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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 know we have members that use service dogs & thought it would be interesting to give you all a view from a very nice lady I met on my Disneyland trip..
On my recent trip to Disneyland I had a chance to talk to a very nice lady Cindy & meet her service dog Mable.
Cindy is wheelchair bound & Mable is a fully professionally trained dog.
Mable will pull, retrieve, open doors, push elevator buttons, help guide Cindy through the park, Plus much more!
I asked how she handled the fireworks & crowds at Disney parks. Cindy said Mable wasn't a fan of fireworks at all but still tolerated them & did her job without issues, even though she wasn't thrilled with them like her human was.
I asked about her issues with the parks & Cindy told me some of her biggest issues was people being totally unaware of her & her dog, Poor Mable getting stepped on & people reaching down to pet her startling her because she is totally focused on her person. Even with a patch that said “Please Don’t Pet” it didn't stop them. A funny thing is Cindy said is that grown-ups not kids were the worst offenders.
Cindy lives near Disneyland & goes to the parks often.
A new issue is a growing problem with “Fake Service dogs”
With no regulations in place a growing number of people are purchasing vests & patches to put on their dog so they can take them to the parks. These dogs stick out like a sore thumb.
Service dogs are very focused on their handlers; they will walk next to their person staying in tune to the needs of the person they are in service to. Fake service dogs are totally distracted, wandering away from the handler & interacting with anyone that walks by. They freak out in crowds & are timid with all the sounds in the parks. It is a shame that someone would put their pet in a situation that scares their pet just to bring them along for the trip.
Service dogs are a wonderful thing giving disabled people a chance to do things they couldn't do before without a human to help, I was so impressed with Mable. It was very nice to meet her & Cindy.
It's amazing what service animals can do and how much freedom they allow their mates to have!
It's also a shame how more and more people try to take advantage. If it gets to a point where so many people are doing this and it becomes unsafe, maybe it will need to be regulated somehow.
I used to work at a children's museum and we had a group of college students bring their service dogs in training to the museum to get used to be in a different surrounding. It was a cool thing to see!
I know someone personally who uses a service dog, and a family that trains them as puppies! They are a God send! (The people and the dogs!) Even though people see the patch, I don't think they realize why touching the dog is a problem. Most people do not understand that the dog has been TRAINED to be totally focused on the needs of their person and the outside touch can startle them so much. Thank you for sharing this!! EDUCATING people on WHY they should not touch service dogs, and what their job is will hopefully help!
This is a great little tribute and reminder, Deb. It is hard for people to keep from petting a service dog. All they see is "dog," they don't see the "service" aspect and that the dog is working.
It is a shame that some are beginning to use a dog as a reason to get to "the front of the line." Why people feel compelled to make up an illness for themselves that others truly suffer from and live with is far beyond my comprehension.
Very true Pam. That is why I think there should be some kind of testing, Just like there is a CGC test, this would make it more difficult for the people taking "Fido" out as a service dog to places where it does not belong & can't cope with crowds & the kind of sights & sounds of a theme park.
It is simply cruel to the animal that is not trained & conditioned to these environments.
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