UGAFan0829
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- Dec 21, 2004
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Sharing the Magic-Our Niece and Nephews 1st Trip to the World! A May 12 TR
So, here it is---the start of my trip report! Weve been back for a week and a half, and now that Ive received our PhotoPass CD, and the 2,000+ pics that I took are somewhat organized, Im finally ready to give this thing a whirl!!
First off is the cast of characters who were taking part in this most excellent adventure:
First up, theres Mike, my DH of nearly 13 years:
He is truly my very best friend, and I am so thankful that he loves Disney as much as I! His favorite pastimes are fishing, fishing, and fishing. Did I mention that he likes fishing?? He and my sisters oldest son compete in monthly tournaments together, and it just so happened that the Saturday that we left for Disney was also the Saturday for their May tournament! Ooops!! I really didnt mean for it to happen that way, I promise. As youll see later in the report, he does get to make up for it by doing a little fishing in Bay Lake. Mikes favorite characters are Donald, Pumbaa and Mater.
Next is me, Missy:
Im not quite sure what to say about myself, other than Im an obvious self-proclaimed Disney geek! Aside from Disney, my other obsessions are my family, running (which is a work in progress right now), photography, country music and UGA football. My favorite characters are Pooh, Stitch, Tiana and Ariel.
Then comes our nephew, Mark, who is 9:
Hes definitely all boy and has the same love of fishing as Mike. His interest in animals and the outdoors is what made him decide that he wants to be a game warden when he grows up. His favorite character is Mickey Mouse.
And last but not least comes our niece, Jaden, who is 8:
Jaden is definitely a little princess! And while she loves doing all the normal girly things, she doesnt mind getting dirty either! Going into this trip Jaden was most looking forward to her appointment at BBB! Its probably no surprise that her favorite character happens to be Cinderella!
Now, for those of you who havent read my Pre-TR, heres a little background info on how this trip came to be:
Mike and I very close to Mark & Jaden, as they come to our house pretty often to stay the weekends. Weve been keeping them since they were 3 months old and were the first to keep either of them. So it was pretty much a given that we one day wanted to take them to Disney with us. Fast forward several years, and when we were planning this years vacation, we realized that this would be the perfect year to finally take them. Since we planned this trip for well over a year, I knew that we couldnt tell them right away or theyd go crazy waiting for the time to actually arrive. So while we did tell them that we were taking them on vacation, we didnt actually reveal the whole story. As we were planning the trip, we decided that in order to break up the 7.5 hour drive, that wed stop and spend the night in Valdosta, GA. That way wed be well rested and ready to hit Disney with plenty of energy. So, thats what lead us to telling them that we were taking them to Valdosta. Now while they had never even been to Valdosta or had any idea of what there was to do there, they were just excited to be going somewhere. Surprisingly, we were able to keep it a secret until 2 days before we were set to leave. On that Thursday night, all the family gathered at my sisters where we had pizza for dinner before revealing the big surprise. My sisters fiancé recorded it for me, so you can check that out here:
And a few pics:
To be honest, it wasnt the reaction that I was hoping for, but in their defense (especially Mark, as you can see in the video) was pretty shocked and overwhelmed! Afterwards, he asked us not to ever surprise him like that again as it was just too much of a shock which kinda made me feel bad, but Ill definitely remember that for the future! Who knew he wouldnt like to be surprised, but I can understandafter months and months of talk about Valdosta for it to suddenly be changed is enough to throw someone off. Either way, once it all sank it and they realized where they were really going, they began to get excited! And just in case anyones interested in reading the Pre-TR, you can find that here:
Guess What? We're Going to Valdosta!
And lastly for the specifics of the trip
Our dates were Saturday, May 19 Saturday, May 26, with the first night staying at the Hilton Garden Inn in Valdosta and the rest of the trip in a Savanna View Studio at Animal Kingdom Villas-Kindani Village.
So now that Ive officially started and overloaded you with all this nonsense, Im going to stop here Ill be back soon to tell you all about our 1st day and night in Valdosta.
So, here it is---the start of my trip report! Weve been back for a week and a half, and now that Ive received our PhotoPass CD, and the 2,000+ pics that I took are somewhat organized, Im finally ready to give this thing a whirl!!
First off is the cast of characters who were taking part in this most excellent adventure:
First up, theres Mike, my DH of nearly 13 years:
He is truly my very best friend, and I am so thankful that he loves Disney as much as I! His favorite pastimes are fishing, fishing, and fishing. Did I mention that he likes fishing?? He and my sisters oldest son compete in monthly tournaments together, and it just so happened that the Saturday that we left for Disney was also the Saturday for their May tournament! Ooops!! I really didnt mean for it to happen that way, I promise. As youll see later in the report, he does get to make up for it by doing a little fishing in Bay Lake. Mikes favorite characters are Donald, Pumbaa and Mater.
Next is me, Missy:
Im not quite sure what to say about myself, other than Im an obvious self-proclaimed Disney geek! Aside from Disney, my other obsessions are my family, running (which is a work in progress right now), photography, country music and UGA football. My favorite characters are Pooh, Stitch, Tiana and Ariel.
Then comes our nephew, Mark, who is 9:
Hes definitely all boy and has the same love of fishing as Mike. His interest in animals and the outdoors is what made him decide that he wants to be a game warden when he grows up. His favorite character is Mickey Mouse.
And last but not least comes our niece, Jaden, who is 8:
Jaden is definitely a little princess! And while she loves doing all the normal girly things, she doesnt mind getting dirty either! Going into this trip Jaden was most looking forward to her appointment at BBB! Its probably no surprise that her favorite character happens to be Cinderella!
Now, for those of you who havent read my Pre-TR, heres a little background info on how this trip came to be:
Mike and I very close to Mark & Jaden, as they come to our house pretty often to stay the weekends. Weve been keeping them since they were 3 months old and were the first to keep either of them. So it was pretty much a given that we one day wanted to take them to Disney with us. Fast forward several years, and when we were planning this years vacation, we realized that this would be the perfect year to finally take them. Since we planned this trip for well over a year, I knew that we couldnt tell them right away or theyd go crazy waiting for the time to actually arrive. So while we did tell them that we were taking them on vacation, we didnt actually reveal the whole story. As we were planning the trip, we decided that in order to break up the 7.5 hour drive, that wed stop and spend the night in Valdosta, GA. That way wed be well rested and ready to hit Disney with plenty of energy. So, thats what lead us to telling them that we were taking them to Valdosta. Now while they had never even been to Valdosta or had any idea of what there was to do there, they were just excited to be going somewhere. Surprisingly, we were able to keep it a secret until 2 days before we were set to leave. On that Thursday night, all the family gathered at my sisters where we had pizza for dinner before revealing the big surprise. My sisters fiancé recorded it for me, so you can check that out here:
And a few pics:
To be honest, it wasnt the reaction that I was hoping for, but in their defense (especially Mark, as you can see in the video) was pretty shocked and overwhelmed! Afterwards, he asked us not to ever surprise him like that again as it was just too much of a shock which kinda made me feel bad, but Ill definitely remember that for the future! Who knew he wouldnt like to be surprised, but I can understandafter months and months of talk about Valdosta for it to suddenly be changed is enough to throw someone off. Either way, once it all sank it and they realized where they were really going, they began to get excited! And just in case anyones interested in reading the Pre-TR, you can find that here:
Guess What? We're Going to Valdosta!
And lastly for the specifics of the trip
Our dates were Saturday, May 19 Saturday, May 26, with the first night staying at the Hilton Garden Inn in Valdosta and the rest of the trip in a Savanna View Studio at Animal Kingdom Villas-Kindani Village.
So now that Ive officially started and overloaded you with all this nonsense, Im going to stop here Ill be back soon to tell you all about our 1st day and night in Valdosta.
I used to go to the restaurant just for their ice cream. 
