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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 just bought into AKV this month. We probably won't break even until around 2016 or 2017, but in the meantime...we will have been to Aulani, a 4 nt cruise on the Dream followed by 3 nts at AKV in a savanna view (and gotten the same accommodations for family), spent 3 nts at Disney Paris, and 5 nts in London. I am one seriously happy camper to be planning those trips!!
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Looking forward to another Christmas with The Mouse!!
we joined in2003 add 2006 and broke even in 2009 know were way ahead
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Off site -1990, Carribean- 1997 Honeymoon,
all star movies- 2001,2002, All star sports/BCV 2004
BWV- 2005 Steven's 6th Birthday\DVC Member since 2003-BCV 2005 SSR\POLY,BWV,SSR,VWL,DCL,AND BCV-2007\ BWV & Cabins-2008\ Disneyland 2009\ Disneyland & Disneyworld- 2010 wdw. universal.vero beachand disney dream aug 2011. wdw 15yr anny june/july 2012
We only bought in August of 2008 and we broke even after 2 1/2 years. Several stays at AKV Club level and a stay in a 2 bedroom certainly helped us get to the magic number pretty quickly. 4 nights Club Level is about $2000--so 4 stays for 4 nights each got us almost 1/2 way there! 4 nights regular season in a 2 bedroom is worth about $2800! It adds up really quickly if you are using the cash rates as your bar!
I haven't done the maths, but I'm guessing we're way ahead, having done all the following on points since buying in back in 2002:
WDW - May 2004
Three night cruise on the Wonder - May 2004
WDW/Vero Beach - Dec 2004
WDW - Nov/Dec 2005
Coronado, San Diego - April 2006
Disneyland Hotel - April 2006
Fairmont, San Francisco - April 2006
WDW/Hilton Head - Oct 2006
Inaugural Med cruise on the Wonder (paid for one of us with points) - May/June 2007
WDW - Dec 2007
Royal Garden Hotel, London - May 2008
WDW - Oct 2008
WDW/Vero Beach - Dec 2009
Disneyland Hotel, Disneyland Paris - June 2010
Grand Californian - August 2011
Alaskan cruise on the Wonder - August/September 2011
I never, ever, ever, ever would have paid Disney's prices for the One and Two bedroom villas we stay in so it's hard to think of things in terms of any sort of break even.
Instead I prefer to think of it as paying Moderate prices for dramatically better accommodations.
We purchased in 2005 and broke even about 3 years later. We banked our first year points and then went on 3 trips the next year. Even at the discount of 40% off you can sometimes get, it took us about 3 years from purahcse date.
DH did a who cost benefit spreadsheet before he commited. I think it was 5 years based on his calculations. So around 2010. But we would never have paid to stay at a deluxe or a villa. The most we would have paid out of pocket for was a moderate.
I bought in knowing that I would break even in a reasonable amount of time, and then haven't worried about it since.
Last October we spent 7 nights in a 2BR Bay Lake View villa at BLT. I looked up the rack rates at the time and was just blown away by a price that I would not have even considered paying.
good question! i thought about this a bit when considering buying but after our first trip haven't given it another thought!! I am pretty confident after our last three trips during spring breaks, we have in fact broken even.
I bought in 1996, when BWV opened. I ran the numbers at that time but don't remember what the time-span was for break-even. I know it happened a long time ago!
I have to be honest, we haven't really thought about break even since they mentioned it in the sales meeting, in fact we've added on since then. We just like having our vacation options available to us at any time
I broke even the first time I got my entire family to go away on vacation. We bought in 2007 and went away together for the first time on a real vacation (meaning not going to visit family, as much as I love them!) in 2008. It has nothing to do with the money!! Kind of like those visa commercials "priceless". Though if you really want a dollar amount, I haven't done out the math. I was told seven trips would make it even and I have taken more than 7 trips including a couple at the concierge level so I guess math wise I'm ahead of the game, even though I'm still paying for it!
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