If the Shoe Fits-A Surprise Engagement-Sept 2010 TR - UPDATED 04/03

[Leeanne]

After a trip back to rest and refresh, we head back to Magic Kingdom to catch a boat to Wilderness Lodge for dinner. This is a beautiful resort! I love how you feel like you are going sooooo far beyond the reach of the Magic Kingdom. This resort seem somewhat hidden behind a part of the land that juts out, which to me helps lend to the feel that you are out in the wild somewhere. We actually timed it just right to see the geyser go off. Funny story is the 7 yo asked what a geyser is and my mother (retired last year after 33 years teaching science) immediately starts talking geysers and water spray. I guess you can retire from formal teaching but you probably never retire from teaching!

If you haven’t made it to this resort, I urge you to go! The resort has a “hot spring” in the lobby that empties into a “pond” which trickles down into the pool. It is beautiful. I know that you can’t pool hop, but honestly I really wanted to take a dip in that pool just so I could feel as though I was at the base of a waterfall!

The resort lobby is beautiful. The totem poles are sky high, and the rustic look was wonderful. And the Disney totem pole….well it just fit in perfectly!
Dinner was at Whispering Cannon Café.

Now the funny thing is that only Brian and I knew what to expect. We hadn’t eaten there, but had heard the stories. I told no one else anything about the restaurant! To start with my friends dad was on the phone with someone back home. (Did I mention he is also our pastor? Yeah he is.) What did the waitress yell out but “Ya’ll keep it down!! He’s on the phone!” I thought I would bust from trying hard not to laugh! Then he wanted to know about non-alcoholic tropical drinks being on the dining plan. Well, she made a comment about how “then he would want to know if she could just add a splash of alcohol to the drink!” When he told her he was a pastor, she was stunned and actually speechless. Now if you have ever eaten there you would know that “speechless” and “WCC wait staff” never really go together. The poor girl was so embarrassed! But, she then started teasing him. Now, if you have been there you know how hard they can tease. They constantly ragged him! We all ended up ordering the WCC Skillet. And that thing was amazing!

As you can see it was an amazing amount of food. The 7 yo got the children’s skillet but I can’t seem to find a picture. I know that he had chicken with potatoes and corn on the cob. He had a chicken leg and seemed to like it. As far as our skillet, all I can say is I could have eaten nothing but the beef brisket and been very happy! I loved it! The interesting thing is that each of us tried all the meats and while we all loved each one of them, we each seemed to be drawn to one in particular. And mine was the beef brisket! Yum!!!

And then came dessert. I don’t know who had what but I do have pictures!

Kahlua-flavored Chocolate Cake

Seasonal Fruit Plate

What is left of the S’mores Cheesecake, lol

And the best dessert of them all!!

Apple-Caramel Pie (I love granny smith apples!!)

We also had two birthdays and they did eat both cupcakes. This was fun because they actually had 3 or 4 people around helping to eat the cupcakes! They also took another little girl and stood her up on a chair and sang happy birthday, which I thought was better than eating her cupcake!

All and all we love this restaurant; however one problem I think is worth mentioning.
I knew that it would be loud and the workers annoying. However, my friends’ dad dropped his fork and asked for another one, before we got dinner. He never got it. Thankfully, he likes ribs and he can eat them with his fingers. However, when the waitress brought dessert, he asked for a fork again and finally got it. It seemed to me that, while she kept with the theme, and gave him a hard time about dropping his fork, she failed to deliver another one. I didn’t mind the fact that she gave him a hard time, but please next time, bring another.

When we went back to Magic Kingdom, we realized it had started to pour rain…..to the point that we couldn’t take the boat back. I had a moment of panic! I wasn’t for sure if WL had another way to MK! I had planned on the boat, but if it was grounded what would we do? Well, we stopped to ask a CM. Turned out to be a PhotoPass CM. If you didn’t know this, apparently they have PP set up in several of the deluxe resorts. We tried to find them in some of the other resorts. We saw the set up and the desk for viewing pictures, but never saw the photographer, standing and waiting to take pictures.

I know the picture is blurred but the faces are blurred to protect the innocent! Sorry ya’ll

After taking the pictures he directed us to the………….buses! lol That’s right, I never even thought about a bus to Magic Kingdom.

We were able to ride Buzz a few more times (okay about 4 more times!) and then it was time for the Main Street Electrical Parade!

And then it is time for Wishes! There is nothing like a full day in Magic Kingdom Park just to end with a wonderful fireworks show! Wishes always will have a special place in my heart because Brian giving me my promise ring last year. And this year I had a whole new bunch of people to share it with. As I looked around and saw the awe on their faces, I was reminded…..family and friends is what Disney is all about. It is all about bringing people together and making wishes come true.

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

What a great evening! I would love to go over to the WL one day soon and look around. I stayed there when I was younger but I don't remember much, and I'm sure I couldn't really appreciate the beauty back then! That skillet from WCC looks so yummy! I really want to try WCC mainly for that, but both Miguel and I are really shy and I think we might find the "festivities" there more stressful than fun.

 

[Leeanne]

What a great evening! I would love to go over to the WL one day soon and look around. I stayed there when I was younger but I don't remember much, and I'm sure I couldn't really appreciate the beauty back then! That skillet from WCC looks so yummy! I really want to try WCC mainly for that, but both Miguel and I are really shy and I think we might find the "festivities" there more stressful than fun.

We loved WCC! We are loud type people though. However, I have heard of some people who requested a "quiet" table and were able to eat but didn't have all the 'festivities'. I don't know if this is always available but I would ask over on the restaurant board and see. Its a great restaurant!

 

[Leeanne]

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[Leeanne]

Our second day we went to Animal Kingdom. Mom really isn’t that big on the roller coasters, and Brian hates EE (the little boy was have some problems with coughing and took some meds that made him drowsy, so they will come later) so we decided to explore some of the trails and animal areas. We haven’t done this before, but this area is beautiful!

And of course we have to see Its Tough to Be a Bug!

While we were wandering around, a couple of CMs came up to us, and asked some questions about where we were from and if it was our first visit. Because of mom’s first visit, they asked her if she would be willing to go to a meeting and answer some question. If she agreed then they would give her $100 gift card! Of course mom decided to go! (More info on that later!) We met up with everybody else and started going through different attractions and characters. Brian gets mom to the area over near Dinosaur! where she was to meet them for her meeting. We go on and eat at Restaurant-osaurus. Again, I have no pictures of the food.

I really wasn’t that impressed. It was the traditional chicken strips, French fries fare. One thing I do like is the toppings and different sauces. I have to say I prefer Anandupur Local Food Cafes much better. And mom and Brian actually ate here later, when mom got out of her meeting. Brian ended up getting lost (or so he says!) and didn’t get back a while after he dropped mom off. After we met up with mom we went to see one of my favorite shows….Nemo!!

This is one of my favorite shows! The colors, the music, the puppets…I love it! I actually have a full body puppet that I work at church, and I know how difficult a puppet can be on that small level. I can only imagine working one as big as Nemo, Dory, or Crush!

Last, no trip to Animal Kingdom is complete without a trip over to the Safari! The other family had gone on this earlier, while I wanted to wait for mom.

Then back to the hotel to rest and get ready for Ohana and the Electrical Water Pageant!

I do have a question before the next time I post. I am seriously considering changing the name of my Trip Review. I just carried my Pre-Trip Review name forward, but I wanted to make sure I can change it. I really think that I can label it something different that would be better named. I just need to know your opinion! Trust me......this would be a big one!!

 

[onescgirl]

Hurray for mom getting $100. I can't wait to read what that was all about.

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

I say go for the name change - I'm intrigued by what you have in mind!

I really want to take some time to explore the trails at AK one day. We always get so caught up in the big attractions that we miss out on that. I'm hoping that the relaxed pace of the honeymoon will allow that!

 

[BridgetR3]

O.k. I'm following along. Great TR so far except that you have no food pictures!!!

I guess I'll still follow.

The elephant in your safari looks ummmm....shall we say....dead?

Can't wait to read more!

 

[Leeanne]

Hurray for mom getting $100. I can't wait to read what that was all about.

I did forget that didn't I....sometimes I get too excited! And I know what happens next!

I say go for the name change - I'm intrigued by what you have in mind!

I really want to take some time to explore the trails at AK one day. We always get so caught up in the big attractions that we miss out on that. I'm hoping that the relaxed pace of the honeymoon will allow that!

I think I will change the name. I wasn't sure about how that works here, but hey I can always ask for forgiveness! The trails were beautiful, I think you should walk them. I was amazed at all the little details I have never seen, it was amazing!

O.k. I'm following along. Great TR so far except that you have no food pictures!!!

I guess I'll still follow.

The elephant in your safari looks ummmm....shall we say....dead?

Can't wait to read more!

There were some food pics.....wwwwaaaaayyyyyy back at WCC! Trust me, I do better!
The elephant cracked me up, it was laying there, then it just kinda lifted its head up, looked at us. Apparently decided we weren't anything and laid its head back down!! I caught it right when it laid down.

 

[Leeanne]

On the way out of the park, I just casual ask mom what they talked about in her meeting…..ok so I lied. The minute she got out of the meeting area, I said “So tell me everything they talked about!” She said they were not supposed to talk about what was discussed. So like a good DISer I said “But mom!!! If you don’t tell me I will die!!” Okay maybe I wasn’t that dramatic, but I did beg! The only thing she would tell me was that they discussed the trip planning. Now why you would pull customers out of the park (where they may buy something) to talk about trip planning I will never know! But hey if Disney wants to do so and pay my mum $150 (she corrected me tonight!), more power to them! And she still won’t tell what they talked about!!!! Heathen!

Once we were back at the hotel, we had time to get back to the room…..and then leave again! Lol We actually ran ourselves a wee bit too much this day, however we have Ohana reservations! Now I was looking forward to this reservation, simply because of everybody’s reviews. And this was really my first time at the resort! We decided that we would take the monorail across from Magic Kingdom. Now, when we came almost 20 years ago….we didn’t ride the monorail. So except for Brian and myself, this was a whole new experience! Some people think it is crazy to be so attached to the monorail, but for me it is classic Disney! Where else do they have a train that travels above the sky and drops off in a magical fairy tale, an old English Inn, a tropical paradise, and a futuristic building? And that isn’t counting the Epcot loop! So we all hop on board and get off at the Poly. Now this resort is exquisite, with the water, flowers, and trees…it’s a beautiful resort! Check in at Ohana was smooth and while we waited, we actually found two of our friends from TN! They were there along the same time as us! It is amazing to me that in a place as big as Disney, you can run into someone in all places a restaurant!

We all got seated and they brought out that sinful bread!

Quickly afterward was the salad, noodles, and pork dumplings. Around this time, the lady who does children’s games comes over and gets all the kids to come up and they all go around the restaurant for the coconut races. This was too cute!! All the little ones with brooms and the giant coconut….however I will say that it was loud. You get 50 or so kids in one place, hand them brooms and coconuts and walk around the restaurant….its going to be loud.

Then it was skewer time! They brought around the chicken, and turkey first, then steak, then shrimp. And so yummy! I had read where some people complained about the food being too dry, or fatty, or just not good. We loved it! We actually got to sit right beside the grill and watched them grill!

Now these aren’t my pictures but I can’t find my pictures of the grill and these pictures were at the exact same table! I used them before our trip so I am not sure which DISer they came from, but I thank you!

As you can see Brian got seconds of the shrimp….he loves them (myself not so much! I don't do shrimp! )

Then off course was the wonderful bread pudding with banana fosters sauce! Because we were such a big group, they brought us two big plates of it. Now this is for all those people who don’t like bananas. Because we had two plates of the bread pudding, the waitress poured the bananas foster sauce on top of one and then went to pour on the other. My friend doesn’t like bananas, so we quickly stopped her and she left the sauce beside the plate, so we had one with sauce and one with sauce on the side!

I can most certainly see us going back and having dinner here. It’s a fun restaurant and the food is amazing! However, if one is looking for a romantic dinner, this may not be the place for it. The kids do get loud, and the lady who is keeping them entertained is…….shall we say, annoying. Honestly, if she would tone herself down a bit…much better. Because we had such a large group, and enjoy each other company, we ended up sitting through several different versions of her. The first was the coconut races, then the kids all hula’ed (how do you spelled hula with ed on the end?!) around the restaurant, they they did something where they gave out leis to everybody. Everybody agreed that she was good about keeping the kids involved but it did get a wee bit annoying towards the end!

We went down the bottom floor, and went through the gift shop and took some pictures around the lobby. This is my mom with her boyfriend.

Then it was time, to head down to the Poly beach, for the Electrical Water Pageant and Wishes!

Brian had found a picture of Sunset Pointe (follow the sidewalk around the pool and up behind/beside the beach on the right side) somewhere and decided that we had to watch Wishes from there! If you haven’t been there, imagine 6-8 palm trees spread around a concrete pad, and perfectly centered is the castle in the distance. There is a breeze blowing off the lake, and its beautiful! The Electrical Water Pageant started up and then Wishes! is piped in, and the fireworks started. It really is a beautiful place.

Brian out of now says “Friends name, I have dropped my key, can you help me find it?” Her phone has a flash light on the back where the flash is, and mine does good to make/receive phone calls! Then out of no where, Brian says “Hey, this is cool, but you know what would make this better? Leeanne, will you marry me?” He had a glass slipper engraved with “To a Happily Ever After” on one side and “Will you marry me?” on the other. Inside was a white rose (as I later discovered a Mickey Charm!) and this beautiful ring!

I (of course!) lean back, look at him, and said “Maybe”. Well he just about panics! A split second later I said “Yes!” and gave him a hug/kiss! I have to say, my fingers drained of blood, and I got all shaky! We had talked about getting married, and knew we were but still, this was permanent! And real!

Now…you all know why it took so long to start my PTR! We had a lot of decision to make, then holidays, and I have taken over another job at work (in addition to the one I already had!). However, I am going to take a page out of someone else’s book (ahem, SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE! Lol) and ask….who wants wedding updates in my TR?

Oh and the name change….how about If the Shoe Fits Surprise Engagement Trip Review

 

[BridgetR3]

CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!!!

What an absolutely romantic way to propose!!!!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!

Ever since you said back on your PTR that Brian was going down earlier than you I figured he had something up his sleeve! Oh my gosh, I'm so happy for you Leeanne! What a beautiful, romantic proposal - he did such a wonderful job!!!

Yes, you must do wedding updates! I want to hear all about your plans! Ahhh, I'm sooooo excited for you! (like you couldn't tell! )

Yay!!!!

 

[Jazzabelle508]

DEFINITELY IN!!!!! I can't wait to read more about this!!!!!

 

[I Believe In Magic]

How wonderful!!!! Congrats!! Can't wait to read more

 

[onescgirl]

Congratulations! Love it!

 

[Disneybound!!]

That is so sweet! Congratulations to you both!!

 

[Leeanne]

CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!!!

What an absolutely romantic way to propose!!!!

Thank you! I told him that I had to have a good story!

I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!

Ever since you said back on your PTR that Brian was going down earlier than you I figured he had something up his sleeve! Oh my gosh, I'm so happy for you Leeanne! What a beautiful, romantic proposal - he did such a wonderful job!!!

Yes, you must do wedding updates! I want to hear all about your plans! Ahhh, I'm sooooo excited for you! (like you couldn't tell! )

Yay!!!!

I figured you would know before me!! I thought he had something up his sleeve, but someone hit his car a few months before we went to Disney, and he said he had to use his ring money for his car. Goober. Thank you for your excitement! It's so wonderful! (awww my first use of that smiley!!)

DEFINITELY IN!!!!! I can't wait to read more about this!!!!!

Can't wait to share!

How wonderful!!!! Congrats!! Can't wait to read more

Thank you!

Congratulations! Love it!

I know, its so sweet!

That is so sweet! Congratulations to you both!!

Thank you!

 

[Leeanne]

How did you like the surprise in the last update? I thought it was jolly good myself! Lol

I plan on speeding up and doing a day by day review…I just wanted to drag out the proposal part, but decided to speed it up because I almost made a comment on a PTR! It was one of those cases where I wanted to make sure I had it typed out exactly to show the excitement and nervousness, as well as all the planning that went into his proposal!

I know I owe you all a really good update, because I haven’t been able to update for a while. I am working on a new computer system at work, which has required me to be out of town almost every week for the past two and half months. And honestly, by the time, I get off work, the last thing I want to see is another computer!

The third day we went to Epcot. I love Epcot! (have you noticed a theme here? I love all the parks! )

We, of course, race to Soaring for our FP, then over to TT and MS (Green for me….spinning gives me a migraine and I didn’t need to be down for the count!), Nemo, ect. We had watched Turtle Talk with Crush, last year but it is so different with a kid. He sat and watched amazed at Crush and Dory. Lunch was at Sunshine Seasons (which is one of our favorites, because of the options)

Again, we enjoyed our lunch. Everybody liked what they had, and thought the desserts were heavenly!

Sorry ya’ll, I have no idea what anybody had, but myself. I thought I had it but I don’t. I had the chicken, with noodles and rice from the Asian section, with key lime pie, but no idea about the others. Sorry guys, I failed on that one!

We didn’t make it over to the World Showcase, even though we wanted to. There is no way to tour as quickly with 7 people. We made a quick trip back to the hotel for a rest, then off to dinner at Chef Mickey.

This, apparently is the last time we will have our picture taken with this plate. I now understand that Mickey, now meets at the front. Part of me is sad about this, and part of me likes it.

Donald gave me a kiss on the cheek, hence my hand over my mouth…what cracks me up though is my mum’s face behind me. I just love that look!!

Donald decided that he was going to ‘fight’ Brian for me. Brian stood up (all 5 feet 10 inches of him) and Donald (all 5 feet) back off quickly. lol

Somehow, I don’t have pictures of Goofy, so I don’t know where those are at!

We went back to AK for EMH, and I stayed with mom, because I didn’t feel quite like riding KRR. But the rest of the crew did!! I am not really happy now about no evening EMH at AK, because they got to ride KRR 3 times! They were so soaked!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

We love Sunshine Seasons, too! It's our usual Epcot lunch. The strawberry shortcake there is sooooo good. We always end up not having the time to make it to WS, either! And when we do it's always for such a short amount of time. We just love FW too much! CM looks like fun! How funny of Donald!

 

[Leeanne]

Now a wedding update! We have decided we are going to get married August 27, 2011. Several people have asked me why this date…..the reason is that August 27, 2008 was the day that Brian and I first met. It was a blind date, but I wanted to make sure he wasn’t crazy (I had only had crazy people attracted to me up to this point), before I went out alone with him. So I went up to his work, where thankfully they had a slow night (he works at Big Lots) and a very understanding manager! I stayed for over 4 hours that night. We then decided to get together Saturday and spend the day together, where he took me to a movie, we walked in a park, had, then that night went to movie in the park. We have been together ever since! We started talking about taking a trip to Disney, when (I think) we saw a commercial and Brian said he had always wanted to go, but never had a chance. I had gone two years prior as a ‘nanny’ for a family who I am really close to, but dreamed of going back with somebody who I cared about, as a couple. It was odd. When I was with a family, it looked like there were couples everywhere, or little romantic things that I wanted to share with someone, and I didn’t have anybody. So we decided New Years Eve (while watching the Disney shows on the Travel channel!) that we are going to WDW that year. We end up getting to go for Brian’s birthday and Star Wars Weekend, and had a ball! That is when Brian gave me my promise ring (see pic below. I (of course!) dreamed of going back again! We decided that we would go for the Free Dining promo, in Sept. And of course, you know what happened then! He popped the question, and I started….panicking! Not planning, panicking! I really had to think about this, was this what I wanted? It was one thing to talk about getting married, it was a whole separate thing to have the ring on my finger! But, after my initial panic, I took a step back and tried to imagine life without him. Nuh, uh, not happening! So, I think started planning for the beginning of our happily ever after!

We are getting married in our church and the reception will be held there as well. We have an awesome pastor, who told me “I think more married couples should dance” when I asked he about dancing in the church. Also, because he is like a dad to me (they went with us to Disney in Sept!), he said that I can do anything I want.

Our colours are shades of purple, with dresses/vests being a dark purple, and the flowers are dark purple calla’s. We are still in the process of getting everything together, so I don’t have pictures to share right now.

My dad works with a lady who does weddings on the side. Now I expected her to have some stuff, you have to have a lot of things if you help with weddings. But when I got to her house, I was blown away. To start with, she has one lean-to on a shed with her larger outdoor pieces (as in anything you might want to decorate outside a building), then we went into one room of her outbuilding (she had 3 rooms, and an upstairs), then into her 3 story house, then over to her store front, where she then said she had 3 storage buildings full of more stuff. By the time, I got into her house I really thought I was on information overload.

So now some pictures for your viewing pleasure!

I am going to decorate this gated arch and put it in the back of the church. I like that I can close the gate and not have anybody go down the center aisle until it is opened for the mothers/grandmothers.

I plan on putting one of these along the ends of the church (on every other row) and the other set will line the hallway going to the fellowship hall. I really think I will put the smaller ones in the hall, and the bigger ones in the church. And I love the round candle in the ones that remind me of a carriage!

Close up of carriage holder

Candle holders

Candle holders zoom in

Tall candles holders

I am going to have these on hooks sitting beside the chairs on either side of the center aisle.

She actually has two of these and we are going to put them on either side of Brian and my table. They have pedestals that go under them, but I am not sure if they will be to tall, so we will have to get to then and see.

We are going to put flower petals in this urn and petals instead of bubbles or bird seed.

Table cloth for the bridal cake table.