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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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're relatively new owners (early 2009) with no kids yet, so we only have 100pts. Little does DH know that I plan on increasing that amount sooner rather than later.
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for a total of 530 and it's not nearly enough. We blow through them and are always borrowing into the next year. We used to have a 130 contract at SSR but sold it when we bought at BLT.
Ok. What is the cost to start and cost per point? I can't ever figure it out right for some reason.
It all depends on the resort you buy into. When DW and I purchased BLT in 08 it was $112/pt and we got like $5 off. You must purchase a min of 160 pts, unless you go through resale. Since I know BLT has increase, to I believe $120/pt, with a min 160 buy in it would be $19,200. You get those 160 pts each year until the contract runs out on the property. Also remember that you have to pay dues on each pt you own every year.
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We own 250 points at BLT. We bought direct in late March and got the "backdated" 2009 points, too. We're using 324 pts for 10 nights in a Lake View in Dec. and will have 74 points to bank into next year. If we can keep rolling those "extra" points forward, I don't think we'll be adding on any time soon.
I'm down to 50 points. Since we live here now, it didn't make sense to keep them at this point in time. This leaves us a bit for Vero, which is a nice getaway from here.
The views and opinions expressed on this post are mine and do not necessarily represent or reflect those of The Walt Disney Company and Affiliated Companies
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We bought 300 points at BWV in 2000. Once BLT was available we added on 60 points, so we have a total of 360. We get 7-10 days in a 2 BR at BWV, and plan to do every other year at BLT.
We bought 180 pts at Bay Lake last year on our cruise. We just used our first points last week and l-o-v-e-d it! I'm trying to figure out how to buy another 100 points! Next year we're using some banked points and next year's points to pay for 2 of the 4 of us on DCL.
I love DVC. Love Bay Lake Tower. I'll be trip reporting soon
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We have 360. The are all at AKV but we have two seperate contracts. We almost added a hundred more last October when we stayed at BLT and loved it there but decided to hold off for now. I am sure we won't hold out for long though!
We started with 150 SSR points, added on 130 pts. a year later, then another 120 after another year... so we had 400. When we moved to Kissimmee last year, we decided to sell off our contracts. We should be closing on all three of them this month. Before we sold our bigger contracts, we did purchase a small (25 point SSR) contract just so we could remain DVC members.