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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We are a family of 5. We plan on going to Disney every other year. We like the mods (which limits us to POR right now). As the kids grow, it won't work for us anymore. My question is, does it make sense to do DVC if we are not going to go every year? I'm not sure if after the yearly fees and the investment if we would save money over the long haul. Especially since you can't use promotions like free dining. Any experience with every other year or advice/input?
It might actually work out best for you if you go every other year having DVC! I have a family of 5. With grown children we need a 2 bedroom when the five of us go. I've been in a studio with 4 adults and a baby/toddler and it was too squishy! So now when I go with My DD and my DSis, DNiece and DNephew, we get a bigger room or 2 studios. Only you can decide financially what your family can afford, but for me, the way I look at it, I am paying the same price for my room (in a deluxe hotel) now as I did in 2007! My dues have not increased by much over the past five years either. I did not have the money to pay outright for my DVC and I did finance it, but I knew my job was stable enough to make the monthly payments. I pay extra on it every year, so it will take less time to pay it off. Some years I pay more than others, it just depends on finances for that year, but it will not be 10 years! I was hoping for 5, but it looks like 7 now since we decided to pay down some of my husband's business debt that had a much higher interest rate. So my 5 year plan is out (unless I hit the jack pot before August! ) but after some recalculations, I know it will be by 7 years. And at that point I am Still paying the pretty much the same price for my deluxe hotel as I did in 2007. Do you see where I am going with this? Each year the price of every thing goes up. But my DVC is stable. The small increases in cost due to taxes on my maintenance fees is worth it to me!
My DS is getting married next year and I will be able to send him and his bride to Disney for a vacation if they choose! My DH and I will be going to Hawaii some time in the next year! I want to travel and be able to take my grandkids on vacation and not worry about what the cost of the room is going to be.
To me "free dining" doesn't add up. You pay rack rate for the room and they feed you? After doing out the math, and how much I would actually eat while I'm there, it is still cheaper for me to pay out of pocket. Even with 5 adults on my last trip in January, with alcohol included at almost every sit down meal, I spent less than $2000 on food for a week long trip and we had at least one table service meal every day.
There is a lot to consider. Don't just look at how you will use it short term. Think long term! It is an investment. with your decision!! If you have any questions please feel free to ask!
I think you need to crunch the figures and see what you're spending now and compare it to the investment you'd make. Don't forget to add on money for paying for rooms outside of the DVC, as they go up every year. Only your annual dues go up each year with the DVC.
It does make sense if you don't go every year, although we bought in with the intention of using our points every other year. We now use them at least once a year, as the DVC is a bit like chocolate - very addictive!
Thanks for the advice! We'll have to really start considering it. As the kids get bigger, 5 of us in one room isn't going to cut it. We would probably look at buying in a year or two. Definitely something to start planning/saving for. Are there any other fees besides the dues? How do the taxes work? I'm assuming there is something similar to "property tax"? If you finance is the interest deductible similar to a mortgage?
Thanks for the advice! We'll have to really start considering it. As the kids get bigger, 5 of us in one room isn't going to cut it. We would probably look at buying in a year or two. Definitely something to start planning/saving for. Are there any other fees besides the dues? How do the taxes work? I'm assuming there is something similar to "property tax"? If you finance is the interest deductible similar to a mortgage?
A portion of your annual dues is used to cover property tax. There isn't an additional fee. As the DVC guides will tell you "consult your tax professional", but in many situations the interest on your DVC mortgage will be tax deductable.
As I have to many people, I strongly recommend the Passporter DVC guide. It helped me a great deal in understanding what DVC ownership means and the ins and outs of making it work for you. Having all the information gathered together is a tremendous aid in helping to formulate questions for this forum and for the DVC reps ("guides").
Are there any other fees besides the dues? How do the taxes work? I'm assuming there is something similar to "property tax"? If you finance is the interest deductible similar to a mortgage?
There are no fees besides the annual dues (with one exception, which I will explain). Your points entitle you to accomodation only. Of course, whatever you choose to buy is an additional expense that you will need to pay out-of-pocket (e.g., park tickets, meals, merchandise, etc.). The one exception to this that I referred to earlier: if you use your points to stay at Aulani (the new DVC hotel in Hawaii), you must pay a transient accomodations tax, based on the value of the points you use to stay there.
Generally speaking, for most taxpayers the interest paid on your Disney mortgage are tax deductible on Schedule A. The same goes for the property taxes that you pay through your annual dues. But as Holly says, you might want to check with your tax professional to be 100% sure this applies to you.
Good luck with your decision!
Brad
__________________
"Esprits et fantômes sur vos fièrs destriers, Escortez dans la nuit la belle fiancée." -- Madame Leota in Phantom Manor, DL Paris
We are a family of 5. We plan on going to Disney every other year. We like the mods (which limits us to POR right now). As the kids grow, it won't work for us anymore. My question is, does it make sense to do DVC if we are not going to go every year? I'm not sure if after the yearly fees and the investment if we would save money over the long haul. Especially since you can't use promotions like free dining. Any experience with every other year or advice/input?
We live in California and so we don't get to WDW every year. We too are a family of 5 (DD ages 12, 5, 1) and going to WDW is still a very special trip. I feel we're getting our money's worth with DVC. Since our initial purchase of 150 points we added another 105. We try to visit WDW every other year, but visit Disneyland at least once a year. On our most recent trip to WDW (Oct. 2009) we used it for a 7-day DCL trip with a 5-night stay in a 2 bedroom villa; all on points. This year we're traveling as a party of 9. I've reserved a 2-bedroom and a 1-bedroom for 10 nights at BWV, all on points. The rack rate for these two rooms is a combined $1500/night. Multiply by 10 nights and you're at $15,000 for the room only. I could never afford that with 5 airline tickets, park tickets, food, etc.
As others have said, only you can decide if it's the right fit for your family budget. But, if it is, I think you'll find that it's worth it.
__________________
Kevin
DVC since 2005
2005: Off Property & SSR; 2006 SSR; 2008 SSR; 2009 SSR & DCL; 2012 BWV
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We are a family of 5, and we would never be able to go to WDW as often as we do if we were not DVC members! One resort room would not be enough. As it is, we are outgrowing the 1BR DVC accommodation. If we stay in a 1BR, it has to be at BLT or Kidani, where at least you get two full baths, which really helps with 3 kids!! (OKW also has larger 1 BRs, but we don't particularly like that resort).
We go at least once a year, however I think it would be worth it to us if we went even a bit less often than that, since the 2BR DVC suites are significantly more points. I'm sure we wouldn't have a problem using our points As it is, we are looking to purchase more points as soon as we can
It is an investment though, and the maintenance fees, like everything else in life, get more expensive over the years. I try not to get too jealous with the "free" dining though, as it isn't "free" since you are paying rack rate to get it. But DVC may not be ideal for everyone, so it is good that you are seeking out opinions.
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) but after some recalculations, I know it will be by 7 years. And at that point I am Still paying the pretty much the same price for my deluxe hotel as I did in 2007. Do you see where I am going with this? Each year the price of every thing goes up. But my DVC is stable. The small increases in cost due to taxes on my maintenance fees is worth it to me! 
with your decision!! If you have any questions please feel free to ask!
PassPorter Guide Author
Very Addictive indeed! One of these days I'll be able to buy more points! 
I Think It's Worth It
As it is, we are looking to purchase more points as soon as we can 
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