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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Okay, I have been reading through old personal navigator's and I see that some of the activities state that they are somewhere besides Oceaneer Lab/Club. Where do you drop them off? At the location it says the activity takes place at or the Lab/Club?
While I am asking questions, here's another.... With this age group do you have to sign them in and out or can they do that themselves? I don't mind him being able to sign himself IN, but I am a little concerned about the OUT. Then again, the more I think as I type, IN is sort of scary too, he might show up. Anyhow... does he have any control over this?
Yes they can sign themselves in or out if it is ok with you. I let my DS then 10 have in/out priveliges in Oct with the restriction that I must be paged if he left the group. He was also able to sign in his 4 y/o sister, but could not sign her out...that requires an adult. As for the activities, drop them off at the lab about 10 min before the activity starts so they can go to the location with the group.
I guess it could be very handy to have him sign himself in and out. I like the idea of being paged if he leaves. And it could be very handy for him to be able to sign in his little brother. Sounds like I need to work with him a bit more on using a watch and knowing when to be where and getting there. Thanks for the feedback!
The kids' program staff has a portable computer with sign in/out information wherever they go. So, if the program is at another location, you can sign a kid in or out from that location. However, there is a rule that no one be signed in or out for the first or last 5 minutes or so, while they are in transit. (We passed our son in the halls once while his group was moving from one place to another, and even though he asked to leave, we were told we'd have to meet him back at the Club so he could be signed out properly.)
For "tweens" you control whether they are allowed to sign themselves in and out or not -- it's a question on the registration form. I can't remember the cut-off above which they automatically have that privilege, though I'm pretty sure it's above 12.
The "cut-off" age for signing out was 10 on our last cruise. Our 9-year old we got to decide whether or not to grant him the privelege, but the 12-year olds were granted the privilege regardless. There are a couple of things you can do. You don't have to tell your child about the privilege.
Or you can require a beep when leaving.
We also had a note-leaving system on white boards in our rooms so that everyone knew where everyone was all the time (adults included). We also didn't just let the kids roam. They had to give us an idea of what the plans were each day. Something like we're going to this activity in the lab, and then this one at Ocean Quest, then we're going to the pool at 2:00. Of course, changes happened. They'd want to go get ice cream, see a movie, whatever. Unless they were physically in the room (they loved ordering room service and watching Disney movies, for example), it had to be documented on the board. We also had certain activities/meals where we all met together for some portion of every day, so we didn't forget what they looked like. We checked on the kids numerous times, and they always were where they said they would be, and our agreement was that all privileges would be revoked, and they'd have to hang out with the adults if they didn't make responsible choices. We did spend some time beforehand going over all rules, expectations, etc. but it worked well for us. We really found it a great place to give kids a small bit of freedom.
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Anyhow... does he have any control over this?
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We checked on the kids numerous times, and they always were where they said they would be, and our agreement was that all privileges would be revoked, and they'd have to hang out with the adults if they didn't make responsible choices. We did spend some time beforehand going over all rules, expectations, etc. but it worked well for us. We really found it a great place to give kids a small bit of freedom.
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