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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Not that I know of. Of course, you know they hear those things at school and anywhere else they are without adults right on top of them.
How old are your kids?
Personally, I don't think any child under 14 or 15 needs to have a FB account. And even then, I think it should be monitored by parents from time to time. You'll be amazed at how nice their friends are when they know "mom's" watching.
They are 13 and 11. After looking into it a little further, FB does not allow kids under 13 to join anyhow.... I have been reluctant, as they have been asking for a while.... They told me the majority of their friends have accounts, so I looked up their friends and sure enough the majority of them do have accounts. I'm still hesitant about it.......
Take a look at the things that their friends are saying and "Liking". I am not so thrilled with much of it. It's not the worst stuff in the world, but still stuff I would prefer not to have my son associated with. Also, I feel like it will just get worse as they get older. Just my thoughts about my own experiences.
Some Mom's make sure they are friends on their kids FB... and make sure all setting allow them to see everything... so everything they do will be on your home page.
I find that for my 9 thru 12 nieces, it's the profile pics I don't like... trying to impress the boys...
But their parents (my sisters) are on it and if their Profile has anything... they chime in with a "WHAT!" and can embarass them at will!!
I wouldn't at that age. When they do have an account, you need to lock their privacy settings to list only "friends" this prevents "friends of friends" (almost everyone) from seeing their posts/pictures/etc. They also need to friend you so you can monitor their "wall" and posts and who they are "friend-ing"
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Michele
I'm living the dream 20 minutes from Disney! Next trip...tomorrow. Follow me on instagram at ShirtsByShell
Even I have all my privacy settings so you have to "friend" me...
Man, it makes me feel old when I think of the stuff we DIDN'T have at that age!!!
And what they CAN'T live without now!
Have to add - I refuse to put photos of myself or my family on FB.
A big problem I see with it, with the younger kids, is that they have no clue when too much sharing is too much. Some of the kids from DD's karate dojo are my friends (because they requested it), and even though they are from 12 to 17, they really have no barriers when it comes to putting every little detail about their lives on there.
As someone once said - it's like Middle School! And then there's the pressure to friend people you don't really like, but you can't actually refuse to friend, or worrying someone won't friend you - I can't imagine what it's like at 11 or 12.
It must be huge pressure... I find as an adult that there is pressure accepting friends you dont really want to get involved with... I try to keep it professional and art related, but when nieces and other kids wanna "friend" me, what to do?
I cant imagine this day in age being 12 and having to accept someone for fear of it turning against you the way it can at that age... Alice is 5, I can only imagine waht will be available when she is 12!
My DD is about to be 15 and I won't allow her to have a FB account. I did consider it though and talked it over with her dad. However, even he was against it. Apparently his niece, who is in her 20's, often posts some rather inappropriate for a teenager type stuff on her wall. He didn't want DD to see some of the things her cousin posts. Of course, she would only see it if she friended her cousin. She still asks every once in a while and we have long discussions about why I am not allowing it right now. If she can show me a maturity level that I wold feel comfortable with her having a FB page, then I would be more comfortable with the idea.
I didn't have a facebook account until I was 17 (I'm 18 now), and even then I was hesitant to dive right in because it was so new to me. (I never did myspace or anything.) Since I had one, my sister wanted one (14) and my mom let her, but my mom set up an account as well. I love it since now that I'm in college I can keep in touch with friends and family, but it does seem like too much of a time-waster for people, especially kids. I would say that you are making the right choice by holding off, but if you do feel the need to let them, try it out yourself. It couldn't hurt! Best of luck, and remember to stick to your guns! Just because "everyone" has one doesn't mean it's the best think for them.
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Amanda =)
Living out a childhood dream during my summer 2015 trip to WDW. Is it time to go back yet?
“All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them." –Walt Disney
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Honestly, I just see it as a big waste of time. I don't have an account, but my DH and my DD17 do. I would try to hold off as long as possible. I refuse to get an account. My motto is; if you want to know how I'm doing, then pick up the phone and call, or send me an email. No lurkers in my life, thank you.
My 15 year old has had an account since he was 13. Both my husband and I required that he friend us and we both have his login and password.
More than once, I've logged in to his account and removed postings because they were inappropriate and were posted by another friend of his.
We finally had to have our son unfriend this person because the posts were so bad. After talking with his friends parents, I discovered that they weren't monitoring this friends account at all. Yikes!
On the plus side, we've had many good conversations about appropriateness and how things posted on the internet can affect him later in life when he's trying to get a job.
If I had to do it all over again, I would have made him wait. If you allow your 13 year old to get an account, monitor it closely. It's easy for me to monitor it, I've had one for many years since it's the easiest way to keep in touch with my sisters and parents who often travel where there is no cell phone coverage.
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