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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Ok, so my thought was (since they still don't know) is that every Easter I do an Easter egg hunt. Instead of putting candy/money (change) in the eggs I would spell out "We are Going to disney World" and put each letter on its on piece of paper. Each egg would have a letter in it. After all eggs have been found, they all have to sit and figure out what it says!
So what are some ways that you surprised your kids?
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Gina Nov. 2000 - CBR
September 2003 - Fort Wilderness Cabins
August 2008 - Pop Century for Gracie's 7th b-day!
June 2009 - POP Century Family Vacation!
that sounds so cool . or you could have your husband take the kids out , and while they are out decorate the house with all disney stuff including a cake that says WE ARE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD . then when they come home blind fold them and say surprise and have disney music playing . good luck
Those are both awesome ideas. If my son could read either of those would be cute. I love the cake idea or even a few days before we go, I was going to head to the Disney Store and buy a new Mickey Mouse Doll for my son to take on the trip and put something like "A Mickey Mouse for Skyler's 1st Disney Trip".
This is what I told my hubby he should do to surprise us. I keep teasing him he has secretly made us a trip this spring-not true but a wish. We live close to a bridge to ky and whenever we go that way we are usually going to Disney. I want him to tell us we are going to go visit his aunt over there but he just keeps driving. And driving. Not telling the kids where we are going until we see those wonderful entrances. (It'll never happen)
Oh well he got away once with surprising me after my 1st son was born. We had talked about how we couldn't go until he was older and I was sad for several months prior to when we usually go. I would call my mom and whine. Well two weeks before we usually go he came in with a bag that had disney travel books and my first passporter book and I told him he was just being plain mean. At the bottom of the bag was the confirmation for our trip. I cried like someone had just died. I was so happy and excited and disturbed I only had 2 weeks to plan. What a great surprise!
Maybe you could wrap up some clues--like We could be the Wii wrapped up in a box, are- not sure maybe a pirate--like what do pirates say, Going--a car or truck, To- two of something, Walt- I have an uncle walt or use a pic of Walt Disney, Disney- hum wonder what you could find, World- a globe and then see if they can put it together.
Don't tell them until you get up that morning, or until you get to the airport! We have always wanted to do that with our kids, but I can't keep a secret for anything! Just pack it all up, put it in the car while they are asleep, and spring it on them at the last minute - that's what I would do. How exciting would that be?
I love the egg hunt idea. Just make sure the letters for each word are a different color or else they could be solving the puzzle all day!
When we surprised our kids we told them Daddy was going on a business trip. Then we decided to tag along on his trip to "Lake Buena Vista". When we got on the Magical Express my DD said "Boy Daddy's work must be close to Disney. THey have a lot of commercials for it here." When she finally figured it out she kept saying "I feel like I'm in a dream! and I don't ever want to wake up!" 2 days later their beloved Nana & Papa came knocking on the door as room service! It was the trip of a lifetime!
Kynna, that is the cutest thing ever. That could actually work for me telling our son we're taking a trip with Daddy since my hubby's employer's HQ is in Orlando and tell him daddy has a meeting down there. That is the ultimate idea for surprising a kid and letting them figure it out when they see the signs into Disney or one of the Characters on the signs into Disney.
I love the Easter egg hunt idea, very ! We surprised DS when he was six. My husband had a conference in Orlando and I decided we should tag along with him. We only had to wait 1 1/2 months so it was easy for me to keep the secret. The night before we left I put a scavenger hunt together for DS around the house. There were 10 riddles that he had to solve and they led him to different places in the house, eventually ending at a treasure box. He then opened the treasure box and in it was a T-shirt that I made that said "surprise I'm going to Disney World" There was also an autograph book and pen. He totally didn't get it - he looked at the stuff and said "oh, thanks" and was leaving the room. DH and I told him to read the shirt again and then he looked at us with confusion and asked us "when?" It was so much fun to tell him "tomorrow!" Then he was yelling, laughing, rolling on the floor, etc... It was great fun and I would love to surprise him again but alas I don't think I could keep that secret again. I wish I had for our September trip - it is right after his birthday and I just read a thread where someone found the Mickey ear balloons and had them sent to her house. She was going to surprise he child with the balloon - like on the current commercials. Wish I had thought of that a month ago!!!
Debbie
My son's birthday is July 3rd...We are leaving on June 25th to drive down...I am going to take him to work with me and the car will get packed while we are there. When we get home, my significant other will say "let's go for a ride...." :-) We will drive and drive and drive.....Not telling him anything! I will be sure his portable DVD and ipod are in the car with us! We are going to stop as a side trip at the ocean....He will think that's it but leave late the next morning of course and tell him we are going to drive somemore...Just see where the road takes us....When we get to the Wilderness Lodge his jaw will drop! I can't wait!!!!! He has talked about wanting to stay there since we ate @ WC last time we went :-D We will be there until the 4th!
My son's birthday is July 3rd...We are leaving on June 25th to drive down...I am going to take him to work with me and the car will get packed while we are there. When we get home, my significant other will say "let's go for a ride...." :-) We will drive and drive and drive.....Not telling him anything! I will be sure his portable DVD and ipod are in the car with us! We are going to stop as a side trip at the ocean....He will think that's it but leave late the next morning of course and tell him we are going to drive somemore...Just see where the road takes us....When we get to the Wilderness Lodge his jaw will drop! I can't wait!!!!! He has talked about wanting to stay there since we ate @ WC last time we went :-D We will be there until the 4th!
My son is a July 3rd baby too. He was a 7.3.07 baby. I hope you have a wonderful trip. It's nice to see someone elses child with the same b-day as my son
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. or you could have your husband take the kids out , and while they are out decorate the house with all disney stuff including a cake that says WE ARE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD . then when they come home blind fold them and say surprise and have disney music playing . good luck
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