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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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As a relatively new DVC member, I am wondering about the process of purchasing points for transfer. For those more experienced... If we wanted to invite some family members and purchase additional points to upgrade from a 1-bedroom to a 2-bedroom (probably about 80 points), what do we need to consider?
I know the points should be the same home resort and probably the same use year, but what is the process for purchasing? If you find a willing seller on one of the internet boards, how does the transaction work? Do you pay the seller first, then he/she transfers the points, or vice versa? I realize this is a private transaction, and there is risk involved, but it's a little scary thinking about sending someone a check without any guarantee of the transfer actually occuring! Has anyone done this successfully? Advice???
I'm thinking you are trying to rent points for a one time trip, not purchase an additional contract?
I borrowed points from my DSiL, she transferred the points into my account and I paid her. I then used those points as if they were my own to make the reservation I needed.
With a stranger, it's a bit different. There is always that "leap of faith" thing, where there is a level of trust in a stranger. There are some excellent resources linked in the sticky threads in this forum for renting points, as well as a thread on renting.
You'll need to find a renter that will rent the points, rather than the reservation. Some ressies are already made, and they are renting out the time and the place. Also, make sure you know in advance when the sellers points are available,
Another thing to keep in mind is that the transfer of points does not guarantee a reservation. If you rent 80 points at $10/point, and you are unable to get the accomodation you want, you will still have those 80 points in your account.
You do usually pay the seller first and then transfer the points.
Lots of people have rented successfully, and I'm sure you'll get lots of input from them here!
As far as protecting your interests, consider using PayPal to handle the funds transfer. If the funds originate from your credit card, you have two avenues you could pursue for a grievance if things happen to go bad--you could appeal to either PayPal or the CC to refund the money.
Going along with that, it would be wise to have some sort of written agreement before any money changes hands. Make sure it states what you are getting (number of points, Home, UY) and when they will be transferred.
Another approach you could consider is to book as many nights as possible using your points and then pay cash for the rest. If you book the cash nights through DVC they can link the reservations together so it appears as one continuous stay. That will probably cost you a little more but you won't have to deal with the transfer.
Finally, make sure you have a heart-to-heart talk with your relatives before they agree to the trip. The DVC world is littered with stories of relatives who have zero concept of what it costs you to invite them along. Over the years I've read far too many stories of relatives backing-out at the last minute, not saving enough money for their park tickets and food, taking it upon themselves to invite yet more people along on the trip, etc. Even if you're dealing with very close relatives (parent, sibling) or veteran Disney guests, do yourself a favor and make sure you lay out the ground rules right from the start. Make sure they understand what they will be responsible for paying, who is going, that dates are inflexible, how you plan to tour the parks (as a group, separately, etc.) and so on.
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Sue and Tim... thanks for the great information! I'm a bit confused regarding the difference between renting points vs. a transfer of points. If someone is willing to transfer a given number of points, I would pay the seller, then the seller would transfer the points into my account so I can use them as my own and control the reservation. If I rent points, does that mean that I need to have two separate reservations: one that I can make with my own points, and then a second reservation that the seller would make for me using the rented points?
If I understand correctly, it seems like the first option would be better... no need to switch rooms, and I wouldn't have to worry about my reservation after the initial transaction. (If I rent points, I can't be sure everything will go as planned until I arrive -- as I would have no control of the reservation.) Am I missing something?
Renting points is the cost involved with the transaction. You would rent points on a one time only basis from another DVC owner for whatever the agreed upon cost is. The transfer of points occurs after the financial obligation is fulfilled.
For example, say you rent 80 points at $10 a point from X owner. You agree on the price and pay the owner the amount agreed upon, say $800. When the financial transaction is complete, the owner will then transfer the points into your account for you to use.
If you rent points, you can do with then what you want. If the renter already has a vacation booked and is renting that, you would be bound by that contract.
Just my thoughts on the renting/transferring concept.
You are technically always renting pts from another DVC owner. But the difference comes in if the people needing the pts are DVC members or not. If they are DVC members the "renting" can be done via a transfer of pts from one account to another. If the ppl needing pts are NOT a DVC member, then the owner of the pts needs to make all the reservations on the renter’s behalf.
Just my thoughts on the renting/transferring concept.
You are technically always renting pts from another DVC owner. But the difference comes in if the people needing the pts are DVC members or not. If they are DVC members the "renting" can be done via a transfer of pts from one account to another. If the ppl needing pts are NOT a DVC member, then the owner of the pts needs to make all the reservations on the renter’s behalf.
A member can still rent a reservation from another member.
DVC limits members to just one transfer per year--that includes either transferring points IN or OUT. So when a transfer is negotiated, both parties involved are actually burning their single transfer for that year. For that reason alone it's often much harder to find a member willing to transfer points. I have never rented points out since becoming a member but, at the very least, I would ask for greater cash compensation for a transfer than I would for a simple rental.
Thanks for the responses, everyone! Very helpful. If I understand correctly, the only way for me to control the reservation, as a DVC member, would be to find someone willing to transfer points into my account -- which may be difficult since we're each allowed one transfer per year. Plan B would be to use my points for part of the stay, then rent a new reservation from another member for the rest of the stay. I think I've got it!
A third option would be to book as many nights as possible on points and pay cash for the rest. If you book the cash reservation through DVC Member Service, it can be "linked" to your points stay so that it has the appearance of being one continuous stay (no need for multiple check-ins, one set of room keys, etc.)
At times DVC will even offer a discount of 25% off rack rates. Discount availability varies by resort, season, date, etc., so you need to ask whether it's available or not.
For a two bedroom you're still going to pay several hundred dollars per night, but that is certainly a simpler process than renting the points.
A third option would be to book as many nights as possible on points and pay cash for the rest. If you book the cash reservation through DVC Member Service, it can be "linked" to your points stay so that it has the appearance of being one continuous stay (no need for multiple check-ins, one set of room keys, etc.)
At times DVC will even offer a discount of 25% off rack rates. Discount availability varies by resort, season, date, etc., so you need to ask whether it's available or not.
For a two bedroom you're still going to pay several hundred dollars per night, but that is certainly a simpler process than renting the points.
I had a very successful transaction transferring points. The other dvc owner billed me through pay pal, so that felt very secure. I transferred the amount - i only needed 10 points so offered $15 pp, which is about $3 pp more than the going rate. The points were deposited in my account within a day.
The only downside was we decided to stay one extra night and had used up the one transfer for year. But, I ended up booking that one extra night for cash then fortunately was able to use points from my other home at 7 months out to replace the cash reservation and stay on points.
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Has anyone done this successfully? Advice???
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