So, you're moving to Turkey? Let's go to Disney first! - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
So, you're moving to Turkey? Let's go to Disney first!
I mentioned this trip in two previous trip reports and here we are just 100 days away!! Here's the skinny: my best friend is ridiculous and amazing and works for the Department of Agriculture in the foreign service. Her husband just sold his tech company for a truckload of money and has been retained as the CEO. They have two kids, 7 and 10. And her next post, after spending the last seven years in DC, will be Ankara, Turkey. They are leaving in July. We'd long talked about a big Disney trip together and, wouldn't you know, it's way cheaper to go to Disney from Virginia than it is to go from Turkey!
So, we're going. There is one big thing to know. Her husband hates amusement parks and rides. She doesn't really like them either. But their oldest daughter somehow ended up at Busch Gardens Williamsburg and it's been nothing but "I LOVE AMUSEMENT PARKS" for that kid since then. She's allowed me to be 100% in charge of everything, I've got their park tickets, booking FPs, meals, groceries, room selection, schedule, everything. I've promised to not go commando on them, not that I would because I don't travel like that either, but I'm going to make extra efforts of pool/relaxing. And her husband will be working quite a bit. This transition to not being owner but remaining as CEO has been busy, and their impending move to Turkey, away from the Board of Directors adds some strain.
Note: He's from Turkey, but has lived in the states (and with her at various foreign outposts) since college in the early 1990s. His software engineers are all based in Turkey while his service technicians and sales are here in the states. It's all very complicated, but basically he and his brother started this small company years and years ago because they saw a flaw in some other software and realized they could develop a fix/patch. They toiled away, had a couple big customers, and like happens in IT, a bigger company finally saw some value (seriously, it took something like 15 years of working with a few guys in Turkey and a few guys here before anyone noticed them) and bought them out of ownership while retaining their whole team. So it's good, but complicated and hard and he has to work while we are there, at least some of the time.
We planned this for the first week of May because I figured with people already on the fence about Disney style experiences, lower crowds would be best. Adam is only in Kindergarten (he loves and hates it; "I never get to talk when I want to talk or ask all the questions I have or learn about machines but I love gym") so I'm not too worried about missing five days of school. Christine, on the other hand, was all worked up about what the schools would think if she took the kids out. I reminded her that she' moving to TURKEY in July; the school's opinion doesn't matter!! What are they going to do about it?! So, once that was settled, everyone is on board for the dates.
Should I put the rest here? I've done airfare, park tickets, grocery order, and a few ADRs, none without the constant backflips of balancing money with desire, current plans with future plans, and some bananas crazytown changes in our lives too.
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
Great start! There is a limit on the size of your signature. Can you see the other stuff in your preview? You may want to condense the previous trips section which should open up more space for the other things in your signature. And make sure you haven't turned off your signature in your posts.
Great start! There is a limit on the size of your signature. Can you see the other stuff in your preview? You may want to condense the previous trips section which should open up more space for the other things in your signature. And make sure you haven't turned off your signature in your posts.
Thanks!! Fixed. With a newer, grainier (you know, to hide my age) picture!
So let's review the attendees at this grand voyage shindig:
US:
Me (duh)
Jake (that's the guy whose name isn't in my user name...mods, I've asked before, but can I keep this account with a new user name, you know instead of kimandmark, we can be kimandjake? I promise I won't get divorced again.)
Adam (the apple of my eye and thorn in my side)
THEM:
Christine: we've been friends since 6th grade, closest though after college, when I lived in DC and she went to grad school in France, getting a masters in Econ (in French, no less) and then got a job with the Dept of Ag. She lived in my crappy tiny apartment living room for three months until she got paid enough to get her own place. Then we lived two blocks apart and it was awesome. We were poor and had each other. She's got the best hair in the world, is super smart, has always had her act together; we went to college about 30 minutes from each other, and while we were both astounding drunks, she ALWAYS did what she was supposed and ended up being International Business Student of the Year while I was sleeping off my debauchery. She claims it was all for show, that she sat in the front row, unshowered, because she knew profs would notice her attendance and voila, awards.
Berkay: He's from Turkey, came to the states for college and pretty much never went back, not for long anyway. We met him because he lived with Christine's brother, and then moved to DC. Brother called and said this, that, other, help Berkay, so we did. They went on a date, he didn't try to kiss her and pretty much dropped her off without much goodbye, and I said he's not that into you; I was wrong. They got married in DC first and then again in Istanbul and I was in both. I went on their honeymoon with them. Really. Because ALL the other friends bailed out. In any case, I highly recommend going to Bodrum, in Turkey, and taking a Blue Cruise around the Aegean, on the old fishing gullets turned vacation cruise yachts. B also does triathlon, not quite at the level I was once at, still, he's faster than me now. Jerk. We'll talk way too much about training and gadgets and bikes and probably go for a run and everyone else will roll their eyes for exercise.
Maya: Their elder daughter, 10, born in Switzerland, compliant and pleasant and helpful and award winning stop motion film maker (it was a school award, but still, following mama's footsteps). She loves spinning rides and rollercoasters.
Melis: Their younger daughter, 7, born in DC. Creative and conniving Lego lover, shy and quiet, but absolutely defiant when crossed. Let's me sleep in her bed when I visit. She gets motion sickness but loves to swim.
WHERE:
AKV Jambo House Two Bedroom Savannah View. When we go, I do standard. It saves points and we've never gotten a bad view; sure, people pen, but never the pool or a wall or a truck stop. But this will be their only trip and I really want them to love everything about it, so I wasn't willing to get just the 'okay' view, I want to guarantee the view. I hope all the extra points are worth it.
The kids will all sleep in the living room. When Adam and I visit them in DC, the kids all share the basement couches and airbeds and it works out great, so I think the same will be true here as well. I suspect that Adam and Melis will play together in the room and at the pool (he STILL doesn't swim or put his face in and I quit swimming lessons because he was two years older than the other kids and we'd repeated that class five times) while Maya will join him/us on rides. C and B and Melis will likely ride very few things. Sad, but true. B isn't aware of the costs (frugal...the man is frugal, it's the most polite thing I can say about it) but C knows that this is for her kids so she's sacrificing.
We planned one grown up meal at Jiko, during which Maya will babysit and have a cell phone. Jake and I will try to take the girls with us once or twice so that C and B can do something together. Mostly, I'm super excited to be with my bestie the whole time!!!
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.
I still haven't learned. I typed and typed and typed and it's gone!!
Suffice it to say, I booked FPs and airport transportation and we are closing on our house tomorrow and my new job is bananas and I left lots of blank space in our plans and Adam may or may not be 48" tall by then and and and....
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
. Boy are you busy, too! 
Linear Mode
