I'm going to Disneyland! with 50 teenagers...what? PTR - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
I'm going to Disneyland! with 50 teenagers...what? PTR
Hello PPer's!
I know I haven't been on in awhile due to life and starting a Master's degree in History that I hope will lead to a PHD someday.... I haven't been traveling much except a quick trip home to Alaska to visit with my family at Christmas. Another reason was because I've never (until today) been able to figure out how to get pictures from photo bucket to the boards, I always got error messages and my attachment file is almost full and a TR without pictures...
I wanted to do a trip to WDW again but DD was really pushing DL because it's Walt's park and she doesn't remember much of when we went because she was 9 so I agreed and tried to figure out when we could go.
I was really hoping to go to DL last summer (2015) but DD was gearing up for running start which is a program in WA where 11th &12th grade students can take community college classes that count towards high school graduation and the state pays tuition. Parents have to cover fees, parking permits, books, & and supplies so although a great deal - still extra cost. Plus, since DD would have to drive between high school and college (no buses) we had to get her driving, which a drivers class is mandatory, and a car and insurance so you get the picture. I was bummed that I would not get to DL for their 60th anniversary ...then when DD started school she came home sort of sad. I asked what was up? Her choir was taking a trip to DL on spring break and would get to go to a workshop with a cast member about performing and get to actually perform in DL. She knew money was tight and didn't think it was possible, well neither did I but after thinking about it for a few days I told her we could at least attend the information meeting.
The TA was there to provide info and when I found out that the trip was about $800 for students and just over $400 for chaperones I was the first one to sign my name under the chaperone list! Then of course, I had to come home and explain to DH what a great deal the trip was and we still had 7 months to save. It wasn't a problem with him, he's sweet.
I didn't do much planning in the fall other than making the payments that were due. I was working and taking a class and getting ready for Christmas so was pretty swamped. I won't start my next class until March so have some time to plan, yeah! I recently finished Cam's TR to DLR and am also following Cheryl's to get in the mood.
Who's going?
Me: 55, mom of two daughters, 3 grandkids, teacher, and having Disney withdrawals bad . Favorite Character: Mary Poppins. Favorite ride, POTC.
DD: 17, loves Disney movies and songs, sings, writes, draws, wants to be a teacher and really wants DL. Favorite characters, Peter Pan, Alice, Ariel, Favorite rides, BTMR, & IASW
Choir teacher: 24. His 2nd year teaching, 1st time leading a group of students
Other chaperones: I do not yet know who, how many or anything about them other than they are parents of students.
High school advanced choir: not sure of definite number, maybe 50 but will find out more this upcoming Thursday because I volunteered to do a presentation on DLR information.
That sounds awesome! How exciting that you and DD get to go on this trip. My son did two similar trips to WDW with his marching band, and DD will get to go with band in 2017.
That sounds awesome! How exciting that you and DD get to go on this trip. My son did two similar trips to WDW with his marching band, and DD will get to go with band in 2017.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
At the information meeting back in September, the travel agent explained what was included: flights, transportation to and from the airport, 3 nights hotel, one lunch, the Grammy museum, a 3 day park hopper, the workshop with a CM and the performance.
She did say that anyone who wanted to stay longer and not fly back with the group needed to let her know before January or early January (I don't remember which right now.)
The itineary looks like this:
Tuesday, April 5th fly to LAX from Seatac
Arrive, bus transportation to In Out Burger, have lunch ($10.00 limit) If anyone has been to In Out, can a decent lunch be purchased for $10? Do they have good food?
Off to the Grammy museum
Next stop, hotel
T.A. recommended checking out DTD this evening
Wednesday, April 6th DLR (not sure which park yet)
Thursday, April 7th DLR ( the workshop will be one day and the performance another)
Friday - check out hotel, bus to LAX, fly back to WA.
I do not know yet flight times, hopefully will find out this Thursday.
You might have noticed that we have 3 day hoppers and only 2 days in the parks, I asked about that and TA said that is what Choir teacher approved and any changes would need to go through him. I figure DD and I can use 3rd day on Friday because of course I extended trip 2 days so we won't return until Sunday. My only concern is how early or late students are leaving Friday; generally check out is around 10 or 11 AM so I am hoping bus will be there before then so that once students are on the bus and we find a place to stow our suitcases we can head to the parks for awhile before we check in at new hotel.
About This Page: 
. I haven't been traveling much except a quick trip home to Alaska to visit with my family at Christmas. Another reason was because I've never (until today) been able to figure out how to get pictures from photo bucket to the boards, I always got error messages and my attachment file is almost full
and a TR without pictures...
) we had to get her driving, which a drivers class is mandatory, and a car and insurance 
so you get the picture. I was bummed that I would not get to DL for their 60th anniversary 
Then of course, I had to come home and explain to DH what a great deal the trip was and we still had 7 months to save.
It wasn't a problem with him, he's sweet
. 
Alaskan Mom aka Bonnie
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
<--- Disney Fantasy 2016!
with your DL presentation. 
Dreams, Wishes, Hopes... these are the parts of childhood we should never lose.
Linear Mode
