Passporters are so nice, why did I even LOOK at another board? - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Passporters are so nice, why did I even LOOK at another board?
Sigh. There are mean people out there! Not Passporters of course. I posted on another DCL board with some questions. I got some answers, which I appreciate, but then got slammed for saying that I needed a cat 6 room. I was told that I didn't NEED it, I just wanted it and that I should book a cat 12 and "Just be happy I'm on the ship.".
Ouch.
I've never had anyone give me a hard time here and just want to say thanks for being so nice! They actually made me mad, and hurt my feelings. (sounds whiney but I just didn't expect to have 2 people tell me that I was dumb for spending extra for a verandah. ) I'm obviously not the only one or the ship wouldn't bother with verandahs!!
Oh well, you guys are always here and so nice to talk to......who cares about them anyway?
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I believe I know which board you are talking about. I go on there because they have a lot of information, and I am participating in a Fish Extender with a group that seems really nice, but I am, for the most part, AFRAID to post on there. They can be downright cruel. Not everyone, of course, but I can count the mean posts I have seen on Passporter in the past few years on one hand, and have fingers left over. I am with you - I do NEED at Cat 6, in order to make my vacation happy for our family. I need it in order to make my vacation satisfactory in regards to what I expect to get out of it. Maybe someday, I will find that I only need a Cat 9, but NEVER a Cat 12. It is not for me, or my claustrophobic husband! And no one else can tell me what I need - my needs are different that theirs.
I am NOT bashing the other board. They have so much information available that at times, it makes my head spin. And there are a lot of wonderful people on there, such as the lady who picked me up a CD from MNSSHP when they didn't have them available at the party I was at. I am just saying that I am never afraid to post ANY question or comment here, and I am always afraid there.
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I believe I know which board you are talking about. I go on there because they have a lot of information, and I am participating in a Fish Extender with a group that seems really nice, but I am, for the most part, AFRAID to post on there. They can be downright cruel. Not everyone, of course, but I can count the mean posts I have seen on Passporter in the past few years on one hand, and have fingers left over. I am with you - I do NEED at Cat 6, in order to make my vacation happy for our family. I need it in order to make my vacation satisfactory in regards to what I expect to get out of it. Maybe someday, I will find that I only need a Cat 9, but NEVER a Cat 12. It is not for me, or my claustrophobic husband! And no one else can tell me what I need - my needs are different that theirs.
I am NOT bashing the other board. They have so much information available that at times, it makes my head spin. And there are a lot of wonderful people on there, such as the lady who picked me up a CD from MNSSHP when they didn't have them available at the party I was at. I am just saying that I am never afraid to post ANY question or comment here, and I am always afraid there.
EXACTLY!!!!!
There is so much info on that board, like the crafting area (door magnets, etc) but I am afraid to post, and today has only reinforced that. Oh well, I shall return to lurking there, and posting here!!
Sigh. There are mean people out there! Not Passporters of course. I posted on another DCL board with some questions. I got some answers, which I appreciate, but then got slammed for saying that I needed a cat 6 room. I was told that I didn't NEED it, I just wanted it and that I should book a cat 12 and "Just be happy I'm on the ship.".
Ouch.
I've never had anyone give me a hard time here and just want to say thanks for being so nice! They actually made me mad, and hurt my feelings. (sounds whiney but I just didn't expect to have 2 people tell me that I was dumb for spending extra for a verandah. ) I'm obviously not the only one or the ship wouldn't bother with verandahs!!
Oh well, you guys are always here and so nice to talk to......who cares about them anyway?
I just read your thread over "there"...and wow, you're right, that was pretty rude.
I'm happy to hear that you find PP to be a friendly place.
While no board is perfect, of all the one's I've visited, this one is the most across-the-board friendly. I come to appreciate the guidelines and the art of moderation more and more each time I hear people say they feel comfortable here.
I'm gonna have to agree . I have felt uncomfortable there too and that is why I just visit this site everyday instead. I am still a newbie (will take first cruise with Disney 2011!) but I am looking forward to contributing to this site once I have experienced DCL. I want to give back for all the help this forum has given me so far. Thank you Passporter people!
Just want to add in addition to my above post - I have made friends here. Real friends. The kind that drop each other a line to say, hey, how's life? The kind you exchange Christmas cards with. The kind that recognize you (or even your husband and kids without you, true story) if they see you at WDW. The last three times we went to WDW, we ran into someone we knew - and none of them planned. That makes me feel all warm inside.
Sorry to hear you had a rough time on the other board. I love this place - and I have made friendships that will last a lifetime (some of my best friends are passporters!!). Even DH2B commented how great this place is!
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