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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I'm patiently waiting for our next WDW trip and surfing reviews of Disney resorts on TripAdvisor. In the process, I stumbled onto very harsh reviews of several DVC properties by members. I was shocked at the reasons why. One owner was upset she didn't get her room requests and asked to move to different rooms FOUR times within one resort (in one afternoon I might add). She also asked for a refund of her points after her stay because it wasn't to her standards.
This is the type of thing I read about several DVC resorts on there today. I'm shocked at the demands and sense of entitlement. We all made a big financial commitment in purchasing DVC. Very few "room requests" are actually available (except disabled appropriate rooms) UNLESS it's a resort where you can use more points for different levels or views. I'm not sure what makes one member's demands more important than someone else's reservation. A lot of factors go into your room assignment, especially availability.
I feel I should apologize for this type of behavior to cast members. 😕
It is disappointing to see those sorts of comments.
About 8-10 years ago on another forum, there was a post from someone who claimed to be a Cast Member, talking about how DVC members were loathed by the staff. This was back when there were fewer DVC resorts (no Poly, no GF, maybe even before Contemporary), and the claim was that CMs would do anything to work at non-DVC resorts rather than DVC. That DVC members were viewed as overly demanding on the staff, notoriously poor tippers, rude, etc.
There was no way to confirm the validity of these claims--or even if the poster was a Cast Member--but many of the comments did ring true based upon my own observations as a fellow guest.
Just a few hours ago, Disney announced the DVC merchandise discount has increased to 20%, new AP buyers will get 13 months plus 20% dining discounts at 45 locations across WDW. I've already read one comment from a member which essentially said "Disney should do better than that for their best customers"
I think DVC does a pretty good job of accommodating member requests. Some folks will never be completely satisfied no matter what. Two years ago we had to be relocated from OKW, where we had a confirmed reservation, to another resort due to unspecified "mechanical issues". Yes, we were very disappointed. But the manager went out of her way to accommodate our request (asking us where we would like to stay, pending availability). We were given a credit to use for shopping, meals, etc. And we ended up in a lovely unit at BLT with a fabulous MK park view (certainly not requested nor expected!). We're longtime DVC members and that may have played into it, but I really think Disney does their very best for all their guests. No, they're not perfect. But we've visited WDW countless times and have been DVC members for nearly 25 years. We wouldn't keep returning nor have made that type of commitment if their product and services weren't pretty darn awesome. I think they're the gold standard and our visits are highly anticipated and greatly enjoyed!
We did notice a couple of DVC Members at Disney when we were there a couple of weeks ago (and we know they were Members as they were telling Cast Members and managers in no uncertain terms shall we say) making demands at the front desk of the Beach Club Villas and complaining. We couldn't hear the full details, but we did hear one, which was a woman demanding a refurbished room at the Villas. I was standing thinking "haven't they finished the refurbishment now?" when the Cast Member confirmed they have, for the most part, been done, and she had one, but I just thought her attitude was quite aggressive, and I was so surprised by it.
We joined in 2007 and over the years I have seen both ends of the spectrum. I have seen people be downright awful both DVC and non DVC guests with that sense of entitlement but of course I see that behavior at my local grocery store too. People spending money can be funny.
Since WDW is a second home for us and we are fortunate to visit so often we tend to feel like "hosts". We love bringing goodies to give out or helping visitors who seem a little lost. We take the time to chat with and thank the CMs because we want it to be a nice place when we come back.
I will say I was in tears on our very first DVC trip. It was awful and I felt like I "bought the cow". The quality and service that we were used to as cash guests was not there at all. I was heartbroken because I felt like I sold the magic for discounted rates. It was a fluke but it soured me to a certain resort for sure. I LOVE our DVC now and am so grateful to have it. I think the thing that people fail to understand is that when you buy a vacation you are committed for a week or however many days. When you buy DVC or any time share it is a lifetime commitment, it's like vacation marriage. People are bound to have ups downs and moments that aren't proud of
The only time I got "entitlement" was during my visit to WDW ......and the uninvited Hurricane Charley (2004 ) joined us. We were staying at BWVs...my "home" resort.
Saturday, after the storm we called the airport to make sure it was open. We were told yes.....I then checked-out. We took a friendship over to Y & B to pick up something DD Jaclyn wanted. On the way across I got a message from our airline that the airport was closed due to damages and all flights were cancelled. I found out that we couldn't get a flight out until Monday.....at the earliest.
We went to the desk (long lines) and explained our situation.....we were told that because we were "members".....we are being first priority and a room was given to us right away. Those guests who were not "members" had to wait to see what resorts had availability....I'm sure everyone was going to be taken care of.....but, we were taken care of right away.
It really is a shame that some people think they should get better treatment than others. Every person who is staying at Disney has spent money for the trip whether they are DVC or not.
The thing I always try to think about is how some people save for YEARS to take a trip to Disney, and how, if they were staying in the crappiest room at Saratoga Springs (my home resort), they would be pleased as punch to get to be there at all. It really puts things in perspective, since I tend to get to go 2-3 times a year. I have friends who have 4-5 kids who will likely never be able to afford to go. They would be more than happy to have ANY room on property (or probably off). People get crazy!
In all my years staying DVC (going on 12), I think I've only had 1 or 2 trips that were even just average. Part of the magic of Disney is the guest having a good attitude as well as the CMs.
Unfortunately I live with one of the entitled. When I told him we were getting a better discount he was like well we deserve it because we paid them a lot of money. I pointed out that we have more than made our money back for our initial outlay and we do get discounts on APs and the usual 10%.
I'm a firm believer that karma usually resolves issues. Many of the "entitled" seem to be unhappy and demanding which turns into an endless cycle. We chose not to stay or even dine at GF because it seemed to attract people who have entitlement issues/ bad attitudes. We bought DVC because it's a wonderful way for our family to connect. My first trip to Disney was due to my single mother working two jobs which included cleaning houses so she could borrow a tent and we could camp for the first time EVER in Ft. Wilderness. Now, I can take her and my family to the place that reminds me how important family is.
We chose not to stay or even dine at GF because it seemed to attract people who have entitlement issues/ bad attitudes.
We've seen incidents at the GF such as you suggest no more often than at other resorts, i.e. rarely. In fact, I think it remarkably free of entitlement hissy fits in view of how elegant its atmosphere and how typically it's regarded as the sort of place where only elitist rich people dine/stay.
Granted, we both love the place, but that's because we've had gracious service and thoroughly enjoyable experiences there many, many times.
I don't know why you came to feel so but urge you to reconsider because you're missing out on some of the best food and most comfortable rooms at WDW.
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I agree about GF being a place that pulls in folks of all types. We commented during our stay there that so many of the people reminded us of the same types we saw during our stays at All Star Music and Caribbean Beach, there didn't seem to be any difference in patrons of any resorts (as a whole).
Glad to hear that you both had great experiences at GF, it's beautiful and we've enjoyed a great meal there in the past, but have just decided from seeing some interactions when we've been there in the past that we've chosen as a family to not stay/dine there anymore. Good for us that there are many more options in WDW.
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