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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
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PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Southwestern Florida, USA
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7-2-14 Question of the Day!!
Who gave you driving lessons? A parent? A driver's ed. teacher through your school?
At what age did you take your driving lessons?
At what age did you get your first driver's license?
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My Mom gave me my driving lessons until the last one which I had to take with an instructor. I was 15 1/2 at the time and at 16 I got my license and immediately went out and bought my car...a stick shift which I wanted but had no clue on how to shift. Thankfully my Dad was there to teach me.
I was 16 when I took driver's ed in high school. My dad gave me one whole lesson on a stick shift, and he never even let me get out of first gear...in an open field no less! He could never seem to find time to continue after that. Trust me, it's not like I came close to hitting anything. I topped out at 10 mph. This is just my dad. It is what it is. So, it was driver's ed for me, where they only used automatic transmissions, so that's what I can drive. I got my driver's license a few weeks after completing driver's ed.
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PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Chapel Hill, NC USA
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Driver's Ed was taught in our schools as part of some course that I can't remember the name of. We spent a couple weeks learning the rules of the road and then took turns going out in the car on the road. The other things I remember about that class was learning to write a check, and writing poetry.
My in-car driving instructor at school was my Spanish teacher (as well). Then my Dad and my BF both tried to teach me to drive a manual car (BF was more successful). I got my license at age 16 and a few months.
Location: Texas Baby!!!! Where Else would anyone wana live
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I was 17 when I got my DL and motorcycle license. I took drivers ed, but was taught how to drive by my dad. My high school buddies taught me how operate a motorcycle.
I had professional driving lessons, but my parents made sure I drove any time they were going out as well. I started my driving lessons on my 17th birthday (the legal age you can drive over here) and passed three months later.
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PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Ballston Lake, NY
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My dad taught me how to drive when I turned 16. After I took the 5 hour course, I took a few private driving lessons and then I was allowed to get my license when I turned 17.
I took driver's ed in high school and Coach Koulis took us driving. I was 17 when I got my license. My Dad had the joy of teaching me to drive a manual transmission. I bought a Renault LeCar and he had to drive it home for me because it had a manual transmission. That poor man; his head hit the roof and his legs were all cramped up because the car was so small.
I got my learner's permit when I was 15 and my mom & dad taught me how to drive. At the time, my parents owned an extra acre of land behind their house so they put me out in the backyard with our little Mazda pickup to drive around and learn how to shift since it was a manual. Once I sort of had that down, and after they had sold that acre of land to someone else who started building a house there, they taught me at a car dealership lot that was not occupied at the time. After they thought I mastered that, then they taught me on the road!
I took driver's ed twice. Once in school and once with a driving instructor. When I took it in school it was taught by the PE teacher and he had me so scared I didn't want to get my license. So I took it again with a driver's ed school that my mom paid for and got my license at 17. Three days later I was in an accident.
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