Planning a Proposal in our Favorite Place: An August 2016 PTR

[abarriger]

Hello and WELCOME!! To my first ever (pre) trip report!

Introductions

Who's coming on this trip? Well... the exact same duo who has attended my past two disney trips (not that you'd know that, since, as mentioned, this is my first every trip report. But I've certainly imagined writing one or two!)

First up.... Me! Amy, your author and Disney-trip planning obsessor.

Favorite ride: Dumbo! Little Mermaid! It's a Small World! People Mover! (I love classic, not-super-scary stuff.)
Favorite movie: Frozen! (If you'd asked me 5 years ago, The Little Mermaid... but things change.)
Favorite park: Magic Kingdom!
Non-Disney stuff: I'm a pre-school teacher by day. I also teach Hebrew school on the weekends, and I'm working on a masters degree in early childhood education at night.

My partner in crime... Marjorie!

Favorite ride: Dumbo!
Favorite movie: The Little Mermaid. She has also recently developed a love for Lilo and Stitch, after encountering Stitch for the first time ever last year at Typhoon Lagoon. (I made us stop for a quick picture on our way out since the line was short... on the phone later I heard her tell her mom "We met Lilo!" The situation was quickly rectified at home )
Favorite park: Animal Kingdom.
Non-Disney stuff: By day, she's working on a PhD in developmental psychology... i.e. she does research and writes papers with lots of tricky math in them.

A bit of background on Marjorie-- she has never professed to love Disney. Ever. But over the past two years of planning our short (but magical) moments there, her love has definitely grown. She even confessed to me recently that she sometimes logs into MDE just to look at our ADR's because they're "So pretty!". So, I think it's safe to say that she is becoming more Disney obsessed just by living in proximity with me!

 

[abarriger]

A Bit of Background
The Basics
So This is Really Happening-- Proposal Logistics
Big Changes!
EVEN MORE Changes

 

[abarriger]

A Bit of Background

Marjorie and I are not fabulously wealthy (perhaps you missed the aforementioned day jobs...). Typically, the only vacations we take are to visit my family and her family (in New Hampshire and Long Island, respectively.)

Cue to three years ago, when Marjorie's parents announced that had purchased a vacation home in Sarasota, FL. The first words out of Marjorie's mouth? "Florida? But.... it's humid! And there are pythons and alligators in Florida!" Meanwhile, I was already google-mapping how far Sarasota is from Orlando. (The answer: 2 hours.)

So, Disney wouldn't be financially feasible otherwise, but since we can combine our trips with family time, we make it work on the same flight.

Here's a photo from our first trip, in 2014. Going into this trip, I know next to nothing. I planned it just a few months out, and it was really just intended to be a day trip to the Magic Kingdom. Except... M's dad recommended we book a stay overnight somewhere (since I planned on staying open to close) and when I was on Orbitz I realized I could stay on site for just a bit more.... The rest is history.

We stayed for one night at Pop, and I spent weeks planning that single day. This trip was my intro to fast passes, rope drop, Disney blogs, touring plans.... All the fun stuff I think about constantly now. We started the day at morning EMH and closed the park. We did everything we wanted to (which pretty much means we rode all the non-scary rides)... and we were happy and beyond exhausted. Marjorie enjoyed it enough that she let me book two nights the next year (maybe you see where this is going!)

2015 was even better. This time, we swung for two nights at Art of Animation, which remains one of our favorite places in the world. It really captured the Disney magic... and was everything a 9-year-old-Amy dreamed about when she imagined a trip to Disney world. Marjorie was a bit more involved with the trip planning this time: we did one day at Typhoon Lagoon and one day at Animal Kingdom. We also did the dining plan for the first time, which opened our eyes to some of the amazing sit down restaurants at Disney.

If Marjorie hadn't been sold on Disney yet, here's three words for you: Ohana bread pudding. We still opened the parks, but we didn't always close them, and we added in a bit of a time to breathe. Which is part of why, I think, we have come to view Disney as such an important part of our lives together.

Marjorie and I are pretty busy people. I work at my day care 40 hours a week, and I attend grad school classes twice a week. I also work on Sunday mornings, and babysit pretty regularly to help pay tuition. Marjorie has constant massive papers to write and research to do. I often remark that if we didn't live together... I might not see her. It's not like that at Disney. At Disney, we spend an hour in the pool together, laughing at the RIDICULOUS soundtrack they play underwater at AOA (Did you know they have a song about estuaries that plays there?).

At Disney, we ride Journey of the Little Mermaid three times in a row and find new magic together. At Disney, our phones are off and we're truly present. At home, when we have stressful days, sometimes we share a youtube video of a favorite ride together, or read the menu of a new restaurant. Over the past three years Marjorie has become more of an active planner along with me. Even though we only spend a few precious days there each year, it's a really important place for us as a couple. And so, when we sat down to talk about our future together, Disney was obviously a part of that conversation. Marjorie and I have been together for a little over four years, and we want to get married soon. So, DISboards, I'll let you in on a little secret, just the thousands of you and me: we're planning on getting engaged there on our next trip (in just 176 days!) Which is why I decided to write my first ever report to chronicle this process, and get help from so many of the amazing people on here.

 

[abarriger]

The Basics

When: August 6-9th (Which I realize sounds super short, but is by far our longest trip ever!)
Where:

What:

One day at Epcot (Marjorie's first time there, and my first time in years). I'm a pretty serious Frozen fan, so I'm really excited for the the new ride...

and one day at MK! I can't wait to lay eyes on this beautiful sight again. Last year's trip just felt empty without a day here.

Nom Nom Nom: Something I imagine I will get into later is that I am a pretty serious eater. Which is why you can see me in this photo at my absolute heaviest weight ever.

Oh it actually kind of hurts me to look at that. It's a really unflattering photo on several levels, which is unfortunate as it's the only one of just me in front of the castle. Photos from this trip were my inspiration to really change my eating and exercise habits last year. Here I am one year (just about exactly) later, and almost 50 pounds lighter.

I'm still working on my diet and exercise-- the holidays were a bit rough, and I'm only now back down to where I was on the last Disney trip. I'm hoping to lose another 10 pounds by August, which should be doable, but I'm stalling a bit now.

Whatever our diet is at home, though, Disney is our food heaven. I will be doing some pretty serious eating over those three days.

Arrival day: Ohana, 6:25 (this was a pretty serious favorite
Day 2: Akershus, 8:15 breakfast
Cape May Cafe, 5:00 dinner.

I will drop one of these, as we did the DDP and I don't want to be over credits... I'm holding onto both as I feel like Akershus may help with crowds for the Frozen ride, but I will reevaluate once it is open and drop one of the. We like doing a dinner break at a resort, but I am getting more and more excited about some princess photos without waiting in line.

Day 3: Be Our Guest, 8:00 breakfast
Be Our Guest, 1:00 lunch

I admit this looks crazy. Initially, I had planned on doing the Wishes dessert party this night, so we didn't want a big dinner. New reviews (and a close considering of the price) have turned me off that... but we had kind of gotten excited about a brunch on our way out, so we decided to keep it with no sit down dinner.

We did BOG lunch last time we were here (it was a fastpass then) and while we weren't totally blown away by the food (we ordered poorly... honestly it was kind of heavy, especially given the August heat) the atmosphere was amazing and we liked a sit down break in AC. This time, I'm dying to get in before park open for photos, and the breakfast looks pretty yummy (and a good deal on the dining plan.)

Day 3: Departure day
Chef Mickeys, 11:25 Breakfast/Lunch

Then we're off, back to MCO to pick up my mother and drive her to Sarasota, where we'll spend the remaining week and a half or so of our vacation. (M's parent's fly in a few days later.)



Also-- I'm a little computer challenged here-- so if anyone could direct me how to link to a specific post (rather than just the page it is on, if that makes sense) that would be much appreciate!

 

[jmccoy18]

Hi! It looks like you have an exciting trip coming up! Congrats on your weight loss , 50lbs is awesome!!

If you want to link a specific post, click on the post number in the bottom right-hand corner of the post. A box will pop up with a url for the post. Copy the url. Then click on the hyperlink button on your toolbar (it looks like 2 chains together next to the font tools) and then paste the url. I hope this helps!

 

[abarriger]

So: big update for today is that I have booked an order with Disney Floral and Gifts. Which is only a little terrifying because A. They are not cheap and B. because this is really, deffinitely happening.

Clearly not my photo, as I haven't ever used DF&G before (Is that the appropriate acronymn? Given the DIS I assume there is an acronym for them..) I ordered the "romance with rose petals" option, which means they will lovingly sprinkle flower petals in our hotel room while we are out.

My girlfriend is not an overly public person, so my plan is, after a dinner at Ohana, to come back to the hotel together where she'll find the surprise waiting for her. We can share a quiet moment together in our room, in our favorite place, and I can propose!

I also ordered a half bottle of some sparkling wine (I got the cheap stuff, but if anyone is dying for $320 champagne, rest assured, you can order that from Disney as well!)

I have to admit, I'm excited for these adorable champagne flutes, and I know M. will be as well-- even if they're just holding the cheap stuff!

Placing this order was a little tricky. M. and I have a joint bank account, and she checks the account pretty regularly (she's much better at stuff like that than I am!) I knew if she saw this on the credit card she'd Google "Disney Floral and Gifts" and... Let's face it... It's obvious. So, I enlisted a helper in the form of my co-teacher: she put this order on her credit card, and I handed over the chunk of change. It makes me nervous that they'll reach out to her if there's a problem, but I didn't really have a choice!

 

[abarriger]

Big changes for our trip! Earlier, I wrote about my great and deep love for Art of Animation. Which is still 100% a thing-- that resort is some of Disney magic at it's finest.

But... then there was a promotion. And some things changed. For 20$ less in total, instead of our Little Mermaid room, we could get a room here.

This is big news for us. We are not particularly financially well off, even the values are a big splurge for us-- but I admit, we've talked about moderates. Like, "When we have real money one day, where would we stay?" And I admit I am a big fan of POR, but it has never been Marjorie's favorite. Every time we saw CS in a promotional video (especially the amazing pool!) M. mentioned how this would be her pick. And in the back of my mind, I always figured when we had a bit more money, this would be our place. Well... we're both pretty freaking excited. We can't wait to walk around this

and this

and oh my will there be swimming here

and lots of sliding here (little kids be darned! I'm on vacation!)

It's a little weird to me that there is a promotion at all, as we always travel at the same time of year and there's never been a great deal like this-- but we'll take it! We are so so excited. Our first day we fly in early and will spend most of the time at the resort until we're off to dinner, so I'm hoping to really make the most of this experience! And, though I'll admit I felt a tiny bit of angst letting go of the crazy in-your-face-theming that is AOA, I'm incredibly excited to have a new place to explore and research and plan out. And honestly, given my proposal plans-- this seems like a more grown up, fitting place.

 

[jmccoy18]

Yay for a promotion and getting to stay at CS! That is exciting!

 

[abarriger]

Yay for a promotion and getting to stay at CS! That is exciting!

Yeah we couldn't believe it! (Especially as the ticket prices went up somewhat-- so for us to still end up saving money, it was a good promotion!) I'm already worried about how we will go back to a value next summer First world problem I guess!

 

[Thrifty Canadian]

This is exciting! I'm not sure how to "subscribe" or anything but I'll bookmark this page until I figure out how to do so. lol Can't wait to hear more!

 

[abarriger]

This is exciting! I'm not sure how to "subscribe" or anything but I'll bookmark this page until I figure out how to do so. lol Can't wait to hear more!

I'm happy you're following along! I hope to post again shortly as I work out some more logistics!

 

[LadyD]

Just found your PTR!! Congrats on the pending engagement! Sounds like you have lots of fun stuff planned. Make sure to get buttons for the engagement and note that is what you're celebrating on your ADRs. Sometimes the CMs like to sprinkle a little extra pixie dust for those special occasions, so it never hurts We got a few free congratulation desserts on our engagement trip. Hope your trip is magical and extra memorable!

 

[abarriger]

Just found your PTR!! Congrats on the pending engagement! Sounds like you have lots of fun stuff planned. Make sure to get buttons for the engagement and note that is what you're celebrating on your ADRs. Sometimes the CMs like to sprinkle a little extra pixie dust for those special occasions, so it never hurts We got a few free congratulation desserts on our engagement trip. Hope your trip is magical and extra memorable!

So glad you're following along! Welcome!

I have thought about this... but I worry if I note stuff before the engagement happens then someone might say something to us when we first get there and blow it? I'm hoping someone will give us buttons afterwards though! I've never had cause to wear any of the buttons yet!

 

[abarriger]

So... not so much to report these days. We're in that terribly exciting part of the trip where time is definitely ticking down (90 days!! 90 days until we are together in our very favorite place!) but there isn't much planning to do. I am dying for Frozen Ever After to open so we can see how that affects Epcot-- I am extremely excited for that ride in particular, but there's still a lot of questions about it and how touring will change.

Otherwise, we've started our Countdown To Disney with DAM's: Disney Adult Movie Nights (I leave off the N from my acronym for obvious reasons...)

Here are the movies we are hoping to get through before August 6th

• Beauty and the Beast
• The Little Mermaid
• Finding Nemo (and Dori!)
• Lilo and Stitch
• Pirates of the Caribbean (likely just number 1...)
• Peter Pan
• Sleeping Beauty
• Cinderella
• Snow White
• Song of the South (if I can track this down on You Tube or something.)

Many of these movies M. has never seen before. Last week we watched Cinderella with a glass (or two...) of wine. Last night we made a bigger deal of it though-- we had a friend over and had a themed dinner. I've seen lots of people do this for their children-- and since Marjorie's childhood was a little less Disney-riffic than mine, I figure, why not be kids one night of the week together?

We opted for Snow White, and this was the menu:

SEVEN grain bread (get it?) and an apple-centric salad (it had goat cheese, green apple, toasted pumpkin seeds, cranberries and an apple cider vinegar vinaigrette) . (there was also hard apple cider)


And for dessert: caramel apple turnovers and poison apple-tinis.





Can you believe M is in her late 20s and didn't know the story of Snow White?? When the huntsman took the box to bring back Snow White's heart, she was super concerned and asked us "How is he going to trick her?"

We enjoyed watching the movie (and drinking...) together, and I appreciate the movie for the historical context it represents: but it was not our favorite movie. As a group of three women, it was hard not to think about the feminist implications of the story... And how helpless/ downright foolish Snow White seems to be at times. I definitely prefer the princesses who have a bit more girl power in their story lines! But we will appreciate the story when we ride Seven Dwarves Mine Train in a few months!

 

[margareton27]

Placing this order was a little tricky. M. and I have a joint bank account, and she checks the account pretty regularly (she's much better at stuff like that than I am!) I knew if she saw this on the credit card she'd Google "Disney Floral and Gifts" and... Let's face it... It's obvious.

LOL - this is the same in our house! My husband bought me a ring for our 25th anniversary. He bought it day of as he knew I would see it on the credit card

Following along with your preparation. Enjoy CS!!

 

[alohamom]

Loving all of this so far! The champagne flutes are great, how much fun will that be to celebrate with them! I think I might just have to copy your Snowwhite menu one day, you guys are so creative...

 

[MarieLightning]

Your trip is getting super close, that's so exciting!

Great ADRs planned And I hope your special night turns out as amazing as you want it to be

Disney Movie Nights are always awesome, we try to do as many of those as possible!

As a group of three women, it was hard not to think about the feminist implications of the story... And how helpless/ downright foolish Snow White seems to be at times.

I do feel really bad for Snow White. She's got such a bad reputation, and she appears feeble, but when you look a bit further into it, she's probably one of the strongest minded characters.

I mean, think about it.

Snow White is supposed to be like, 14. She's been abused her whole life, and then she finds out that her step-mother/abuser wants to get her killed. She has to run away from the only place she's ever known, which although has probably not been a happy place for her, is still her home. She finds herself alone, lost, with nowhere to go, in a strange forest (and it's never really daylight in forests). I would be scared out of my wits too.

Then she finds a cottage, whips it back into shape and basically runs that household from that point on. No washing up? No dinner.

As far as falling in love on a whim, even the most daring Disney ladies (Ariel, Pocahontas, Jasmine) fell for their man pretty quickly. Romance is the epitome of any princess movie, and they all basically take place over the course of a few days during which they find their happily ever after. Snow White was just the kicking start of it all. (One may argue Elsa is the strong feminist icon for not needing a man but tbh, I've never seen her like that. I do hope the sequel isn't romance centric around her, but time will tell).

 

[abarriger]

More big changes have come our way! I can't believe we have changed resorts AGAIN-- but we have! I've spent more time on the phone with Disney planning this trip than for any prior one.

Here's the scoop-- in addition to reading the DIS, I am on Lines a fair amount, and someone on there recommended I try a travel agent. I figured the rates are all the same, right, but why not try? Could it hurt?

...It didn't hurt, in fact it saved us a fair amount of money (over the deal we already had from Disney, which I thought was pretty great!) AND they threw in water park tickets! So. Although I was less than excited about the hassle of canceling and re-booking (3 days out from FP booking!), there was something I was extremely excited about.

Crushin' Gusher, that's something to be excited about...

Or that view....

Or even that one.

Marjorie and I had an amazing time at TL last year-- we did the perimeter via lazy river at least three times, and got legitimately frightened on shark reef (I know I know it's safe... but then there was a SHARK guys )

So, a big savings plus a day back there was enough to convince us to rebook. (Which did actually end up being a hassle, as the TA misspelled my name so I had to wait on hold with Disney to fix it for what felt like an eternity, but whatever.) And, since it was saving us money, we felt okay with the option that saved us just a tiny bit less money. The moderate resort I had always imagined I would love the most.

That's right....

Here we come, Port Orleans Riverside!! I am so excited I can hardly wait. See you in 54 days!

 

[abarriger]

Dining Plans

So, because our resort changed, and because we added a day at Typhoon Lagoon, we had to change things around a bit in terms of eating. I have booked, then cancelled, booked, then cancelled, and booked about 30 times now trying to get things right... But I think this is final.

Day 1
Swimming here

Then we'll take the bus to a park, possibly monorail around and see the resorts, before eating ALL THE BREAD PUDDING here

Then back to POR for a romantic moment together-- and if all goes well we will be engaged in time for day 2!

Day 2

Marjorie is not thrilled about this-- but I booked a PPO breakfast here

in an attempt to get an additional ride on Frozen Ever After (we have a fastpass just in case!) Then our plan is to enjoy the park together and snack around the world for lunch/dinner. Please share any recommendations for must-eats! Marjorie has never been here, and I've never been as an adult, so we're hoping to taste lots of interesting stuff.

Day 3

Day 3 will reunite me with my true love, the Magic Kingdom! (As I write this I have an MK park map bow in my hair, and Cinderella's castle necklace on.) We have a ppo breakfast at this beautiful castle

and an early dinner with these guys

This might be a little silly-- Marjorie loves Pooh, but we are aware the food might not be amazing. We have an extra table service for MK day, though, and this seemed like a good choice since we hate losing park time. So we'll see.

Day 4

This day will be all counter service... possibly we will grab a meal at DS, possibly we will eat exclusively at Typhoon Lagoon/POR. We shall see. Rest assured there will be loads of swimming, and a fair amount of snacking!! (I'm hoping to convince M. we need the waterpark giant sundae in a bucket.) Then at 4:30 or so we head off to MCO to get my mother and drive to Tampa.

 

[emij]

Yay!! What a fun plan coming together.