Greetings from Georgia!

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wistfulgirl's picture
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Greetings from Georgia!

Hiya!

My name is Lynn. I'm 36 years old and from Georgia (if the thread topic didn't give it away, lol! I'm married to the love of my life and we have four kiddos. Despite being born and raised in Georgia, I've never been to Disney World or any Disney Park. I've been a Disney fan my whole life, but my parents didn't travel much and life's been kind of busy since I became an adult Smile

Rich (39 years old) is my husband. He is British born and raised. We've been together for nearly 15 years after meeting online way back in 2000. We've been married 12 years. We lived in England for the first 3 years we were married but moved to Georgia in 2006. We spent the next few years and lots of money trying to start a family biologically without any luck. In 2012 we became foster parents. We now have 4 children Smile They are:

Monkey or H - Our first and youngest child. Monkey was placed with us 9 days after our home opened. He was almost 2 years old at placement and is now 4. We had the immense pleasure and joy of adopting him on March 3, 2014. He is the catalyst for our first WDW visit coming up in 2 weeks and 2 days. We always planned to visit WDW for the first time when he was old enough to enjoy it and possibly have some memory of it. He started asking to go to Disney in August 2014, so we started planning.

Prissy or K2 - Our youngest daughter. Our little princess is the youngest of a sibling group of 3 placed with us in May 2014. She will turn 9 years old during our first WDW visit. We have booked at spot at the Pirate's League for her and her brothers to have her made up. We wanted to get her in at BBB, but we weren't able to get a reservation so we settled for PL. We are currently awaiting termination of parental rights (TPR) on her and her bio siblings in order to finalize their adoption.

Dude or D - Our oldest son. Dude was the only boy for years but has taken to the role of big brother to our little boy wonderfully. Even though Monkey is partial to girls (such a flirt even at 4), Dude is very patient with him and tries to be a great big brother. He is 10 years old and we will be finalizing his adoption as soon as TPR has come through along with his sister's.

Sissy or K1 - Our oldest daughter. Sissy is a GREAT big sister to all 3 of her little siblings. She is 14 years old and, despite having typical teenage problems in addition to having to overcome the issues that go along with being in foster care, she has proven to be a wonderful daughter! We were terrified at the thought of parenting a teenager having never done so before, but with Sissy, our fears have been pretty much unfounded.

As I stated earlier in this post, we're embarking on our first WDW trip in 2 weeks, 2 days. We are celebrating Prissy's birthday, Monkey's Forever Family Day and Gotcha Day for Sissy, Prissy and Dude. I think it's going to be an awesome trip! I'm very excited to be joining the ranks of the WDWFGU gang! muchlove

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JMed's picture
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Welcome from South Carolina! So excited for your first trip! What are your plans and some of the things you are looking forward to?

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JMed wrote:
Welcome from South Carolina! So excited for your first trip! What are your plans and some of the things you are looking forward to?

Thanks for the welcome Smile We're staying at AS Music because we don't plan on being in the room for much of anything but sleeping. The kids are happy about the pool even without a slide so that worked out well. We decided not to get park hopper for our first trip because we feel we'll be pretty busy in each park! We're planning a day in AK, a day and a half in HS, and 2 days each at Epcot and MK. We'll be at DTD our first day. I'm looking forward to the Frozen Sing-Along, Soarin' and, of course, the food! But most of all, I can't wait to see the look on the faces of my kiddos! They are going to have so much fun and I can't wait for my hubby and I to get to enjoy being kids with them Smile It's going to be the highlight of their lives so far!

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Welcome to WDWFG! welcome This is an awesome group of Disney addicts and everybody is always willing to give advice. All you have to do is ask!

I too, am an adoptive mother as well as a biological mother. My four range in age from 41 to 26. The oldest turned four a few months after he came home with us. There were plenty of difficulties over the years but I am tremendously proud of him. He served 14 years in the Navy, has a bachelor's degree, two masters degrees and is working on his dissertation for his doctorate. If it sounds like I'm bragging, I guess I am silly

Going to WDW is a great way to celebrate!! stars

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oHIo wrote:
Welcome to WDWFG! welcome This is an awesome group of Disney addicts and everybody is always willing to give advice. All you have to do is ask!

I too, am an adoptive mother as well as a biological mother. My four range in age from 41 to 26. The oldest turned four a few months after he came home with us. There were plenty of difficulties over the years but I am tremendously proud of him. He served 14 years in the Navy, has a bachelor's degree, two masters degrees and is working on his dissertation for his doctorate. If it sounds like I'm bragging, I guess I am silly

Going to WDW is a great way to celebrate!! stars

That is awesome! You should be proud Smile We have an amazing family and we want to let them know we think they're fantastic! What better way than to take them to the happiest place on earth? clapping

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Welcome from the other side of the pond yay

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Hello and welcome to WDWForGrownups! We have an amazing group of people here on this forum. If you have and questions or concerns, or need any help finding your way around on the site, just ask away and some one will help you.

Once again, welcome

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Thanks Mrferret and MrHub!

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fmknightuk's picture
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welcome
I'm a Brit, living in Southampton and my eldest dd is called Georgia!
Sounds like you have a great trip planned for your lovely family. Can't wait to hear all about it clapping

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Welcome from Texas! So glad you found us! Smile This is truly a great group of fellow Disney fanatics. I'm still new to the forums myself and everyone has been so generous with advice, tips, tricks, shortcuts and general information.

It sounds like you have an amazing trip planned. Super excited for you!! yay

Pirates League is a great experience, but if you still want to try for BBB, keep calling and seeing if there is a cancellation. That worked for us on our summer trip 2012. We had an appointment at the Downtown Disney location but didn't want to leave MK if possible. We called the morning of our BBB visit and they were able to move both appointments to the Castle location!

Also, Epcot has some great activities to engage the kids in the World Showcase so the grown ups can enjoy the day more.

Can't wait to hear about your trip! mickey

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wistfulgirl wrote:
JMed wrote:
Welcome from South Carolina! So excited for your first trip! What are your plans and some of the things you are looking forward to?

Thanks for the welcome Smile We're staying at AS Music because we don't plan on being in the room for much of anything but sleeping. The kids are happy about the pool even without a slide so that worked out well. We decided not to get park hopper for our first trip because we feel we'll be pretty busy in each park! We're planning a day in AK, a day and a half in HS, and 2 days each at Epcot and MK. We'll be at DTD our first day. I'm looking forward to the Frozen Sing-Along, Soarin' and, of course, the food! But most of all, I can't wait to see the look on the faces of my kiddos! They are going to have so much fun and I can't wait for my hubby and I to get to enjoy being kids with them Smile It's going to be the highlight of their lives so far!

We've stayed at all of the AS resorts and never had a problem as we too are never in the room except to sleep! awesome

I'm an anti-hopper my self, I think it goes back to my anxiety. I like to get somewhere and stay there. That being said, I am park hopping for the first time in 3 weeks so I am a little stressed lol. AND I am taking on 3 parks with the besties in tow.

DTD is so much fun, we often stop on trips to Florida even when we are not going to Disney! Lots to do and see, make sure you hit the toy store Once Upon a Toy and build your own Light Sabers and make a Mr or Mrs. Potato Head. We always spend time in there playing around. They have a fabulous pin trading store there (which I never knew until February that they have a big pin trading board) that is my favorite on property. And the food, oh the food! wink

Did you get the Memory Maker package?

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"It seems to me that we have a lot of story yet to tell."

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I just want to show you so much muchlove my parents have been foster parents for all of my life (I'm the only biological). It takes such a special person to open their hearts and homes in such a way. It really is wonderful that people like you exist in the world. I hope you have the most amazing trip, I can't wait to hear all about it.

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Welcome! welcome

Your family sounds fantastic and I cannot wait to hear all about your upcoming trip!We always stay in the values also due to the fact that we only spend about 8 hours a day actually there. We have zero complaints about them!

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Hello and welcome!! You and the kids are going to have a blast. awesome

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Hello and welcome

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Hello and and a great big welcome You will all have a great time. awesome

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fmknightuk wrote:
welcome
I'm a Brit, living in Southampton and my eldest dd is called Georgia!
Sounds like you have a great trip planned for your lovely family. Can't wait to hear all about it clapping

That is pretty cool silly Thanks for the welcome and I'll definitely give you guys all the details of our trip!

Morgan wrote:
Welcome from Texas! So glad you found us! Smile This is truly a great group of fellow Disney fanatics. I'm still new to the forums myself and everyone has been so generous with advice, tips, tricks, shortcuts and general information.

It sounds like you have an amazing trip planned. Super excited for you!! yay

Pirates League is a great experience, but if you still want to try for BBB, keep calling and seeing if there is a cancellation. That worked for us on our summer trip 2012. We had an appointment at the Downtown Disney location but didn't want to leave MK if possible. We called the morning of our BBB visit and they were able to move both appointments to the Castle location!

Also, Epcot has some great activities to engage the kids in the World Showcase so the grown ups can enjoy the day more.

Can't wait to hear about your trip! mickey

Thanks for the advice! I'll keep calling and see if we can swing getting in at BBB but, if not, I'm sure PL will be great! I honestly don't think Prissy will mind at all! Rich and I are also really, really looking forward to Epcot for the WS, so I'm glad to know the kids won't be bored silly that day!

JMed wrote:
We've stayed at all of the AS resorts and never had a problem as we too are never in the room except to sleep! awesome

I'm an anti-hopper my self, I think it goes back to my anxiety. I like to get somewhere and stay there. That being said, I am park hopping for the first time in 3 weeks so I am a little stressed lol. AND I am taking on 3 parks with the besties in tow.

DTD is so much fun, we often stop on trips to Florida even when we are not going to Disney! Lots to do and see, make sure you hit the toy store Once Upon a Toy and build your own Light Sabers and make a Mr or Mrs. Potato Head. We always spend time in there playing around. They have a fabulous pin trading store there (which I never knew until February that they have a big pin trading board) that is my favorite on property. And the food, oh the food! wink

Did you get the Memory Maker package?

Glad to hear AS Music is a good choice! Was a little apprehensive, but wanted to save as much $$$ for spending in the parks as we could! I'm pretty high stress myself, so I think - at least for our first trip - not hopping is best for us. I'll be pretty stressed out as it is, lol! Good luck to you on your besties vacay! That sound like enormous fun! What day are you arriving?

We are looking forward to DTD. My only regret of the whole trip is that we didn't get to book tickets to see La Nouba. I am a HUGE Cirque fan, so this was something of a disappointment. I used to work with a lady when we lived in England whose twin brothers were aerial strap artisits in Verekai and she introduced me to the whole thing. Rich and I also saw Ka and O in Las Vegas in 2011, so I was hoping to get to see La Nouba. Ah, well....something to plan for our next trip wink I'll definitely have to check out the pin trading store though! Thanks for the heads up!

We have not ordered Memory Maker. I'm still debating if I want to do that before we leave. Rich votes no, but I'm on the fence. Will have to think some more about it, but quickly!

RobynPrincess wrote:
I just want to show you so much muchlove my parents have been foster parents for all of my life (I'm the only biological). It takes such a special person to open their hearts and homes in such a way. It really is wonderful that people like you exist in the world. I hope you have the most amazing trip, I can't wait to hear all about it.

That is so freaking awesome!!!! My parents were also foster parents when I was growing up. I have 2 bio brothers and a bio sister, but they are 14 1/2, 12 1/2 and 11 1/2 years older than me (I was an oops! baby, lol)! It started out that they didn't want me to be lonely, but turned out with them helping over 70 children during the 6 years they fostered. Naturally, after fertility treatment didn't work for us and Rich and I were deciding on adoption, foster adoption was the route we chose. It allowed us to become parents but also allowed us to provide a better life for children who've already had a rough start. It's a win/win for all of us.

We are all so excited about the trip! I think I may be even more excited than the kids, lol! Particularly the closer it gets, haha!

NikkiMouse wrote:
Welcome! welcome

Your family sounds fantastic and I cannot wait to hear all about your upcoming trip!We always stay in the values also due to the fact that we only spend about 8 hours a day actually there. We have zero complaints about them!

Thank you for the welcome! Another thumbs up for the values - makes me feel good about our choice! I will definitely fill you all in on how it goes for us!

jhugo wrote:
Hello and welcome!! You and the kids are going to have a blast. awesome

Mad Hatter wrote:
Hello and welcome

Vettelover wrote:
Hello and and a great big welcome You will all have a great time. awesome

Thank you all for the welcome! I am so touched by how friendly everyone is here and am really looking forward to getting to know everyone better and sharing all our fun times at Disney!

Btw, here is a picture of our family from Easter celebrations yesterday:

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What a great story and a beautiful family! A giant welcome and congrats to you! I hope you all have a fantastic time as you 100% deserve it and please please please make sure you come back and share all the details of your trip with us when you return!

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Thanks Allie! And I definitely will Smile I'm planning to take notes and lots and lots of photos, lol!

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Beautiful family! Thanks for sharing the picture Smile

You guys will be there for the Flower and Garden festival! That is on my "Disney Dreaming" list of events to see! The kids activities in Epcot include the World Showcase Passport ($10 each) that you take to each country and have stamped/signed by an "Ambassador" at the Kidcot stations. There is an Agent P adventure (from Phineas and Ferb fame) that you can sign up for at the International Gateway, I think it's near the Mexico side entrance (guys, please help me out if that's not correct!) and then there's the Duffy Bear you can get stamped at each Kidcot station. We did the passports and they saved the day!

We've purchased the Memory Maker (MM) before and really enjoyed it. We took more pictures knowing that we could keep ALL of them and it also linked to special shows like the Jedi Training Academy at Hollywood studios and Enchanted Tales with Belle at Magic Kingdom. (When we participated! Not just randomly lol) We love pictures and I do a scrapbook of each vacation, so more is always better for me. Last trip in December 2014 we ended up with 800 pictures from all sources! (300+ from just MM, the rest from our personal camera, phones, and friends' cameras.) It was a good value for our family! Also, you can ask Photo Pass Photographers (PPP) for "extra Magic" and they will add in special effects like the girls were holding Tinkerbell in their hands, and one where Pascal from Tangled was sitting on her arm. There was another with a dancing Olaf! Super cute! ( I don't think you have to purchase MM for the Extra Magic shots. You just ask the PPP)

You are getting super close, too. Almost single digits! clapping

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*waves* Hello, and Welcome from PA! (Pronounced: Pee-Ay, but mostly everyone else says Pennsylvania. laugh ) Your family is beautiful. My godparents were foster parents for practically their entire lives. The did eventually give a forever home to 2 wonderful children. They had so much love in their hearts to give, and I'm sure you and Rich are the same way.

Your trip sounds like fun. I just read on another thread that you snagged an ADR for BOG!!! So exciting!! You'll love it! Can't wait to read your trip report!

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Hi, Lynn! Welcome aboard!

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MM is awesome. Like Morgan said, it is amazing! The Magic pics are fun to see when you get logged on and the ride pictures to boot! We got tons and tried to stop for every photographer we saw laugh

La Nouba is great so if you ever get the chance to go back down, do it. We have seen several ourselves and want to take Blondie (our daughter) to see it at some point.

PS - beautiful family pic!!!! muchlove

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"I want adventure in the great wide somewhere. I want it more than I can tell."

"It seems to me that we have a lot of story yet to tell."

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Lynn you have a beautiful family! I am sure you will have a fantastic trip - can wait to hear all about it!

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Morgan wrote:
Beautiful family! Thanks for sharing the picture Smile

You guys will be there for the Flower and Garden festival! That is on my "Disney Dreaming" list of events to see! The kids activities in Epcot include the World Showcase Passport ($10 each) that you take to each country and have stamped/signed by an "Ambassador" at the Kidcot stations. There is an Agent P adventure (from Phineas and Ferb fame) that you can sign up for at the International Gateway, I think it's near the Mexico side entrance (guys, please help me out if that's not correct!) and then there's the Duffy Bear you can get stamped at each Kidcot station. We did the passports and they saved the day!

We've purchased the Memory Maker (MM) before and really enjoyed it. We took more pictures knowing that we could keep ALL of them and it also linked to special shows like the Jedi Training Academy at Hollywood studios and Enchanted Tales with Belle at Magic Kingdom. (When we participated! Not just randomly lol) We love pictures and I do a scrapbook of each vacation, so more is always better for me. Last trip in December 2014 we ended up with 800 pictures from all sources! (300+ from just MM, the rest from our personal camera, phones, and friends' cameras.) It was a good value for our family! Also, you can ask Photo Pass Photographers (PPP) for "extra Magic" and they will add in special effects like the girls were holding Tinkerbell in their hands, and one where Pascal from Tangled was sitting on her arm. There was another with a dancing Olaf! Super cute! ( I don't think you have to purchase MM for the Extra Magic shots. You just ask the PPP)

You are getting super close, too. Almost single digits! clapping

Thanks Morgan! We're definitely planning to get the passports. I think the kids will love it! The F&G Festival is something Rich and I are really looking forward to. He's particularly excited about one of his favorite bands - The Guess Who - playing at the Concert Series the weekend we're there. We're going to try to catch that as well.

I got overridden on MM. Rich refuses to budge on it, so I'm just going to keep track of how much nicer the photos would have been with it so next time I can put together a case with evidence for it, lol!

BarbaraB wrote:
*waves* Hello, and Welcome from PA! (Pronounced: Pee-Ay, but mostly everyone else says Pennsylvania. laugh ) Your family is beautiful. My godparents were foster parents for practically their entire lives. The did eventually give a forever home to 2 wonderful children. They had so much love in their hearts to give, and I'm sure you and Rich are the same way.

Your trip sounds like fun. I just read on another thread that you snagged an ADR for BOG!!! So exciting!! You'll love it! Can't wait to read your trip report!

Thanks BarbaraB! We'll feel lucky to be able to have such great kids in our lives! It's awesome to hear about others doing the same Smile

We're super excited about the BOG ADR! It will fit right in with the day we have planned for celebrating Prissy's birthday!

alicemouse wrote:
Hi, Lynn! Welcome aboard!

Thank you! So glad to be here Smile

JMed wrote:
MM is awesome. Like Morgan said, it is amazing! The Magic pics are fun to see when you get logged on and the ride pictures to boot! We got tons and tried to stop for every photographer we saw laugh

La Nouba is great so if you ever get the chance to go back down, do it. We have seen several ourselves and want to take Blondie (our daughter) to see it at some point.

PS - beautiful family pic!!!! muchlove

Thank you! Yeah, I lost the fight for MM. Next time though! I'm still so disappointed not to get to share the magic of Cirque with the kids this trip but definitely something to put on the list for next time! Blondie will love it when you get to take her!

Belinda wrote:
Lynn you have a beautiful family! I am sure you will have a fantastic trip - can wait to hear all about it!

Thank you Belinda! We're only 2 days away now! Can't wait to let you all know how our first trip is!

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I'm late to the party but Hello!!! Welcome to the forums, I hope you settle right in and enjoy the discussions muchlove