I think I have bitten off more than I can chew! - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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The last few weeks have been frantically busy and I hope you don`t mind me writing about it,
First off I got an email from my sister saying her stepsons mother had been found dead at home. I was shocked beyond words, this girl was 47 and her sons are the best kids ever aged 21 and 23. One was sitting his final exams at Uni. I know these boys well and they are frequently in our house. Their mother had taken her own life and I am sad for all concerned - sad beyond words.
I`ll be back.
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I feel bad about writing about them as I don`t feel its my grief to share. This girls funeral service was so full there was standing room only - if only people could realise their human value.
Anyways this brought my sisters family from their far flung place in Europe to their home around the corner from me. Any visit from them means large social family gatherings - guess who gets to do the work!
As soon as they left I had to go and visit DD. Against our wishes she has postponed her final exams and is living 200 miles away. Although I was tempted to disown her ( and I`m only half joking there!) I helped her move, redecorate and stocked her up with groceries and essentials. I enjoyed the break but it was tiring.
The next day I went to see my mother - there are concerns about her increasing level of confusion. She was being assessed and I needed to be there. I`m her only carer.
Amongst all of this DH and I decided to remodel the kitchen - it is a desperately needed job. The cabinets were installed in the 1930`s and weren`t practical. For 15 years my total counter space has been 3 foot long.
I spent the next few days clearing the basement to move part of the kitchen into and had just got it done when the builder called and said could he start the next day.
I agreed although DH was a bit reluctant to move the date forward. So he arrived on tuesday and I had a hospital appointment on the wednesday. That didn`t go terribly well and I was just discharged this morning.
One nurse told me the term for people like me is a "bleeder" I just keep losing blood
So now I`m home and not particularly mobile and totally unable to help sort out this wreck of a house.
Anyways thanks for listening - we have a local word "twine" its means to moan and groan and whine. I`ve been twining away like mad here!
Lots of pixies to all of you: that your step-nephews are able to continue with their lives - although DH was 10 years older than them when his mom died and he's still not over it (I don't think you ever get over the death of a parent), that your DD is able to figure out who she is, who she wants to be, and how to get there (hopefully with a uni exam?), and that your kitchen and life settle themselves out and all is nice and tidy and sparkling in no time!
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