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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 have much to tell!! I have a lot going on in my brain right now so I will try my best to be orderly but I can’t make promises here!!
I always know when Muffin is up to something. Yesterday, we were having a normal conversation and he blurted out the following:
“ Would you be willing to give up some stuff like your BMW and our Vegas portion of our trip this summer and our cruise in January?”. I automatically asked him if we were in financial trouble but : That wasn’t it.
I responded with something like, “Why on earth would I do that, then?”
I could see that he was struggling with bringing something up so I said, “ Oh, just spill it!!” Well!
I don’t know if it’s the stress with our parents or Muffin is softening up in his old age but apparently he saw an offer from DVC recently and when he finally broached the subject with me, I could tell he had been mulling it around for a few days. He told me not to go nuts but that I should at least call and inquire about the offer. Then we would need to crunch numbers and decide if at our ripe old age, it would be worth it for us to do.
So after I picked myself up from fainting, I asked him why now?!
He said that he was finally ready to admit that even though he grumbles, he loves WDW as much as I do. He also pointed out that it was not a cheap vacation and that his November show would be in Orlando for the foreseeable future.
Many of you know that I am a huge advocate for joining the DVC. Over the years on each and every trip, I have asked Muffin about joining. We got as far as hearing the presentation for DVC twice but when it came down to it, we just didn’t do it.
I cautiously went into my office and called the number on the website. I spoke with a CM by the name of Aldemar who was amazing! He sent me an email while on the phone with me and answered every single one of my million questions. He worked through pricing with me and walked me through the points chart.
I told him that I needed to relay all of this information to my husband and that I would call him back..........
So Muffin and I spent the next hour going over the various price points. We read reviews good and bad and even checked the resale sites. We crunched numbers in the hope that we would still be able to go to WDW for the next ten years.
Finally, Muffin told me to go for it so I called Aldemar back and was totally ready to commit. The one snafu was that we already had a vacation booked for November. He asked me for my reservation information and said he would call me back. So I waited and waited and waited some more.
Finally, he got back to me and said that he had no idea what was going on the week of November 7-13 but that every single DVC Resort except for OKW was booked solid. This was so disappointing because it’s taken me forever to get Muffin to sign up for this venture and although there is always the possibility of another promotion, it is certainly not guaranteed.
We are hard pressed to give up the WL and the Poly to stay at OKW. Not that anything would be wrong with that but we really wanted to stay at MK resorts for this trip. And isn’t that resort under construction?
On the other hand, we would love to take advantage of the current promotional offer and we don’t relish the thought of spending an extra 4 Grand on the WL and Poly on top of buying into the DVC. We really don’t know what to do.
We have to gather our thoughts over the next few days. Aldemar also promised me he would keep an eye out for me and call me if anything else popped up that week. I am not putting any money down on that front but you never know.
Signed,
A Super Hopeful Future DVC Owner
P.S. This is like being forced to take everyone out for ice cream when you are diabetic!
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It seems like they should be able to pull a few strings and let you use points for those rooms you already have booked! Especially since it's a matter of "will we do it or not?" I realize the rooms you have now are not in the DVC section, but seems like they should be trying a little harder to make you happy.
Well, I think you know how much we love the DVC and we've never regretted buying in, so I say go for it - if you think it's right for you.
We've stayed at Old Key West on our last couple of trips and had a blast there. It's got such a wonderful community feel to it and you should see the size of the rooms there - they're huge.
So, if you're looking for an opinion that would sway you away from buying DVC, I think you came to the wrong place. If given the chance, I would buy into DVC in a heartbeat.
It seems like they should be able to pull a few strings and let you use points for those rooms you already have booked! Especially since it's a matter of "will we do it or not?" I realize the rooms you have now are not in the DVC section, but seems like they should be trying a little harder to make you happy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DMA
Maybe another trip to the casino is in order!
That is the blessing and the curse of DVC sales people. Aldemar was lovely but honest!! I honestly believe that he tried his best.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Well, I think you know how much we love the DVC and we've never regretted buying in, so I say go for it - if you think it's right for you.
We've stayed at Old Key West on our last couple of trips and had a blast there. It's got such a wonderful community feel to it and you should see the size of the rooms there - they're huge.
The Disney magic will come through for you. Just don’t stop believing.
Thanks, Dot!! I sure hope so!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by MayraLR
So, if you're looking for an opinion that would sway you away from buying DVC, I think you came to the wrong place. If given the chance, I would buy into DVC in a heartbeat.
Just stayed at OKW in April. I think it was our third or fourth time there. It is beautiful and as said before, the villas are huge! We had no problem with the bus system, there is a boat to Disney Springs, and it's absolutely awesome!!!
Best wishes in your decision process. Don't give up!
Well, it's not far from Disney Springs. We used it as a base to head offsite in fairness, but it's not that far from Epcot or the Studios - don't forget, we always have a rental car, due to all the problems we've had over the years with Disney buses.
Hoping this DVC purchase all works out in the end!
Me too, Cam!!! Thanks!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grammy Grumpy
Just stayed at OKW in April. I think it was our third or fourth time there. It is beautiful and as said before, the villas are huge! We had no problem with the bus system, there is a boat to Disney Springs, and it's absolutely awesome!!!
Best wishes in your decision process. Don't give up!
This is so good to hear!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Well, it's not far from Disney Springs. We used it as a base to head offsite in fairness, but it's not that far from Epcot or the Studios - don't forget, we always have a rental car, due to all the problems we've had over the years with Disney buses.
We love DS but we never get a rental car anymore. We will see what shakes down.
So! When I last left off, we were trying to decide whether or not to wait until November to buy in. We researched OKW and went back and forth about the pros and cons of staying there. In addition, we looked at tons of images and I even read Muffin what both Cheryl and Barb said in their posts. We decided that we are leaning in this direction but have to clarify a few things first.
At the same time, we went back and forth about how many points to buy. Of course, I wanted to buy alot of points and Muffin wanted to buy the bare minimum to be able to book a deluxe studio so we pulled up the points chart again and tried to decide what we would really need to start out.
In the end, we decided to compromise and start out with 150 points. This would allow us to stay in virtually all of the studios with the option of either borrowing a little from the following year or in some cases purchasing additional points if we wanted to upgrade.
Poor Aldemar must be sick of me but I am going to call him again this morning. I have some more questions for him and then we will make our decision as to whether or not we will take the plunge now or wait until November.
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I automatically asked him if we were in financial trouble but 
: That wasn’t it.
This was so disappointing because it’s taken me forever to get Muffin to sign up for this venture and although there is always the possibility of another promotion, it is certainly not guaranteed. 
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deciding.
If given the chance, I would buy into DVC in a heartbeat.
I know!!
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