Goofy Proposes, Fi Falls for Sleeping Beauty & we Celebrate our Engagement NEW 6/18!

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

Hello, and welcome to my very first trip report! Not only is this my first TR, but this post is one of my very first posts here on the DIS! I’ve been lurking here for quite some time while planning my recent trip but never actually posted…until now.

I have so enjoyed reading about other people’s trips that all throughout our vacation I kept thinking I needed to finally bite the bullet and join the DIS so I could write one of my own! Might at well jump right on in, right?

So here I am and I hope you will read along!

My FI and I just returned from a magical, memory-filled 7 nights at WDW celebrating our recent engagement. Disney is definitely the place to celebrate!

I guess you probably need a little background info on the cast of characters:
I’m Courtney, a long time Disney lover. I’ve been going since I was 2 and was fortunate enough to go to the world pretty much every year (sometimes twice) as a child. This was my 3rd "adult" trip to the world!

Here's a picture of me from our recent trip - waiting in line for Soarin'!

My FI, Miguel, is a newly converted Disney lover. Before we met he had never attended Disney World, but I changed that pretty quickly! This marked the third trip for him in three years – it’s become our annual tradition!

Here's Miguel lounging at the BC after our CMC breakfast!

And the two of us...

We took tons of pictures while on this trip - Hopefully this TR will reflect just how much fun we had! We definitely made memories to last a lifetime!

LINKS TO UPDATES:
DAY 1 - Pt 1 - PIXIE DUST RIGHT OFF THE BAT!
Since this is an Engagement TR - THE STORY OF OUR ENGAGEMENT!
DAY 1 - Pt 2
DAY 1 - Pt 3

DAY 2 - Pt 1 - BACK OFF SLEEPING BEAUTY!
DAY 2 - Pt 2
DAY 2 - Pt 3
DAY 2 - Pt 4
DAY 2 - Pt 5

DAY 3 - Pt 1 - FINALLY, GOOFY PROPOSES!
DAY 3 - Pt 2
DAY 3 - Pt 3

DAY 4 - Pt 1 - OUR (not so) FREE DAY
DAY 4 - Pt 2
DAY 4 - Pt 3

DAY 5 - Pt 1 - THE ADR I NEVER SHOULD HAVE MADE
DAY 5 - Pt 2
DAY 5 - Pt 3
DAY 5 - Pt 4

DAY 6 - Pt 1 - IS THAT SLEET?! IN ORLANDO?!
DAY 6 - Pt 2
DAY 6 - Pt 3
DAY 6 - Pt 4

DAY 7 - Pt 1 - DOES THIS RIDE COME WITH A WARNING?!
DAY 7 - Pt 2
DAY 7 - Pt 3
DAY 7 - Pt 4
DAY 7 - Pt 5

DAY 8 - DEPARTURE DAY & SOUVENIR REVEAL
FINAL THOUGHTS

 

[nts4wdw]

This sounds like a good one! I'm in!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

I say lets go ahead and get this party started!

DAY 1 – Pt. 1 – PIXIE DUST RIGHT OFF THE BAT!

This year, our arrival was thrown off a bit. Our original plan was to drive down to Disney a day earlier, however, room rates were still considered under the “holiday” time and were therefore super expensive! So we improvised and spent that evening with my dad in Tampa and woke up early the next morning to head over to Orlando!

After a short drive (it’s only about an hour) we saw the exit signs for Disney and I was getting so excited! And so we made our way to AKL – our “home” for the week.

I was so excited when I saw the Christmas tree was still up! It was breathtaking – so big and beautiful!

Loved the details!

Our Plan was to check in, get our room keys/park tickets, and head on over to the MK, as I was pretty sure the room wouldn’t be ready at this point – it was only about 10:00.

We had a super nice CM check us in, who was from Georgia like us. He congratulated us on our engagement and said he needed to make a phone call about the location of our room.

When he got off the phone he asked us if, since we were celebrating our engagement, it would be alright if they upgraded us to a savannah view room?!

Of course! I was beyond thrilled. Our first dose of pixie dust – and the first of many!

After finishing at the check-in desk, we excitedly made our way to our room. We couldn’t wait to check out the view!

We immediately saw animals!

The room was georgeous! So much detail, and perfectly themed.

I think we could have just sat in the room the whole first day, soaking up the incredible atmosphere of AKL and watching the animals!

After about an hour we finally tore ourselves away from the beauty outside our window and headed out to MK!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

This sounds like a good one! I'm in!

Yay! My first reader! And thanks for joining in!

 

[Disney Princess Jenn]

I love TR's with lots of pictures! Keep going!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

I love TR's with lots of pictures! Keep going!

Thanks for reading along! We took over 1500 pictures on this trip so I promise there will be many more photos to come!

 

[BippityBoo]

HI!! Followed you here from my TR! I am Subbing
Congrats on the engagement!!! So crazy that we just missed eachother. It was freezing the first day, then it got better! I am posting about our first day tonight! Thanks for joining in.

 

[ladybugmom]

Hi Courtney!! I followed you over from my PTR!! What an awesome upgrade--a great way to start a trip!! So I read that you are from GA? I grew up in Toccoa (a small town in Northeast GA close to SC)!! Which part are you from? Can't wait to read more!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

HI!! Followed you here from my TR! I am Subbing
Congrats on the engagement!!! So crazy that we just missed eachother. It was freezing the first day, then it got better! I am posting about our first day tonight! Thanks for joining in.

I'm glad to hear it warmed up for you Katie! And thanks for checking out my TR - I hope you'll keep reading along

Hi Courtney!! I followed you over from my PTR!! What an awesome upgrade--a great way to start a trip!! So I read that you are from GA? I grew up in Toccoa (a small town in Northeast GA close to SC)!! Which part are you from? Can't wait to read more!

Thanks for coming over to my TR Becky! We were so excited when we were told we were being upgraded - definitely an awesome start!
Yes, I'm a GA girl! I'm from the Atlanta area - I live in a suburb a bit north of the city. Small world, huh?

 

[MHTeacher]

Sounds like this will be a good one. We were actually at Disney the week before you...guess we got the warm weather that week. I remember getting home and hearing on the news how Florida was under a cold snap, and I said to my DH, "Aren't you glad we were at Disney last week?"

Can't wait to read some more.

 

[Mogambi]

I'm in too! Looking forward to reading about your trip.

 

[TokyoDina]

Subbing! Hey your from GA too! I lived in Warner Robins for 7 years before enlisted! Cool cool! I didn't really like it personally to hot for my liking. Ha! but not like Tucson is much better! I love snow! I wanna get stationed somewhere cold.

Can't wait to read more!! And find out how Miguel asked you to marry him! Whee!!!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

Sounds like this will be a good one. We were actually at Disney the week before you...guess we got the warm weather that week. I remember getting home and hearing on the news how Florida was under a cold snap, and I said to my DH, "Aren't you glad we were at Disney last week?"

Can't wait to read some more.

Thanks for reading, Michelle! Yeah, it sounds like we picked the perfect time to go to "the sunshine state" haha - we couldn't believe the cold!
I see you have a TR as well - I'm heading over to check it out now!

I'm in too! Looking forward to reading about your trip.

Hi, Jennifer! I see you have a trip soon to CSR - we stayed there right before they did the room renovations and we've been dying to go back ever since - they look beautiful!

Subbing! Hey your from GA too! I lived in Warner Robins for 7 years before enlisted! Cool cool! I didn't really like it personally to hot for my liking. Ha! but not like Tucson is much better! I love snow! I wanna get stationed somewhere cold.

Can't wait to read more!! And find out how Miguel asked you to marry him! Whee!!!

Yay for more readers! Glad to have you!
Funny thing, whenever I hear about Warner Robins I always think - that's the place to slow down on the way to FL because there's always so many police!
And I hear you on the heat - I hate to be hot! I'd much rather be cold!
I'll have to post a mini-update about our engagement story!

 

[nts4wdw]

for your pixie dust upgrade! AKL is such a special place. When we were there, we spent so much time on the balcony. Looking forward to more!

 

[MiaBella05]

joining in

 

[TokyoDina]

Yay for more readers! Glad to have you!
Funny thing, whenever I hear about Warner Robins I always think - that's the place to slow down on the way to FL because there's always so many police!
And I hear you on the heat - I hate to be hot! I'd much rather be cold!
I'll have to post a mini-update about our engagement story!

REally? I guess so. I can't remember that many cops being there...but it's been over 4 years since I lived there. My parents are still there but I never drive when I go there.

I can't wait to read the story! DH and I got engaged at TDL when we meet over in Japan!

 

[klacey1]

Joining in! Congrats on your engagement!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

for your pixie dust upgrade! AKL is such a special place. When we were there, we spent so much time on the balcony. Looking forward to more!

Oh I loved our balcony - especially during feeding time! Nothing like walking out of your room and hearing giraffes munching on leaves!

joining in

Glad to have you! Thanks for reading!

REally? I guess so. I can't remember that many cops being there...but it's been over 4 years since I lived there. My parents are still there but I never drive when I go there.

I can't wait to read the story! DH and I got engaged at TDL when we meet over in Japan!

Yeah, during this trip down it was the only area we saw the police out with their radar guns. It seems to be between Warner Robins and Perry.

How neat that you got engaged in Japan! I'm planning on posting our engagement story tonight!

Joining in! Congrats on your engagement!

and thank you!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

So seeing as how this is an engagement trip report, I should probably give some background on our engagement, right?

Some details about us:
Miguel and I have been a couple for a little under 3 years now. However, we knew that we wanted to spend our lives together probably 3 months into our relationship. Finally – on Christmas morning it became official and we got engaged!

Our plan was to open our presents that morning, and later on my mother and grandparents would be coming to my house for breakfast. Well, in the past, we have always opened our presents sitting on the floor – I consider it a tradition. This year though, Miguel was very specific about where he wanted me to sit – which was not on the floor.

So we opened our presents, and I got down to the last one. I wasn’t expecting anything out of the ordinary (like a ring!) because he had given me with so many beautiful presents already that morning. Well, when I opened the last one I found the ring box inside! He got down on one knee (so that’s why I couldn’t sit in the floor) and asked me to marry him. Of course I said yes! And honestly, past this point it's pretty much a blur. I was an emotional mess!

Needless to say, my breakfast didn’t turn out so well that morning! I’m really into cooking and baking and entertaining, so I had a great menu planned. Well, I managed to cook some eggs, bacon and sausage and that was all I could handle! There was no way I could cook after this life changing event! Makes for a funny story now!

I wish I had some pictures of us from that morning but I was so shocked and emotional that it just didn’t happen!
I will of course, share the picture of my gorgeous ring! He did a wonderful job!!!

Here's a nice close up!

And so that’s the story of our engagement and how our annual trip to wdw became our engagement celebration trip! I booked the vacation back in August so obviously I had no idea we would be celebrating – it was perfect timing!

 

[ladybugmom]

Awwww!! I love your engagement story!!! Your ring is beautiful!! So will you be having a Disney wedding or Disney honeymoon?