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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 been talking to my hubby about become DVC members...he hasnt drank the Disney kool aid but I finally got him to agree on a Disney trip every other year. We love love love the WL so I would probably try to buy resale DVC so WL can be our home resort. Here is what I am thinking - go every other year in the beginning of October for about 5 days in a 2 bedroom villa (there are 7 of us so we need the 2 br one).. What do I need to look for in a resale to be able to make this happen? Can someone point me in the right direction to start researching this? Thanks so much!!!
That time of year it's 279 points for a week for a 2 bedroom. You'll basically want enough points that you can use a year and borrow a year (or bank a year, and then use those plus the current year) if you are only going to go every other year.
Warning, once you buy, you may find you need more points!! We've added on twice (so far) and now own at SSR, HHI, and GCV.
Good luck convincing your DH!!
Thanks!! He has said ok to every other year - I was checking the resale site...I found this
W1508HAWilderness Lodge150Aug2042All 150 points available now and all 150 coming in 2011!$75$11,250Reduced!
I would need to look for something like this right?? But instead of Aug it needs to be October?? And would we need to pay the entire amount up front or can we finance it?
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150 points should suffice if you want to go to WL every other year, because that's 300 points every two years. You may want to look at point requirements for other resorts and other months, though, in case you can't get exactly what you want or your schedule changes in some years.
You don't need a use year of October just because you want to travel in October -- the use year of August just means that each year's points become available in August. I think it's actually better to have a use year that starts a few months before you typically travel, because there are restrictions on booking and traveling during the last four months of your use year.
If you buy directly through Disney, you can finance through them. I don't know how it works if you buy resale. We used a home equity line of credit when we bought from DVC because the rate was much lower than DVC was offering.
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When buying a resale you have to come up with all the money yourself. It's like buying a house from a private party. They aren't going to give you a loan--you need to work with a bank on that.
Home equity line is a good way to go if available. Most banks don't regarding timeshares very highly. The loan they would give you is pretty much a "signature loan" with a pretty substantial interest rate. You could easily pay 12-15% or more on such a loan.
Before my DH was ready to "drink the koolaid" I kept an eye on resale websites so that I would know what certain resorts were going for. Then when he started to show interest I could show him on paper (he's a numbers person) what the prices had been over the previous months for what I thought we would be interested in. Also, since I had become familiar with some of the prices and knew the points we wanted, year end, etc I felt more confident when I finally contacted the resale company.
It's also good to ask questions here and read the PPer ebook on DVC so you have a good understanding of how DVC works before making a purchase.