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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I'm SO happy to see so many of you searching for the concierge bells throughout PassPorter.com. I'm even happier to hear all the comments about how you're enjoying it, learning from it, and generally having a good time.
I've have more ideas on ways to improve and expand upon the system, but I thought I'd ask those of you currently using it if you had ideas, requests, or a general "wish list" for things you'd like to see in our Concierge Desk, ways to make the hunt for bells more fun, additional ways you'd like to be able to earn tings, and rewards you'd like to see.
Location: SW PA/a.k.a. "The Tundra" in the winter & "A Sauna" in the summer
Concierge Level: 8
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I have to admit that I wasn't excited about the concierge desk before this contest. It's probably because I was only saving tips that are relevant to our Disney travels and concluded that I would never reach the next levels (thus, never making it to the level where I could customize or do anything with the tips). The contest has made me save every tip, relevant or not, in search of those Ipad tickets. Tonight, I discovered the fun in looking at all of the photos with my daughter.
Admittedly, the contest is very engaging - but I'm not sure what will keep me coming back to the concierge desk after it ends. By then, I'll probably be in the habit of saving tips as I read articles and newsletters.
Regardless, it's an awesome marketing strategy to drive people around the site! Bravo to that!
Thanks for the reply! It's my job to make the Concierge Desk compelling, with or without a contest. And, while I could be off-base here, you all wouldn't keep looking for those tickets if you didn't enjoy it a little bit. After all, you really only need one ticket to be randomly chosen as a winner. So this tells me you like it, and I should keep building on this. I have ideas, but those of you actually doing this may have ideas, too.
My only suggestion would be to have the favorites section blank. Then, as you click to add tips to the favorite area, they will populate to the favorites tab. I was surprised when I started to add favorites today that all of the tips were already in there. Selecting them as favorites just moves the selected favorites to the top. But, if you leave it the way it already is, I am fine with that.
The favorites "tab" isn't actually a tab, but rather a link to sort your tips by favorites. Once you actually favorite a tip, it will appear at the top of your tips list when you sort by favorites.
Oh, and just so folks don't get the idea that the Concierge Desk is only about tips, please note that "My Trips" section at My Trips - PassPorter's Club Concierge Desk -- there's a lot we could do with storing and displaying your trip information, for example. Like the "show-off" pages: http://www.passporterboards.com/conc...y-trip506.html That's a major area I have yet to work on, and feedback is welcome.
The favorites "tab" isn't actually a tab, but rather a link to sort your tips by favorites. Once you actually favorite a tip, it will appear at the top of your tips list when you sort by favorites.
I guess I should have payed closer attention.
Maybe another level of Concierge would be to create favorites tab. Then another level beyond that could be to allow sorting within that tab.
Of course, I am probably the only one that would like something like that.
I've had a great time checking out all the tips and I've learnt heaps! I don't really care for the stuff that concierge levels will bring me but I'm itching for my level to 'show' 7 - must keep looking...There are so many articles I hadn't read yet.
Jennifer, I am not sure if this is the type of feedback you are looking for, but I would love a way to select various tips to add to my Passporter (perhaps a link to the Passporter Club) so that I could print the specific tips I needed for a particular thing, i.e. tips on accommodations would go under my hotel section, dining with my ADR reservations, etc. I hope this makes sense.
Maybe a "tab"/sort link that would give you the option of having all of the tips opened/viewable/expanded.
This would allow for users to view/print multiple tips on one page instead of the need to click on each tip individually in order to print one tip at a time. This would also make it easier to cut and past tips for printing as well.
I originally started out looking for the bells so that I could win the I-pad, because that's probably the only way I would get one, lol. However, I have really enjoyed finding the tips and learning a few new tricks, that that is a prize in itself. So thanks for starting this contest!
I came across a tip #1476 Blue Bayou Begging, which said it was a WDW tip, but as I was reading it (and not recognizing the name) I realized it was actually for Disneyland.
I came across a tip #1476 Blue Bayou Begging, which said it was a WDW tip, but as I was reading it (and not recognizing the name) I realized it was actually for Disneyland.
Fixed.
Please keep sending in feedback, making suggestions, and tossing around ideas, I'm listening.
I think it is a great way to get people to explore more, I think we all have specific things we might be looking for so we might pass over a great article...searching for the Tings has not only helped me find some articles I have not read but also go back and find some of my favorites. Love how you added them to the photo section.
Location: SW PA/a.k.a. "The Tundra" in the winter & "A Sauna" in the summer
Concierge Level: 8
Posts: 643
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jennifer Marx
Thanks for the reply! It's my job to make the Concierge Desk compelling, with or without a contest. And, while I could be off-base here, you all wouldn't keep looking for those tickets if you didn't enjoy it a little bit. After all, you really only need one ticket to be randomly chosen as a winner. So this tells me you like it, and I should keep building on this. I have ideas, but those of you actually doing this may have ideas, too.
I definitely see the Concierge Desk in a new light than I did when it was first introduced. Now my goal is to get to level 6 so that I can customize and create my own tip book. Having the contest has driven me back to this section of the site and what once seemed unattainable, now is (if that makes sense!!).
Question - Am I missing something? I know that there is a list of Concierge Desk options/links at the bottom of the home page. But what about a tab at the top like you have for "community" or "passporter's club"?
Jennifer, I love the Did you know when you find a ting but on my computer with the oak CC desk I get grey text for the Did you know that is very hard to see/read. I am not sure if the Text color is set or if it is set dependent on the color setting for your CC desk because grey on Oak just does not work well. And I love the DYK's
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