Bubbenstein
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2015
Yay!!!!!!!!!!! First post!!!!!!!! Sorry, had to get that out of my system, it was building for a very long time.
Greetings, people. Greetings. Greetings and salutations. What a beautiful day for a ball game. Let's play two!
We have finally started this trip report for our most recent vacation to the House that Walt Built, which really was just a long weekend over Father’s Day. So let’s get the obligatory introductions out of the way. Shall we?
Jump in, Jump out. Turn yourself about. Jump in, jump out. Introduce yourself!
I bet you never in a million years thought there would be a Gullah Gullah Island reference in a trip report for those that even know the beauty and awesomeness of that show. Binyah, Binyah, anyone?
Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful princess from a small town in Pennsylvania named Barbie who loved all things Disney. Loved might not be too strong a word. Let’s call it obsession (by Calvin Klein, TM). She went on several trips to Disney World growing up.
Here are her stats:
Favorite Park: Magic Kingdom
Favorite Ride at MK: Pirates of the Caribbean (favorite overall)
Favorite Snack: Dole Whip
Favorite Dining Experience: Be Our Guest
Favorite Ride at AK: Dinosaur
Favorite Ride at Epcot: Soarin’
Favorite Ride at DHS: Tower of Terror
Favorite Character: Belle
Favorite Movie: Beauty and the Beast
Favorite song to sing to Aria: Part of your World
Favorite Dining at Epcot: Akershus
Favorite Dining at AK: Tusker House
Favorite Dining at DHS: Mama Melrose
Favorite Souvenir: Masks at Italy Pavilion
Least Favorite Park: DHS (Stop taking away things, stop changing its name, bring back the Hat, where is the character palooza again? Just stop already and bring back Magic of Animation!). Rant over.
Least Favorite Ride at Epcot: The one where Ellen talks for 45 minutes.
Least Favorite Ride at MK: Does Swiss Family Treehouse count? It’s not really a ride.
Least Favorite Ride at AK: The one where the birds poop all over
Least Favorite Ride at DHS: There are only like 5 rides left.
In 2008, the beautiful princess and the handsome prince, err, the handsome Beast (Barbie nixed my idea of calling myself the Grinch Beast since I hated Disney so much), met and fell in love. Cue the ‘80s la la la music and studio audience canned “aww”. The Beast lived in New York City and despised all things Disney. He had only been there once before, in 1997, but lost his favorite hat atop a scary mountain in Space. Here are the Beast’s stats who will hereinafter be referred to as Shaya, on account of his name sounding and being spelled the same as that.
Pronunciation lesson: Pronounce name as Shy-a.
Spelling lesson: Spell name as Shaya, not the “incorrect” way Shia Lebeouf spells it.
Favorite Park: Epcot, Animal Kingdom very close 2nd.
Favorite Ride at MK: Splash Mountain (favorite overall) – my dad used to read me the stories of Br’er Rabbit all of the time growing up. When I bought the stories to read to Aria, I was very pleased that they have been abridged appropriately.
Favorite Snack: Does the Grand Marnier Slushie count? If not, we’ll go with either the Cream Cheese Pretzel at Lunching Pad (thank you, DIS trip reports for this one!), the Bubble Tea at the China Pavilion, or any cupcake at Cheshire Café.
Favorite Dining Experience: Tusker House
Favorite Ride at AK: Dinosaur
Favorite Ride at Epcot: Three Caballeros (Yes, that’s right!)
Favorite Ride at DHS: Toy Story Midway Mania or Star Tours if I ever get to go on the new version
Favorite Character: Mexican Donald, Stitch a close second
Favorite Movie: Lion King
Favorite song to sing to Aria: Circle of Life or Wonderwall (I know I’m weird sometimes)
Favorite Dining at Epcot: Akershus
Favorite Dining at AK: Tusker House (Bobotie is the best thing ever, am I right?)
Favorite Dining at DHS: Hollywood & Vine
Favorite Souvenir: You will need to read the trip report to find out. It gets purchased on this trip!
Least Favorite Park: DHS (see above)
Least Favorite Ride at Epcot: There are a bunch I haven’t gone on yet so they shouldn’t count. I love all of the rides that I have been on, including Journey into Imagination, Spaceship Earth, and Living with the Land.
Least Favorite Ride at MK: I know this will get a bad reaction from the Dis but Carousel of Progress. The ride needs to show some progress already. Apparently the last scene has already been updated three times. I read about it…in a book! No, on Wikipedia, but thought I would throw in a Dodgeball reference. Apologies.
Least Favorite Ride at AK: I love everything about AK!
Least Favorite Ride at DHS: Rock N Rollercoaster. I know many people love it, but for a coaster, it’s kinda meh. If I want to ride on real coasters, I go to Six Flags, Hershey Park, or insert favorite thrill ride seeker park.
In 2009, Shaya decided it was time to propose to Barbie (yes, the beautiful princess/Beast theming is over. R.I.P. poor attempt at providing color and imagery to the story). But wherever to propose? Where should someone who despises all things Disney propose to a beautiful girl who loves all things Disney?
Why, this place of course!
So if anyone was interested in the proposal story, here it goes. When I decided that Disney World would be the place to propose, I immediately knew that it would have to be centered around Wishes since Barbie loves fireworks and prefers Wishes to Illuminations. I know a lot of people like proposals in a public setting, but I personally wanted a more intimate setting and I had a sense that Barbie would want it to just be us as well.
So I started doing research about how to make Wishes, a nighttime spectacular that thousands attend every day, a secluded and personal experience for both of us. I like doing research, and even then, especially Disney research. So enter the Private Dining Experience at the Grand Floridian. This is not Victoria and Albert’s Chef’s Table. I knew that Barbie’s food sensibilities were probably pickier than most so I needed a lot more control over the menu than that could provide and since the meals would be prepared by the Grandy’s own chef, I knew the food would be delish. There are many locations throughout the Grandy that can be chosen, but I settled on the terrace.
That night, the first night we were there, instead of going to the parks, we hung around the Poly, which was our home for that week (R.I.P. amazing waterfall in the lobby),
got drinks by the pool, and got ready for dinner. Barbie didn’t know we were having dinner at the Grandiferous, let alone a private meal there, but I told her to wear a fancy dress. I’m guessing she sensed at this point that something big was about to go down.
When we got to the Grand Floridian, we took a bunch of pictures in our semi-formal wear and our waiter for the evening met us in the lobby to escort us to our table where we would dine. I carefully selected every menu item for Barbie, which needless to say, took several emails back and forth with the planning concierge. Sorry, no pictures of the food, but we have our private menus somewhere and we’ll have to find them at some point. I got the salmon, French onion soup, and a bottle of Moet… to share obviously.
I got Barbie cheese quesadillas and spaghetti and meatballs, two of her favorite dishes. Dessert you say? My plan was for us to have dessert on the second phase of the night, but I neglected to get anything for dessert for our actual dinner, which I knew would make her suspicious. So the waiter worked with the kitchen in secret and they whipped up some chocolate truffles. Success!
Barbie told me later that she was positive I would propose at dinner. Nope, not a chance! Have we met?
On to phase two. But where were we going at 8:00 at night in suit and dress? To the marina! All aboard the Grand One Yacht!
Time for some dessert on our Wishes Cruise. Did I mention that Barbie’s favorite movie of all time, Disney or otherwise, is Beauty and the Beast? Probably. Well it is. So I had to add a touch of the movie to this night so make room for the cake.
Before boarding the yacht, I spoke to the captain and gave him an Elvis CD, which I carried on me from the drive to the airport, the flight to Orlando, the limo ride to the Poly, getting ready at the Poly, taxi to the Grand Floridian, entire dinner, and finally to the boat, all without letting Barbie see it. She has always been a huge Elvis fan, again, probably obsessed is the proper term. So I had the captain play “Can’t Help Falling in Love” about 5-10 minutes before Wishes started, got down on one knee, and proposed.
Obligatory ring photo.
And that became our first song at our wedding 17 months later. Again cue the sappy ‘80s la la la music and studio audience canned, “aww!”.
After Wishes, because I really didn’t know what was customary to tip the captain or if that was even something that you usually tip for, I tried to figure out what to do at that point. I usually tip around 25% at restaurants so that’s what I did. Probably went overboard. Ha! At that point, he played the Elvis CD on a loop for the next hour and a half, even though I only reserved the boat for an hour total. So we just drove around the lagoon and the captain took many pictures of us and gave us a Front of the Line card, which can only be used once. It was basically like another fastpass, which we used on Toy Story Midway Mania, which had only recently opened at that point and the wait times were ridiculous.
When we got back to the Poly, some more Disney magic awaited as I made some Disney Florist arrangements, bouquet of red roses and various other goodies like sparkling wine and chocolate.
This is me with my favorite character! The below picture is Mickey at the Character Spot making me reenact my proposal in front of a huge line. I guess we did the public proposal after all!
The picture above was taken as part of our private photo session at the Poly. I wish they still did these...
So on March 7, 2010, the beautiful princess and the Beast (theming has returned! Just for this sentence, though) became engaged at the Happiest Place on Earth and the sour puss who despised all things Disney now loved it just as much as his beautiful princess.
The End.
Greetings, people. Greetings. Greetings and salutations. What a beautiful day for a ball game. Let's play two!
We have finally started this trip report for our most recent vacation to the House that Walt Built, which really was just a long weekend over Father’s Day. So let’s get the obligatory introductions out of the way. Shall we?
Jump in, Jump out. Turn yourself about. Jump in, jump out. Introduce yourself!
I bet you never in a million years thought there would be a Gullah Gullah Island reference in a trip report for those that even know the beauty and awesomeness of that show. Binyah, Binyah, anyone?
Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful princess from a small town in Pennsylvania named Barbie who loved all things Disney. Loved might not be too strong a word. Let’s call it obsession (by Calvin Klein, TM). She went on several trips to Disney World growing up.
Here are her stats:
Favorite Park: Magic Kingdom
Favorite Ride at MK: Pirates of the Caribbean (favorite overall)
Favorite Snack: Dole Whip
Favorite Dining Experience: Be Our Guest
Favorite Ride at AK: Dinosaur
Favorite Ride at Epcot: Soarin’
Favorite Ride at DHS: Tower of Terror
Favorite Character: Belle
Favorite Movie: Beauty and the Beast
Favorite song to sing to Aria: Part of your World
Favorite Dining at Epcot: Akershus
Favorite Dining at AK: Tusker House
Favorite Dining at DHS: Mama Melrose
Favorite Souvenir: Masks at Italy Pavilion
Least Favorite Park: DHS (Stop taking away things, stop changing its name, bring back the Hat, where is the character palooza again? Just stop already and bring back Magic of Animation!). Rant over.
Least Favorite Ride at Epcot: The one where Ellen talks for 45 minutes.
Least Favorite Ride at MK: Does Swiss Family Treehouse count? It’s not really a ride.
Least Favorite Ride at AK: The one where the birds poop all over
Least Favorite Ride at DHS: There are only like 5 rides left.
In 2008, the beautiful princess and the handsome prince, err, the handsome Beast (Barbie nixed my idea of calling myself the Grinch Beast since I hated Disney so much), met and fell in love. Cue the ‘80s la la la music and studio audience canned “aww”. The Beast lived in New York City and despised all things Disney. He had only been there once before, in 1997, but lost his favorite hat atop a scary mountain in Space. Here are the Beast’s stats who will hereinafter be referred to as Shaya, on account of his name sounding and being spelled the same as that.
Pronunciation lesson: Pronounce name as Shy-a.
Spelling lesson: Spell name as Shaya, not the “incorrect” way Shia Lebeouf spells it.
Favorite Park: Epcot, Animal Kingdom very close 2nd.
Favorite Ride at MK: Splash Mountain (favorite overall) – my dad used to read me the stories of Br’er Rabbit all of the time growing up. When I bought the stories to read to Aria, I was very pleased that they have been abridged appropriately.
Favorite Snack: Does the Grand Marnier Slushie count? If not, we’ll go with either the Cream Cheese Pretzel at Lunching Pad (thank you, DIS trip reports for this one!), the Bubble Tea at the China Pavilion, or any cupcake at Cheshire Café.
Favorite Dining Experience: Tusker House
Favorite Ride at AK: Dinosaur
Favorite Ride at Epcot: Three Caballeros (Yes, that’s right!)
Favorite Ride at DHS: Toy Story Midway Mania or Star Tours if I ever get to go on the new version
Favorite Character: Mexican Donald, Stitch a close second
Favorite Movie: Lion King
Favorite song to sing to Aria: Circle of Life or Wonderwall (I know I’m weird sometimes)
Favorite Dining at Epcot: Akershus
Favorite Dining at AK: Tusker House (Bobotie is the best thing ever, am I right?)
Favorite Dining at DHS: Hollywood & Vine
Favorite Souvenir: You will need to read the trip report to find out. It gets purchased on this trip!
Least Favorite Park: DHS (see above)
Least Favorite Ride at Epcot: There are a bunch I haven’t gone on yet so they shouldn’t count. I love all of the rides that I have been on, including Journey into Imagination, Spaceship Earth, and Living with the Land.
Least Favorite Ride at MK: I know this will get a bad reaction from the Dis but Carousel of Progress. The ride needs to show some progress already. Apparently the last scene has already been updated three times. I read about it…in a book! No, on Wikipedia, but thought I would throw in a Dodgeball reference. Apologies.
Least Favorite Ride at AK: I love everything about AK!
Least Favorite Ride at DHS: Rock N Rollercoaster. I know many people love it, but for a coaster, it’s kinda meh. If I want to ride on real coasters, I go to Six Flags, Hershey Park, or insert favorite thrill ride seeker park.
In 2009, Shaya decided it was time to propose to Barbie (yes, the beautiful princess/Beast theming is over. R.I.P. poor attempt at providing color and imagery to the story). But wherever to propose? Where should someone who despises all things Disney propose to a beautiful girl who loves all things Disney?
Why, this place of course!
So if anyone was interested in the proposal story, here it goes. When I decided that Disney World would be the place to propose, I immediately knew that it would have to be centered around Wishes since Barbie loves fireworks and prefers Wishes to Illuminations. I know a lot of people like proposals in a public setting, but I personally wanted a more intimate setting and I had a sense that Barbie would want it to just be us as well.
So I started doing research about how to make Wishes, a nighttime spectacular that thousands attend every day, a secluded and personal experience for both of us. I like doing research, and even then, especially Disney research. So enter the Private Dining Experience at the Grand Floridian. This is not Victoria and Albert’s Chef’s Table. I knew that Barbie’s food sensibilities were probably pickier than most so I needed a lot more control over the menu than that could provide and since the meals would be prepared by the Grandy’s own chef, I knew the food would be delish. There are many locations throughout the Grandy that can be chosen, but I settled on the terrace.
That night, the first night we were there, instead of going to the parks, we hung around the Poly, which was our home for that week (R.I.P. amazing waterfall in the lobby),
got drinks by the pool, and got ready for dinner. Barbie didn’t know we were having dinner at the Grandiferous, let alone a private meal there, but I told her to wear a fancy dress. I’m guessing she sensed at this point that something big was about to go down.
When we got to the Grand Floridian, we took a bunch of pictures in our semi-formal wear and our waiter for the evening met us in the lobby to escort us to our table where we would dine. I carefully selected every menu item for Barbie, which needless to say, took several emails back and forth with the planning concierge. Sorry, no pictures of the food, but we have our private menus somewhere and we’ll have to find them at some point. I got the salmon, French onion soup, and a bottle of Moet… to share obviously.
I got Barbie cheese quesadillas and spaghetti and meatballs, two of her favorite dishes. Dessert you say? My plan was for us to have dessert on the second phase of the night, but I neglected to get anything for dessert for our actual dinner, which I knew would make her suspicious. So the waiter worked with the kitchen in secret and they whipped up some chocolate truffles. Success!
Barbie told me later that she was positive I would propose at dinner. Nope, not a chance! Have we met?
On to phase two. But where were we going at 8:00 at night in suit and dress? To the marina! All aboard the Grand One Yacht!
Time for some dessert on our Wishes Cruise. Did I mention that Barbie’s favorite movie of all time, Disney or otherwise, is Beauty and the Beast? Probably. Well it is. So I had to add a touch of the movie to this night so make room for the cake.
Before boarding the yacht, I spoke to the captain and gave him an Elvis CD, which I carried on me from the drive to the airport, the flight to Orlando, the limo ride to the Poly, getting ready at the Poly, taxi to the Grand Floridian, entire dinner, and finally to the boat, all without letting Barbie see it. She has always been a huge Elvis fan, again, probably obsessed is the proper term. So I had the captain play “Can’t Help Falling in Love” about 5-10 minutes before Wishes started, got down on one knee, and proposed.
Obligatory ring photo.
And that became our first song at our wedding 17 months later. Again cue the sappy ‘80s la la la music and studio audience canned, “aww!”.
After Wishes, because I really didn’t know what was customary to tip the captain or if that was even something that you usually tip for, I tried to figure out what to do at that point. I usually tip around 25% at restaurants so that’s what I did. Probably went overboard. Ha! At that point, he played the Elvis CD on a loop for the next hour and a half, even though I only reserved the boat for an hour total. So we just drove around the lagoon and the captain took many pictures of us and gave us a Front of the Line card, which can only be used once. It was basically like another fastpass, which we used on Toy Story Midway Mania, which had only recently opened at that point and the wait times were ridiculous.
When we got back to the Poly, some more Disney magic awaited as I made some Disney Florist arrangements, bouquet of red roses and various other goodies like sparkling wine and chocolate.
This is me with my favorite character! The below picture is Mickey at the Character Spot making me reenact my proposal in front of a huge line. I guess we did the public proposal after all!
The picture above was taken as part of our private photo session at the Poly. I wish they still did these...
So on March 7, 2010, the beautiful princess and the Beast (theming has returned! Just for this sentence, though) became engaged at the Happiest Place on Earth and the sour puss who despised all things Disney now loved it just as much as his beautiful princess.
The End.
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