Queenie122
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2008
- Messages
- 437
Hi Ladies!! I am so excited to finally get to participate here!! I've been reading along for years - and when I saw years I mean years!!! I've always loved weddings and at one point in my life studied to become a wedding coordinator. And of course, my love of Disney knows no bounds so it's been great fun to get to read along with all your adventures and learn so much.
And now I get to join!!
I was married once before and have a beautiful, amazing daughter from that marriage. She was born very prematurely (25 weeks) and also had some birth defects. She spent the first year of her life in the hospital.
However, she's come through like a champ and basically we get along pretty well these days! It did put a lot of stress on my marriage and sadly we had to go our separate ways. But my daughter is 7 years old now, I can't believe how big she is getting!
Over this time, I had a very good friend whom I met online. He was great strength and support for me when I was weak or feeling sorry for myself. He's a college Professor from California. Two years ago he, on a whim, applied for a job here in NY, yes across the country. I think he did it because I am in the area - not as a joke - but really he was getting desperate and after 150 applications, he would take anything.
Well guess what? He got the job here at a fairly prestigious university! I offered him a place to stay so he could figure out if he liked living in NY. Well, he never left
Slowly over time we realized that we are perfect together. I feel like a giddy schoolgirl around him and he says I make him a better person.
He's amazing and I feel so lucky! He's great with my daughter and my family loves him - also very important to me.
So anyway, his school was sending him to Paris, yes France, for a conference in August. We arranged it that I would meet him there after a week and we would tour Paris together. And of course, no trip to Paris would be complete without a stop in Disneyland Paris! My guy knows how huge of a Disney fanatic I am - and lucky him he grew up 20 minutes outside of Disneyland!! He's a fan too. So when we realized that Disneyland Paris was only 19 miles outside of the city of Paris, and we looked over our schedule, we traded out an off day to go visit.
I am SO glad we did! It was a gorgeous day with perfect weather. It was a bit crowded but so was the whole of Paris. Apparently August is vacation time in Paris.
Anyhoo, the park there is simply beautiful. I've been to WDW many, many times and DL once but DLP is by far (in general) the most beautiful of the parks I have been to. They learned a lot of lessons from the other parks. The castle is magnificent and you can go inside and tour around, there is a Sleepy Beauty walk though and all the stores are set up like parts of the castle. So you walk into the "kitchen" and they sell candy. You walk into the wizards lab area and it's full of beautiful crystal. Down in the dungeon is a huge animatronic dragon that comes to life. So cool!
Their Mission to Space: 2 is far superior to ours. Actually, the whole Discoveryland is better than our Tomorrowland. Personally, I feel like our Tomorrowland is a little bit old and dated, certainly doesn't look like the future anymore! Their Discoveryland is all Jules Vern-y and is just amazing to take in.
Not everything is better there though. The French don't seem to give a poo about rules. They smoke, everywhere. They cut lines, everywhere. They go in areas marked "no passage." They just don't care and the CM's there don't care enough to stop them. All that is very un-Disneylike in my opinion. We also saw someone painting on Main Street - you would NEVER see that at WDW or DL.
Sorry got a little off track! lol
Anyway, it was just after lunch and starting to get pretty crowded. So we decided, instead of waiting on long lines for rides, to check out some of the "flavor" of the park. We went through Alice's Curious Labyrinth, a fun little walk through. We were both being all goofy and just having a great time. At the end we posed in the Queen of Hearts chair (me) and the Mad Hatter (him). It was just a fun, loving moment. We're just two big goofy kids together.
While I was happy to let that continue, J takes my hand and says "Let's go see the castle." Okay, that was fine, on our plans anyway. We dodged through the afternoon parade and made our way to the front of the castle. We took lots of beautiful pics close up and J kept asking me to take different pics, of me and of him. I was like, "We have 5,000 pictures, we don't need anymore!!!" I didn't guess what was up.
I wandered over to the wishing well, which both WDW and DL have in approximately the same area. He handed me a coin and told me to make a wish. (Later when telling the story I and I mention throwing a coin in, he was like, "Hey that was 2 freaking euros!! Which is like $3 our money!!" It's funny
).
I closed my eyes and the coin plopped in.
Now, my wishes have generally been the same for a while now and usually either involve my daughter Bella or J.
J says, "My turn!" and I open my eyes and he's on his knee in front of like 5,000 people with a totally gorgeous ring in a box!!!
He says, "My wish is only you. Will you marry me?" I pretty much stood there, shocked.
Then I felt my cheeks burn and I said, "You're doing this to me here and now?!?!?!" He was like, "Yup!" and just laughed. I was totally shocked.
People were oohhing and ahhing around around us but I just looked at him and they kind of all disappeared. I said, "Of course!!" and he put the ring on my finger and had the goofiest grin on my face, well, to this day, lol. We stood there for a long time kissing and taking a few more pictures, I was just in so much shock. It's really hard to surprise me!
Of course, I spent the rest of the trip with my feet in the clouds!
There is another funny story too. J asked my Dad for permission to marry me before we left! My Dad said he was dying the whole week J was away because he knew and I didn't and he had to keep the secret.
Back when my Dad was a kid, they were really poor. At one point, My Aunt was dating my soon to be Uncle. Since my Dad's family was poor, my future Uncle used to bring them donuts and candy and soda, since they were too poor for that. Of course all the kids loved him! So when it came time to ask my grandfather for her hand in marriage, he brought over a cute little chick. My grandfather said, in his Italian accent, "Fin-ally youa bringa a good gift!" And of course they got married.
(There is another part to this story which involves my Aunts and Uncles being devastated when that chick, which was their only pet, grew up and my grandfather made a beautiful chicken dinner that the kids refused to eat. "Youa damned American kids-a!" was the famous quote.)
So J, when he went to ask my Dad, gave him a stuffed chick and said, "I heard this is what you're supposed to do when you want to marry a (our family name) girl." Too funny. My dad really loved and respected that J did that. It's no secret around here that my Dad is totally in love with J, lol.
After we got engaged (hehe still gets goosebumps when I say that) J told me that he also wanted to "propose" to my daughter Bella. We talked about it for a bit then went into that crystal store where we bought her a heart necklace with a Swarvoski crystal Mickey inside. I usually wear heart necklaces (mine with diamonds) and she says stuff like, "Mommy, when you die can I have your beautiful sparkly necklace?" ROFL. So yeah, instead of her waiting around til I DIE, we got her her own.
When we got home, J sat her down and we explained to her what a "traditional" proposal was (man on knee, etc) and what it meant. Then J got down on one knee, with the necklace in the box, and said, "Bell, I really love your Mom, and you, and I am asking you if you would be my daughter and we can be a family." Of course she said yes, and I started crying and then she was crying, lol. We're such dorks. Her necklace is really cute on her too.
So yeah, that's my whole story! The only bad part is that we didn't have anyone to take pictures of us together right after it happened. They don't have Photopass photographers over there (Boo). So we don't have a pic of us together right after. I was thinking maybe we'll get some engagement pictures done so we have some. And actually, we're taking a trip next month to see J's parents in CA and we will be visiting Disneyland so I thought maybe we would "recreate" the big moment. I know it wouldn't be "real" but we'd get a laugh out of it.
So, if you read ALL that, I thank you! I can't believe I'm engaged! And, of course, we're going to try to do our best to have a wedding at Disney World! Not sure if I can afford it, J has two kids in CA and I have my daughter so a Disney trip for 5 AND a wedding on top of it is a lot but he knows this is what I really, really want so we're going to try. I'd like to do a non traditional ceremony where we really include the kids. So much to think about!
I guess this should have been in a planning thread, I apologize for the length! I'm just too excited not to share all the details
And now I get to join!!
I was married once before and have a beautiful, amazing daughter from that marriage. She was born very prematurely (25 weeks) and also had some birth defects. She spent the first year of her life in the hospital.
However, she's come through like a champ and basically we get along pretty well these days! It did put a lot of stress on my marriage and sadly we had to go our separate ways. But my daughter is 7 years old now, I can't believe how big she is getting!Over this time, I had a very good friend whom I met online. He was great strength and support for me when I was weak or feeling sorry for myself. He's a college Professor from California. Two years ago he, on a whim, applied for a job here in NY, yes across the country. I think he did it because I am in the area - not as a joke - but really he was getting desperate and after 150 applications, he would take anything.
Well guess what? He got the job here at a fairly prestigious university! I offered him a place to stay so he could figure out if he liked living in NY. Well, he never left
Slowly over time we realized that we are perfect together. I feel like a giddy schoolgirl around him and he says I make him a better person.
He's amazing and I feel so lucky! He's great with my daughter and my family loves him - also very important to me.So anyway, his school was sending him to Paris, yes France, for a conference in August. We arranged it that I would meet him there after a week and we would tour Paris together. And of course, no trip to Paris would be complete without a stop in Disneyland Paris! My guy knows how huge of a Disney fanatic I am - and lucky him he grew up 20 minutes outside of Disneyland!! He's a fan too. So when we realized that Disneyland Paris was only 19 miles outside of the city of Paris, and we looked over our schedule, we traded out an off day to go visit.
I am SO glad we did! It was a gorgeous day with perfect weather. It was a bit crowded but so was the whole of Paris. Apparently August is vacation time in Paris.
Anyhoo, the park there is simply beautiful. I've been to WDW many, many times and DL once but DLP is by far (in general) the most beautiful of the parks I have been to. They learned a lot of lessons from the other parks. The castle is magnificent and you can go inside and tour around, there is a Sleepy Beauty walk though and all the stores are set up like parts of the castle. So you walk into the "kitchen" and they sell candy. You walk into the wizards lab area and it's full of beautiful crystal. Down in the dungeon is a huge animatronic dragon that comes to life. So cool!
Their Mission to Space: 2 is far superior to ours. Actually, the whole Discoveryland is better than our Tomorrowland. Personally, I feel like our Tomorrowland is a little bit old and dated, certainly doesn't look like the future anymore! Their Discoveryland is all Jules Vern-y and is just amazing to take in.
Not everything is better there though. The French don't seem to give a poo about rules. They smoke, everywhere. They cut lines, everywhere. They go in areas marked "no passage." They just don't care and the CM's there don't care enough to stop them. All that is very un-Disneylike in my opinion. We also saw someone painting on Main Street - you would NEVER see that at WDW or DL.
Sorry got a little off track! lol
Anyway, it was just after lunch and starting to get pretty crowded. So we decided, instead of waiting on long lines for rides, to check out some of the "flavor" of the park. We went through Alice's Curious Labyrinth, a fun little walk through. We were both being all goofy and just having a great time. At the end we posed in the Queen of Hearts chair (me) and the Mad Hatter (him). It was just a fun, loving moment. We're just two big goofy kids together.
While I was happy to let that continue, J takes my hand and says "Let's go see the castle." Okay, that was fine, on our plans anyway. We dodged through the afternoon parade and made our way to the front of the castle. We took lots of beautiful pics close up and J kept asking me to take different pics, of me and of him. I was like, "We have 5,000 pictures, we don't need anymore!!!" I didn't guess what was up.
I wandered over to the wishing well, which both WDW and DL have in approximately the same area. He handed me a coin and told me to make a wish. (Later when telling the story I and I mention throwing a coin in, he was like, "Hey that was 2 freaking euros!! Which is like $3 our money!!" It's funny
). I closed my eyes and the coin plopped in.
Now, my wishes have generally been the same for a while now and usually either involve my daughter Bella or J.
J says, "My turn!" and I open my eyes and he's on his knee in front of like 5,000 people with a totally gorgeous ring in a box!!!
He says, "My wish is only you. Will you marry me?" I pretty much stood there, shocked.
Then I felt my cheeks burn and I said, "You're doing this to me here and now?!?!?!" He was like, "Yup!" and just laughed. I was totally shocked.
People were oohhing and ahhing around around us but I just looked at him and they kind of all disappeared. I said, "Of course!!" and he put the ring on my finger and had the goofiest grin on my face, well, to this day, lol. We stood there for a long time kissing and taking a few more pictures, I was just in so much shock. It's really hard to surprise me!
Of course, I spent the rest of the trip with my feet in the clouds!
There is another funny story too. J asked my Dad for permission to marry me before we left! My Dad said he was dying the whole week J was away because he knew and I didn't and he had to keep the secret.
Back when my Dad was a kid, they were really poor. At one point, My Aunt was dating my soon to be Uncle. Since my Dad's family was poor, my future Uncle used to bring them donuts and candy and soda, since they were too poor for that. Of course all the kids loved him! So when it came time to ask my grandfather for her hand in marriage, he brought over a cute little chick. My grandfather said, in his Italian accent, "Fin-ally youa bringa a good gift!" And of course they got married.
(There is another part to this story which involves my Aunts and Uncles being devastated when that chick, which was their only pet, grew up and my grandfather made a beautiful chicken dinner that the kids refused to eat. "Youa damned American kids-a!" was the famous quote.)
So J, when he went to ask my Dad, gave him a stuffed chick and said, "I heard this is what you're supposed to do when you want to marry a (our family name) girl." Too funny. My dad really loved and respected that J did that. It's no secret around here that my Dad is totally in love with J, lol.
After we got engaged (hehe still gets goosebumps when I say that) J told me that he also wanted to "propose" to my daughter Bella. We talked about it for a bit then went into that crystal store where we bought her a heart necklace with a Swarvoski crystal Mickey inside. I usually wear heart necklaces (mine with diamonds) and she says stuff like, "Mommy, when you die can I have your beautiful sparkly necklace?" ROFL. So yeah, instead of her waiting around til I DIE, we got her her own.
When we got home, J sat her down and we explained to her what a "traditional" proposal was (man on knee, etc) and what it meant. Then J got down on one knee, with the necklace in the box, and said, "Bell, I really love your Mom, and you, and I am asking you if you would be my daughter and we can be a family." Of course she said yes, and I started crying and then she was crying, lol. We're such dorks. Her necklace is really cute on her too.
So yeah, that's my whole story! The only bad part is that we didn't have anyone to take pictures of us together right after it happened. They don't have Photopass photographers over there (Boo). So we don't have a pic of us together right after. I was thinking maybe we'll get some engagement pictures done so we have some. And actually, we're taking a trip next month to see J's parents in CA and we will be visiting Disneyland so I thought maybe we would "recreate" the big moment. I know it wouldn't be "real" but we'd get a laugh out of it.
So, if you read ALL that, I thank you! I can't believe I'm engaged! And, of course, we're going to try to do our best to have a wedding at Disney World! Not sure if I can afford it, J has two kids in CA and I have my daughter so a Disney trip for 5 AND a wedding on top of it is a lot but he knows this is what I really, really want so we're going to try. I'd like to do a non traditional ceremony where we really include the kids. So much to think about!
I guess this should have been in a planning thread, I apologize for the length! I'm just too excited not to share all the details
I really think the CMs do their best, but it is so hard for them with all the various language barriers etc. I must say, though, that I saw somebody painting a fence at the MK at WDW this past trip, so I guess that is not so unusual a sight in the parks these days!!
