In a little over a half an hour, I'm going to have a very upset kid on my hands - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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In a little over a half an hour, I'm going to have a very upset kid on my hands
Yes, we have a Disney trip coming up that Abby is very happy and excited about but with her, it's the now that affects her more than anything and the now (today) has brought some not so good things.
I got an email this morning from her summer program teacher that the zipper of her backpack broke. To a typical kid, oh well, it's okay. To an Autistic kid, not so oh well, it's okay. I don't know how much she cried about it but the email said she did cry. Knowing her likes, I was able to go out and get her a new one already so it could be waiting for her when she gets home (a benefit of not working in the summer - the ability to get things done before they need to be). I just got home and there was a second email from the program. They cancelled the zoo for tomorrow . Abby has been talking about going to the zoo since we went to visit the classroom and teachers back in May. I'm sure there is going to be tears and/or some sort of behavior when she gets home. There is nothing I can do about it - it was cancelled due to the weather - but I don't know if what they're doing in it's place will be sufficient enough to please Abby - an "Animal Adventure" (I don't know who it will be that does it) and an ice cream party. I know it's a good learning experience that things don't always go as planned but I still feel bad. It's just adding insult to injury. Hopefully the new backpack will help alleviate some of it.
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So sorry that Abby's had an upsetting day at school and that you anticipate a meltdown when she returns home. I hope the new backpack helps. Happy you were notified by her teacher so you could be prepared.
Aw poor Abby! I cried when my almost brand new shiny pink Guess bag broke. The strap just snapped. It was the one present I bought myself at Christmas which was right after the big breakup with my (now ex) boyfriend. I'd be bummed about the zoo too. That just sounds like a bad day. I wish you luck mom! I'll be sending pixies that she loves her new bag because who doesn't love a new bag? Maybe some animal kingdom planning will help?
So sorry Abby (and you) have mot had the best day. What about looking at the weather & finding a day when you two can take a special outing to the zoo or other attraction to see animals. Then she could concentrate on that and that countdown & not the missed camp experience.
I have to say, I am shocked. I can't believe Abby didn't come home in the tears I fully expected her to. She was happy with the new backpack I got her "you're such a good mom to me" she said. I couldn't get the matching lunch box from the store but she wanted it so I have already ordered it. As for the zoo, she seems to like the idea of the animals coming to her versus her going to them. This just goes to prove that even at 15 just when I think I have her figured out, she goes and does something I don't expect. I fully expected her to come home really upset which she didn't. She certainly keeps me guessing.
And in regards to the backpack - it didn't just break. It was an LL Bean she got 4 years out of and I couldn't figure how it could just break when it was fine this morning. At school, she must have been in a rush to unzip it and got the zipper caught on the flap that folds over it. Instead of asking her teacher for help, she got a pair of scissors to fix the problem herself. She fixed it alright. She cut the fabric plus the zipper. The backpack opened after that but there was no more closing of it . Hopefully next time she'll ask for help.
I am really glad things turned out good with Abby. I have 2 nephews who are on the autism spectrum, so I have seen many meltdowns. But from what I noticed with them, that as they get older-especially with my oldest nephew who just graduated from high school-they seem to mature and go with the flow a little more than before.
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Yeah Abby! I am so proud of you & the way you handled yourself. Regards to the backpack - I realize cutting the back pack was not the correct response but she did realize there was a problem & she problem solved it to the best of her ability. Congrats to the problem solving but too bad about the back pack.
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She's growing up, Mom! I can tell you that Joel began to handle the disappointments better as he got a little older. Now, at 19, he pretty much goes with the flow.
I think it's because they've had supportive parenting!!!!
Glad it went so well. Although, I can totally relate to taking scissors to something out of frustration. I've wanted to do that more than a few times but never have.
Aww, that's so sweet what she said! I'm so glad she didn't meltdown when she got home. My nephew is on the spectrum, and I have been there for several of his meltdowns-and it's never pretty.
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. Abby has been talking about going to the zoo since we went to visit the classroom and teachers back in May. I'm sure there is going to be tears and/or some sort of behavior when she gets home. There is nothing I can do about it - it was cancelled due to the weather - but I don't know if what they're doing in it's place will be sufficient enough to please Abby - an "Animal Adventure" (I don't know who it will be that does it) and an ice cream party. I know it's a good learning experience that things don't always go as planned but I still feel bad. It's just adding insult to injury. Hopefully the new backpack will help alleviate some of it.
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Pixie Dust
. Hopefully next time she'll ask for help.
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, Abby!
Jackie
I'm so glad she didn't meltdown when she got home. My nephew is on the spectrum, and I have been there for several of his meltdowns-and it's never pretty. 
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