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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Saturday, I was up nice and early - at 5:00 am. I didn’t have a lot to do as almost everything was packed in the truck (van really) already. I blogged just a little then got Lenny up. I let Abby sleep a little longer though. Once everyone was up, we got the last minute stuff together then put it in the truck. I wanted to be on the road by 7 am. We didn’t quite make it but we were close. After giving everyone (mom, dogs and bunny) hugs and kisses good-bye, we were finally on our way at 7:20. We made it one whole mile up the street before we had to stop. Lenny (an adult, not a child) forgot to use the bathroom before we left so we had to stop at the Cumberland Farms/Gulf gas station for him. When he came out, Lenny walked behind the van and noticed the license plate light was out, so that required a second stop at Walmart. While I ran in to get the replacement bulb, Lenny worked on the light. Just a side note - owner’s manuals for vehicles are great - when they are correct that is.
So I came out of Walmart with the size bulb in hand that the manual said we needed but Lenny told me it was the wrong size. What the manual said I needed was a screw in bulb but what the socket took was a smaller plug in type. Luckily, before we left the old van at the dealer, Lenny took out all the extra parts he had (bulbs, fuses, etc). So we did have the right size bulb in the glove compartment. While Lenny finished up with that, I ran back into Walmart to return the bulb I had just bought. Back in the truck, we headed out again only to stop at McDonalds for a couple of Egg Mcmuffins because Lenny was hungry. We finally were on the highway about 8:15 - about 30 minutes behind at this point in time.
Our drive was really uneventful. Abby and I played travel bingo and she "won" a highlights hidden picture sticker book which she used right away. She also "won" a Casper DVD. We didn’t make too many stops either. We made one in Connecticut and this was a nice rest area. At this one, the Boy Scouts had a canopy set up and they were providing people with coffee, donuts, lemonade and hot dogs - all for free. They also had a bin set up for donations. Lenny grabbed a coffee, Abby a donut. I didn’t take anything as I left my money in the van. I felt that I would be taking advantage of them by taking anything else without leaving something in return.
Around 11:30, we stopped in Poughkeepsie New York again for McDonalds. It’s the same one we stopped at last year, so we found it with no problem. We stayed only long enough to eat, then we were back on the road again. We had no problems driving until we hit 81 South in Pennsylvania.
On 81 South, I have no idea what they are doing as both last year and this year, we saw only cones blocking one lane of traffic. We didn’t see any signs of construction or of workers actually working. We saw them standing around talking or driving in the blocked off lane. Because of the one lane being blocked off, as we neared mile marker 163, we hit a backup of traffic that started at mile marker 156. It took us about 25 minutes to go those few miles. The good thing about the backup?? We saw an 18 wheeler flatbed so large that it’s load looked downright tiny. And I was able to get pictures of it.
We got stuck in another traffic jam a little later as well and it took us probably 30 minutes to get through that one as well. All in all, we didn’t do too bad. We were at our hotel in Hagerstown Maryland and all checked in about 6 PM. It’s the same hotel we stayed at coming home last year and the room was the same too (a king suite) so I didn’t take any new pictures.
After a quick dinner at Cracker Barrel, we went back to the hotel for the pool. There were a few people in it and it was cold IMO so I went into the hot tub for a few minutes. I got out and watched Lenny and Abby for a few more but the heat of the room and all the chlorine started really bothering my eyes so I left them to swim and went back to the room. A little while later, Lenny and Abby came in the room, we got ready for bed, then we called my mother to talk to her for a bit. Despite having gotten up early, we didn’t go to sleep until after 9 PM. And Lenny and I didn’t sleep all that well either. We can’t put our finger on why, we just know we didn’t sleep well.
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Great! Love the Pic of the truck very funny..
Fund Raising at a Rest Stop! This is a great idea....
Quote:
Boy Scouts had a canopy set up and they were providing people with coffee, donuts, lemonade and hot dogs - all for free. They also had a bin set up for donations.
Glad to see you've started on your report. That little truck on the flatbed was funny! Sorry about the traffic delays, but it sounds like everything else seems to be going well. Looking forward to reading more!
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