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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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So I am trying to talk my hubby into being a DVC member. We usually spend 1500-2000 a year on a Disney vacation. However, we received a "magical upgrade" to a deluxe pool/lagoon view room at DYC and LOOOVVEED it! Now I'm ruined and want to stay in a deluxe all the time. More reason to be a DVC member. What resorts are for DVC members?
In 2015, DVC rooms will also open at the Polynesian and you can also use your DVC points to stay in other WDW resorts, mainly deluxe and moderate resorts, although you can now use them for the Art of Animation as well.
In addition, they have four other resorts outside of Walt Disney World:
Aulani, A Disney Resort and Spa, O'ahu
Hilton Head Resort, South Carolina
Vero Beach Resort, Florida
Villas at the Grand Californian, Disneyland, California
So I am trying to talk my hubby into being a DVC member. We usually spend 1500-2000 a year on a Disney vacation. However, we received a "magical upgrade" to a deluxe pool/lagoon view room at DYC and LOOOVVEED it! Now I'm ruined and want to stay in a deluxe all the time. More reason to be a DVC member. What resorts are for DVC members?
That's the thing about those upgrades.......they spoil you . While not a "magical upgrade", we first tried a deluxe with the Pay for 4, Play for 7 deal. We haven't gone back to a value since (and we skipped the moderates all together)! We bought into DVC a couple of years after that stay.
Good luck -hope it works out for you. The next time you are in WDW, take the DVC tour and be WOWed by the villas. If you think a deluxe room is nice, wait until you see some of the villas!! My then 8 year old son, who really only cared about the video games and free ice cream on the tour, took one look at the BLT model room and said -"Wow, we are so doing this!"
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We concluded that DVC is only a good value for people like yourselves who go every year or at least every 2-3 years max.
We're weird, most people would say. We really would rather go only every 4-5 years and vacation other places in the interim.
But, if you have kids or are a couple with flexible schedules, I can see how DVC would be a much better value for you longterm than for us.
You're right, with banking and borrowing, you would need to take a trip once every three years at least. There is an option of renting out the points but I wouldn't buy with the thought that I would be renting out on a regular basis. There are other DVC locations (Hawaii, California, Hilton Head, Vero Beach) but you can also use DVC points to for cruises, AbD trips and you can trade into the RCI system and go wherever you want.
Take a tour, rent points from a member for your next trip (to get the feel for the whole thing), and consider the resale market as well.
We go 1-2 a year, once for 2-3 nights, and the other for 5-7 in a 2 bedroom with more family. While the initial outlay for DVC is hard, the annual dues are considerably less than what we were spending in a year for 2-3 moderate rooms. We rented points for a few years and then finally bought in. I wish I'd done it sooner!!
DVC has made DS a snob. We ran out of points so last year we had to stay at Port Orleans for a short trip. He complained because the room was too small. You would have thought I made him stay at a value resort from the way he was carrying on.
I became a DVC member in 2007 after I went on a solo trip and stayed at AKL, I never went on the DVC tour and just had information sent to me and I was sold! I am still making payments on my loan but after 3 trips on DVC points it already paid for itself. I am the aunt of 10 and take every one for their 12th birthday, do family trips for the 18 of us, let my parents have a trip together, and also I and my now husband went to Aulani for our honeymoon we wouldn't have been able to pay for it if we didn't have DVC. We added on points shortly after we joined and use all of them for our trips to Disney. I will have to agree about being spoiled and love it when people ask where I stay when I go to Disney and get to say that I stay in a Deluxe resort on property. It has been worth it for me and my family. With all this said I recommend going on a tour of the villas and getting information and deciding if it is right for you. Happy Planning
DVC has made DS a snob. We ran out of points so last year we had to stay at Port Orleans for a short trip. He complained because the room was too small. You would have thought I made him stay at a value resort from the way he was carrying on.
DD9 had a similar reaction to POR. She liked the room and the resort itself, but said the room was small. Of course, we did a split stay the "wrong way" with the normal size hotel room after 6 nights in a BLT 1BR (added on a night to out DVC trip due to a flight schedule change). Compared to a 1BR at BLT, most hotel rooms seem small. DH & I thought it was a nice room and a lovely resort. we would happily stay there in the future.
We bought in 2007 and never regretted it. I'm actually surprised at how much we have been able to do with a small point purchase. Our kids are young enough that we are still OK with a studio so we have done trips with friends and family with extra points. As our girls hit the teen years I imagine we will need more privacy so we will book larger rooms. I've already told them when they graduate HS they can take some friends. I like the idea of them going to Disney for their first independent trip rather than some wild beach party.
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. While not a "magical upgrade", we first tried a deluxe with the Pay for 4, Play for 7 deal. We haven't gone back to a value since (and we skipped the moderates all together)! We bought into DVC a couple of years after that stay. 
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