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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We just came back from a family trip to DC and had a great time, that is all of us except DH. A little background info; DH had a massive stroke 10 years ago and is paralyzed on the left side of his body. He cannot sleep in a bed or lay flat for any amount of time because of terrible leg pain, and therefore sleeps in a lift chair while at home. He was very uncomfortable on this trip and in a lot of pain most of the time. He ended up sleeping in his wheelchair and stayed back at the room sometimes while the kids and I went out to do things.
Well now he has informed us that he will know longer be going on any more trips because it is too painful for him and he isn't having a good time. We are planning a WDW trip next summer and he says that he will not be coming. The kids feel very sad about going without him. I have very mixed feeling about it, on one hand it is very hard to take care of him on a trip and usually ends up being very stressful for me and the kids, but on the otherhand we feel bad about going without him.
So now the question is do we go without him or not go at all. He insists that we go without him, but of course we still feel guilty.
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Understand your feelings on this - my dm had a severe stroke 3 years ago and did not want to come with all 17 of us (my dh, children and their spouses and children) which was also arranged to be an 80th birthday celebration for her. She has some use of left side and we got a ecv for her use. We stayed at kidani in 2 2bd villas which has the option (believe 1 bd has too) of chair that opens out to a bed - this was the selling point with my mom but the sofa beds in most rooms too give the person ability of sitting up to sleep. My dm would have loved to have a reclining chair and just throw a blanket on her (her place of choice at home) but the chair she thought was comfortable and easy to get in and out of. Hopefully your dh will change his mind but in talking with my children and my dm after the trip (she was glad she went this one last time but will not make the trip again either) She feels it is best to stop going on a high note so to speak. She has enjoyed the trips before this last one more and had more interaction with grandchildren and greatgrandchildren previously. She wants them to remember her having fun and knowing that when she doesn't go in the future and we do that she is happy for our opportunity to be together there in whatever configuration the trips are taken.
All that to say this - I would try to implore him to go but would go if he insists that he won't go. Time with family while they are healthy makes for memories that last.
Best with your decision. Love much!
This is of course just my opinion and I do not have any experience with your situation, but I think you and your kids should still go. Your DH knows that you all enjoy vacations, but it sounds like they are just not fun for him anymore. If I were in your DH's place, it would probably make me really sad to think that I had caused my family to miss out on their vacations because it wasn't comfortable for me to go. As long as he would be ok while you all were gone, I think you should go, enjoy yourselves, and I bet he will be really excited to see all of your great pictures when you get home!!
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My dad has COPD and CHF and a lot of other issues. He also sleeps in his "bed chair", his lift-chair, at home. He can no longer vacation with us because he can't be in the car for long, and he can't fly.
I know there are products you can purchase to raise the head of the bed, such as this: bone Mattress Genie mailer - queen : Target
You could always call WDW and see if they can bring a recliner into the room? They're always so eager to do what it takes to help out. You can also rent lift-chairs!
If your DH is determined not to go with you and the kids, you should still go. But I'd try to figure out a way to include him in the vacation.
This is of course just my opinion and I do not have any experience with your situation, but I think you and your kids should still go. Your DH knows that you all enjoy vacations, but it sounds like they are just not fun for him anymore. If I were in your DH's place, it would probably make me really sad to think that I had caused my family to miss out on their vacations because it wasn't comfortable for me to go. As long as he would be ok while you all were gone, I think you should go, enjoy yourselves, and I bet he will be really excited to see all of your great pictures when you get home!!
These were my thoughts as well. Are there local day trips that your family can still do that would help your children still be able to have vacation memories with their dad? If you can add some of them to the summer activities, that would be good.
I think that if you DH is truly ok with you taking the kids and going, than I say go. Kids need to be kids. They need to have those memories and perhaps a get away from the challenges of daily life. Caring for a family member no matter what the disability is tough. Take lots of photos and video, buy DH some souveneers. If it were me in his situation, I wouldn't want to be the one holding everyone back.
I think you should do as your DH suggested and go without him. If he is truly in pain during vacations, then it's really no fun for him. Why make him suffer so you can have fun? If there's a way to make him comfortable enough to enjoy the trip, then by all means bring him along. But if there isn't, then go ahead and enjoy your children. He will feel better knowing that he's not spoiling your fun and the children won't feel badly about making Daddy feel uncomfortable. Take lots of photos to share with him and keep in touch throughout the trip. You shouldn't feel guilty about leaving him home, it's what he wants.
I would find out if it were possible to rent a lift chair for your room while you are there. Then ask him if he would go it that were possible? If accomodations could be made that would make it as pain free as possible for him, would he want to go?
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That is a tough situation, Lisa. I would do everything possible to create other special memories with him and also go to Disney with the rest of the family I'd guess that he would truly want you to.
I think your DH might need some counseling as it seems as if he's giving up.
However, I would go without him. Sometimes when you see life passing you by, it makes you want to participate.
Try and assure him that Disney can make him comfortable (I think they have lift-chairs - call Special Needs and ask!) and that he shouldn't miss out on this opportunity with the kids. Let him know you all love him very much and will do everything to make it as easy on him as possible, but you can't stop living and enjoying things. I know that might sound selfish, but you only get one life too and we all have to make the best of the hand we've been dealt.
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