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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Like many, I long for DVC. We have read all the info. Even toured the sales office at WDW. The $20,000 buy-in is just not in our budget. So I did not think it would be a problem to respond to the mailer from Disney Visa to talk with a DVC rep in exchange for a $40 visa gift card. Alauni holds no realistic appeal. I was safe.
And then...
I asked if there was any availability at OKW.
There is.
How much are th points?
$100.
What is the minimum purchase?
100 points.
$10,000 is different than $20,000.
....oh and....you will get the 2011 points for free...
For any of you who may have reviewed my trip reports, here is my family in a nutshell: 3 kids. Boy (almost 10) who likes his own space. Girl (almost 8) who is ASD and NEEDS her own space (aspie parents get what I mean). Girl (almost 5) with a severe food allergy who needs to have food to eat in the room and the occassional midnight trip to the washer/dryer. We are booked this August at ASMu Fam suite, but have continued to look at OKW as an option...I can think of all kinds of ways to justify buying into DVC...
Here is why I need people to talk some sense into me (reasonable folks should ignore my disney math in the parentheses):
Our budget is still tight. (But it is not stopping us from going back this summer...)
We would still need to finance the $10,000. (But paying it down $130/month is more than we are specifically saving now for our next WDW trip!)
With only 100 points we will have very limited options for vacations (but it will be easier to add on in the future...)
that's a lot of money for something you'll never own. I would NEVER do it, and I go to Disney just about every year...sometimes twice. We Disney savy folks know how to find the best discounts...we don't need to shell out that kind of cash unless you are one of those people that goes during peak season and has to stay at a deluxe then go for it...if not, don't throw your money away!
I think I am pretty Disney savvy...but traveling with 3 kids has made me appreciate deluxe accommodations....
Quote:
Originally Posted by missminniedreams
Sounds like a good deal to me too! I'd have a hard time passing it up, because you can always add points in the future. Sorry, I'm no help!
You probably knew I was looking for feedback on both sides!
Here is my Disney math (rounded for ease of calculations
DVC $10,200 for 102 points
102 points at inception
Another 102 points coming April 2012
+$130/month for 10 years (tax deductible)
+ $500/year maintenance fee until 2057
What will we spend during the 10 years when we have a “mortgage?”
$10,000 for buy-in + $5,000 in maintenance fees = $15,000
5 trips will “pay for itself”
Cost over the lifetime:
Maintenance is $500/year until 2057 (= $21,000 over 42 years)
Total investment is $31,000 over 42 years
Assuming vacations every 2 years, we will take at least 21 vacations.
Each vacation will cost $1,400
“Rack Rates” for 7 days in 2012 = $3,100
Assuming yearly price increases, what will that rack rate be in 2057?
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you did pretty good! However, your dues (maintenance, taxes, etc) do go up...not a lot. We have 500 points and our dues went up a total of $80 this year.
I'm pretty Disney-savvy myself. I also like having a kitchen available to me for breakfasts, (a LOT cheaper than breakfast in the parks) I like I can bring my kids and their kids for a lot less money than it would cost me to get two rooms for a week, and NOT have a kitchen, I don't have to bring many clothes as I have a washer/dryer in the villa, cuts down on baggage fees....so savvy....yes I am and I think it's pretty darn worth it!! I travel off season.....makes my points go further.
If it's something you know you're going to use at least once every two years and you like deluxe style accommodations and spend money to stay in them, then the DVC will break even pretty quickly for you. Your maths looks about right to me. I think we broke even after about four trips, which included a Disney cruise, stay in the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego, a trip to Disneyland and three WDW stays.
If the maths adds up to you, then I say go for it - as it sounds like you'll get good use from it. deciding!
Yes, as someone else said, your dues will increase slightly over time (I think ours went up about $60 this year, but held even the first two years we owned), but your math makes sense to me.
We just took a family trip December 19-26 with 9 people. We had 2 villas for a week, obviously during a peak travel time. A couple of months ago, I looked at what we would have paid for the same villas in cash during the same time period, and it came to something like $11,000 dollars!! That would have been impossible, but DVC let us have a magical, memorable vacation. I think that's pretty savvy.
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Are you sure you want to invest all your vacation funds into DVC for the foreseeable future? You didn't add the cost of tickets, transportation, food and entertainment into your Disney budget. Remember that will add up as well.
We can't be of much help. We knew it would be a budget stretcher for us, but we love it. We know we will be going to WDW about every other year (with kids now and without later).
Benjiboo25 did a nice job of breaking down the economics. Good luck on you decision.
Alright...here is my 2 cents. I am not a believer in DVC for us. We go often, but go during value season typically and when there is free dining. We own a B&B and cater for a living so the last things I want to see on vacation are kitchens and laundry .
Your family is a different matter. Considering your need of space, 3 kids (which totally changes the dynamic over having 2, doesn't it?) and the food allergy you are dealing with, I would say "go for it"
I think if you are going to be staying in villas anyway, then you would be ahead of the game to buy into DVC. Sorry...no help, right?
Alright...here is my 2 cents. I am not a believer in DVC for us. We go often, but go during value season typically and when there is free dining. We own a B&B and cater for a living so the last things I want to see on vacation are kitchens and laundry .
Your family is a different matter. Considering your need of space, 3 kids (which totally changes the dynamic over having 2, doesn't it?) and the food allergy you are dealing with, I would say "go for it"
I think if you are going to be staying in villas anyway, then you would be ahead of the game to buy into DVC. Sorry...no help, right?
I thought you would go in a different direction with your advice. I have done laundry on vacation anyway...it would be much better to not have to leave the room to do it!
Quote:
Originally Posted by toddjodybrent
Have you looked into renting points for OKW?
I know some folks who went recently for the fee of $100 per night for OKW by renting points. They have AP's so tickets weren't an issue.
Good luck with your decision!
I have looked into renting, but only through the major sites. Having 5 in the family and wanting to stay at least a week (since we are traveling a ways to gt to WDW) makes renting points pretty steep. A big pin code is a better value for us.
I can't talk you out of anything, as I am also going to be purchasing when I go down for our next trip. We are also a family of 5 and getting regular hotel style room is just not going to be comfortable for us in the near future. Right now with a 7 month old she needs her own room and quiet to sleep so we have to get suites when we stay in a hotel now.
The only problem I see is that there are only a couple of villas that allow 5 in a one bedroom. So with a family of 5 we are looking at a two bedroom and the points needed for that are in the high 200 and up. We would have to purchase around 150 and plan on only going every other year to bank and borrow points, for now, until we can add on points later.
Also we would need to still put back money every month to pay for things like tickets, meals and transportation. All in all, I am buying because I can't ever see me getting tied of Disney, I like having my vacation lodging paid for for the next 45+ yrs and I like the idea of getting larger rooms for the price of value to moderate.
I am sure most of this has been going through your mind while considering this also. Let me know what you decide, it may help our decision!
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Talk me out of it!!!
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I think we broke even after about four trips, which included a Disney cruise, stay in the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego, a trip to Disneyland and three WDW stays. 
deciding!
]Read all about our Disney Experiences on the Williams Family Blog: 
.
Guess where we were headed??
I have done laundry on vacation anyway...it would be much better to not have to leave the room to do it! 
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