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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Hi there,
This ? has probably been answered before - but here it goes !
If I buy my initial investment of let's say $20000 worth of points for BLT and I got 200 points. Does that mean I get 200 points every year for x amount of years and all I have to pay each year are my annual dues? This is assuming I only stay at BLT.
Yes and no. Yes 200 points every year. You can skip a year and borrow a year and have one long vacation or something else! Yes you have have to pay annual dues, you can have them done monthly or pay once a year. No. You can stay anywhere on disney property. You have a 11 month booking window for (BLT) at 7 months you can use points for other places. If you really really want you can stay at a regular resort on points as well. Also you can use your points for a disney cruise and many other places. We LOVE our membership!
Right! Once you pay the initial per point cost to buy however many points (we started with 200, but then found we needed to add another 150, and if we won the lottery, we'd buy another 1000!) you then only pay the annual dues. That amount does change each year, although generally there isn't much of an increase each year, just a couple percent increase.
You are then able to use your points - either the 200 you have, or borrowing one year out (and you can save one year - giving a max of 600 points available at one time) to stay anywhere. If your points are at BLT, you can book 11 months out at BLT, but you can book at other resorts 7 months out.
ENJOY! We LOVE DVC, and only wish we'd joined when we first heard about it, a few months after it opened. We did finally join in 2004 or so, and have had so many more vacations since then!
Welcome Home.
you've got it. You can stay at any DVC property or use your points for cruises, to visit other Disney parks etc. as well - you're not just tied to staying at one property. That just happens to be where you own points.
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.
Everyone has already listed some great information. I just wanted to add that you can book a Disney Cruise up to two years in advance, with that in mind they let you use the point from that use year and the years before and after.
We booked our May 2010 DCL in Nov 2008. I used my 2010 and a few 2011 points for the cruise.
When you use points for RCI you have two years to your the RCI weeks.
If you really really want you can stay at a regular resort on points as well. Also you can use your points for a disney cruise and many other places. We LOVE our membership!
Does this mean you can use your points for a value/moderate/deluxe resort? Is this a waste of points, or a good value?
You can use DVC points at a Moderate resort (Caribbean Beach, Coronado Springs, Port Orleans) or a Deluxe resort that does not have DVC villas attached (Grand Floridian, Polynesian, Yacht Club) but this is not a good value for points. A standard room in a Deluxe WDW resort costs more points than most 2-bedroom villas, and the cost of a room at a Moderate resort is between the cost of a studio and a 1-bedroom at most DVC resorts. However, if you have ample points and want to try a different resort, you certainly could.
You can also use DVC points at the three Disney-owned hotels at Disneyland. Those hotels cost more points than studio rooms at the Villas at the Grand Californian, but less than the WDW Deluxe resorts.
DVC points can be used for Disney cruises, Adventures by Disney trips, and hotels at Disney parks in France, Japan, and China. They can also be used for various non-Disney hotels around the country and around the world.
Finding ways to use each year's allotment of points is not hard at all! (Finding time and money for more trips is another story...)
Booking outside of the DVC resorts involves a $95 booking fee, that includes cruises, non-DVC hotels and RCI exchanges. Just something to keep in mind when looking at all the options!
Assuming you buy at BLT, the contract will expire in 2060, so you would get your points every year until then.
I bought at BLT last year. I am not sure what I will do when the contract expires. Of course, I will be 104 years old then and perhaps I will not go as often....
Using your points for a "normal" resort room is a terrible way to use points. You can stay a week in a studio at the Boardwalk for less than 2 days at the Grand Floridian.
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DVC Owners at Bay Lake Towers!
Next Trip July 19-23 15th Anniversery Trip without the kids!!!!
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you've got it. 
You can stay at any DVC property or use your points for cruises, to visit other Disney parks etc. as well - you're not just tied to staying at one property. That just happens to be where you own points.
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