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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Ok so as you might be able to tell from my signature I originally had a December trip to BLT planned (our first trip "home" after buying into DVC). We were going to bring my parents, and then my sister, BIL and niece. Well we have just found out after 2 years of trying and heart ache we are finally pregnant.
We are excited but it has thrown a wrench in the plans as the baby is due right in the middle of our trip. Clearly we will not be able to go then. (Although if I could give birth in Disney I SO would, lol).
So here is my dilema. I booked using banked and borrowed points to get a 1 brd and a studio (do not ask why it is not a 2 bdrm, suffice it to say that owuld not have worked). My use year is February and I am hoping to change our trip to March.
I plan on calling on Tuesday (I assume they are closed Monday for the holiday), however I wanted to know from you guys if this would be an easy switch. Or will the borrowed points be a problem? I am very much confused on how easy/difficult this will be. I know often you guys understand more how the system works and I figured I would ask you guys before confused a poor Disney worker.
Both the banked points and the borrowed points will be a problem.
To put it simply, both of those sets of points are in your 2011 Use Year which runs from 2/1/11 to 1/31/12. Member Services CMs should have gone through the spiel about how banking and borrowing points are "final transactions." They cannot be un-done. You would have to use at least the banked and borrowed points for some stay which occurs prior to 1/31/12 or they are forfeit.
The current year points could be banked into the 2012 Use Year (which runs from 2/1/12 to 1/31/13.) You may also have some 2012 points left and you would be eligible to borrow from the 2013 Use Year.
If you can't use the banked and borrowed points, best solution may be to rent them out either via the web or to a friend / family member. Or you could look at taking a shorter trip just to use the banked and borrowed points during a time in 2011 when you are still able to travel.
To be honest I am sure the CM did explain this when I booked the trip. After 3 miscarriages I did not expect to get pregnant. I guess I will have to figure something out......
Is it wrong to take a one month old to Disney? Lol
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To be honest I am sure the CM did explain this when I booked the trip. After 3 miscarriages I did not expect to get pregnant. I guess I will have to figure something out......
That's one of the risks involved in banking and borrowing points. There are dozens of things which could derail a trip before it occurs. DVC does market travel insurance as an option.
Quote:
Is it wrong to take a one month old to Disney? Lol
I'm sure many people will tell you that there's nothing wrong with that. But there's certainly an element of risk given that you don't know what sort of health problems may impact you or the child during the pregnancy. Something as commonplace as a c-section may leave you unable to travel for weeks after the birth.
Even under the best of conditions, Walt Disney World may not be the best place to adjust to life as a parent for the first time. The entire first year can be pretty tough on parents' sleep schedules.
Is there anywhere closer to home you could use the points - perhaps through the Concierge Collection or maybe through exchanges? It may be worth exploring those options....
I would look into the travel insurance offered thru DVC to see if you can recoup anything that way. AND I would do that BEFORE mentioning ANYTHING about the potential for having to cancel!!
Don't count on Member services having any sympathy and giving you a break on the rules. If they did it for one they would have to do it for everyone.
CONGRATS on the pregnancy!!
Thanks so much guys. I will call and see what can happen. As to being nervous about going with a small baby - yes there are risks. I suppose worse happens and I cannot go I send my family instead. They will just have to celebrate without us.
I will talk to them about the travel insurance, I cannot remember anything I did when I booked so who knows.
As to conceirge collection I do not think so. Plus to be honest because I switched jobs (again before I realized I was going to get pregnant) and so will not qualify for FMLA so I am trying to not use up vacation days before I have to go on maternity leave. Really its more of an after the baby comes option. I will update you guys with what ends up happening.
When you contact MS let ask if you can have you borrowed point back to year 2012. The last time I talked to MS they said they would make one exception in the life of the lease.
I agree with buying the insurance. That's a great idea. Is there any way to move the date of your vacation up and you could travel while pregnant? I actually went to WDW at 34 weeks pregnant. (Of course, my doctor approved it. I had no complications and I was very physically fit.) You could keep your points in your use year and have a little "babymoon" before junior's arrival.
Be VERY careful to investigate the terms of the vacation insurance.
Right now, the birth of your child is still 6 months away. They aren't going to allow you to buy vacation insurance on a trip that's 6 mos away, AFTER you are already aware of the pregnancy, and immediately file a claim based upon said pregnancy.
Insurance is designed to address unexpected issues like weather-related travel delays, a death in the family or unplanned hospitalization. You may thing of the pregnancy as unexpected, but reality is you have 6 months to work around it.
And you didn't buy the insurance BEFORE you were aware of the pregnancy. If you had bought insurance before being aware of the pregnancy, there might be basis for a claim. That's a pre-existing condition.
Where insurance COULD help is if you decide to re-book for January, and later find out that you cannot make that trip. But even if you consider that approach, investigate the pre-existing conditions clauses carefully. They could conceivably disallow any trips scheduled within "X" weeks of a pregnancy on the basis that there is a slim chance of the individual being healthy enough to travel.
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