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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 had a discussion at the table last night. Do we get a real tree again this year, or put up the (very nice) fake one I bought 18 years ago (on sale for next to nothing!). We've gone out and cut down our tree for the last 12 years or so.
So, do you have a real one or a fake one? If real, do you "kill" it yourself, or do you get it from a lot?
We have always had a real tree that we went to a farm and cut down. (killed) Then in 2005 we spent Christmas in WDW and got a fake one so the real one wouldn't dry out and "die". We came back a couple of days before Christmas so we still needed it up. Ever since then we use the fake one because there are no more tree farms around here!
We have used both. I'm not sure why some years we get a real tree and other years we use our fake one. I love the smell of the real tree, but I can't stand the needles it leaves behind when you take down the ornaments and drag it out of the house after the holidays. It seems like I'll never get all the needles picked up, especially when I spot one or two months later!! The downside to the fake tree is that we are missing an outing opportunity with the family to cut down our own, like I did when i was little with my parents.
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Growing up and now, we have always had fake trees. I know it sounds weird, but I love the whole assembly process of the fake tree - all you have to do is fluff out the branches; sometimes we had branches that you had to insert into a pole, and now, one of my mother's (six) trees is actually lighted, so you just plug and go!
I prefer fake - no mess! And, you're pretty much guaranteed a perfect tree every time - no leaning, no bald spots, etc. Plus, after Christmas, it just goes back in a box - no disposal either!
About 4 yrs. ago, I bought a fake tree because we had moved to a condo and the only place to put the tree was close to the fireplace. I figured a real tree would dry out to quick. I like the convience of a fake tree and we have used it even after we moved out of the condo. Last year DS decided since we have a fake tree that he would start setting it up on Dec. 1 and leave it up until Jan. 1. DD hates the fake tree and begs for a real one every year. I much prefer a real tree, but we just don't have the room and plus I have become used to the easy setup and cleanup of a fake tree.
We have a very real looking fake one...no pine smell but no bristles drying up and falling on the floor either. We also like to put it up right after Thanksgiving so the fake one will last....
Whatever choice you make have a great time decorating....
We get a real tree from a lot. DH would like to cut his own down, but I can't imagine the cursing that would incur. So we keep buying from the garden center down the street.
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Fakity-fake for us! My least favourite part of decorating the tree has always been stringing the lights, so we bought a tree with fibre optics. Voila! No more frustrating lights!
We have a real tree in our family room (from a lot) and then I have a fake tree in the livingroom... also a couple of small fiber optic trees in the boy's bedrooms....
Right now we have a fake one - we always used to have a real one - usually cut it down ourselves - either in the woods behind the power plant - or at a tree farm. The last 5-6 years - we always drove over to the Rocks Estate in Bethlehem, NH - their trees are world famous! We even bought a special stand - after you cut down your tree - they put it on their machine to wrap it - and drill a hole in the center to make it more stable!
Usually it worked well - but in 2004 - we picked one with an exceptionally crooked trunk (it was dark out!). The great Christmas tree crash of 2004 ensued - many innocent ornaments lost their lives that night.
In 2005 - I bit the bullet and bought a nice fake. Since the only place to put a tree is right next to 2 baseboards - it makes much more sense - no more watering and fire hazards!
One of our trees is real, the rest are fake. As far as the real one, we usually go to the mountains of NC to get it straight from the farms. However, with our Disney trip this year, we got it from the local Methodist Church sale, which we've done before also when we're running low on time (it's about a 2 hour drive to Boone, NC, where we get our tree).
All our fake ones are pre-lit, but we're thinking of going back to the non-pre-lit trees next year. This is because after about two years, the lights start going out on the big pre-lit trees, and you can't remove them - only add more over them. We're on our second round of big pre-lit trees. I'm sure one reason is because we have to store the big trees in the barn, so they get abused a bit going in and out of the house (narrow doorways and such - and even narrower staircase which prevents us from storing them upstairs in the storage room). The smaller trees that we can store upstairs don't seem to have the same problem.
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Then in 2005 we spent Christmas in WDW and got a fake one so the real one wouldn't dry out and "die". We came back a couple of days before Christmas so we still needed it up. Ever since then we use the fake one because there are no more tree farms around here!
The only time recently we used the fake one was when we went to Disney in December 
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Lisa 
We're on our second round of big pre-lit trees. I'm sure one reason is because we have to store the big trees in the barn, so they get abused a bit going in and out of the house (narrow doorways and such - and even narrower staircase which prevents us from storing them upstairs in the storage room). The smaller trees that we can store upstairs don't seem to have the same problem.
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