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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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It shouldn't be a problem later but here's the plan. In 2010 we are FINALLY taking some time ALONE to do a 10 year anniv disney cruise. Last night we watched the dvd and my DD happened to be in the room. Granted they are going in 2009 for TWO weeks! But she just couldn't believe that we would even CONSIDER going without them, even though they will be a senior and a junior in high school when we go! I shouldn't already feel guilt about this but I do!! She has ALWAYS wanted to see the Carribbean and I think that's what bothers her. Since she has autism, even just mildly, its unlikely she'll ever be able to go as an adult on her own. I mean maybe someday we can do a mother/daughter one but it was not thought about. How do you get over the guilt?!?!?!?
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i know its hard but sometimes you need some adult alone time, I think maybe plan a cruise with your DD and hopefully that will help both of you through this!
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Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust! Studying Hard to Make a Difference!
All adults need their own alone time. Your anniversary is a special milestone that needs to be celebrated as fully as possible. Try to shed any feelings of guilt.
Is there something special you can schedule for your kids just prior to that? You can create a special time for them, then enjoy the special time for you and your DH.
You will do it. My DS17 has Aspergers, count your blessings that she does want to do things with you. My son rather stay in his room or in front of the TV. And for our sanity we do take breaks. Raising him is very demanding. We will be planning our 20 yr anniversary cruise in 2010.
Take care of yourself also, you deserve it.
It's called Caregiver's Remorse. It happens to people who are constant caregivers and want/need some relief. You see it frequently in spouses, children and parents. In our case, though, it was our dog Ivan. He had Cushings and degenerative myelopathy, which left him paralyzed from the waist back. For two years, we didn't take any vacations and after he died, we felt a combination of sadness and guilt over not having to take care of him.
You have to take some time. I realize that it's hard to get an alternate caregiver for a child with autism or Asperger's (my nephew has what appears to be very "mild" symptoms of it).
Next Valentine's Day marks ten years since Ivan died. Ivan boy
We celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary in May with a DCL land & sea vacation without the kids. My stock answer to anyone who was surprised that the kids weren't going (knowing how much we all love Disney) was that, "well, they weren't on the honeymoon cruise either! "
Seriously though, that is the hardest part of being a parent. But for me, I have to remember that I was part of a couple before we became a family and it's so very important to take time to reconnect. It's easy to say 'don't feel guilty' but the reality is hard and there is a tremendous amount of parental guilt. It comes with the territory!
Children often surprise you. After they get over the initial hurt, they can be very happy for you and for the special occasion that you're celebrating. Their joy made our trip even more special and we made sure to not purposely exclude them from the planning. They gave us a lovely send-off and the bon voyage card they made had me in tears!
Hope everything works out well for you and that you have a wonderful anniversary celebration!
__________________
Lynn
Yes, I am a Disney Addict... and I'd rather be cruising!.
I'm a "guilty mom" too!! My husband and I took our first cruise in September to celebrate our 20th anniversary without the kids and even though our daughter is a senior, we got the 'we aren't going too?' (mind you they've gone to WDW every year since 2003 when we became DVC members). But just like others have posted, you need 'couple time' too and as the mother of an autistic child, some 'time off' to recharge your batteries so you can continue to be a great support system for your daughter. And who knows, a mother/daughter or even family cruise could happen sooner than you think. We figured it be a while before we would cruise again, but when we got back from our cruise,the kids were so "jealous" (as the right word just isn't coming to mind) from seeing our pictures- (and we got a great deal)- that they opted to forgo Christmas gifts next December for the chance to cruise in April during our school break. We figure the memories made on the cruise- before our daughter is off for college and more on her own- are more valuable than whatever we could wrap in Christmas paper.
So... enjoy the trip, reconnect as a couple, recharge your batteries, and leave the guilt at home.
PS - Book a ressie for a romantic dinner at Palo's and get the chocolate amaretto indulgence - it's fabulous!
I hope you get your alone time for your cruise. I know the guilt with be there, but isn't there a way around it? A seperate vacation with the kids or something??? Sometimes adults need to be alone.
Thanks everyone for the support. The cruise is a long way away (2010) but just hearing everyone's support encourages me to just do it. I think I'll be ok once I'm there, I'm just worried I'll keep thinking "Oh, he or She would have LOVED that!)
I'm just worried I'll keep thinking "Oh, he or She would have LOVED that!)
And you know what? You will! But that's ok too! That gives you something to plan for a future trip when they can join you! You have to nourish the couple too...one day the kids won't be there and it will be just the two of you.....you need to be able to enjoy each other without them too!
Go, enjoy, have a great time!
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How to make it up to the kids?
Last night we watched the dvd and my DD happened to be in the room. Granted they are going in 2009 for TWO weeks! But she just couldn't believe that we would even CONSIDER going without them, 
even though they will be a senior and a junior in high school when we go! I shouldn't already feel guilt about this but I do!! She has ALWAYS wanted to see the Carribbean and I think that's what bothers her. Since she has autism, even just mildly, its unlikely she'll ever be able to go as an adult on her own. I mean maybe someday we can do a mother/daughter one but it was not thought about. How do you get over the guilt?!?!?!?
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Pixie Dust
i know its hard but sometimes you need some adult alone time, I think maybe plan a cruise with your DD and hopefully that will help both of you through this!
"
My husband and I took our first cruise in September to celebrate our 20th anniversary without the kids and even though our daughter is a senior, we got the 'we aren't going too?
' (mind you they've gone to WDW every year since 2003 when we became DVC members
). But just like others have posted, you need 'couple time' too and as the mother of an autistic child, some 'time off' to recharge your batteries so you can continue to be a great support system for your daughter. And who knows, a mother/daughter or even family cruise could happen sooner than you think. We figured it be a while before we would cruise again, but when we got back from our cruise,the kids were so "jealous" (as the right word just isn't coming to mind) from seeing our pictures- (and we got a great deal
"Can we go to Disney todaaaaaay?"
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