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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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DD21 is in her final year at university and is two weeks away from sitting her finals. She`s studying to be an optometrist and following her finals has an 18month placement with a small independant practice before she is fully qualified.
She`s done well and passed all her practical exams and is well thought of by her tutors. DD is dyslexic and has a support worker who she meets with once a week.
DD has been very stressed by the thought of her finals and feels she hasn`t studied hard enough in preparation. I`ve been supporting her and helping her as I can over the phone.
DD phoned me last week and told me her support worker Anne thinks she is depressed and should see her GP. I was concerned however I did ask DD if her present state of mind was purely down to exam pressure and all that entails.
So fast forward to this evening and DD`s support worker phones me and tells me between her, DD and DD`s tutor they have all decided to defer her finals till next year! She doesn`t need to do the whole year again, just turn up and take the exams.
I can see this is a good idea and a better option that letting DD fail. The thing is I don`t think she would have and when DD spoke to her tutor I think he really felt the same and thought she was doing well.
I feel I`ve fallen into a black surreal hole where some interfering busy body has taken my DD`s life down a path it doesn`t need to go. This last year I`ve really tried to hang back with DD, its her life and when I`ve spoken to her this evening, I`ve said the same again. I love her and support whatever decisions she makes.
DD is very angry with me over two bitter arguments we`ve had regarding revision and saying I should have seen she was depressed. I`ve just seen her having a really good socialable time.
Her tutor is phoning me tomorrow, at least writing this is helping me get my thoughts in order.
I believe people still want to live like human beings. But there are a lot of things that could be done. I'm not against the automobile. I just feel that you can design so the automobile is there but still put people back as pedestrians again. I'd love to work on a project like that. -Walter Elias Disney
Oh my goodness, what a time you are having! Is there someone else at her school your DD can talk to before making such a drastic choice? If she isn't failing at this point, I would think she is just having major anxiety over her finals, & needs someone who can set her straight, calm her down, & get her head back in the game. How heartbreaking to think of her having to defer for another year, after she has worked so hard. You are NOT a bad Mom, please take care of yourself.
What college student ISN'T stressed in the last couple of weeks before finals? How does your DD feel about deferring? You've done everything you can to help your DD. You're not a bad mom. It sounds like they made a bit of a hasty decision, but I don't know all that's going on, so maybe not. I hope you get things resolved and that everything works out for your DD.
Having two university graduates, I think that the last months before getting a degree are not only stressful but can be depressing for lots of kids. For my boys, it was the first time in a 16 years, a really long time. that they were not going to be identified as students and we facing the real world. They had also both lived on campus for 4 years and they would no longer have a couple of hundred fellow students in their buildings. And DS1 decided to stay 1800 miles away.
I encouraged them to take time off before graduate/professional school but sometimes I think it would have been easier had they gone directly on. Interim jobs are are not the best paying and while both learned a lot in the 2 years they took off, it's a new world when you are no longer surrounded by peers and your social life takes an effort.
I don't know what I'd do about the exams. I guess my feeling would be it would be easier when the material is fresher. Is she still going to do her post grad internship? Will someone be tutoring her between now and next year? Can she do some now and some next year?
I think no matter how old our kids are we still worry. And I have no idea why you would think you are a bad mom, you sound pretty normal to me.
You are actually very fortunate that the tutor called you. In the states, students in post secondary programs, whether it's a university degree or a certificate in a vocational program, are confidentiality and parents cannot necessarily get information about their academics.
It is sometimes hard to judge how young adults are doing when they are far from home. They only tell you the things they THINK you want to hear.
She may be depressed - but then again, she may just be feeling stressed out over her finals - and "Growing Up" - which is what she is doing by going to an "internship". This will be the first time she doesn't have a solid base (either you or school community).
Can you bring her home for a while, and have her see someone? If you can't get her home right now, see if there is a nurse or doctor on campus she can go to - and get a referral for someone in the area.
And, let her know that she is an ADULT - and it's up to her to decide when to go to a doctor - not you. You are not a bad mother for not saying "Wow, since you didn't do anything about going to the doctor because your tutor thinks you're depressed, I think you need to come home." You were doing what you SHOULD - telling her that you're there for her.
Is she mad she's going to defer her finals?? Why would she if she doesn't WANT to? Just at the "advice" of others? NOT finishing might depress her even more! I know it would me.
Pixies for both of you - it's not easy growing up, and it's even harder watching.
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I do not think you are a bad mother at all. I am right now taking finals and writing last minute papers so I know the stress. When she gets home I am sure she will understand the way you feel. Sometimes the stress of finals can make you really off the way and feel nuts when your not, trust me
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Thanks for the support! Having slept on this I agree with everything everyone is saying. I feel Anne the support worker has totally over reacted. The worst case scenario is that DD would fail, in this case we would have to pay c.$15000 for her to resit the exams. DD cannot now go ahead with her pre reg. placement and will spend a year doing who knows what!
The final exams account for about 35 - 40% of her degree, the other pass marks are in the bag.
I am just so worried that when the realisation hits home that she will be very depressed. DD feels she has made her decision, she`s an adult I know, I just hope it works out for her.
It is sometimes hard to judge how young adults are doing when they are far from home. They only tell you the things they THINK you want to hear.
She may be depressed - but then again, she may just be feeling stressed out over her finals - and "Growing Up" - which is what she is doing by going to an "internship". This will be the first time she doesn't have a solid base (either you or school community).
Can you bring her home for a while, and have her see someone? If you can't get her home right now, see if there is a nurse or doctor on campus she can go to - and get a referral for someone in the area.
And, let her know that she is an ADULT - and it's up to her to decide when to go to a doctor - not you. You are not a bad mother for not saying "Wow, since you didn't do anything about going to the doctor because your tutor thinks you're depressed, I think you need to come home." You were doing what you SHOULD - telling her that you're there for her.
Is she mad she's going to defer her finals?? Why would she if she doesn't WANT to? Just at the "advice" of others? NOT finishing might depress her even more! I know it would me.
Pixies for both of you - it's not easy growing up, and it's even harder watching.
I agree, I couldn't have said it better. I hope it all works out for her. She should not be afraid of success. She just might ace that test!
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I think you are doing fine.
I also don't think she should put off her finals. She's been preparing, she has everything current in her mind, she thought she was ready.....in a year, not so much. Encourage her to go ahead and take them now.
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