A Promise Kept: A Cam and Fam PTR Updated 10/9 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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Luke and I made a promise four years ago that was to be fulfilled in 2016. So let’s back up into the past to 2012. We had our annual June 2012 Disney World trip all planned out when our wee buddy Stefanie left us only a month and half before our adventures were to begin. Everything was already paid for, so Luke asked me if I thought it would be a good idea to take Morgan, our 11 year old niece, along with us in Stefanie’s place. We first talked this over with my sister June and her DH John who loved the idea. Luke and I also promised at that time that when John Paul turned 11 we would take him on his own trip.
Moving forward now to late October 2015. After our trip to Disneyland for Luke’s 55th birthday last October, we began discussing how to best fulfill our promise to JP. We did not want to delay our spring trip until June for several reasons, but the big ones were heat and crowds. So I checked with June about whether fall break in October would be a good time to take John along. She felt that would be fine, but told me she really, really wished they could afford for all of them to go. Now Luke and I had something else to mull over. Even with Luke and me covering room, food, and ticket for John Paul, June and John were still unsure. Luke and I did a little budget reworking and deciding we could purchase Morgan’s ticket as well. So on Christmas day when we were altogether, I pulled June aside and mentioned this possibility, telling her they had until the end of February to make a final decision. If they couldn’t all come, John Paul would still be accompanying us.
One night late in January, June called me in a panic because she thought they had missed the deadline to let us know. Then she was quite relieved when I told her she still had another month. At that time she told me that they felt 80% sure that they could all go. About a week later, she called to tell me to go ahead with booking a two-bedroom villa, telling me that John had told her they just needed to do it. John was working as team trainer that night for the high school basketball team, and I remember June saying she wished he was there to confirm his decision to go. I reminded her that we wouldn’t be able to make our reservations until March 2, so they still had time. A few days before our 7-month window opened up, I called back for final confirmation, and June squealed, saying that they were definitely going.
So in the end a promise will be kept and our gang of six will again be taking on the World.
Happy that your sister and her family will all be able to join you but by my calculations you still owe JP a solo trip with Auntie Cam and Uncle Luke. Oh and from trip with your dad I would remind you to check on seating at Ragland Road if you decide to repeat that one
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Signing on. This is the earliest I have ever found one of your reports. Sounds like a great trip. Looking forward to your planning. This is a great time to be at WDW. Judy and I are missing the Halloween and fall decorations this year. Hate that. I guess we can follow your excitement.
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I'm so excited that you started this TR!!! How wonderful that your sister and her family will be able to join you and Luke. I'm so used to going to WDW in October for the F&W but since we're doing DL this Fall, like you and Luke did last year, I'll have to live vicariously through your TR! So excited to hear all about your plans!
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