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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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This week we are on vacation and while heading out to Yellowstone we stopped in Walnut Grove MN to find Laura Ingall Wilder Museum. We toured the items and saw the mantel that was used in the TV show. Many things about the show were not true. I don't know if there was an actual Nellie or not. The Ingalls family only lived in Walnut Grove for a short time. They lived in a dug out home on the banks of Plum Creek, you can visit the site but the home is long gone. Unfortunately with all the flooding in the area the Plum creek was over flowing and we could not get out there to the site. We did see a replica of a dug out home at the museum. The Ingalls family moved many more times and finally ended up settling the town of DeSmet in South Dakota territory back in the 1800's. Pa never fulfilled his dream of becoming a farmer and Mary never married but she was blind. Laura and Almonzo ended up in Missouri for their last home.
It was a nice little town to visit and the museum had a lot of items....
I think there was a Nellie in one of the books. Laura and Mary had some girls come to visit their house and Ma made "Vanity Cakes," if I remember correctly. Nellie was one of the girls.
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I'd love to visit the museum some day. The Wilder books are really wonderful. I enjoyed the show occasionally, but the books are fantastic. A wonderful way for children to learn the history of the settling of the prairies.
Thank you for sharing the information. I loved the books as a child and watched the TV shows when they came out. My DD loves the Xmas shows too (we have them on DVD)
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Margaret and I got to see the Cubs play in October. They won!
Thanks for sharing!! I would love to go visit the Museum myself someday. I used to watch the show every night myself. I did read a couple of the books when I was a kid and loved them. I have been wanting to reread them again lately.
Thank you for sharing. As so many others have stated I grew up watching the show and know them all by heart. I would love to visit this museum some day!
Today we went back to the Laura Ingalls Wilder area - this time to De Smet SD off US 14 E South Dakota. There she lived as a girl and met Manly. Her parents and sisters are all buried there. The house that Pa built on 3rd street, the Surveyoers house and many other locations around this little town. So if you go to Walnut Grove take the extra time to visit De Smet. There is a driving tour you can take by getting a map at the Surveyors house.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Cool! Thanks for sharing! I was a big fan of both the books and the show, and I'd love to visit there someday. I'm trying to convince my 10 year old DD to read the books.
DeSmet holds a Laura Ingalls Wilder pagent every year. They have some big festival every year. Even though I grew up in South Dakota, only a few hours south of Desmet, I've never been to it. Great Pictures and happy you really enjoyed your time passing trough South Dakota