Anything I'm Missing? (Marriage Proposal Trip Itinerary) - Page 2 - The DIS Discussion Forums

folgersnyourcup · 02-03-2013, 08:03 AM

Thanks for the message dprincessmom! Regarding DTD, is there anything in particular you have been to there and loved? We will have a few hours in between aquatics and cirque du soleil that evening.

Rainforest cafe does seem like a fun atmosphere, though you are right it certainly does not appear to be relaxing! I noticed t-Rex cafe as well but thought it looked to be geared towards kids even more so with the whole build-a-Dino section. We are both essentially big kids though so doing one of these two places could be a lot of fun.

folgersnyourcup · 02-09-2013, 09:07 PM

Dine with Shamu is now being offered the week we will be there! Woohoo!! I am adding this to my itinerary for dinner on 6/6 (we will grab something quick for lunch after the Beluga Interaction) and moving Sharks Underwater Grill to 6/8 for lunch when we will likely be back again at SeaWorld!

MrRomance · 02-10-2013, 12:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by folgersnyourcup

So first things first...I love to plan vacations. I usually start planning for a vacation about 9 or 10 months ahead of time and really have fun with with the whole thing.

We did the whole Universal/Islands of Adventure side last year and loved it...and I decided to make the main focus of this trip the SeaWorld parks. A little background, her favorite animals are penguins and dolphins. I am trying to pull out all stops on this trip ending with me proposing to my girlfriend of 5 years. I also REALLY want to give her a fun experience and a chance to relax. She was diagnosed with cancer about 6 months ago and has gone through radiation treatment and is still recovering. It has taken a lot out of her but she has been incredibly strong and I am very proud of her. So this is my way of hopefully giving her the best vacation of her life so far and throw a marriage proposal in there as well!

Here's my itinerary right now (I have already booked everything listed here unless noted)

June 4th
-Travel day, check into hotel (Marriott Renaissance SeaWorld)

June 5th
- Aquatica (included with Discovery Cove ticket) with loungers
- Possibly Rainforest Cafe (Unless anyone has another suggestion around the Downtown Disney area.)
- 9PM Cirque Du Soleil La Nouba

June 6th
- SeaWorld (included with Discovery Cove ticket)
- Quick Queue Unlimited (free from hotel)
- Feed dolphins
- Beluga Interaction Program (really excited about this!! It looks amazing)
- Dine With Shamu for dinner!

June 7th
- Busch Gardens (included with Discovery Cove Ticket)
- Quick Queue Unlimited
- Jungala Insider Tour
- Maybe Serengeti Safari Tour also...
- Bern's Steakhouse dinner (purchased gift card in advance)

June 8th
- Either Aquatica, SeaWorld, or Busch Gardens again (totally up to her, whichever one she liked the best. My guess is this will probably be SeaWorld due to the new Antarctica area which I can't imagine she won't love)
- Sharks Underwater Grill for lunch if we end up back at SeaWorld
- Suggestions for dinner?

June 9th
- Discovery Cove!!
- Swim with dolphins, engagement proposal with elite package cabana including dozen roses, champagne, chocolate, frame, etc. waiting back at cabana after the proposal. Also an animal meet and greet included
- SeaVenture
- Probably relaxing back at the hotel afterwards while she calls everyone in the world to tell them the news!

June 10th
- Check out of hotel and head to St. Augustine where we are staying 1 night at the Bayfront Hilton
- "Vittles and Vino" carriage ride tasting tour (looks awesome! found it here: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractio...e_Florida.html
- Probably the Lighthouse and potentially a ghost tour
- Any other suggestions for this night or the next morning? I'm not very familiar with St. Augustine. We stopped here briefly on the way back last year (did not spend the night) and went to the Cuban restaurant, spanish bakery, and did the San Sebastian winery tour, all of which we loved.

June 11th
- Breakfast and lunch somewhere in St. Augustine TBD
- St. Augustine Wildlife Reserve Tour

Any thoughts? Any helping on dinner recommendations or anything at all in St. Augustine would be really helpful. I can't believe how excited I am for this trip and to see how excited she will be! It feels like it will never be here!

Thanks!

I think you've got it all well covered!! Good plan as far as I can tell.

The Discovery Cove Elite Package is AWESOME and a great way to propose. I don't know if you know this (it wasn't clear in your post) but you can do the proposal with the dolphin swim. I arranged the Elite package for my DW (I surprised her with a vow renewal at WDW) and it was absolutely perfect.

Good luck and have a great time!!

folgersnyourcup · 02-10-2013, 01:18 PM

Thanks for the comment! Yep I am doing the elite package and proposing as part of the dolphin swim!

folgersnyourcup · 04-06-2013, 09:02 PM

This is getting closer and closer! I'm getting really excited and have added a few more things to the itinerary including spending an extra day in Savannah and doing IFLY one of the nights we are there (will be updating the first page of this soon).

I am struggling a bit with the best way to make my plans on June 7th work though! We are staying in the Marriott Renaissance SeaWorld our entire time in Orlando and are making the trip to Tampa for Busch Gardens on Friday, June 7th. I have reservations for Bern's Steakhouse that evening at 8PM.

As it obviously would not make sense to go all the way back and forth to our hotel prior to dinner, are there any rest areas around Busch Gardens or Berns? I want to be able to change and get freshened up a bit after what will likely be a long and hot day at Busch Gardens...

Any suggestions would be great! Thanks!

mdurette · 04-07-2013, 05:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by folgersnyourcup

As it obviously would not make sense to go all the way back and forth to our hotel prior to dinner, are there any rest areas around Busch Gardens or Berns? I want to be able to change and get freshened up a bit after what will likely be a long and hot day at Busch Gardens...

Any suggestions would be great! Thanks!

I was wondering how you are making out. I was the one who mentioned Berns in the beginning. I had heard so much about it and now I have went so I can give you more info. It was awesome. After dinner they will ask you if you wish to take a tour of the wine cellar and kitchen. All no charge - do it, it is something different. And the dessert room....OMG it was very unique/nice/yummy! As for your clothes question. We had the same problem. Our original plan was to go to BG for the day then to Berns. We scrapped that and ended up doing the Florida Aquarium instead mainly because I didn't want to walk around a theme park all day and then head to a nice dinner. With that said.....we went into Berns with what I will call business casual clothes and fleece coats (that is what we had for coats in Feb and it was cold outside that day). I felt a bit out of place with the coats.....the business casual was acceptable.....but this really seemed to be more of a place to dress up for. It will make no sense for you to drive back to Orlando. I wonder if you talk to the concierge at your Marriott if he could make a connection with a Tampa Marriott for you to use their pool locker room?

folgersnyourcup · 04-07-2013, 09:38 AM

I'm glad you enjoyed Berns! I am really looking forward to it. Thanks for the suggestion as to using the locker room of another Marriott, unfortunately I just got off the phone with the renaissance seaworld and they told me there was no way to make that happen. They told me in order to use the facilities at any hotel you must have a reservation.

Their suggestion for me was to book a hotel room at a location in Tampa and use it just to change and shower but then not stay the night. I do have plenty of Hilton points (no more Marriott points after booking this vacation) so I suppose I could do that...but having something about having two hotel rooms booked for the same night an hour apart seems inherently ridiculous to me! Ha!

So I will explore other options first and leave that as a last resort I suppose. Anyone know of any rest areas nearby Busch Gardens Tampa?

Thanks again for everybody's help!

mdurette · 04-07-2013, 12:11 PM

Ha - I was actually going to tell you the same - but it did sound kinda crazy.

But...now that I am thinking about it - it may not be a bad idea. If you can use points - go for it. After a long day at BG and then a long dinner (it will take you 2-3 hours to get out of there) you MAY just be very happy with a local place to crash instead of the hour trip back.

04-06-2013, 09:02 PM	#20
folgersnyourcup Earning My Ears Join Date: Mar 2012 Posts: 51	Rest areas around Busch Gardens? This is getting closer and closer! I'm getting really excited and have added a few more things to the itinerary including spending an extra day in Savannah and doing IFLY one of the nights we are there (will be updating the first page of this soon). I am struggling a bit with the best way to make my plans on June 7th work though! We are staying in the Marriott Renaissance SeaWorld our entire time in Orlando and are making the trip to Tampa for Busch Gardens on Friday, June 7th. I have reservations for Bern's Steakhouse that evening at 8PM. As it obviously would not make sense to go all the way back and forth to our hotel prior to dinner, are there any rest areas around Busch Gardens or Berns? I want to be able to change and get freshened up a bit after what will likely be a long and hot day at Busch Gardens... Any suggestions would be great! Thanks!

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02-03-2013, 08:03 AM	#16
folgersnyourcup Earning My Ears Join Date: Mar 2012 Posts: 51	Thanks for the message dprincessmom! Regarding DTD, is there anything in particular you have been to there and loved? We will have a few hours in between aquatics and cirque du soleil that evening. Rainforest cafe does seem like a fun atmosphere, though you are right it certainly does not appear to be relaxing! I noticed t-Rex cafe as well but thought it looked to be geared towards kids even more so with the whole build-a-Dino section. We are both essentially big kids though so doing one of these two places could be a lot of fun.

02-09-2013, 09:07 PM	#17
folgersnyourcup Earning My Ears Join Date: Mar 2012 Posts: 51	Dine with Shamu is now being offered the week we will be there! Woohoo!! I am adding this to my itinerary for dinner on 6/6 (we will grab something quick for lunch after the Beluga Interaction) and moving Sharks Underwater Grill to 6/8 for lunch when we will likely be back again at SeaWorld!

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02-10-2013, 01:18 PM	#19
folgersnyourcup Earning My Ears Join Date: Mar 2012 Posts: 51	Thanks for the comment! Yep I am doing the elite package and proposing as part of the dolphin swim!

04-07-2013, 09:38 AM	#22
folgersnyourcup Earning My Ears Join Date: Mar 2012 Posts: 51	I'm glad you enjoyed Berns! I am really looking forward to it. Thanks for the suggestion as to using the locker room of another Marriott, unfortunately I just got off the phone with the renaissance seaworld and they told me there was no way to make that happen. They told me in order to use the facilities at any hotel you must have a reservation. Their suggestion for me was to book a hotel room at a location in Tampa and use it just to change and shower but then not stay the night. I do have plenty of Hilton points (no more Marriott points after booking this vacation) so I suppose I could do that...but having something about having two hotel rooms booked for the same night an hour apart seems inherently ridiculous to me! Ha! So I will explore other options first and leave that as a last resort I suppose. Anyone know of any rest areas nearby Busch Gardens Tampa? Thanks again for everybody's help!

04-07-2013, 12:11 PM	#23
mdurette DIS Veteran Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: New England Posts: 849	Ha - I was actually going to tell you the same - but it did sound kinda crazy. But...now that I am thinking about it - it may not be a bad idea. If you can use points - go for it. After a long day at BG and then a long dinner (it will take you 2-3 hours to get out of there) you MAY just be very happy with a local place to crash instead of the hour trip back.