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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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.
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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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We are driving to Disney this August and, in hopes of curbing some of the "How much longer?" and "Are we there yet?", I want to make something to help countdown the miles. I read one idea where they ran a string between front seat headrests and marked with a clip, but I don't love the idea of having something hanging there. I would like something that I can have landmarks on and that is visible from the third row in our minivan.
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We take plenty of movies and gaming for the kids. Where are you coming from? You could earmark a particular point of interest for them to watch for as they cross a state line, etc.
We use a magnetic car bingo game that I picked up at the dollar store (5 boards with enough chips). My aunt is very craft and she printed up stickers to put onto the original board with our markers. A space for each state, two breakfast spots, 1 lunch and one dinner...interesting things to look for as well (airplane, mail box, double trailer truck, etc.) We' d pull those out periodically to fill in. We also found crayola dry erase boards with crayons (younger two) and washable markers (oldest). This is in addition to the typical movies (we have 3 portable DVD players so they don't have to agree on a movie), hand held games, Kindle Fire, etc.
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The Fun, Old-Fashioned Family Vacation, 3.0 http://www.passporterboards.com/foru...ml#post4472933
Ch-Ch-Changes July 2015
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I taught mine how to read the GPS. It hangs in the middle of the windshield at the bottom and is visible from all over the van. The kids know how much time is left from that. We also stop at each state welcome center and take a pic. Of course, once in Florida, it takes forever from there. I miss the old Disney information center in Ocala.
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Sandi
mom of 6: dd25, ds22, dd17, ds13, dd12, and dd9
mawmaw to 3 beautiful granddaughters: 5, 3, 1 and #4 due in February
16 trips to WDW
I just bought a GPS unit that was priced pretty nicely - it's a Garmin nuvi 40LM (with Lifetime Map updates for North America) - and the 40LM is "last years' model" as it were, so only $90 via Amazon. That might be helpful, for kids old enough to understand how a GPS system works. And, if the kids are at least, say, 8+ .... it's a portable unit, so it can be passed around the vehicle (or an older kid can take it in hand, and explain to a younger one what it shows for "how far left to go" and such).
(Mine is for my new recumbent trike - a TerraTrike Rover 3-speed. They should ship it out in just four more days ... I can't wait!!)
What we always have done is have the kids look out for mileage signs. Have them tell you where the next major town is,etc.. Show them how the mile markers and exit signs count down the distance. Look for funny names of city and towns. That kind of stuff serves many purposes. They learn to pay attention to signs. They can't help but notice the world around them and they learn how to read the signs. A big plus is that it makes them rely less of video games and movies.
We are driving from Virginia - about 12 hours. My daughter is good with signs and the reading the navigation system in the car, but we are looking more for something to mark the distance for my 4 yo son. I already have lots of games/coloring books/movies for the car and I have a good idea of what works for us and what doesn't - we took a trip earlier this year that was an 8 hour drive and that helped a lot with how we are planning our Disney drive! The only thing we decided we needed to work on was getting the "Are we there yet/How much longer?" to decrease
I'm thinking I will make a map of our trip and have something simple he can mark off...still trying to work it out and I would love suggestions!
What about printing a map of your trip and having it laminated at Kinkos or someplace. With his sister's help, he could then take a marker and mark off the cities as you pass them. Maybe even blow the map up so it is easier to read. Also, you could do one state per page.
.... epiphany ... make it a scavenger hunt ... of LANDMARKS.
Get pictures of various landmarks along your route, stuff even your four-year-old can spot, and tell apart from other stuff. Print them out, laminate them, punch one hole through a corner. Put them all on a single, big D-ring or Carabiner.
Make it a game, for him to play - "how many of these things can you find on the way" ... and the last one, is the gates to the WDW property (or your resort/hotel, if staying off-property).
And maybe on the back of each picture, before laminating, write the approximate time left before getting to WDW.
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What about printing a map of your trip and having it laminated at Kinkos or someplace. With his sister's help, he could then take a marker and mark off the cities as you pass them. Maybe even blow the map up so it is easier to read. Also, you could do one state per page.
I did this for my DD when she was younger and would drive from Texas to Wisconsin to visit her dad's family.
We had an extra atlas, so I cut one of them up and highlighted the route through the states we would be going through. Then I laminated the pages. As we drove through the cities on the route, she would mark them off with a vis-a-vis marker. I had circled the cities we planned to stop in for meals or overnight with the marker as well. This way, she had a good idea of where we were and we didn't hear the "Are we there yet?" Instead, we would hear "Which city was that?"
I would love to do a landmark scavenger hunt, but from what I remember of driving down I-95 for most of the trip there are not a lot once you pass South of the Border. I would love any suggestions! Right now I am working on a map and adding pictures of state welcome signs - that gives a marker every 2-3 hours, but I'm not sure that will be enough for the 4 yo!
I like the map ideas. Also, here is a piece of trivia that you may be able to incorporate into something. Not all states use mile markers and exit numbers but those that do use a simple system. Markers are calculated from state lines or the end of a road. As you go south or west the numbers get smaller. As you go north and east the numbers get bigger. Exits are numbered by which mile markers they fall between. I have used "yardsticks" (the green mile marker posts) for many years to keep myself on track. And it keeps me from asking the driver "How much farther?" Since I am the driver that is a good thing.
We always used to listen to music in the car on family trips.One summer we listed to the soundtrack for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. Sometimes on the way up to the cottage in my mom's car we would alternate would got to pick a song from a cd.
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Get a copy of the Drive I-95 Guide (assuming you are going on 95), which has maps, landmarks, exit information and even a listing of radio stations and known speed traps. Pick out some landmarks or towns and make a paper chain with each one labeled on a link. Then as you pass it, let your son pull off that link (and give him a box or bag to put them in) and he will be able to see how many more towns or special spots are left until you get there. www.drivei95.com
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! The only thing we decided we needed to work on was getting the "Are we there yet/How much longer?" to decrease 
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