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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Hi everyone, I haven't been here in a long time I've had so much going in in my life, but I would like to ask a question about the Disney college program my daughter just graduated from high school and will be starting college on Thursday someone suggested she apply for the college program I was just wondering about the pros and cons of it. I know there was someone here a few yrs back who was accepted and wondering how she liked it and is still with Disney. Any advice would be appricated, Tia!
I participated in the College Program many, many years ago. It was the summer between my freshman and sophomore year. Disney came to the college I was attending and did a presentation and then did on-the-spot interviews for anybody interested. A couple weeks later I was told that I hadn't gotten a spot, but then about 2 weeks before the program was to start, I got another call saying they had some spots open and would I like to participate. 2 weeks later, I was on my way to WDW. At that time, the program had an apartment community that housed all the CP (College Program) kids as well as some of the international cast members. Your rent was deducted out of your paycheck and I remember it being a reasonable amount. The apartment I was in was a 3 bedroom, 2 bath apartment and there were 6 of us. But, as much as we all worked, we never felt like we were on top of each other.
There was a week long orientation where you learned about the history of the company, history of the parks, got a tour of some of the resorts and parks, was shown where you could pick up your uniform, got your ID and nametag made, etc. If you were one of the lucky ones -- and you know this ahead of time -- you got to work an attraction. I remember being extremely jealous of those wearing either Haunted Mansion or Tower of Terror costumes. I was happy, though, as I was assigned to the front gate at the Magic Kingdom. At that time, there were still turnstiles and punch tickets. But, they hire for all kinds of positions and just because you start out as something doesn't mean you might not have other opportunities. One of my roommates started out at the Great Movie Ride, simply assisting people onto the attraction. But, before long, they learned she had theater experience and she eventually moved into a speaking part.
You are guaranteed so many hours a week, so you won't have to worry about being able to pay your rent. But, particularly where I worked, you could sign up for additional hours. You continue -- I believe once a week -- to attend various classes (I forget what they call them) or workshops, so that you are not only working but learning about the company. I will admit, I was 19 years old and that was my first time away from home and I became terribly homesick and left the program early. But, I look back on it as a positive experience. Again, this was way-back-when, so I don't know how much the program has changed, but probably even for the better. The year after I participated, a good friend of mine got selected to go and his first year he worked behind the counter at Tomorrowland Terrace. The following year, he went back and got to captain friendship boats at Epcot. If she has any interest in it, I would tell her to go for it!
DD Kathryn did this during her Junior year. We told her it was okay as long as it didn't interfere with her graduating on time. She graduated on time by doing both Disney 's classes and her school's on line classes. Her school had never had anyone do the DCP and didn't give her credits. For her Disney classes whereas a lot of colleges do.
I wouldn't recommend it unless your DD is seriously mature. Disney supplies housing in a few different areas all close to the parks. They also provide transport. There is a fee but it is taken out of their checks.Can she live in a small apartment with 1 to 5 other girls? She WILL share a room, bathroom, and kitchen. She WILL be pressured/tempted to drink, smoke, and/or have sex. DD had to be moved to a "safe house" while a verbally abusive roommate who liked to throw things and threaten DD was removed. Disney security took care of the situation very well. Work can start at 4 am or end at 4 am. Budgeting is imperitive. The pay is soso. If dealing with the public and most of them do, she will have to always be polite even in the fade of angry guests.
Was it a good experience for DD? You bet. Would she do it again? Yep.
BTW - any time spent in the DCP is not counted towards seniority but time spent working at the Disney store is, even if it's just parttime.
I am not a fan of the CP. To me thee are better ways for kids to spread their wings and I am not sure the jobs offered are any more than a kid could get at the local mall. None of my kids colleges worked with the program and given I was paying 50K/yr. way back when, I did not think working at Disney was a good use of my tuition dollars.
I wouldn't worry it if you DD is just starting school. Let her get adjusted, meet friends and explore the opportunities the college offers.
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My daughter is a huge fan of Disney and talked about CP a lot growing up. Her school does participate, but after really thinking about it she has decided against applying.
She has two friends who are in third round talks right now who are likely going next Spring. If she hears anything good back from them after they go, she could decide to apply to do it the summer after graduation. That would be her best option....but at that point she'll be needing an actual internship before applying to grad school. So who knows.
My DD's school did not participate, so she applied for right after graduation. Initially, she was rooming with 5 other girls. One turned out to have "misrepresented" herself prior to arriving, so none of the others were sad to see her leave. She worked hard, and dealing with some of the guests could be, challenging, shall we say. But she enjoyed the experience and still loves Disney so it didn't sour her. If your DD can fit it into her schedule while not falling behind, I say, go for it.
None of my kids colleges worked with the program and given I was paying 50K/yr. way back when, I did not think working at Disney was a good use of my tuition dollars.
You don't continue to pay tuition to your college while in the DCP, unless you do what my DD did and take on-line classes. We paid for the on-line classes, but it was no-where near as expensive as in-person classes. We also didn't pay for housing for DD while in the DCP, she did.
I still maintain it's a great program. The kids doing it learn a lot about Disney, business in general, and dealing with the public. Yes, they really don't make much money, but to me, it was worth it for DD to do. And, she still loves Disney. She doesn't like Frozen, as they played "Let it Go" in the utilidors constantly while she was there, but still a good experience for her.
It is completely dependent on the student and goals/aspirations etc if the College Program is a good fit for your daughter. Without knowing anything about her I couldn't tell you the pros and cons for your situation. My career field is hospitality AND I needed 1000 hours in my field to graduate so the CP was a good fit for me since I was able to get into a hotel role with Disney. Was it the best internship I could have had? No probably not. I had no managerial exposure it really was just a job not an "internship" but I love Disney and went to college close to home so it was a good fit for me at the time to get a new life experience as well as help meet the requirements for my major. Another girl in my major went and was assigned merchandise and the whole thing almost didn't count for her...
Also, as far as I know they no longer do summer programs unless you are a DCP Alum, so she'd have to take a semester off or take full time online classes (which is a challenge with a full time job at Disney at the same time). I had taken classes every summer and gone into college with AP credits so I was actually on track to graduate a semester early and had no problem taking the semester off I just had to verify a few things with my scholarships to do so.
Some schools require you pay fir the semester even in abstentia. It is not uncommon for selective private colleges to require you pay 8 semesters of tuition even if you don't need to be in residence for 8 semesters. One one hand it seems strange but a student not on campus is taking a place away from someone else. My DD's school had over 20K applicants for around 1500 spots and a waitlist that people seldom were called from.
If one is going into hospitality, it may be a good option but for most other things, it needs to be evaluated carefully. My three kids were all science majors. They were not going to get much out of a semester in Disney that would add to their chemistry resume.
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