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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 are new DVC members and I will be making my reservations tomorrow morning. Our home resort is GFV but that is not where we want to stay. We will be at DW December 4-December 13, 2016. I need to make reservations tomorrow morning for December 4 thorough the 10. I do not have enough points to stay DVC for the complete stay so we are on a package with free dining for the last 4 das. I would like to stay in a 1 room villa at either the Beach Club or the Boardwalk. It is not looking too promising to book this right now for the whole stay.
I am wondering if it would be better to book the complete stay at another resort that is available i.e.Saratoga Springs or Key West and then wait list the Beach Club and Boardwalk?
After the 7 months is available to the complete stay should I try and book individual nights that are available and then hope that they can be combined into one reservation so we do not have to move rooms.
Is it better to book on line of call directly? Thank you in advance for all of the help you can provide.
After the 7 months is available to the complete stay should I try and book individual nights that are available and then hope that they can be combined into one reservation so we do not have to move rooms..
I am not sure what you mean by this. If I'm understanding you correctly, you have free dining reservations for 4 days so you'll be able to book a week in a DVC villa at your 7 month window.
If you mean book what is available at the resort you want and waitlist the other nights that are not available, I would do that. If you have consecutive nights in the same villa size at the same resort, you'll be able to stay in the room. BUT be sure to book something for those dates you are waitlisting so you have somewhere to stay. This is a popular time for DVC members and you may not have luck with the waitlist. Rooms will book quickly, you don't want to be stuck without some where to stay. ONLY go the waitlist route if you will be okay if you have to switch resorts. Will you be alright with 3 resorts during your trip?
I would call MS to book. I typically book on-line, but as you have questions like these, talking with a CM will be to your benefit.
The first 2 weeks in December are very popular with DVC members. Points are lower, crowds are down (although not as much as they used to be ) and the holidays are amazing at WDW. If I were you I would book the entire stay at one of the resorts you can get and then waitlist BCV and/or BWV. You can only have 2 waitlists at a time and there are multiple 1 Bedroom options at BWV. There are also more rooms there so you might have a better chance of getting a room there.
One good thing is that you are looking at 1 BR accommodations. They are usually the easiest ones to get. I usually book online, but I'm not sure if it matters which way you do it.
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Yes, We are planning to stay for a week at a DVC resort and then end with 3 nights/4 days of free dining with a package.
I think I will go ahead and book at one of the resorts that has the complete stay available and wait list (and cross my fingers) for a week at BC or BW.
To be blunt, you will have a very difficult time getting Beach Club or Boardwalk in early december. Cheap DVC season combined with moderate temperatures, holiday decor, light crowds, etc.
Many people have difficulty booking their home resort at 11 months for early December due to the high demand. Best practice is to book your Home at 11 months and then look to switch to another at 7 months.
Would strongly recommend booking something as soon as you can. Options will grow even more limited as time goes on.
I did book Old Key West for the whole week so we do have a place to stay. I had GF (home resort) but only a studio but I cancelled it as I really wanted a one bedroom.
Guess I will just cross my fingers for tomorrow morning or a wait list. Thanks.
I could have had a one bedroom savanna view for all the days/nights at AK but could not convince my husband that it would be a great place to stay. I stayed there for 3 nights at the end of my 50th birthday trip and loved it but it was a no go. A Boardwalk one bedroom with water view was avaialble every night but one so I waitlisted that type of room. Guess I will keep watching/stalking the site and hope I get my wait list. If not, I have the Key West reservation which looks like a nice place to stay.
I did luck out in the flight department and was able to get 3 round trip flights from Oregon to Orlando with miles and under a $100 in fees including insurance so I can complain.
I used to be wishy-washy about the thought of OKW, but have fallen in love with that resort. I find it extremely relaxing! If your wait-list does not come through - I hope you fall in love with it too!
I will be at OKW Dec 2-15 in a one bedroom. Never been to WDW at Christmas before so I'm very excited. Maybe we'll run into each other at Olivia's Been a DVC member since 1995 so OKW is our home resort. We've been staying at BCV the past 10 years but the last time there I was only able to get 10 days at BCV and 10 at OKW. The BCV waitlist for the remaining 10 days never came through. Much to my surprise, my family really loved going back to OKW. Very relaxing and larger rooms. BCV is a wonderful resort & location but OKW is really nice too. Have a great vacation!
Eeyores mom: Thanks for the positive comments on OKW. The more I have been finding out about OKW the more I think we are going to like it.
Snowdrift7: I have not been to WDW at Christmas either. I was there at the beginning of November once so I did see some of the Christmas decorations and the Osborne Lights so I was very fortunate to see them. I am looking forward to seeing the full Christmas decorations. OKW is sounding better and better. I hope to run into you too. Maybe we can set up a time to meet. Delores
I could have had a one bedroom savanna view for all the days/nights at AK but could not convince my husband that it would be a great place to stay. I stayed there for 3 nights at the end of my 50th birthday trip and loved it but it was a no go. A Boardwalk one bedroom with water view was avaialble every night but one so I waitlisted that type of room. Guess I will keep watching/stalking the site and hope I get my wait list. If not, I have the Key West reservation which looks like a nice place to stay.
I did luck out in the flight department and was able to get 3 round trip flights from Oregon to Orlando with miles and under a $100 in fees including insurance so I can complain.
I've stayed at AKV and OKW and will stay at BWV this summer. While I did like OKW (mostly -not crazy about the size or how long it takes to get thru the resort on the buses), I MUCH prefer AKV.
Do you have a "near Hospitality House" booking? Will you have a car? If the answer to either of those questions is no, I think I might lean towards AKV. OKW is a very large resort.
Just wanted to post an update that my waitlist came through. We will be at OKW Dec 3-9 and Beach Club Dec 9-13. I didn't waitlist the whole trip as the more I looked into and heard about OKW the more interesting it looked and I wanted to stay there for a few days.
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) and the holidays are amazing at WDW. If I were you I would book the entire stay at one of the resorts you can get and then waitlist BCV and/or BWV. You can only have 2 waitlists at a time and there are multiple 1 Bedroom options at BWV. There are also more rooms there so you might have a better chance of getting a room there.
I usually book online, but I'm not sure if it matters which way you do it.
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Been a DVC member since 1995 so OKW is our home resort. We've been staying at BCV the past 10 years but the last time there I was only able to get 10 days at BCV and 10 at OKW. The BCV waitlist for the remaining 10 days never came through. Much to my surprise, my family really loved going back to OKW. Very relaxing and larger rooms. BCV is a wonderful resort & location but OKW is really nice too. Have a great vacation!
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