Forums Closed
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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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Best wishes for a wonderful and magical new year!
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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.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
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10-12-2006, 11:32 PM
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#16
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Community Rank: Adventurer 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Indiana
Posts: 909
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Re: AKLV or VAKL?!?
[ QUOTE ]
This almost makes me sad I bouight into SSR!!!!
[/ QUOTE ]
I would not be sad because you most likely got a way better price and don't forget....YOUR POINTS CAN STILL BE USED there....
[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/thewave.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/thewave.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/thewave.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/thewave.gif[/img]
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10-12-2006, 11:46 PM
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#17
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Community Rank: Adventurer
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Indiana
Posts: 909
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Re: AKLV or VAKL?!?
[ QUOTE ]
So, will it be called Villas at Animal Kingdom Lodge or Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas? [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]
[/ QUOTE ]
I think it should be called MOVAWL...
"More Open Villa's At Wilderness Lodge" for the rest of us with everyone staying at AKL.
[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/thewave.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/thewave.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/thewave.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/thewave.gif[/img]
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10-13-2006, 01:23 PM
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#18
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Faith, Trust, Pixie Dust
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Connecticut
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 34,171
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Re: AKLV or VAKL?!?
[ QUOTE ]
I'm probably the only one bummed, here, but I was really hoping for Villas at the Contemporary.
tenya
[/ QUOTE ] Me too-guess we have to wait longer for that
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10-13-2006, 04:04 PM
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#19
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Community Rank: Traveler 
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Poquoson, VA, USA
Posts: 367
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Re: AKLV or VAKL?!?
The rumor mill before the latest announcement was, Animal Kingdom Lodge next, a west coast location near Disneyland, then the Contemporary villas after that. But, I'd take that with a grain of salt. At least they were right about the first part!
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10-13-2006, 06:30 PM
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#20
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Community Rank: Traveler
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Central Florida!
Posts: 291
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Re: AKLV or VAKL?!?
This may not be "official" yet, but a little site that my DH has access to says "Disney Vacation Club to Build Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas"...
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10-14-2006, 06:19 PM
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#21
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Wishing I was at WDW!
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Southwestern Florida, USA
Concierge Level: 7
Posts: 39,153
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Re: AKLV or VAKL?!?
Just a question....why would they take existing rooms and make them into DVC rooms...when they probably always sell them already? Maybe I am not getting it - but why not just make villas for AKL a seperate thing - like at WL?
Does anyone else understand what I mean? [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]
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10-14-2006, 08:29 PM
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#22
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Community Rank: Adventurer
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: St. Marys, PA (Too far from tigger!)
Posts: 982
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Re: AKLV or VAKL?!?
Will they offer it to current DVC members first at a special rate?? I'm thinking that I'll buy into it and sell off my SSR. I can't afford both that's for sure!
Lori, who'll be there in 2 DAYS!!! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img]
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10-14-2006, 08:43 PM
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#23
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Community Rank: Traveler
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Central Florida!
Posts: 291
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Re: AKLV or VAKL?!?
From what I have read, the first phase will include 134 remodeled accomodations on the 5th & 6th floors and subsequent phases will include the construction of 324 vacation homes in a new village of buildings (for a total of 458 vacation homes). There will also be other new construction including a new restaurant, merchandise shop, etc.
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10-15-2006, 09:57 AM
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#24
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Community Rank: Globetrotter 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Maryland
Posts: 3,451
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Re: AKLV or VAKL?!?
[ QUOTE ]
Just a question....why would they take existing rooms and make them into DVC rooms...when they probably always sell them already? Maybe I am not getting it - but why not just make villas for AKL a seperate thing - like at WL?
Does anyone else understand what I mean? [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]
[/ QUOTE ]
[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img] I understand and was thinking the same thing. It cuts down on the rooms for us not in the DVC [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] ...AKL is a popular resort.
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10-15-2006, 04:30 PM
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#25
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Community Rank: Explorer 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Near a Tower of Terror at the moment...
Posts: 13,884
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Re: AKLV or VAKL?!?
[ QUOTE ]
Just a question....why would they take existing rooms and make them into DVC rooms...when they probably always sell them already? Maybe I am not getting it - but why not just make villas for AKL a seperate thing - like at WL?
Does anyone else understand what I mean? [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]
[/ QUOTE ]
The rooms they are re-doing are the "deluxe" rooms that cost quite a bit more than the standard savannah view rooms. I imagine that are rarely booked to capacity and those are the last to go b/c of price. The only real advantage to them is that they sleep 5, but the majority of people w/ 5 would prefer to be closer to the parks since they likely have younger children. This, is, of course, all speculation on m part, also based on every time we've stayed there, we've been upgraded to a savannah view, so the rooms are not being fully booked. It just seems like a wise economic choice on their part since they will be able to start selling and accomodating DVC well before the actual Villas are built.
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10-15-2006, 04:45 PM
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#26
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Community Rank: Scout 
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Central NY State
Posts: 4,202
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Re: AKLV or VAKL?!?
Sort of an off the subject question since I'm not a DVC member, but how will all this construction affect the animals there? When they built the resort, there weren't animals nearby, but now they have them right outside the rooms, right? I've never stayed there, so I'm not sure of the layout, but wouldn't having all that cunstruction equipment disturb the animals? I'm sure Disney has a plan for this, but does that mean that there won't be any animals around during construction? Would guests be paying all that money just to see "bulldozers in their natural habitat"? Those aren't the kind of cranes people want to see! Just curious. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/questionicon.gif[/img]
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10-16-2006, 07:40 AM
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#27
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Community Rank: Adventurer
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: 1 hr west of Blue Heaven
Posts: 588
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Re: AKLV or VAKL?!?
[ QUOTE ]
AKL is a popular resort.
[/ QUOTE ]
While all our resorts are very popular, there are almost always rooms available for guests at both AKL and Saratoga.
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Sponsored links
Check out the many e-books by PassPorter. The e-books are free to download if you have a PassPorter's Club pass.
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10-16-2006, 11:07 AM
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#28
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Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Ann Arbor, MI USA
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 14,427
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Re: AKLV or VAKL?!?
[ QUOTE ]
Just a question....why would they take existing rooms and make them into DVC rooms...when they probably always sell them already? Maybe I am not getting it - but why not just make villas for AKL a seperate thing - like at WL?
Does anyone else understand what I mean? [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]
[/ QUOTE ]
There are several possibilities. One, since AKL is the largest Deluxe by room count, it typically has more vacancies, hence, more need to offer discounts (AP, etc.). Fewer rooms means fewer vacancies, fewer discounts, so higher average revenues.
Second is the speed of construction. Those first rooms will be online within a year, in time to take over from Saratoga Springs sales. DVC has a lot of sales momentum, and if Saratoga is selling as well as it seems, they'd have very few DVC units to sell from the end of 2007/beginning of 2008 (when Saratoga will probably sell-out) and spring 2009, when a newly-constructed building could go on-line.
Overall, there's far more sales growth at DVC than there is growth in demand for regular hotel rooms, so it makes some sense to sacrifice regular hotel rooms in favor of DVC.
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11-22-2006, 08:53 PM
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#29
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Batman's Gal/Mickey's Pal
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Owensboro, KY USA
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 95,254
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Re: AKLV or VAKL?!?
I'm definitely ready to buy more points ASAP!
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11-27-2006, 08:42 PM
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#30
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Community Rank: Globetrotter
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 3,968
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Re: AKLV or VAKL?!?
Cool! Thanks for the update
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