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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Sadly, today I had to cancel my September vacation plans for DW. I won't be able to go this year before my use year ends, so I banked all 300 of my points. I would like to plan a trip for next October to celebrate 3 birthdays in our group. Since I will have 600 points, I'm thinking about reserving a villa at Boardwalk. There are very few available. Has anyone stayed in a villa and do you have any booking advise and how hard is it to get one? Thanks in advance
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BoardWalk is a good sized resort (4th largest after SSR, OKW and AKV.) But it tends to be VERY popular in October during the Food and Wine festival at Epcot.
Plan on calling right at 7 months. And don't expect to get a Standard View or BoardWalk View room. Those tend to be the first categories booked by BWV owners. Most likely you'll get the Preferred Garden / Pool view.
We are not BWV owners and both times we've stayed there, we have not had any problems booking. I guess it also depends on when you go. We could only get a Garden/Pool view for our upcoming trip in August though.
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And there are only 7 Grand Villas in all of BWV. So I'll second the good luck. They are expensive but during F&W time I bet they are normally all booked.
My home property is Boardwalk and I'll have 600 points in 2010. My booking window begins in November. Do you think with the shortage of Grand Villas and booking almost a year ahead- I'll be lucky in booking? I'm pretty sure I could book a 2BR with BW view but felt like living high for a week. Last time I booked a 2BR Bw view I was located above the Vacation Club selling area and all I could see was straight ahead and the back of the the Brewing Co. restaurant and smell food cooking. Boy was I upset and angry after I had booked those accomodations a year ahead. No one could answer why with all the rooms available I was the one assigned here. Sorry I strayed off the subject- felt good to vent- still upset since last Dec. Maybe it was just turning 60 that has made me cranky. HA!
My home property is Boardwalk and I'll have 600 points in 2010. My booking window begins in November. Do you think with the shortage of Grand Villas and booking almost a year ahead- I'll be lucky in booking? I'm pretty sure I could book a 2BR with BW view but felt like living high for a week. Last time I booked a 2BR Bw view I was located above the Vacation Club selling area and all I could see was straight ahead and the back of the the Brewing Co. restaurant and smell food cooking. Boy was I upset and angry after I had booked those accomodations a year ahead. No one could answer why with all the rooms available I was the one assigned here. Sorry I strayed off the subject- felt good to vent- still upset since last Dec. Maybe it was just turning 60 that has made me cranky. HA!
Yeah, owning at BWV definitely gives you an advantage. It's not a 100% guarantee, but pretty darn close.
As for the BoardWalk view, all of the rooms on the Brewing Company / Screen Door side of the BW are DVC villas. (The rooms on the Spoodles / Bakery / ESPN side are cash "inn" rooms.)
DVC resorts used to give some priority to room requests based upon booking date but that approach ended 6-8 years ago. They do make some effort now, but you never really know the chances of success. All resorts have some "good" rooms and "bad" rooms. Hopefully it was just the luck of the draw and you won't get stuck with a "bad" one again for a while. Most of the BW View rooms are excellent.
Incidentally, all of the Grand Villas overlook the BoardWalk.
It's up to you how you want to play it. Personally I wouldn't let your bad Two Bedroom villa experience discourage you from going that direction again. You could probably get 2 Two Bedroom villas for about the same points as one Grand Villa. So it's up to you to decide what works best for your group. The Grand Villas are pretty luxurious, but separate rooms would give folks a little more privacy.
You can check out some of the BW Views by looking here:
Change the "Room Class" to Preferred BoardWalk View and click Begin Search. Many of the rooms have photos that were submitted by guests so you can get an idea of the view from other balconies.
be sure to get your dates finalize and call at 11 months before your arrival - getting a GV during food/wine festavial won't be easy so be prepared - have other dates if your first choice is not available
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It's not a 100% guarantee, but pretty darn close. 
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