Trying again...looking for a parent whose child has done DLR on a school tour.

[BWCSH]

I have talked to the Disneyland Today folks on Twitter, folks here, and the travel agent. The answers I'm getting don't add up.

So, I'm only asking for responses from a parent whose son or daughter went on a school trip to DLR.

I was asking about adding MaxPass to tour tickets. The DT folks told me the travel agent could do this with no problem. The travel agent tells me that my son won't have a ticket in-hand until the day of! Seriously, the final payment is over 6 months in advance of the trip.

If anyone has been able to add MaxPass to a school tour ticket, could you tell me how you did it?

This trip to CA is costing me more for 1 person than I paid for my entire family to go for a week...so I don't expect for my kid to spend his entire time there waiting in line. They are going in Nov. 2018...the Sunday and Monday after Thanksgiving.

I'm kind of a Disney commando...if you look on here under the name lntsmom, you can find my trip reports to WDW and DLR back in '08 and '09. My family's Disney theme song is, "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead"...changed to, "I'll Sleep When I'm Home", lol! Not being in charge of this trip is already driving me crazy. I'm bound and determined that my kid isn't going to be one of the annoying herds that roam without any purpose....

Thanks for any MaxPass advice you can offer!

 

[smartlabelprint]

Sounds dumb. Does he have to go?

 

[ParkHopper1]

Unless all his friends he will be hanging with also have MaxPass as well or if he is touring the parks solo, MaxPass will be kinda useless for an individual in the park with a group IMO.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

School trip...the chaperones are going to hold on to those tickets until the moment they need to give the kids the tickets to walk through the gates. My high school son is a Disneyland expert. He played tour guide for a large group of his friends on their school trip. First thing he did once the chaperones handed out their tickets was make every one in his group take a picture of their ticket barcode. Sure enough, one kid in his group lost his ticket during the trip...twice! So anyway, yes, with a school group you pay far in advance but you don't have control or possession of your kid's tickets. That's up to the people on the trip what time to hand them out and whether or not to leave them in the kids' hands throughout the trip or collect them each night before lights out or whatever.

As for whether you can add Maxpass to the ticket, my guess is yes it can be done. When my kid went, it was just a normal type hopper ticket in function although it was marked and priced specially for the event they were there for. I agree with the previous poster though that Maxpass isn't going to do your kid any good on his own. A properly run school group event isn't going to let your kid run around solo, and if the rest of the people he's trying to hang out with don't have Maxpass, their fastpass return times aren't going to be synced up.

I didn't go on my kid's school trip. If you are letting your kid go and you aren't going to be there, my advice is to let the planning go. It's his trip, not yours. He's going to have to go with the flow of what's going on with his group. I don't think my kid's school group made it into the park anytime close to opening on any day. My son being a Disneyland expert was able to help his group be more efficient than pretty much any other group from his school on that trip plus he won the buzz lightyear challenge the trip organizer set up. lol. Even so, yes, my son did fewer rides and shows than he would have with his family but he had a blast because the experience of being there with his school band and friends and doing things differently than we would have as a family made it fresh again. I have no idea what your school's plans or purpose in the trip are, but the reality is that if the kids are allowed to go off in groups in the park then that's what they are going to do. Waiting in line and talking and having fun together are part of the experience. If you are worried about behavior issues, well you can't control all that either. You can talk to your child and reiterate your values and the standards that you hope he lives up to and give him some advice for how to handle himself in a group and how to deal with group behavior. Anyway, I know it's not what you asked for, but it's the advice I would give. The funny thing is I'm a huge planner and something of a control freak myself, but the older my kids get the more I have learned that you just have to let go of some things and trust in them and life to work out ok even without trying to micromanage the results.

 

[StormyCA]

Wondering about this myself. BFF is chaperoning and I'm meeting her there. Luckily it's a group of HS kids so 'chaperoning' means they text us a picture of them in the parks somewhere instead of physically checking in!

We'd like to add MP to her ticket and then link it to mine. Our assumption is that she'll have to go to GS to add MP and then we'll have to be able to scan a bar code on her hopper onto my phone? I've only used MP once and it was for a solo trip so the scanning and linking will be a new experience for me! MDE at WDW was so easy because it was all done from my laptop before we even left for Florida!

Not getting MP for her daughter as it's likely that none of her 'group' will have it.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Wondering about this myself. BFF is chaperoning and I'm meeting her there. Luckily it's a group of HS kids so 'chaperoning' means they text us a picture of them in the parks somewhere instead of physically checking in!

We'd like to add MP to her ticket and then link it to mine. Our assumption is that she'll have to go to GS to add MP and then we'll have to be able to scan a bar code on her hopper onto my phone? I've only used MP once and it was for a solo trip so the scanning and linking will be a new experience for me! MDE at WDW was so easy because it was all done from my laptop before we even left for Florida!

Not getting MP for her daughter as it's likely that none of her 'group' will have it.

I don't think you should have to go to GS. She should just have to scan her ticket into her or your phone in the Disneyland app and then be able to add Maxpass from there. You have to have a credit card linked to the account, and it's $10 each day. You will be able to add it after entering the park gates the first time each day.

 

[StormyCA]

I don't think you should have to go to GS. She should just have to scan her ticket into her or your phone in the Disneyland app and then be able to add Maxpass from there. You have to have a credit card linked to the account, and it's $10 each day. You will be able to add it after entering the park gates the first time each day.

Thanks!

I have a card linked to my phone app. Not sure if she does, I'll have to ask her. So, theoretically we can scan HER ticket onto MY phone and I can add & pay for her MP from my app? Wouldn't we have to add it to her phone first so she can also request MPs for one or both of us?

And I guess we'll have to do it day by day as I'll be getting to the parks a few hours before she does so I'll be 'scanned in' before she gets there. Hope there won't be a problem getting MPs for my own use before she gets there!

I guess if worse comes to worse, we can both go to GS and they'll walk us through. She's 'tech challenged' and I'm not much more savvy!

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Thanks!

I have a card linked to my phone app. Not sure if she does, I'll have to ask her. So, theoretically we can scan HER ticket onto MY phone and I can add & pay for her MP from my app? Wouldn't we have to add it to her phone first so she can also request MPs for one or both of us?

And I guess we'll have to do it day by day as I'll be getting to the parks a few hours before she does so I'll be 'scanned in' before she gets there. Hope there won't be a problem getting MPs for my own use before she gets there!

I guess if worse comes to worse, we can both go to GS and they'll walk us through. She's 'tech challenged' and I'm not much more savvy!

Yes, you could choose to scan her ticket into the app on your phone and pay for her maxpass from your app. That is the way I did it for my family when we had APs that didn't have maxpass on them and we paid the $10 per day fee. You would not have to add to her phone first, but you certainly could do so if you or she wanted to. If you have more than one ticket scanned in on your phone, then you are supposed to be able to assign them names so you know who's who. I can't speak to this though since we used annual passes so names were already programmed in. You are able once you have the tickets scanned into the app to select a fastpass for a ride for your party at once. You can drop members out though that aren't present or don't want a fastpass for that ride. I think it's just a matter of checking or unchecking a little box. I'm not in the park or even looking at the app at the moment, so sorry if I'm not explaining well. It was actually not that difficult to figure out, and I'm only a little tech savvy.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Thanks!

I have a card linked to my phone app. Not sure if she does, I'll have to ask her. So, theoretically we can scan HER ticket onto MY phone and I can add & pay for her MP from my app? Wouldn't we have to add it to her phone first so she can also request MPs for one or both of us?

And I guess we'll have to do it day by day as I'll be getting to the parks a few hours before she does so I'll be 'scanned in' before she gets there. Hope there won't be a problem getting MPs for my own use before she gets there!

I guess if worse comes to worse, we can both go to GS and they'll walk us through. She's 'tech challenged' and I'm not much more savvy!

Guest Services for the first few hours of park opening at Disneyland/DCA is the thing nightmares are made of. On the park map you'll see Information desks scattered around both parks. Generally staffed with 1 to 3 people and a big umbrella or two above a podium. If you have issues with MP go to one of those. MUCH faster! They can guide you through any issues.

Both tickets can be scanned into both apps with no issues. The first app you scan to will give you the chance (your only chance!) to name the ticket. When you scan that ticket into person #2 app the name will pre-populate. With both tickets on both phones either one of you can pull and modify FPs throughout the day.

You will be able to purchase MP for her.

You will not be able to purchase MP for her until she scans her ticket into the park. (They take and match photos so you cannot scan her ticket in for her.)

You can purchase for yourself and use it and then purchase for her as soon as she enters the park and start getting FPs for her. (FWIW You can't add her to FPs you pull before she enters the park, you can search for a fastpass for her and see if the times match up if you both want to ride for something you already pulled. If an overlapping time is not available you can cancel your FP and then pick up 2 together and they will be at the same time.)

Sounds terribly expensive so I hope it's EXTRA magical for you both!

 

[bethwc101]

You should consider just taking the family. My brother had a trip to DLR for a few days. We planned a family trip the same days, he drove down with us, we bought the tickets, and for the 5 of us to go was the same price as just him. And he was given more freedom than the other kids. He just met up with his friends and did the activities with his friends, but then was able to stay for an extra day..