The *I got ENGAGED in Disney!* Trip Report-Update 6/27 Evening in MK

[MellyBeans]

Hello, everyone! My name is Melissa, and I am a Disney addict! In total, I have been to Disney World five times (and counting), and Disneyland once. For our trip in 2007, I discovered the DIS, although I was only lurking at the time. Well, I spent a solid two years lurking here and reading everyone else's fabulous trip reports! I have to say, I LOVE reading them. They really take you straight back to Disney! So thank you, all of you trip report writer-DISers that have given much to read over the past couple years.

When DF (DBF at the time) and I started planning our second Walt Disney World trip as a couple for this June, I decided to finally come out of lurkdome and post on the boards. I also made a vow that I would write my own trip report. THEN, while we were down there, DBF and I got ENGAGED!!!! Because of this, I told myself I absolutely *had* to write a report, if for no other reason than to document and remember our *engagementmoon* for years to come.

So anyway, without further adieu, allow me to introduce the characters. Don't worry, it is a short cast.

Me: My name is Melissa, like I already said. I went to Disney twice as a kid for obligatory family trips. Confession time: I didn't really like Disney much as a kid. My mom would tell you about a pretty memorable meltdown that I had in the middle of MGM (it was still MGM at the time) about wanting to go back to the hotel pool to swim. I know, spoiled little brat. I returned to Disney in high school with a friend's family, and absolutely fell in love!. Seriously, it was a great trip that fueled my love for Disney forever. Call me crazy, but I actually think Disney is better for teens/adults than children. At least in my experience, I like it more as an adult than I ever did as a kid. Fast forward eight years or so, and DBF and I decided to plan our first big trip together and settled on Disney World for the destination. That trip was back in 2007. We stayed at All-Star Music (my first time on site-and will never do it any other way again!) It was a great trip, but very exhausting. We went completely comando, to the point where I think we packed nearly EVERY attraction into the five days we were there-literally an exhausting, but great trip. The following year I needed another Disney fix, so rather than go back, we tacked on a couple days of Disneyland to a Southern California trip. I loved Disneyland! I don't know that I would ever plan a vacation around it, but if I ever find myself back in the area, you bet I would definitely go back! Anyway, that leads me to this year, where DBF and I decided to plan a longer, more relaxing trip to the world.

Ok, sorry, this is getting long. I'll shorten it up. I promise. Other things about me-I am a 26-years old who just finished a masters program and am officially certified to be a School Counselor! Yay! I am spending the remainder of the summer looking for jobs and crossing my fingers, and of course wedding planning! Woo Hoo!!!! If I don't get hired this summer (a reality due to crappy economy and school budget cuts...sigh), I will most likely take an extra class or so in the fall to become a Licensed Professional Counselor. Oh, I also work for an agency that supports people with developmental disabilities. I LOVE my job, and would not hesitate to stay there, if they only could pay me more. Anyway...here is me:

DBF and later DF: Matt. Matt has the fortune of coming from parents who loved Disney. As a result, he has been many, many, many times over the course of his childhood. His parents were also Disney snobs in the fact that he *always* stayed on site even before the values sprang up and I think staying on site became more common. He has even stayed at the Grand Floridian (lucky duck! That is my dream resort). He likes Disney World, but his obsession is not nearly as huge as mine. In fact, he would like to take a Disney break for a little while now. You know what that means, probably no Disneymoon for me. It’s ok though, cause I convinced him we will return for our first anniversary, most likely in 2011. Besides, I begrudgingly agree that we have already been to Disney-fied vacations three times as a couple, and post wedding, it might be better to just relax on a beach somewhere anyway. I think two years is a sufficient time for a Disney break! Haha.

Anyway, Matt is also 26, turning 27 in a month. He works for the University of Wisconsin (GO BADGERS! It’s both of our alma maters) doing IT and computer work-type work. Very boring.

Here is Matt:

Now that you know the cast, here are the quick stats on the trip, so you all can have a little preview of whats to come:

When? May 30th-June 6th, 2009

Where? Coronado Springs Resort

For the foodies, we were on the basic Dining Plan, and planned to eat at:

Liberty Tree Tavern Dinner
Sci Fi Lunch
Le Cellier Lunch
Ohana Dinner
Teppan Edo Dinner
50's Prime Time Dinner
Boma Dinner

As you will see in the TR though, many of these ressies got shifted around, and we actually ended up changing quite a few, with some VERY pleasant results!

What? Four parks, downtown Disney, exploring some fab resorts, and of course GETTING ENGAGED!

One more quick picture of us in where else? The Magic Kingdom!

Anyway, I hope this is enough of an intro. Whether or not anyone actually ends up reading this, I thought it would be fun, and I could have a record of our engagement trip!

The obligatory travel day to come!

 

[TiggerD]

I am on board and looking forward to reading all about your trip. Congrats on the engagement and a wonderful married future to you both. Dh and I are going in September for our 32nd wedding anniversary.

 

[Vallie]

i'm in! congrats on your engagement!! what a dream come true! i'm currently planning a vacay for myself and DBF for aug! would love to come back engaged hehe

 

[disneylovinfamily]

I'm in! *sigh* I love agood disney engagement story! I always say for our 10 year nniversary in 2011, we will take a trip to the world alone and leave the kids at home with the granparents

 

[MellyBeans]

Yay! I have a couple readers!

Ok, on with the Trip report....


Friday, May 29th:

Matt and I live in Madison, WI and were flying out of Milwaukee on the 30th at 9am. Because of this, we calculated we could wake up at 4am for a two hour drive to the airport and pay $80 dollars for parking for the week, or we could spend $100 dollars to stay at the Best Western across the street, park for the week, and not have to rush the morning of our flight. Option number 2 it is! Plus, I figured this way, I could sort of start the trip a little early. I mean seriously, why not?

So, that Friday Matt had to go to work, as always. Me on the other hand had the day off because Fridays are usually reserved for an internship I had to do for school that had recently ended! That morning I had to go to the dentist to fill a cavity-YUCK! Then I had to go to a meeting for work-also boring. I got home about 2 or so to finish up packing, surf the DIS a little, and to patiently wait for Matt to come home from work. By this time I was pretty freakin' excited! After months of planning and obsessing our trip was finally here! Disney baby!

Anyway, Matt left work a little early, got home around 4:30ish, and we both casually finalized packing, and finishing up some last minute stuff around the house. Now I had been excited about Disney for about 2 months prior to this, but the excitement was FINALLY hitting Matt. He was pretty pumped also that our trip had finally arrived. Anyway, we hit the road around 6pm, and stopped about halfway to the airport at a Panera for dinner. Is Panera a nationwide thing or just the midwest? Gotta love their soups/sandwiches! Yum!

We got to the Best Western around 8:30 or so, watched TV in the room, and had lights out by 10pm with a 6am wake up call. I woke up in the middle of the night and could. not. fall. back. asleep. I actually got up in the middle of the night to read in the bathroom (so as to not wake up Matt) because sleep just wasn't happening for me.

Anyway, I know its not super exciting, but some quick pics of our Best Western room...haha...

Me super excited that its almost Disney time!!!!

Ok, next up, actual travel day, and I'll get to Disney, I promise!

 

[MellyBeans]

Ok, I'm just going to keep right on going, because I fully realize the last update was not what I would call very exciting, haha.....


Saturday, May 30th:

Our wake up call got us up right at 6am. I managed to fall back asleep around 4:30 or 5, so I was able to get a little extra sleep in, but I popped right out of bed raring to go! I don't know about all of you, but travel days are like the only time I can get out of bed excited and full of energy. This is especially true of travel days that will send me to the Happiest Place on Earth!

Anyway, we showered, packed up our stuff, and made our way to a quick included hot breakfast (another perk of staying in a hotel near the airport the night before!

Because I am always super obsessed with getting to the airport way early, we took the 7am shuttle to the airport for our 9:20am flight. I know, I'm a little anal about such things. Now once at the airport, Matt and I were in for a little surprise. Neither of us had flown since our California trip in April of 2008, and we didn't realize that airlines had a charge for ALL checked baggage. Grrr. On top of that, we didn't have pre-assigned seats, so Midwest charged us a fee to sit together (the alternative would be to sit separately wherever there was room on the plane after everyone else was boarded.) LAME! I usually LOVE flying Midwest, but with all of our extra fees and everything, we ended up paying an unexpected $100 dollars just to get on the stupid plane. Well, whatever, I shook it off cause we were going to Disney after all!

Other than the unexpected cost, check in was a breeze. Going through security, Matt got flagged and the TSA guys went through his carry on. No big deal, I thought, but I learned latter that Matt was sweating buckets due to my engagement ring hiding inside. He thought maybe I'd catch a peak or something. Luckily, I held back anyway to wait for TSA to clear him, and was none the wiser about his plight.

Well, because of my anal-ness, we had loads of time to kill at the terminal before our flight. I wasted some time reading and taking pictures:

Matt waiting patiently and putting up with my constant picture taking.

Oh my gosh, can we seriously just board already!!!!

FINALLY, we made it on the plane. It was a smooth flight, with no real issues. Matt watched an episode of Star Trek (yes, I'm marrying a Trekkie), and I read, tried to take a nap (yeah right, that wasn't happening), and took some more pictures. We made it into Orlando about 10 minutes ahead of schedule, so I definitely wasn't complaining!

Some quick pics of our plane ride:

Matt geeking it up.

I thought this one was pretty!

So anyway, like I said, we arrived in Orlando about 12:50, ten minutes ahead of schedule! Now, I might as well tell everyone now, Matt is VERY particular with his food and meal times. I mean seriously, he goes kinda nuts if he skips meals, eats the wrong thing that upsets his stomach, or eats at wrong times. It's kinda annoying, but we deal with it. So, after getting off the plane, rather than waiting to get to CSR to eat (and probably eating a late lunch too close to our ADR dinner time of 6:20, we decided to grab a quick meal at the MCO food court. I think I kinda rushed Matt through all of this, cause by this time I JUST WANTED TO GET TO DISNEY ALREADY!

So, we made our way to Magical Express. There was virtually no line, and we pretty much hopped right into the Coronado Springs/Animal Kingdom Lodge line. Right away, the CM's were sooooo friendly (this would be a recurring theme.) The CM who checked us in joked around about Brett Favre with us due to us being from the Cheese State and all. Anyway, we hopped right on our bus (which just so happened to be a Cruise Line bus), and made our way onto Disney property! Our bus driver put on the movie, but the volume was turned waaaaaaaaaaaaaay down low. Maybe she was sick of hearing the same thing over and over? I don't know.

On the bus ride over, I was a little nervous. I had requested a renovated room at CSR in an area close to El Centro. I ONLY put the request on our initial reservation, and never faxed like some on the DIS swear by. Would we get what I wanted? You'll have to tune in to see!

Up next.....Checking into CSR, and I'll FINALLY get you to the World as we make our way into the Magic Kingdom!!!!! Proposal also to come!

 

[xoktenox]

Hey just found your report on the TR boards! I'm along for the ride, can't wait to hear about your engagement!

I love reading reports of people who are close to my age and the restaurants you are set to eat at my BF and I either ate at when we were just there in April or are going to eat at in Nov/Dec when we're back! Can't wait to read more

 

[OhMari]

Hey,
I'm your neighbor to the North, I live near Fond du lac, in a little town called Lomira, and......I'm the moderator....go figure.

Anyways, I love engagement stories.

Is Panera a nationwide thing or just the midwest? Gotta love their soups/sandwiches! Yum!

No, they are everywhere. I was with my dd in the historic district, in Savannah, and we spotted one on Main Street.

Looking forward to your report.

And good luck and I hope you get a job.

I could tell you horror stories about our h.s. counselor, but it's water under the bridge now.

 

[KatMark]

Hi, neighbor. I'm so glad I found your report. I have to tell you that our youngest son, growing up in a house of diehard Chicago Bears fans, has been a Packer fan (or should I say a Brett Favre fan?) since he was a young kid (he's 21 now). For the longest time, you could see his bedroom coming down the block because he had Packer yellow walls!

Anyway, can't wait to read more of your report.

 

[CoP Luv]

I love reading engagement stories!!!!

In one of your pics were you wearing Crocs...not the normal ones that everyone wears. I have the same ones and LOVE them!

I totally sneak into hotel bathrooms while DH is sleeping so I can read. Doesn't everyone do that?

 

[disneymoon_0307]

I love engagement stories. Great start keep it coming.

 

[MellyBeans]

Hey just found your report on the TR boards! I'm along for the ride, can't wait to hear about your engagement!

I love reading reports of people who are close to my age and the restaurants you are set to eat at my BF and I either ate at when we were just there in April or are going to eat at in Nov/Dec when we're back! Can't wait to read more

Hi! I am actually reading your current trip report right now also! It is a great read!!! Seriously, I totally agree with you...I love reading the reports of people close to my age!

I could tell you horror stories about our h.s. counselor, but it's water under the bridge now.

Haha!!! You have no idea how many times I have heard this. I had a pretty crappy High School counselor myself. I'm actually trying to get a job in an elementary school. They are a little harder to come by, but I much prefer the little kiddos, and I think they can make a huge difference at that age group (you know, if they are properly trained and doing there job right and all).

Hi, neighbor. I'm so glad I found your report. I have to tell you that our youngest son, growing up in a house of diehard Chicago Bears fans, has been a Packer fan (or should I say a Brett Favre fan?) since he was a young kid (he's 21 now). For the longest time, you could see his bedroom coming down the block because he had Packer yellow walls!

Oh man, KatMark, that must have been very difficult for you to put up with, being a Bears house and all. I actually grew up in Kenosha, which is right on the boarder of Illinois/Wisconsin. There is some intense Packer/Bear rivalry that goes on in that town...its literally split right down the middle! (I think your son made a very smart choice rooting for the Pack though!)

In one of your pics were you wearing Crocs...not the normal ones that everyone wears. I have the same ones and LOVE them!

I love my Mary Jane Crocs! They are sooooo comfortable! (and I think a little cuter than the normal crocs). DF doesn't like them, and made fun of me when I wore them, but he was the dork that ended up wearing crocs with socks for much of the trip, so I couldn't take his criticism seriously.

 

[MaleDisneyBeliever]

I'm here... a good introducing start!

 

[jagmom]

Can't wait until you get to the engagement part!

 

[tlenzendorf]

More neighbor, More

 

[Vallie]

cant wait to hear more!

 

[A's Princess]

Congratulations on your engagement!

Can't wait to hear more...

 

[kenaiwitch]

Okay I'm a lil farther north, but i'm in! Can't wait for more

 

[sassysasha]

Congrats!!

 

[MellyBeans]

Ok, so where we left off, Matt and I were on the Magical Express heading towards Coronado Springs...and I was worrying about our room request...So without further adieu, on with the story....

Finally, we made it to CSR! Like I already said, I was pretty nervous, because I was really wanting a refurbished room at CSR! Matt's big criteria for this trip, was that we be closer to the food and bus area (so El Centro at CSR). For out trip at the All-Star Music, we ended up waaaaaay in back in the Country Fair section. Needless to say, that experience made me a firm believer in trying to request certain sections.

We walked into the lovely CSR lobby to find a small wait, however a Concierge CM pulled us out of the line for some reason, and checked us in himself. Woo hoo! Our first little bit of Disney magic! Line cutting! Check in was a complete breeze and the CM gave us GREAT news! Our room was ready, and we were going to be in Cabanas 9B, a renovated section of the resort, in the exact area I had been hoping for, extremely close to El Centro, the Dig Site, and bus stop 1. I was sooooo excited to hear this news, that I didn't even realize the CM forgot to tell us our exact room number, and both Matt and I walked away with our welcome packet in toe without realizing it. Oops.

Prior to leaving, I had ordered a grocery delivery from Garden Grocers. We wanted to have breakfast in the room most days, so we had cereal, milk, bottled water for the parks, Diet Coke, coffee, and gronala bars sent to us. With the exception of the cereal and water bottles, most of this ended up going to waste. I did like having the cereal in the mornings, but not sure its worth the $50 minimum order fee for us. We seriously left almost an entire fridge full of Diet Coke on check out day.

Woah, sorry for the tangent. So we decided to go to bell service to pick up our grocery order BEFORE going to our room. Big mistake. Keep in mind, three different people asked us if we would just like to have it delivered, but for whatever reason, I kept saying that we could take care of it ourselves. Now, a 24 pack of water, a big case of Diet Coke, 2 half gallons of milk, and a big grocery bag full of food, plus our carry-ons from the plane were a full load. So we gather all our belongings, and slowly make our way to Cabanas 9B. Once we get there, Matt looks at me asking what our room number is. I put everything down, and look through our packet...it is not to be found. Oops. So, needless to say, I had to run back to the front desk to get the room number, then all the way back to Matt. At this point, he was pretty annoyed that we didn't just have everything delivered, and that we raced out of check in without the actual room number

Finally, we get to our room!

Room number in Cabanas 9B! Our home for the week!

We had an absolute gorgeous room! We got the King bed room that we obviously paid for, but it was also in a PERFECT location, with a gorgeous view of the lagoon and a white sandy beach with the hammocks! We also lucked out with a corner room, so we had two windows which made the room feel just a little bit bigger. Here are some pics of our lovely little home for the week:

Corner room with two windows! I couldn't have been happier!

Pretty sliding doors that separate the bathroom area off the main room.

TV area with some of that food we lugged around. You'll also notice that we had a DVD player. Apparently, this is only a feature for CL. Cabanas 9B is usually reserved for conventioneers, but because we came during a time without conventions, we lucked out with the location, and the extra perks like having a DVD player. Had I known, we would have packed some movies for down time, but c'est la vie.

Matt of course couldn't wait to unpack his carry-on and freshen up a bit, and rest for a while. I on the other hand was too excited to sit still. While Matt unwound, I took a little walk outside and took some more pictures of the beautiful CSR and our absolutely perfect room location and view!!!

These were our only towel animals of the whole trip, but I loved them! The kissing swans stayed in our window for the whole trip, and I thought they were especially appropriate post-proposal.

The view from our room. We were literally a stones throw from the beach! I knew a water view was not a guarantee since we didn't order from within that room category, so the view was a big treat for us!

Another look at our view.

So anyway, after running around for a bit, I went back inside to join Matt. We relaxed a bit, but after a while I was getting way too antsy! We were in Disney after all! I was super excited to get the the Magic Kingdom. In my opinion, and I know many of you agree, the MK HAS to be the first park I go to. It's just not Disney until I'm walking down Main Street, looking at that beautiful castle.

So, Matt and I decided to walk around CSR, and slowly make our way to the bus stop locations.

Here are some pics of our walk:

Stopping on the bridge on the way to The Dig Site.

View from the bridge.

The Dig Site.

And another one.

Picture of the Cabanas I believe.

So anyway, we walked fully around the lagoon, through the dig site, past the Rachos, and through the Casitas. The Casitas also looked very pretty, but overall, we couldn't have been happier with our room location.

Finally, we made it the Bus Stop One, and waited only a couple minutes for our first bus to the MK! Yay!

Coming up...a Magic Kingdom evening! And we get engaged!