Reach Out And Find Your Happily Ever After! Our Engagement Trip! *updated 1/14* - New TR Link!

[HomeSweetDisney]

GIRRRL Thank you so much! And CONGRATULATIONS to you too!!! I actually cannot believe you're getting married AT DISNEY! That's incredible Where are you doing it?!?! Can I have a running order of the day please June 2020 is so soon too!! Are you feeling prepared?! Who knew there was so much to do?!

Thank you so much!!
We are getting married in Epcot, at Canada Terrace! It's that little area right by where the waterfall is
We have to have a 9 AM ceremony b/c it has to be before the World Showcase opens. Which means my hair & makeup team will be in my hotel room at like 3:30/4 AM Buuuut we are getting married in Epcot so I will suck it up and so our guests will have to suck it up too
I am planning to do a TR b/c we will be there a whole week and I think it will be fun to write about getting married there!

How's your wedding planning going? Sept isn't that far away either! Actually getting married in WDW made my wedding planning not quite as stressful haha They do everything for you! So that takes a lot of the stress away. I go pick up my dress on Feb 3rd & then I need to start doing alterations. John and Jacob and his best man have to get set up w/ their suits. But really, there's not a whole lot else left for me to plan! Oh and we need our wedding bands...that's kind of important I guess lol

I can't wait to read ALLLLL about your wonderful engagement trip! I hadn't seen anything from you in so long, I hoped everything was well & seeing ya'll got engaged made me so happy!

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Day 1
Monday 4th February 2019
Part 1 – Travel Day! UK to… Atlanta…


CODE RED.
IT’S DISNEY DAY.
THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

Jamie and I love staying at the airport the night before we fly.
We sleep so well when we’re not worrying about missing our flight!
We woke up at 6am and got ready to go!

Travel outfit!

Fran and I were exchanging messages in our 4-way group chat from the moment we woke up!

When we were looking around the room to make sure we’d got everything, we discovered a mug underneath the mattress of the pullout bed?!?!?!

Why would someone have put that there?
So weird.
Thankfully no one was sleeping on the bed or it might have smashed!

At 7:30am we were all packed up and ready to go!
We left the room, checked out, and made our way over to terminal 2!

Once we’d dropped our bags and made it through security it was about 8:30am, and our flight wasn’t until 10:40am
I’m a psycho when it comes to flights

We went to Boots and I bought some Smint and a small moisturiser to keep in my handbag.
Then we went to Frankie and Benny’s for breakfast!
This has become a pre-flight tradition of ours!
Unfortunately Jamie didn’t really fancy any food, but we each got a coffee and he got a Pepsi Max.

Jamie’s stomach was doing flips, maybe due to the early morning.
We looked up what he should avoid eating/drinking so that he’d feel better for the flight, and the internet told us to avoid anything caffeinated or carbonated…
Good job he’d ordered himself EXACTLY those two things

For breakfast I got pancakes with bacon and maple syrup!

It was good, but I only managed to eat one of the pancakes and one piece of bacon (Jamie ate the other one).

Check this cute Mary Poppins purse I got!
The zip is an umbrella!

After breakfast we sat by our gate and waited eagerly to board.
I messaged the group, and Fran told us about an incident they’d had over in their terminal…
(please note that Rob is a big Harry Potter fan…)

Very soon we were boarding our flight!
These big planes usually have their doors hooked up to a walkway, but there’s a lot of construction at the airport so we had to go outside to board!
Brrr.. it was 'February-in-the-UK' cold!

We’re on our way!

We’d booked our usual seats at the back of the Premium cabin
Champagne on arrival

Soon we were taking off!
Next stop….
Atlanta


Whyyy was an indirect flight the only option for our travel day??
I am very impatient when it comes to Disney travel day.

This was a pretty boring flight, I listened to some podcasts and played some Brick and Balls with Jamie.
We had some good food and drink!

Tortellini

My pasta looked a lot more appetising than Jamie’s curry

Mile High Tea!

At 2:50pm we landed in Atlanta!
We went through customs, collected our bags, dropped our bags elsewhere, and headed through security!
I’ve never done a connecting flight before, it was all very complicated.
But I enjoyed the fact that once we had gone through the immigration procedures in Atlanta, we could now fly domestically to Orlando, so when we arrive there we can stroll right off the plane and out of the airport!
No lines and no waiting around!

Atlanta airport has a cool underground train system to take you between terminals.
We had to take it to our gate!

The Super Bowl had taken place in Atlanta the night before so there were a lot of football fans about!
Jamie showed me that one of the popular players had been at the Magic Kingdom today!

We didn’t have much time between flights.
We arrived at our terminal, got a bottle of water and used the restrooms, then boarded our 4:55pm flight to Orlando!


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[TheLittleKatie]

Day 1
Monday 4th February 2019
Part 2 – Travel Day! Atlanta to Disney!


Our second flight took no time at all!
It was maybe like an hour long.
It felt like we’d hardly made any height before we were descending into Orlando!

We exited the plane as domestic passengers which was brill.
We walked out of the gate and found the fonorail!

This was around the time that Chicago had been experiencing a “polar vortex”, so when we were leaving the fonorail a TSA agent said,
“Welcome to Chicago, make sure you wrap up warm”

We collected our luggage from B side level 2, then headed down to the Magical Express!

At around 7pm we were on our way to Disney’s Beach Club!

We stopped at Caribbean Beach…

Disney’s Boardwalk…

And at around 7:45pm we pulled into Disney’s Beach Club!!

We went straight to the check in desk, and we were assigned room 2538!
I asked about the request I made for adjoining doors with Rob and Fran, and I was quite disappointed to learn that we hadn’t got them.
I know that they can’t guarantee anything, but we used to get adjoining rooms every time my family and I stayed at Port Orleans Riverside back in the day.
I really thought we’d get them
Oh well, their room would be two doors down from us so at least we weren’t far away.
You can probably be about 15 minutes away from each other if you’re placed at opposite ends of this hotel.
That would be awful.
So two doors down is fine.

Regardless of adjoining doors, I was excited to see our room!
We stayed at the Beach Club in 2014, and the rooms have been refurbished since then.
I think they did an excellent job!

We got a full balcony, yay!

We had a note from the general manager advising us that there would be some construction at Stormalong Bay during our stay (we didn’t see or hear anything for the whole trip though!)

My must-do: Turn on Must-Do Disney with Stacey!

The dark red dot on the picture below is where our room was situated.

We unpacked for a while, and went down to the Marketplace to get our refillable mugs!

We also got a microwave sent up to our room.
This is something we always do, just so that Jamie can do heat compressions on his eyes with an eye mask.

We went back to our room and discovered that we could see the fireworks from our balcony!
We always seem to have a firework-view room, even when we pay for standard!
We’ve been very lucky

Soon there was a knock at the door…
It was our Disney Floral and Gifts order!
Fran is nicknamed ‘Buzz’ in our Toy Story group chat, and the four of us always quote the green aliens by going “Ooooooh” at anything even slightly interesting

We kept it in our room and eagerly awaited their arrival!

“BORN TO ROCK BABY”

At a little after 10pm we got a message from Fran…

YAAAY!
We left the room and went downstairs to meet them!

We sat in the high-backed chairs facing the front entrance and we waited and waited, like puppies waiting for their owners to return

Soon, the most Magical Express of them all pulled up!
The one that was bringing our best friends to Disney!

They appeared through the front doors dragging all of their luggage behind them, and we leapt up to meet them!

I remember hugging Fran and saying, “YOU’RE here at DISNEY with us!”
It felt so surreal!
We were so excited!

They checked in and we all headed up to their room, room 2542.
We gave them their Buzz Lightyear flowers and they loved them!!
Then we all went down to get their refillable mugs, and went for a little walk.
We walked around the building towards Epcot, then along the lake towards the Yacht Club, then turned back around once we reached the lighthouse.

Then we returned to our rooms.
Rob and Fran unpacked whilst Jamie and I went to bed!
We couldn’t wait to get to the parks the next morning!

Goodnight!


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[TheLittleKatie]

joining in...congrats

Thank you! and

WOW, big news, congrats!!!!

Thank you!!!

No, thank goodness. At home. Sick like a dog for 2 days.

Oh jeez that's awful. Do you know what caused it? Have you written a strongly worded letter to a restaurant?

Sweet! (potato)

(and by "the house", I mean this trip report)

Thank you so much!!
We are getting married in Epcot, at Canada Terrace! It's that little area right by where the waterfall is
We have to have a 9 AM ceremony b/c it has to be before the World Showcase opens. Which means my hair & makeup team will be in my hotel room at like 3:30/4 AM Buuuut we are getting married in Epcot so I will suck it up and so our guests will have to suck it up too
I am planning to do a TR b/c we will be there a whole week and I think it will be fun to write about getting married there!

How's your wedding planning going? Sept isn't that far away either! Actually getting married in WDW made my wedding planning not quite as stressful haha They do everything for you! So that takes a lot of the stress away. I go pick up my dress on Feb 3rd & then I need to start doing alterations. John and Jacob and his best man have to get set up w/ their suits. But really, there's not a whole lot else left for me to plan! Oh and we need our wedding bands...that's kind of important I guess lol

I can't wait to read ALLLLL about your wonderful engagement trip! I hadn't seen anything from you in so long, I hoped everything was well & seeing ya'll got engaged made me so happy!

Oh my goodness this is the most incredible thing I've ever heard I'm so glad you're doing a TR, I cannot WAIT to read all about it!! That sounds like the most beautiful wedding ever A 4am walk up will be fine, you'll be so excited you won't even realise how early it is!! And the same with your guests, everyone will just be so happy to be there to celebrate with you! What will you do after the ceremony?

My planning is going well thanks! I've got a monthly checklist that I'm on schedule with, so that's good! We're getting married in Edinburgh (our favourite city - in this country anyway!) so it's a little tricky finding vendors online without being able to go and see them in person, but everything's looking good so far! We'll be taking a couple of trips up there between now and September so hopefully I'll get to meet with everyone!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Yayy you made it to Disney!

I don't think anything beats the excitement of first getting there!

 

[Raeven]

Following along!

JAMIE AND I GOT ENGAGED!!!

Ahh yay! Congrats!

 

[pkondz]

CODE RED.
IT’S DISNEY DAY.
THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

Go! Go! Go!

We sleep so well when we’re not worrying about missing our flight!

I can see that as being a bit less stressful.

When we were looking around the room to make sure we’d got everything, we discovered a mug underneath the mattress of the pullout bed?!?!?!

Well, of course. How else will you keep the tea warm?

Thankfully no one was sleeping on the bed or it might have smashed!

Ah. That's it. The person who put it there was probably smashed.

Once we’d dropped our bags and made it through security it was about 8:30am, and our flight wasn’t until 10:40am
I’m a psycho when it comes to flights

Me too.

We went to Boots and I bought some Smint

Um... what????

We looked up what he should avoid eating/drinking so that he’d feel better for the flight, and the internet told us to avoid anything caffeinated or carbonated…
Good job he’d ordered himself EXACTLY those two things

No!!!!!

I messaged the group, and Fran told us about an incident they’d had over in their terminal…
(please note that Rob is a big Harry Potter fan…)

Okay, that's pretty funny.

These big planes usually have their doors hooked up to a walkway, but there’s a lot of construction at the airport so we had to go outside to board!

I have never seen a B747 loaded like that!

Whyyy was an indirect flight the only option for our travel day??
I am very impatient when it comes to Disney travel day.

Awww... poor Katie.

My pasta looked a lot more appetising than Jamie’s curry

Ew. No kidding.

I’ve never done a connecting flight before, it was all very complicated.

Welcome to my world.
Just once I'd like a direct flight.

Our second flight took no time at all!
It was maybe like an hour long.

Atlanta is just wee bit closer to Orlando than England.

We exited the plane as domestic passengers which was brill.

"brill"

I love that word. I need to find a way to use it without someone looking at me like I was a weirdo.

I mean more of a weirdo.

We walked out of the gate and found the fonorail!

"fonorail"?

Oh well, their room would be two doors down from us so at least we weren’t far away.

Not bad!

We got a full balcony, yay!

Score!

We sat in the high-backed chairs facing the front entrance and we waited and waited, like puppies waiting for their owners to return

I remember hugging Fran and saying, “YOU’RE here at DISNEY with us!”

Awww!!!

Oh jeez that's awful. Do you know what caused it? Have you written a strongly worded letter to a restaurant?

No. Not sure which restaurant it was!

 

[natebenma]

Hi Katie!

Joining in on your report.

First off, CONGRATULATIONS!!! LOL at not leaving us in suspense.

Just looked through your DLP pictures- loved them. I have read a couple of trip reports from there, but for the most part the park is new to me. The castle is great and I love your picture with the fireworks.

I have much love for the Beach Club, so I look forward to reading about your time there and hope you came away with a positive impression.

What a fun group chat, love the personas you all picked. Did you have those names on your Magic Bands for the trip?

Oh, and your Dark Mark intro photo... AWESOME!

OK, back to the current report.

Dee

 

[natebenma]

home!

Looks like you got a really nice room. Nice and close to the secret exit/entrance near the path to the World Showcase. It is always a nice bonus to be able to see fireworks right from your room! Especially that first night when you must have been exhausted.

Full balcony- YAY! Did you friends get one too?

Sorry you didn't get connecting rooms. The funny thing is, the guests in the rooms in-between would probably be happy to switch!

Smart move with the microwave!

That is such a cute welcome bouquet. What a nice surprise for your friends. So great that you are together again and after a night's rest you will be ready to attack Disney.

 

[smilerjones]

Joining in on your trip report! Beach Club is so pretty and the quick walk to Epcot is wonderful! Looking forward to following along on your trip! Congratulations on your engagement!

 

[amberdc1987]

Yay!! Another report from you! I love your reports. I'm so excited y'all got engaged! Thank you so much for not keeping us waiting about that little tidbit. I cannot wait to hear all about the trip and of course all about the engagement!

 

[TwoLittlePrincesses]

Hooray and congratulations on your engagement!! How very exciting and I can’t wait to read about all the details of the proposal and your trip!

 

[AV007]

Congratulations on your engagement!!! ❤❤❤

 

[rdkeim]

I can feel the excitement! Can't wait to hear what you did day #1!

 

[tinkerbell1991]

Congratulations on your engagement. I'm getting married this year too in October at the best place ever - Polynesian beach, WDW

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Yayy you made it to Disney!

I don't think anything beats the excitement of first getting there!

It's the best! I always write loads about travel day even though I know people don't care about it, just because I find it so exciting! I love reading about other people's travel days too!

Following along!



Ahh yay! Congrats!

Yayy and thanks so much!!

 

[TheLittleKatie]

I can see that as being a bit less stressful.

It's so nice, I hate when you have to set an alarm for like 5am, I wake up loads in the night because I'm so scared of missing my flight! Then I worry about trains being delayed and traffic jams etc etc. Staying at the airport takes all that away, AND adds an extra day onto your vacation

Well, of course. How else will you keep the tea warm?

Me too.

They day I don't leave much time to get through the airport will be the same day that the security line is HUGE.

Um... what????

Boots is what you might call a 'drug store' I think? They sell health and beauty stuff and they tend to have a pharmacy, but they do really good lunch deals! Like a sandwich, snack and drink combo and smints are little mints...! Are these both UK things?!

Welcome to my world.
Just once I'd like a direct flight.

I shouldn't complain, we usually have direct flights. Connecting flights make the day feel a lot longer in my opinion!

"brill"

I love that word. I need to find a way to use it without someone looking at me like I was a weirdo.

I mean more of a weirdo.

I say it all the time! And I am also a weirdo

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Hi Katie!

Joining in on your report.

First off, CONGRATULATIONS!!! LOL at not leaving us in suspense.

Just looked through your DLP pictures- loved them. I have read a couple of trip reports from there, but for the most part the park is new to me. The castle is great and I love your picture with the fireworks.

I have much love for the Beach Club, so I look forward to reading about your time there and hope you came away with a positive impression.

What a fun group chat, love the personas you all picked. Did you have those names on your Magic Bands for the trip?

Oh, and your Dark Mark intro photo... AWESOME!

OK, back to the current report.

Dee

Hey Dee! That's so cool that you read my report - thank you!! I've followed your Beach and Yacht Club threads for years, ever since we first stayed at the Beach Club in 2014! They're so great

Thanks so much for the congrats, I can't wait to get to that part of the report!

I hope you can get out to DLP one day, it's a really fun day. It's tiny though, on the same scale as Disneyland in California. If you're ever visiting Europe you should definitely call in!

Hahaha WE DID put our character names on our Magic Bands!!! I love that you knew we would do that! You must be on our wavelength, do you want to join the Toy Story gang?!

We had two really good outfit days on our two Universal days, we all wore black with our dark mark tattoos that day, and we went on another day where we wore our Hogwarts House uniforms..!!

home!

Looks like you got a really nice room. Nice and close to the secret exit/entrance near the path to the World Showcase. It is always a nice bonus to be able to see fireworks right from your room! Especially that first night when you must have been exhausted.

Full balcony- YAY! Did you friends get one too?

Sorry you didn't get connecting rooms. The funny thing is, the guests in the rooms in-between would probably be happy to switch!

Smart move with the microwave!

That is such a cute welcome bouquet. What a nice surprise for your friends. So great that you are together again and after a night's rest you will be ready to attack Disney.

I looooved those Beach Club rooms, the last time I stayed there in 2014 before the refurb, with the big wooden bedframes. At the time I thought those rooms were cool, but they're nothing compared to these! The pearl effect in the headboards are so pretty

YES we saw a lot of the fireworks actually! And the last time we stayed here we could also see them, although not a great view. There must be quite a lot of rooms that face the fireworks? Either that or we got really lucky both times!

Yay for a full balcony! Our friends got one too. From walking around the outside of the building it looked like there were quite a lot of rooms that had the tiny balcony, so I was really happy we'd got a big one

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Joining in on your trip report! Beach Club is so pretty and the quick walk to Epcot is wonderful! Looking forward to following along on your trip! Congratulations on your engagement!

Yay !! We really enjoyed staying at the Beach Club, the location is perfect especially for things like Festival of the Arts! Aww thank you, I can't wait to write about it!

Yay!! Another report from you! I love your reports. I'm so excited y'all got engaged! Thank you so much for not keeping us waiting about that little tidbit. I cannot wait to hear all about the trip and of course all about the engagement!

Aww thank you so much!! to the new one! I'm excited, I love that I have somewhere to document our adventures, and now our engagement! Thanks for reading

Hooray and congratulations on your engagement!! How very exciting and I can’t wait to read about all the details of the proposal and your trip!

Yaaay thank you!! Ahh and I can't wait to tell you about it! Thanks so much for reading

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Congratulations on your engagement!!! ❤❤❤

Thank you so much!!

I can feel the excitement! Can't wait to hear what you did day #1!

Haha we were so giddyyy! I'll be posting Day 1 at Magic Kingdom shortly...

Congratulations on your engagement. I'm getting married this year too in October at the best place ever - Polynesian beach, WDW

Thank you!! Oh my goodness what an absolute dream!!! That sounds incredible, do you think you'd write a trip report about it?!