Forums Closed
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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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Best wishes for a wonderful and magical new year!
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Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
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05-26-2003, 01:57 PM
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#1
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Community Rank: Traveler
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Cleveland, OH
Posts: 272
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Beach Club or other deluxe resorts?
Hello all!
I am in the very beginning stages of trying to plan something for two years from now.
April of 2005 will be my parents' 30th anniversary. My younger sister and I would love to go on a family trip to WDW, and my ideal would be for all of us to stay at the Beach Club. There would be six adults - my parents, DH and me, sis and her boyfriend. Having said that, we are thinking that one of the villas would probably be the best way to go rather than two hotel rooms.
My problem: I don't think we will be able to afford this, even saving this far in advance [img]graemlins/pout.gif[/img] . I am currently saving for our trip in May 2004 (DH and me). My question is about rates: I know what the rack rates are by checking out the Disney info sites. My question is whether or not anyone has gotten any good codes for BC or any other Deluxe resorts for this time of year (we will be going in June). My parents have not been there since 1994. At that time we stayed at CBR and they really liked that. We could do that again, but I was looking to do something extra special for their 30th anniversary. Also, we are not DVC members, does anyone know how far in advance we would be able to reserve a BC villa if we could come up with the funds?
Any input on this or other resort possibilities would be much appreciated!! [img]graemlins/ears.gif[/img]
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05-26-2003, 02:07 PM
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#2
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Community Rank: Adventurer
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Maryland
Posts: 574
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Re: Beach Club or other deluxe resorts?
June is considered regular season at the Deluxe resorts. Therefore, the discounts are not as deep as they would be in value season. Especially at one of the villas. They are not reduced as often as the regular rooms.
Have you considered going in July or August during value season? This could save you hundreds of dollars. Another option would be to get an annual pass. Only one person in your party needs to have one, and the discount on your room could be substantial (up to 40%).
Also keep your eye out for great deals like the one Disney is offering now where you get a 7 night stay for the price of 4 nights. Park hoppers are even included in the price. What a great deal.
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05-26-2003, 02:16 PM
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#3
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Community Rank: Traveler
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Cleveland, OH
Posts: 272
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Re: Beach Club or other deluxe resorts?
Thanks DAD!
I don't really know much about AP discounts...do you know where I could find more details about this?
We are a little limited on when we can go because my mom and I are both teachers. My only problem with going in July or August is that my mom has an arthritic condition that makes it difficult for her to get around. I was trying to get down there as early as possible in the summer so that we can beat the heat. I'm afraid she would be terribly uncomfortable trudging around in 100+ degree heat and humidity.
I will pull up the dates for value seasons and see whether or not it would be something we could swing!
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05-26-2003, 02:19 PM
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#4
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Community Rank: Adventurer
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: BCV
Posts: 754
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Re: Beach Club or other deluxe resorts?
One suggestion is to use Jean at Your Magic Journeys (she's in the ask the travel agent section of this board). She will look at all of the rates out there AAA, DC etc and book best for you as well as track any new rates. I have never paid rack room rate at BC but I have also stayed off-season/value season. Remember if your first day of trip is in value season and then the trip moves to regular season your whole stay is value season. Works the other way also - if you start regualr and it becomes value you pay regular season rates. Jean can also look at BCV rates. The DVC member room pool (on points or cash through member services) and the CRO rooms are different so you may have success there. Last year I couldn't find good CRO BCV discounts but then you never will know unless you ask.
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05-26-2003, 03:35 PM
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#5
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Community Rank: Trailblazer
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: jacksonville, fl usa
Concierge Level: 3
Posts: 5,790
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Re: Beach Club or other deluxe resorts?
Check out Mousesavers to get an idea of what the current AP discounts are. Mary keeps discounts up to date as she receives them, so it's a good place to get a feel for what discounts are offered during the course of the year.
Also, if you are looking for a resort that has a little something extra, but is still somewhat easy on the pockets, try WL. They tend to have the best discounts of the deluxe resorts, and it really is quite gorgeous.
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05-26-2003, 06:55 PM
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#6
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Community Rank: Scout
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Chicago
Posts: 4,812
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Re: Beach Club or other deluxe resorts?
Since you and your mom are teachers, you are eligible for the teacher discount at the Swan and Dolphin. These are in the same area as the BC. The current teacher rate is $129.
Maggie
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05-26-2003, 07:51 PM
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#7
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Community Rank: Explorer
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 7,386
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Re: Beach Club or other deluxe resorts?
Just a little note about the Swan/Dolphin teachers/nurses rate. They have made the $10 resort fee mandatory which brings the nightly rate up to $139 per night, not counting taxes.
I second Cindy's suggestion about Wilderness Lodge. A Wilderness Lodge Villa would probably fit the bill of accomodating your whole party. Or you might even want to consider a cabin at Fort Wilderness. They are very reasonable in cost and yet still offer all the comforts to be expected at a Disney resort. (They even do your dishes.)
I also second Carrousel Lover's suggestion about the folks at Your Magic Journeys. They're geniuses at getting the best possible deal on accommodations at DW.
Joy
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05-26-2003, 08:50 PM
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#8
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Community Rank: Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Florida Big Bend
Posts: 17,133
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Re: Beach Club or other deluxe resorts?
Quote:
One suggestion is to use Jean at Your Magic Journeys (she's in the ask the travel agent section of this board). She will look at all of the rates out there AAA, DC etc and book best for you as well as track any new rates.
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<font size="2" face="Comic Sans MS, Arial">Getting in touch Jean or any of the others at www.yourmagicaljourneys.com is the BEST WAY to go. They go the extra mile necessary in some situations. Jean has worked miracles for many of us.
Elaine
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