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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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So I am seriously thinking of buying into DVC and really wish I spoke to someone while I was just here last week.
I am trying to read over all the information but have a few quick questions.
does it really matter where your home is? I would like beach club but they say its not available. Will I pay more to stay at the beach club if my home is AKL?
Also, if we buy a resale, do we not get to go to the other locations that are not Disney?
I thought I read somewhere that there were restrictions from buying resale.
and, once we are done paying the $16-$20K into it.. that's it right? all we have to do is pay our yearly fees and we get our yearly points forever? or does the timeshare expire?
Can we transfer our TS over to a child?
I think thats it for now!! : ) thank you!!
__________________
~Leigh ~
Disney Runner and Mom to 2 beautiful boys
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You can book your home resort 11 months in advance and other resorts 7 months in advance. Because all other resorts are 7 months out you may not get the reservation you want. Most people buy at a home they want to stay at the most. There are no additional cost for staying at another resort.
If you buy resale you and use the point for the Disney Vacation resorts and RCI but cannot use them for the Adventures Collections ( Adventures by Disney), Concierge Collection, and Disney Collection (Cruise line, etc)
Yes, Disney is different from most other timeshare companies because you are getting a lease not ownership for ever. The contract depends on the resort, for example The beach club ends in 2042 and Animal Kingdom in 2057.
As moneyhappy said, home resort gives you a booking advantage. The other big differences for home resort are contract length (as moneyhappy alluded to) and dues.
Home resort for most resorts is 2042, but Saratoga is 2054, SOME Old Key West contracts are extended to 2057, which is also what Animal Kingdom is, and Bay Lake is 2060. I'm not sure if Aulani is the normal 50 years or not, but I'm sure it's easily found on dvcnews.com (a GREAT website for DVC information).
Furthermore, dues can be much different as well. Some of the newer resorts are much cheaper, especially the ones that are less spread out. Bay Lake's dues are much cheaper, and that's something you should consider when buying. A difference of a dollar a point over 30 years if you've got a big contract can make a big difference in the price you'll have paid. It might make some resorts more palatable to buy into or some less so.
The resale restrictions are better published elsewhere, and someone else will probably give a more complete answer, but basically, if you buy resale, you should plan to use your points at one of the DVC resorts, because I believe everything else (or virtually everything else at least) is closed off to people who have bought through the resale market. If you intend to vacation at WDW or DL and only use your points there, in most cases, the resale market is a much better bargain, but if you wanted to use your points on cruises, Adventures by Disney, etc., you'd be out of luck.
And again, as moneyhappy said, until the contract expires, you can transfer contracts to your children or whoever you choose. The contract expires at the end of the term, even if something were to happen to you.
One thing to consider with that part though is that contracts can NOT be split up, so if you have 2 children and you buy a contract with 200 points, it cannot be split to 100 and 100 for each kid. You'd have to specifically have 2 different contracts in order to do that.
I heartily recommend the Passporter DVC book. It really explains the aspects nicely. I used it, this web site, and Mouseowners.com to do my research before I bought in. Of course, the folks here are happy to help. But I appreciated having the information presented in an organized fashion because it made it easier to formulate questions for the folks here and the DVC sales rep (guide).
Just to let you know that there will be a brand new, fully updated version of PassPorter's Disney Vacation Club, hopefully within the next few days. With the appearance of the 2013 points charts, we're just making the final set of changes and hope to have it out as soon as we can, with completely up to date information.
As for your home resort, I'm of the camp that says "make it somewhere that you're happy to stay". We love the Beach Club Villas and were fortunate enough to buy in there when we first joined ten years ago
The Beach Club Villas are still available through Disney, but they don't really represent good value, as compared to resale prices, although obviously you have to balance the restriction on points now if you buy through resale. According to DVCnews.com, the Beach Club Villas cost $115 per point, with a minimum buy-in of 160 points, while Animal Kingdom Lodge is $120 per point, with a minimum buy-in of 100 points. Keep in mind as well that, as they're actively selling Animal Kingdom Lodge right now, they're offering promotional discounts of at least $8 (for 100-159 points), which makes the overall initial investment much cheaper than in the Beach Club Villas. I hope that makes sense.
I think all your other questions have already been answered by others.
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If you intend to vacation at WDW or DL and only use your points there, in most cases, the resale market is a much better bargain, but if you wanted to use your points on cruises, Adventures by Disney, etc., you'd be out of luck.
Just to clarify, if you plan on using DVC points to stay in a DVC villa at WDW or DL, you can use resale points to do that. However, if you want to use DVC points to stay in a hotel room at WDW or DL, that would be the Disney collection and you cannnot use resale points for those stays. So, for example, if you want to take a trip to the DLR and cannot get a reservation at the Villas at the GC, you won't be able to use your resale points to book a room at any of the other Disney hotels at DL. You would be able to use direct purchase points to do so (pending availabilty of course).
I happen to LOVE this site,and it is has SO much information that you could get a PhD in Mouseology,BUT sometimes it is advantageous to go to the source. DVC has many wonderful people to talk to and they LOVE talking to you. We had some issues last trip with our stay.I called and they talked me down from the ledge,and even told me some things I never knew,and haven't even thought to ask. Travis was the man I talked to there,and he was wonderful. Read the boards here,ask plenty of questions,call DVC,and make the best informed decision you can make.It's the best vacation money DW and I could have ever spent!
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"Life can be as easy as a fall,it's all so easy once you just let go."
thank you everyone! I really appreciate all your replies. We love Disney.. and will probably go every year for a while (my boys are 8 and 5) but I am also interested in it for the other options that are NON Disney related. Over seas, skiing in Colorado, etc.
I do get a TA discount so I need to think of that as well... so much to think of!!!! We are going on a cruise in June, I may go to a DVC meeting there for more information.. thank you all again!!
__________________
~Leigh ~
Disney Runner and Mom to 2 beautiful boys
Just left Orlando this morning & had our fourth DVC model walk thru since 2003. On the road home -- Very sad. Reading rampantly through posts & strongly considering buying AKL through resale despite the Concierge or Adventure restrictions. ALSO point prices go UP in 3 wks.
Does anyone know if you buy resale points if you are still offered the OTHER PERKS offered to DVC members such as:
* Discounts on annual park Passes
* Sneak preview Invites to new events or attractions
* Vacation tips from dvcmember.com
* Discounts on dining, shopping & recreation.
* Access to member services for vacation planning?
Any info in this would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
since you are a pass holder go into the reading room and you can download the DVC book. We bought the book before buying in and it seemed to answer all the questions we had.
When we bought in the resale restrictions just started so we thought with those it was not worth it.We just bought from Disney
And look for promotion stuff. When we bought we got last years points as well as a point cost reduction and a $500 gift card,which help pay for dinning plan this year
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"Raindrops taste like tears without the pain"
1186 miles from Home
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