PTR: Amtrak on the cheap in June-NYC/DC/Virginia/AL/FL Upated 3/20/14 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
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.
PTR: Amtrak on the cheap in June-NYC/DC/Virginia/AL/FL Upated 3/20/14
I work 24 hrs a week as an RN, brought home 26k last year. DH does not work at all. We have an old junker of a car (but good gas milage), a cheap apartment, and we do our best to keep costs down because more than anything, we love to travel. OK, and have as much free time as possible. I'm interested in financial loopholes that allow poor lazy bums like us to live the good life!!!
We're (Me, DH, DS5) will be traveling coach class on a 30 day trip with stops in NYC (DSILs Wedding, I'm the unofficial officiant!), DC, Virginia for some camping, AL/FL to visit DFriend, and back home to Oregon. Will look something like this:
Train OR-NYC 4 days
NYC 7 days
Travel 1 day
DC 5 days
Travel 1 day
Virginia 4 days
Travel 1 day
ALA/FL 6 days
Travel home 4 days.
This is 33 days, and we have to get back in 30, so going to have to shorten some stuff or figure out a way to make this a bit longer...
Radically cheap tips:
DS and I have 2 seats together. DH gets one in front or behind.
DS and I sleep on the FLOOR under the seats. DH sleeps from 12 to 5am in the observation car (shhhh, no one will care if there aren't many travelers playing this angle!)
Where to sleep in NYC for CHEAP CHEAP? We will rent a van from UHaul and park it in front of an apartment complex in a decent neighborhood in a borough. SHHHHH!!!!!! Showers at friends and DSILs' hotel room! It will be stifling hot. DH plans to buy a fan and wire it to the van battery. He knows how to do this stuff. Wet wipes and camping mattresses. And hey, we won't be spending much time here. Just sleep.
Same for DC. The rest is going to be camping.
FOOD ON TRAIN: Lots of snacky stuff, crackers, jerky, cheese, fruit, something for dessert every day etc. BUT...What about hot food. I cannot be happy without hot food. Solution: Just add hot water meals! My staple is cup o noodles ramen. Pop many out of styrofome and put it all in a big zip lock. Buy freeze dried vegetable mix (soup mix available at our local bulk food outlet). Add to ramen mix. Also, take along freeze dried coffee and cocoa for a hot drink fix. Now bring a thermos with no coffee taste. The worker will give out hot water if asked, and we are off to the races!
Hope to hear about must sees, especially cheap ones, in NYC especially!
Not sure when you are traveling but NYS can be very hot in the summer and the van may not be sleepable (you won't be able to open window because of bugs). also if you are in Manhattan you may not be able to stay on the street, parking can cost as much as a campground. I would look into staying at a campground outside of the city and commuting in. You'll also have the option of cooking a few meals.
Not sure when you are traveling but NYS can be very hot in the summer and the van may not be sleepable (you won't be able to open window because of bugs). also if you are in Manhattan you may not be able to stay on the street, parking can cost as much as a campground. I would look into staying at a campground outside of the city and commuting in. You'll also have the option of cooking a few meals.
Yup, I know! We will be traveling with mosquito netting, and we will be parking in Queens, Hoboken, Newark, Long Island (but close in), or possibly Brooklyn. We have a friend there, but i know she gets tons of guests so we can't stay at her place all that time...Not that close of a friend. I've asked her to scout a parking spot for us.
We want to be able to catch public transport into the city without driving and reparking, that's why we don't want to go to a camping place. The van costs 1 dollar per mile plus the daily price of the rental.
I traveled cross-country via Amtrak years ago and it was a great trip! Hope you have a wonderful time.
If I have the time, I vastly prefer overland travel. Except maybe crossing an entire ocean. Not sure how I would like that unless it was on a real cruise ship!
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
SQUEEEEEE!!!!!!!! Last night DH said...You know, we are going to be THAT close to Orlando...Why don't you take DS to WDW?!!!!! Now, we don't have the budget for this...but......BUT.....BUT... I'm starting a WDW on the cheap threat over at the planning forum. !!!!!!!!
SQUEEEEEE!!!!!!!! Last night DH said...You know, we are going to be THAT close to Orlando...Why don't you take DS to WDW?!!!!! Now, we don't have the budget for this...but......BUT.....BUT... I'm starting a WDW on the cheap threat over at the planning forum. !!!!!!!!
Ahhh, I've hit an existential crisis around this trip. Seems so so so expensive...and for what? A wedding, that's important, I suppose. And MORE adventure...? I don't know, I love planning it, but it seems so expensive now...DH and I don't have anything in savings, really. (OK, a tiny bit in an inaccessible location, nothing like a retirement account or anything). We will take our immediate savings to ZERO with this trip. And yes, we will save up, get another tax return, and be able to do it all again next summer, BUT....I don't know, I may have lost my mojo on this one... Maybe we could just hang out at home? And maybe go to Disneyland again?!?!?!?!!!!!!!
I guess if I had my way, we would fly to NYC, go to the wedding, hang around a few more days, and fly home. Then maybe I would take DS to Anaheim, Las Vegas, or something like that for a short trip. Oh, this Disney addiction. It's ruining me on other domestic travel!!!!
figuring out what to do. I know there's been some talk in the neighbouring Globetrotting forum and Disney does spoil you for exploring other places, although invariably I find when we head somewhere else (and sometimes somewhere new) it's always worth it.
Well, I'm partially recovered from my "Why are we spending all this money" crisis. And we have a decision.
Our itinerary was looking very cramped, so we decided to spend an extra $500 to air it out a bit. We are purchasing the 45 day Amtrak RailPass, and here is our itinerary at this time.
NYC-6 nights
Pitsburg-2 nights
Virginia (Charlottesville and camping)-6 nights
S. Georgia-One night to get DH settled. He stays another 6 nights camping in the swamp.
Orland-Me and the boy-6 nights (may be joined by DF and her 2 kiddos)
DC-4-5 nights
After that we have some free time and will decide on the fly.
I do wish I could afford more than one day in a Disney Park, but for now one day is the max, and even that is tenuous. I will be buying Tix when I get there based on the budget.
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
!!!!!!!!
and 
for figuring out what to do.
Linear Mode
