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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Our granddaughter is finally 3 and potty trained so she is completely read for the kids programs aboard our upcoming cruise. I was looking for feedback from the kids program for 3 year olds. Do they separate them from other kids that are older? Are they in small groups? Will they have the same counselor the entire cruise? I would appreciate anything that you can offer to make this a smooth transition for the parents as well as us grandparents. Thanks so much ahead of time. I always know I get the best advice from Passporter folks!
The basic concept is to break things down into age cohorts very similar to what you find in the school system. Oceaneer Club focuses on pre-school through about 1st grade, and has a lower counselor-to-camper ratio. It has two simultaneous (organized) activity tracks, which breaks basically between older pre-schoolers (pre-K) and kindergarten/first grade. Oceaneer Lab is essentially 2nd - 5th grade, and runs three simultaneous organized activity tracks.
However, there's flexibility - as academics aren't an issue, the kids have room to select activities suiting their personal development and interests. They can participate in either Club or Lab activities, and can use both Club and Lab facilities. This also allows siblings to do things together if they wish, rather than isolate them strictly by age.
In addition to the 5 organized activity tracks running in the Club and Lab at any given moment, both facilities offer a wide range of self-directed activities (of course, with counselors on hand to supervise). Again, these are suitable for a variety of different ages and stages, but a child is not limited to either facility.
Perhaps the biggest "protective" decision DCL made for the youngest participants was to create the tween club a couple of years ago - that took the 11- and 12-year-olds out of the Oceaneer Lab (originally, DCL had three programs - Club for 3-8, Lab for 9-12, Teens 13-17). They also brought the 13-year-olds out of the teen club and moved them into the tweens program, which is generally more age-appropriate - again, the difference between middle school and high school.
The counselors operate as a team. Each is going to lead specific group activities, and supervise particular activity areas. There is not a specific child-to-counselor assignment, but they do specialize by general age group.
Group sizes vary - some activities are suitable for fairly large groups, others aren't. However, the basic counselor-to-camper ratios are maintained.
The best "transition" is for parents and children to visit the Club and Lab on the afternoon you board during the scheduled open house - meet the counselors, learn about the program, explore the facilities, learn about security measures, etc.
DCL recently tightened participation rules for adults. In some cases, parents were staying to supervise their child's activities, which sometimes meant parents were "helping" their children to the detriment of other children, and also made it harder for the staff to do their jobs. So now, except during designated open house times, parents are generally only welcome to observe from the entrance.
While I understand a grandparent's impulse to be involved, it's generally better to have fewer cooks. However, your children can designate you as a person authorized to sign your grandchildren in and out of the program, and by all means, come to the open house - it's a great facility.
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However, your children can designate you as a person authorized to sign your grandchildren in and out of the program, and by all means, come to the open house - it's a great facility.
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