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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We are back, well, have been for over a week. What a trip it was.
It started with a train trip to California, this included being stick in a snow blizzard in the heart of Colorado. You could see it coming. 5 hours later? They had to decommission the crew because Federal law states that you cannot work more then 12 hours at a time without an 8 hour break. They could not drive the new crew in because the roads were slick and icy. So, they used a freight engine to tow us into La Junta. How embarrassing is that?
Then we find out that we will not get into California until 4 in the afternoon. We got in at noon. It was Alamo that did not show up until 1:30 when we called them and told them that we were heading to the Anaheim station and needed pick up. Half hour wait and I was miffed. But, we got a 20% discount and a great upgrade.
Monday morning I got a weird phone call from our pet sitter who told us that that the person we asked to watch our dog over the weekend and then return home so someone else could do it because she couldn't, fired them. Long story short, I read an email that stated they did not want to deal with the crazy person and quit.
My mother ended up taking both dogs for the week. She wants nothing to do with that again. One was enough, but two?
Everything seemed to be going ok until we got to Disneyland. Ended up with argumentative cast members, hidden fees we were unaware of and inside Disneyland? Cast Members who had no clue about what we were talking about when we showed them the daily schedule. I felt like I was in some department store nightmare. The list of complaints grew and grew and grew.
If we go back? We will probably NOT stay with the Disneyland Hotel. If we do? We will stay away from testy cast members.
Plus their character breakfast? Was a bomb. Best place? Grand California and Paradise Pier. We never got inside Disneyland to try their character breakfasts.
The Disneyland Passporter was a great help. But it never listed the problems we might enounter. Disney World Passporter was a god send and the people there where more helpful then in California. Daughter wants to do a birthday in Disneyland and I am not sure if I can handle anymore testy CM's. I really hope you do not encounter the problems we did there and if you do? Do be forewarned.
Back in Michigan and loving it
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First Family Trip Sept 21-30 2004~ASMovies
Disney Land & San Deigo ~ February 25, 2007~1 week
Return to WDW~2010~Xmas Holiday
Yellowstone National Park ~ 1 month summer 2008 ~ We both got the jobs we wanted, we have the pop up trailer ~ Can we say summers off?
That snowstorm sounds like quite the headache! When we were there last week, we found the CM's to be fantastic, and the character interaction fabulous! Sorry you ran into some bad eggs.
__________________
*~*Tina
Picking up our Brasilian exchange student at the a/p
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1980 (Off site), 1981-Poly, 1984,1986,1990(off site)
1996-Give Kids The World, 2004-CBR
2006-All Star Movies, 2008-All Star Music,2009 All Star Sports, 2011- Fort Wilderness, 2012-Art of Animation
I'm also sorry you had a bad time. We had our share our last stay at DL too; I spoke to managers about the issues, and they said they were working on getting their staff trained the way WDW staff is... obviously, after 4 years, they still haven't succeeded (at least as far as you and I were concerned!).
Sorry about the blizzard in CO too... towed by a freight engine... lol.
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Sorry to hear you had some bumps in the road. We were at the DLH the same time you were and had not a single negative issue and met the nicest cast members.
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Sorry to hear you had some bumps in the road. We were at the DLH the same time you were and had not a single negative issue and met the nicest cast members.
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Monday morning I got a weird phone call from our pet sitter who told us that that the person we asked to watch our dog over the weekend and then return home so someone else could do it because she couldn't, fired them. Long story short, I read an email that stated they did not want to deal with the crazy person and quit.
What happened? Did the pet sitter that took on your file work for an agency and quit? I have been a pet sitter for 3 years and I work for an agency that LAST thing we would do is call the client when a pet sitter can't do a file. We have enough reps that the file can be passed to another rep. Who got fired? Just curious.
Sorry you had such a bad time at DL. I was at DL the same time you were and I only encountered friendly CM.
I also delt with the Alamo rental agency in Anaheim and pick ups are NOT part of their service. They will do it but it is not something they normally do...it is a courtesy. Maybe you should have taken a cab to the rental office.
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Robin Twitter name: @NKsDogwalker Find me on FB: robinkay6573@yahoo.com 38th Birthday with Mom, Dad and friends 2011 Next Trip: Cruise on Jewel of the Seas for Christmas 2012
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I have never run into more than 1 testy CM in a whole visit. Sorry you had such a bad time! 
So sorry you had so many issues on your trip.
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