, if they then decide to do something extra, fantastic! 
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