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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Does anyone have experience of buying points at sold out DVC resorts? Now our plans for the next few years are crystallising we find we need another 80-120 points. (as if need were the right word!). We don't want to buy more AKV points as we have some already and we considered buying another resort resale but living in Paris and knowing we want to visit California more than once I don't want to be unable to book the Disney Collection so we definitely want to buy direct from Disney. I was originally thinking about waiting for GFV but what we would really like to buy would be some GCV points. We intend to ask our guide when we are over in February but is it a case of going on a wait list and taking whatever amount of points and use year come up or can you request something specific? We don't need more points now in fact buying in 2014 would be ideal. does anyone have any experience of waitlisting a sold out resort and did you get what you wanted eventually?
Yes, DVC will sell you the additional points. Sometimes waiting for the points to come available is necessary. Just depends upon which resort and Use Year you are seeking.
As a rule, DVC will only sell you points in your existing Use Year. If the purchase is large enough they would probably relent and sell you a different Use Year but in doing so you face years of administrative headaches whenever trying to combine the points. They are not insurmountable issues but all things being equal it is MUCH more convenient to have all of your points linked under a single membership.
Yes, DVC will sell you the additional points. Sometimes waiting for the points to come available is necessary. Just depends upon which resort and Use Year you are seeking.
As a rule, DVC will only sell you points in your existing Use Year. If the purchase is large enough they would probably relent and sell you a different Use Year but in doing so you face years of administrative headaches whenever trying to combine the points. They are not insurmountable issues but all things being equal it is MUCH more convenient to have all of your points linked under a single membership.
So really anyone looking to add points under resale or Disney should use same use year? wow, I didnt think it was that much of an issue.... I guess because I am always borrowing points.....
Buying thru Disney as they want to I see that as less of a problem but shopping for small contract (sold as soon as they hit the listings) thru resale just got tougher as my use year isnt very popular (March)....
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So really anyone looking to add points under resale or Disney should use same use year? wow, I didnt think it was that much of an issue.... I guess because I am always borrowing points.....
Buying thru Disney as they want to I see that as less of a problem but shopping for small contract (sold as soon as they hit the listings) thru resale just got tougher as my use year isnt very popular (March)....
We will only buy with the same Use Year, as then the points you buy are all held together and it's much easier to manage them. If it helps, August isn't a particularly popular year - either that or no-one ever really wants to sell through resale with August points....
We will only buy with the same Use Year, as then the points you buy are all held together and it's much easier to manage them. If it helps, August isn't a particularly popular year - either that or no-one ever really wants to sell through resale with August points....
I am just thankful to know now....before we buy again...
So really anyone looking to add points under resale or Disney should use same use year? wow, I didnt think it was that much of an issue.... I guess because I am always borrowing points.....
Buying thru Disney as they want to I see that as less of a problem but shopping for small contract (sold as soon as they hit the listings) thru resale just got tougher as my use year isnt very popular (March)....
Adding-on direct through Disney...it's largely a moot point. And if you're willing to pay Disney's prices to add-on, it's doubtful you will be waiting long to get the points. Resale contracts are constantly being presented for ROFR and Disney will be more aggressive in buying- back if they know they have a customer ready and waiting to pay $100+ per point.
Resale is a bit trickier since you have to buy the contract as it currently exists. If you find the desired resort, number of points and a good price, you may have to overlook the Use Year or just keep on looking.
At the end of the day, it's much, MUCH cleaner to have the same Use Year. Everything will be bundled under a single master membership and you'll never run into any hiccups.
If you own two separate Use Years, you will have two master memberships. The only way to co-mingle points from those contracts is via transfer, which requires a phone call to Member Services. Sort of defeats the purpose of having on-line booking capabilities if you need to make a phone call to complete certain transactions.
Even when making reservations for a single contract, you will probably have two different on-line accounts. Again, more hassle...more confusion.
If you're well versed in the resale market and know it will be difficult to find a Use Year match, you may just have to bite the bullet and expand your interest to other Use Years. But if many potential matches are available, I would favor one which matches an existing UY. Even if it meant paying a couple extra dollars per point for a better match.
If we're talking about 30-50 years of inconvenience vs. a couple hundred dollars more for the points....I would personally pay the money and enjoy the convenience.
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.
Adding-on direct through Disney...it's largely a moot point. And if you're willing to pay Disney's prices to add-on, it's doubtful you will be waiting long to get the points. Resale contracts are constantly being presented for ROFR and Disney will be more aggressive in buying- back if they know they have a customer ready and waiting to pay $100+ per point.
Resale is a bit trickier since you have to buy the contract as it currently exists. If you find the desired resort, number of points and a good price, you may have to overlook the Use Year or just keep on looking.
At the end of the day, it's much, MUCH cleaner to have the same Use Year. Everything will be bundled under a single master membership and you'll never run into any hiccups.
If you own two separate Use Years, you will have two master memberships. The only way to co-mingle points from those contracts is via transfer, which requires a phone call to Member Services. Sort of defeats the purpose of having on-line booking capabilities if you need to make a phone call to complete certain transactions.
Even when making reservations for a single contract, you will probably have two different on-line accounts. Again, more hassle...more confusion.
If you're well versed in the resale market and know it will be difficult to find a Use Year match, you may just have to bite the bullet and expand your interest to other Use Years. But if many potential matches are available, I would favor one which matches an existing UY. Even if it meant paying a couple extra dollars per point for a better match.
If we're talking about 30-50 years of inconvenience vs. a couple hundred dollars more for the points....I would personally pay the money and enjoy the convenience.
Good points all - Im so glad Im learning this now as I was thinking since we would be using new points for NOV-DEC trips at least the first year or so that a new use year wouldnt be an issue but I can easily see how over the years it would be way more hassle than it was worth....
I am having the worst time ever contacting my guide to add on points. I have his direct dial but have been calling for over a week and he is never there. I have emailed him but still no luck. Any advice anyone?
I am having the worst time ever contacting my guide to add on points. I have his direct dial but have been calling for over a week and he is never there. I have emailed him but still no luck. Any advice anyone?
I'd call Member Services and explain the situation. They should be able to sort something out and they ought to know about the problems you're having.
I am having the worst time ever contacting my guide to add on points. I have his direct dial but have been calling for over a week and he is never there. I have emailed him but still no luck. Any advice anyone?
I will bet that he is probably on out on a Disney cruise with limited cell / internet service. I agree with Cheryl that you should call MS to explain.
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I will bet that he is probably on out on a Disney cruise with limited cell / internet service. I agree with Cheryl that you should call MS to explain.
Our new guide (we swapped on the cruise) is on the cruises all the time with DVC and I've got his email address. I don't suppose you have the email address for your guide Hazel?
I have his email address, member services gave it to me. I am going to give hima little while to reply and if he doesn't i'll call again and see what they can do. It isn't an urgent request but I want to put it to him so it is decided and i can stop thinking about how many to ask for etc.
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