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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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My DD7 is tennis crazy and is now on a quickstart team. I am thrilled for her that she found a passion at such a young age. It brings out the best in her and I want to be supportive but wow! I know very little about it and my head is spinning about all the rules. I don't understand Rankings or all the levels and I can't find a good resource to help me make sense of it all after countless web searches. Does anyone have a good resource they can share?
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I'm not a tennis parent, but I do have a kid who is heavily into competitive karate. There are tons of rankings, rules depending on ranks: if you're a white belt in competition, you can't hit the head, a green belt can kick but not hit, a brown or above can hit or kick but it has to be done a certain way, black can choose to wear no protective gear, if you turn back on your opponent you get a point called against you, if your opponent is injured (winded or just needs to get themselves together) you have to kneel facing the opposite direction, and on and on. Oh - and the matches are all called in Japanese, so it took me a long time to learn what on earth the judges were saying and why my DD was either winning or not!
The best way to learn is to go to every practice and game you can, and buddy up with more experienced parents. They're usually very willing to tell you what's going on and explain what the rules are.
Congratulations to your DD for finding something she loves doing.
PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Chapel Hill, NC USA
Concierge Level: 6
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Your daughter should join the USTA. It's very inexpensive for children and you can find a lot of resources through them including rules. Your child's coach should also be able to help.
She is a USTA member and a member of a local club. I poured over the USTA material but nothing mentions how many sanctioned tournaments they are allowed to play and what the different levels mean. I'm not even entirely clear on the sanctioned/unsanctioned thing. It's mostly how to be supportive of your child and some game you can play with them at home. She is now training with two different coaches, on a quickstart team, and playing occasional tournaments. I'm always there with her listening and the coaches are great but I was hoping for a resource that explains all the rankings. I get the feeling that most of the parents I've come in contact with are gleaning information here and there too and so they all have a different picture of how things go. I guess I just have to get myself to the library. My DD does Karate too but fortunately she doesn't have any interest in the competition aspect of it. She just likes to train.
PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Chapel Hill, NC USA
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 36,592
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Have you gone online to the USTA site and searched for definitions you need?
I wish I could help, because I never understood it either. I know if I had asked the Pro at our tennis club I probably could have been taught it. I do know that level 5 is the 'easiest' and that it becomes progressively more difficult play as you move down through levels 4.5, 4. 3.5 and 3. I don't know that there is a limit on how much or how many tournaments a child can play in. Good luck in finding the info you need. I'd use the internet to do my initial searches for info before going to the library.
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