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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Do you need your blue DVC card, or just your KTTW card to go up to the lounge? We'll be there for a few nights next week (staying at BLT on points), and while I think that my DVC card is in my wallet, I don't know exactly where DH's card is. Do we need to have his with us, too?
You need your KTTW cards that state on them that it is indeed a DVC stay. Even a DVC member staying at another resort cannot go up to the lounge. Everytime we've gone they have checked the cards for everyone in the party - including the kids.
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You need your KTTW cards that state on them that it is indeed a DVC stay. Even a DVC member staying at another resort cannot go up to the lounge. Everytime we've gone they have checked the cards for everyone in the party - including the kids.
Judi, did you have to make some sort of reservation to go to the lounge or just show up and show the CM your key cards to be allowed upstairs?
I stayed at BLT for 9 nights in August. I have to say that I was amazed at the lack of security at the resort! No one - not no one ever asked to see any resort ID. That includes going up to the lounge. The woman standing at the elevator just let everyone pile on evlevator after elevator since it was crowded. As far as using your ID to get in, whether at the front door or from the overpass - people hold the door for one another and let everyone in. If someone uses their resort ID the door stays open for a short period of time and people just walk in and the guard standing in the lobby never asks anyone to show ID. I'm sorry to disagree but there is no security there at all. Don't get me wrong, that doesn't bother me because no other Disney resort has security keeping you out but I feel it's unfair to lead people to believe that it is locked up tight so people who aren't staying there can't get it.
I do agree that it is easy to get into BLt via the bridge from CR. But as others have stated, getting to the lounge on top really depends on the CM working that day.
As a BLT owner, I would like it to continue to be restricted to ppl staying at BLT with pts.
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I do agree that it is easy to get into BLt via the bridge from CR. But as others have stated, getting to the lounge on top really depends on the CM working that day.
As a BLT owner, I would like it to continue to be restricted to ppl staying at BLT with pts.
Our card was actually checked twice on our way up to the lounge -- once at the desk and once before we got on the elevator (with a different CM). I agree that security for the lounge greatly differs depending on the CM - - you can see that just from the different responses on this post.
The exclusive nature of the lounge is very much a double edged sword. I've heard people say "we were the only ones up there" on a given night. That doesn't bode well for its future.
BLT members do not own the lounge. Member dues do not contribute to its operating expenses. And it doesn't appear that business from BLT guests is doing much to contribute to the bottom line.
IMO, DVC either needs to open it up to more members or it will be lost entirely as an exclusive perk.
I think a clever compromise would be to keep one or two predetermined days of the week as "exclusive" for BLT guests, and at least open it up to all DVC members the rest of the week. For instance, they could designate Sunday and Thursday as being BLT guests only with all members being allowed in the rest of the week.
Honestly I don't think the lounge would be swarmed even with that change. Visiting BLT from the likes of Old Key West, Saratoga or AKV is a challenge. If most people are coming that far to see the fireworks, they will just go into the Magic Kingdom instead and watch them on Main Street.
I'm not a DVC member and will probably never stay at BLT, so my opinion isn't worth much (but that seldom stops me from spewing it out there):
I like the idea of a certain amount of security at any hotel or time-share property. To me, it's fine to allow visitors into lobbies, observation decks, public lounges, restaurants, and shops, but the hallways with Guest accomodations, and any facilities limited to Guests of the hotel (laundry, game room, gym, etc) should be off-limits to non-guests. Doors requiring key cards would do the trick, for the most part.
I also have no problem with restricting pools and hot tubs to Guests of a particular hotel. Gates or turnstiles with card readers would eliminate the need for CMs, and eliminate inconsistent enforcement of the policies, as well. This could easily be tried at Stormalong Bay and the BLT pools, and have the kinks worked out.
Exclusive lounges? Why not? Seems to me that paying to stay at any property SHOULD entitle a Guest to some exclusive perks (hence the prohibition on pool-hopping, restricted parking, etc).
Lounge just for DVC members? Yeah, that's a good idea, too. Whether it's located at BLT or any WDW resort or park, a DVC members-only lounge sounds like a well-deserved perk for those who pay such outrageous sums to buy their points, and those yearly maintenence fees. I see this one as a natural extension of the old Annual Passholder lounges, which used to exist in Epcot and AK (and I miss them greatly, any time I have an AP).
In general, I have never had a problem with people getting more, if they pay more. The only problem I have is inconsistent enforcement of policies, which is, unfortunately, part of Disney's stock in trade.
I agree with WillCAD...We have stayed there several times, as it works so well with littler ones (being able to take a tired toddler in a stroller on a walkway is miles ahead of waiting for a monorail, bus or boat )
The pool is actually not enormous, and both SAB and Kidani's Samawati Springs have similar restrictions with pool use. This resort is so close to the MK, and easily accessible by walkway, that in order for it not to be overrun with folks who would love a midway break but don't want to take an hour to get back to their resort, you do need a system in place. Not even CR guests can use this pool, and they can see it from some rooms! Actually, technically, other than DVC members, guests are only supposed to use their own pool at ANY resort, and SAB and SS already have a closed pool area. It is not a new idea.
We have always been fortunate enough to stay on the top floor, so we have simply walked right into the lounge, or onto the observation deck. There has usually been a CM at the lounge door, but we were never actually asked to show our room keys. Disney is
truly consistently inconsistent! I did speak to the manager at the lounge, and he shared that they are considering doing the wristband ID at check in, to avoid any hassles during your stay. That would work for the lounge, but you still need your room key for the pool.
I do want to say that when we have been there, we never felt like we were elite, or being treated as "rich guests", which we certainly are not. Our DVC memberships are carefully budgeted in and saved for. The exclusivity of this resort was definitley not why we added some points on, and based on several other moms I've met while there, they were looking at proximity to the Magic Kingdom for younger families.
Sometimes it confuses me to understand why this whole security becomes such a stressful issue...we have a Holiday Inn here in our hometown with a doorman who refuses to let in ANYONE without a room key, and we are a tiny VA town! Security offers a sense of peace when done correctly, and I do feel that when we stay at BLT. (Sometimes, BWV gets a little over run with folks wandering the baordwalk, and I like having a little personal space when I am on vacation )
Well, I'll be there in a few days for my first stay, so I'll be interested to see things for myself, though I have enjoyed reading this thread.
Actually, it's thanks to Jillybean [Thanks, Jill!] that I have seen inside this resort before now. I bought into DVC at BLT before it opened and without ever taking a DVC tour or seeing one of their presentations. I can't express how excited I am to stay at my home resort for the first time!
I was attracted by its design and decor, it being sited on Bay Lake, and its proximity to the monorail and the MK. I love the restaurants at the CR, too!
It'll also be my first time in a 2BR villa. My one complaint of any significance concerning DVC is that it is necessary at virtually all of their resorts to be at the level of a 2 BR to have two real beds. To my regret, this kept me away from DVC for some years. I would love for this to be an option at more places. But now I've gotten off topic. Sorry!
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