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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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The ONLY time upgrades occur with DVC villas is if some maintenance or overbooking issue has left the resort with insufficient rooms to meet reservation needs. And these instances are very, VERY rare.
Disney hotels average around 80% occupancy, which gives them plenty of excess capacity which they can use for upgrades.
Timeshares like Disney Vacation Club are typically at or near 100% occupancy. In most cases there simply are not any vacant rooms which can be used for upgrades. And even when such rooms are available, it's against program policy to provide complimentary upgrades.
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The ONLY time upgrades occur with DVC villas is if some maintenance or overbooking issue has left the resort with insufficient rooms to meet reservation needs. And these instances are very, VERY rare.
Disney hotels average around 80% occupancy, which gives them plenty of excess capacity which they can use for upgrades.
Timeshares like Disney Vacation Club are typically at or near 100% occupancy. In most cases there simply are not any vacant rooms which can be used for upgrades. And even when such rooms are available, it's against program policy to provide complimentary upgrades.
That was pretty much going to be my answer. I only remember reading one occasion on the boards where a DVC Member got an upgrade from one size room to another (I don't remember all the details now), but I do recall that was because of maintenance issues with the original room they were assigned.
Never upgraded using DVC points, but we were upgraded from a studio to a 1BR ground floor at the Beach Club Villas while using the 35% room only discount. This was 3 years ago .. Disappointed when they assigned a ground floor unit , but happy when we walked into a 1-BR.
I'll add my own experience. We have been members for over 10 years and did receive one upgrade...if you really want to call it that.
Had a Standard View One Bedroom booked at BoardWalk. Turned out the room right above ours was undergoing renovations. The noise was intolerable. Front desk said they had absolutely nothing else available.
Ended up taking a room at AKV Kidani Village, which was quite new at the time. It was still a One Bedroom villa, but I asked for Savanna View and they complied. That view would have probably cost us 20-30% more points.
Of course, the trade off was that we weren't at the resort we had planned on, and we had to re-pack and move all of our belongings. Disney did help with transportation to get us directly between the two resorts.
All-in-all, it's not anything I would remotely call a pleasant surprise. More like "making lemonade out of lemons."
You'll talk to people who have been members for 20 years and never sniffed anything close to an "upgrade." I've never heard of anyone simply asking for a complimentary upgrade and having it granted. At least, not anyone staying on DVC points. (Cash reservations are different.) When asked, I HAVE heard of them responding with something along the lines of "yes, we do have a One Bedroom villa available for tonight and it will only cost you ____ more points if you wish to upgrade."
It's also worth adding that when a resort is forced to upgrade someone, it's almost always people with shorter reservations. If the resort falls short one studio because repairs or deep cleaning are needed, they'll upgrade someone who only has a 1 or 2 night stay booked before they'll upgrade anyone with a longer stay.
and I'll add my experience.....We were at BWVs during Hurricane Charlie. On Saturday (day after the hurricane...our departure day) I called and was told that the airport was open so we checked out of our studio. We got a call about 1/2 hour later that the MCO was closed until Monday (2 days). We had to see if a room was available. We were given a 1 bedroom villa. I was very grateful.
I'm a 20-year member and have twice been upgraded from a standard studio to a Boardwalk-view one. Upon check-in I was just told that the standard studios were all full and would I "mind" a Boardwalk view? Okay by me!
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I only remember reading one occasion on the boards where a DVC Member got an upgrade from one size room to another (I don't remember all the details now), but I do recall that was because of maintenance issues with the original room they were assigned.
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