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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Is there a list of pin trading rules or etiquette anywhere?
I have never traded pins because I always think I like the ones I have too much to trade them. Is it permissible to wear a pin you aren't really willing to trade? Can you say-no I don't want to trade that one-pick another one?
What about non-Disney pins? Or Pins that are from the Disney Rewards Card?
Has anyone been able to trade for a CM only pin?
How do you know if you are trading pins of equal value?
Do guests trade with other guests or only with CMs?
Thanks
Kel
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I've only traded with CM's and I know for them some will only trade with little kids, others will trade with anyone but they have a 2 pin per person limit. The times we traded, we gave the CM's the pins we wanted to, they didn't pick them so you can wear ones you don't want to trade. If another guest asks, you can say no - you're not obligated to trade with anyone, especially another guest. From what I know about the CM's, they shouldn't have duplicate pins on their lanyards. Those are just my experiences but I know there is a list somewhere with the do's and dont's - I'll see if I can find it
I've only traded with CM's and I know for them some will only trade with little kids, others will trade with anyone but they have a 2 pin per person limit. The times we traded, we gave the CM's the pins we wanted to, they didn't pick them so you can wear ones you don't want to trade. If another guest asks, you can say no - you're not obligated to trade with anyone, especially another guest. From what I know about the CM's, they shouldn't have duplicate pins on their lanyards. Those are just my experiences but I know there is a list somewhere with the do's and dont's - I'll see if I can find it
[QUOTE=Kelly66;4135841]Is there a list of pin trading rules or etiquette anywhere?
I have never traded pins because I always think I like the ones I have too much to trade them. Is it permissible to wear a pin you aren't really willing to trade? Can you say-no I don't want to trade that one-pick another one? You pick the pins you want to trade. In the rules the castmembers are not supposed to trade for a pin they already have on their lanyard, but many do...
What about non-Disney pins? Or Pins that are from the Disney Rewards Card?Any pins that have the official disney logo on the back are fair game - I have some in my collection that are from DVC, DCL, some from a special Hanes promo that were given away free with purchase...just check for the logo.
Has anyone been able to trade for a CM only pin? Yes and some with moving parts and 3D - we've gotten many wonderful pins by trading pins of lesser value, for sure.
How do you know if you are trading pins of equal value?
Do guests trade with other guests or only with CMs? Only with CM - and CM wearing a green lanyard only trade with kids. There are some tables set up in Epcot and in DTD where people come and try to trade with you ...they usually have binders of pins. They will ask for specific pins or try to talk you into buying a pin for a trade. I stay away from them and honestly wish WDW would ban them from the grounds - they are trying to take advantage and they spoil the fun for us.
In answer to the problem of not wanting to part with any of your pins, we bought a big lot on Ebay from a reputable seller so we could keep a few favourites and then we traded the rest. It has given us hours of fun on our trips but we are almost at a point where we have upgraded them all through trading to a point where we have very few traders left and we will have to get another lot before we go back again next year. Don't forget to check with the desk at your resort - most resorts have a trading board that is fun because you get to pick from a big assortment all at once. Have fun....we will buy a special one here or there but find it's much more fun to hunt them down than to just purchase them
Suzie-Q
Is there a list of pin trading rules or etiquette anywhere?
Sadly, all the links I'm finding are dead. However, reciting from memory:
Only Disney pins - those with a Disney logo and copyright imprint on the back - can be traded to/from CMs;
Ask before you touch, doubly-especially with other guests' pins;
Some Cast Members (CMs) will only trade with children up to age 10 or 12 - they have green lanyards;
You have to give the CM a pin they do not already have;
What you trade does not have to have any relation to the value of what you get (but the truly expensive ones are probably not going to show up on a CM's lanyard);
Guests CAN trade with each other, but are never required to do so .... unlike a CM, a guest can refuse any and all trades, for any reason ... or no reason at all;
I believe CMs are only supposed to trade twice per guest per day.
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Is it permissible to wear a pin you aren't really willing to trade?
Absolutely! For my part, I mostly wore (and will again wear) my "keepers", with a few trade pins near the bottom. DGF did the same, but kept her trade pins in her pocket.
Quote:
Can you say-no I don't want to trade that one-pick another one?
Again, absolutely! Indeed, you do not have to trade at all, ever, with anyone. You don't even have to have a reason to say "no".
Quote:
What about non-Disney pins? Or Pins that are from the Disney Rewards Card?
With other guests, you can trade whatever each of you agrees on. Just be honest if it's not a Disney pin. (Technically it has to be, but no Disney Storm Troopers are going to arrest you if you break that "rule" ... well, maybe on a Star Wars weekend, lol!)
With CMs, any metal pin with the Disney logo and copyright notice imprinted on the back is acceptible - provided, AFAIK, they are of the straight-post type, not the "pin and clip" like cheap buttons use. Oh, and provided that the CM doesn't already have one of that specific pin.
Quote:
Has anyone been able to trade for a CM only pin?
Yes.
In 2009, at least, there were "mystery pin sets", that changed every day or so. Five pins to the set - and ONE of the five, could only be obtained by trading with a CM.
Quote:
How do you know if you are trading pins of equal value?
1 pin, is worth 1 pin.
If you're worried about price tags, and don't want to risk "over-trading" ... only trade away the inexpensive ones.
Quote:
Do guests trade with other guests or only with CMs?
Some of both. Guests are never required to trade, no matter what the offer is. But, you're always free to ask ...! This can be especially useful if you see someone with, say, two sets of the "mystery pack" style pins on their lanyard (like, the series of FastPass ticket pins that were there in '09); maybe they have an extra of one you need, and you have the one THEY need to collect one or the other set.
Just remember "ask before touching", of course.
In the gift shop at Pop Century, Jeremy (middle guy, pic below) ha a mostly-blue-lanyard. One mother and her son, 12 or 13, thought he was a CM and wanted to trade with him ... when he explained he wasn't a CM, they started apologising and turning to leave, and his reaction was "wait, that doesn't mean I won't trade, if you see something you like and have something neat to offer!"
...
Honestly, the Pins are IMO an awesome idea. Individually, they're a fairly affordable, small, but durable souvenier. Trading just adds to the fun. And ... sometimes, CMs and even guests give pins away ...!
DGF (the not-Cinderella lady in my pic below) was given a "pixie dust" Tinkerbell pin, one of the rare few that can ONLY be had from a CM, and never by trading, only by receiving it as a gift.
She also, on separate occasions, gave pins away to a few kids (always with their parents' permission, of course). The first one, to the little girl of the family waiting behind us for dinner one evening - when she found out it was the girl's birthday. The next two, to a girl who was just feeling very sad (not misbehaving, just profoundly unhappy), to try and cheer her up - and to her younger sister, to preclude any envy-born friction.
Doing that made DGF feel so nice herself, she and I are planning to keep a few of our "Traade-bait" pins aside for exactly that purpose: random acts of generousity and kindness. Magic shared is Magic doubled, if you will.
(We're pre-purchasing inexpensive pin lots, all legit Disney pins but for around $0.65 apiece, as trades and gifts.)
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