buying resale or thru disney? [Disney Vacation Club contracts] - Page 2 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
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.
If you want to buy at Aulani or Bay Lake Tower, IMO it makes most sense to buy direct. The price savings via resale isn't dramatic enough to justify that course...again, IMO.
As for the others, you'll have to do a lot of soul-searching to determine whether you are willing to forego the benefits lost with a resale purchase.
My advice would be to try and find someone who has been a member for 10+ years and ask them how their outlook has changed over the years. Obviously points go furthest when used for DVC accommodations so the logical advice is to buy with the intent of using exclusively for DVC resort stays. But IMO, that outlook can change dramatically over time. 40+ years of theme park visits sounds like heaven when you're signing the papers, but do you think you will really feel that way after 10 years? 20 years? 30 years? That's a lot of trips on Soarin and Expedition Everest. That's a lot of aging for you and your family.
We have been members for 8 years and have never used a point for a non-DVC resort. But I have to say, the more time that passess, the more I can see it happening someday. Maybe we will want to go to Disneyland Paris someday or use points for a cruise instead of paying cash.
IMO, being banned from those options for the life of the contract is a pretty big carrot to leave on the table when buying resale. When adding-on I can see having some direct and some resale contracts. At least then the option still exists. But being permanently banned from non-DVC hotels, Disney Cruise Line and so on is a very restrictive limitation.
This post is really making me think - thank you very much for it.
I'm still leaning towards re-sale, BUT we have a very important exception. Stitch has a service dog. So most of the perks of buying directly from Disney we could not do while she has the dog. Do we think she'll have the dog forever? No. But I do see him being with her for at least the next 10 years. So for us, we couldn't do Disney Hong Kong or Paris. And we'd be limited with the cruising.
So maybe we do re-sale now, enjoy Disney World and in 10+ years when Stitch feels that she is healthy enough to not need a service animal, sell our re-sale points and then buy into Disney for all the extras.
Then again, this is all academic for at least another year while we save our pennies
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
We bought direct all three times, have not regretted it, and wold be very leery of resale becuase of the restrictions, which for us would not be attractive but who knows, that could change with time, but for now, thinking direct is the way to go.
I'd buy resale and you'd save $ if you did so also. In 11 years of DVC ownership I've never used my points for the Disney Collection, Concierge collection or Adventurers Collection. Once when we were new owners we used points for a Disney Cruise but that was a very poor use of our points in hindsight. And, as others have stated, buy your points where you think you'd most like to stay.
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.
You can always buy direct later! My suggestion would be (if you can!) to buy direct and take advantage of the perks and incentives of buying from Disney, so if in the future you want to use the points in a different way, you have that option! Then add on points through resale! You can buy a minimum contract through DVC and bank/borrow points if you want to exchange with RCI and use your resale contract to stay on property. Just a thought...