The perfect proposal goes perfectly....wrong *COMPLETED!! 3-10-07*

[VW_Guy]

TRIP REPORT INDEX

PAGE 1, POST #1
Part I--Background/Intro: Or, how I learned to love "The Diz", and alienate everyone around me.

PAGE 2, POST #18
Part II--Planning: Or, Stop talking about the Disney trip, its only February for @^%*%& Sake!

PAGE 3, POST #37
Part III--Touchdown: Or, How long is too long to be awake for your first day at Disney World?

PAGE 6, POST #76
Part IV--The Question, Or: Propose NOW! No, waiiiiit, NOW! Shoot, okay, NOW!!

PAGE 11, POST #157
Part V—Uhhh, Honey, I think it’s stuck, Or: You guys can make an elephant fly, but you can’t resize a ring??

PAGE 16, POST #231
Part VI—A Soarin’ We Will Go, Or: You Want Me To Wait HOW LONG??

PAGE 19, POST #285
Part VII—Yeeey--MGM!, Or: Its Just Like Being Back in 1940s Hollywood. That is, if They Had a Giant Hat in the Middle of the Street Back Then...


PAGE 22, POST #317
Part VIII—“Lights, Motor, Action”; Part Deux, Or: Yea, sure, we have plenty of time before the show starts... Wait, what time is it?


PAGE 25, POST #362
Part IX—Animal Kingdom Or: The Happiest Hottest Place on Earth!

PAGE 26, POST #376
Part X--The Last Day Or: Awww, But I Don't Wanna Go Home!



Hi all!

It has been almost a year since I've gotten back from WDW, and the reminiscing about what I was doing at this time last year drove me back here to the DIS to share in all of your stories. After reading some of the AWESOME TR's that have been posted in the last few weeks, I have humbly decided to begin telling my own Mini-Disney-Saga for your enjoyment (hopefully).

Part I--Background/Intro: Or, how I learned to love "The Diz", and alienate everyone around me.



I guess you could say it all started about a quarter-century ago, when I was born of one of the original Disney Fanatics. Her addiction started out small-time like most, visiting the local “gateway parks” around the Northeast. Hershey Park. Six Flags. Dorney. But soon, she moved on to the hard stuff. My mother visited Disney World as a teen in the early 70’s with her parents. She would eventually take several trips back with my Dad in the late 70’s, and by the time me and my three brothers came along, we were all on a 3-times a decade binge.



And it wasn’t just the parks, no. She was a collector. And so we became collectors. Somewhere amid the ceiling-high stacks of boxes in the basement is every form of Disney Beanie known to man. My brothers and I got hooked on “The Diz” in other ways, for my older brother its Figment schwag. For the next youngest after me, its Limited-Edition-Disney-Trinkety-Whatchamacallits (all sealed in their original plastic, of course). For me it’s cups. Every time we would feed our Jones, I would come back with at least three different forms of Disney-Imprinted drinking receptacles. Shot glasses, coffee mugs, beer steins, water bottles, you name it. I even have a cup of an empty Mickey Mouse from just the waist down, that if you really think about it, is kinda gross to be drinking out of…



But anyway, now that I have proven I’m just as nutty as most of you, I’ll move on to the best and worst WDW trip I’ve had so far: Fast forward from my childhood and teenhood of visiting Disney with my over-planning and over-pixie dusted Mom (Disney is her Prozac); keep going through all 6 years of my Penn State Architectural Engineering degree (yes, its only a 5-year major, but apparently engineering and Rolling Rock are NOT a combo made in Heaven); and end up in November 2004. I have been dating a super-intelligent, super-sweet, and super-hottie of a girlfriend for 2 ½ years, and I’ve known for some time that I want to ask her to marry me. The original plan was to take a weekend trip up to Penn State (where we met) and I would pop the question somewhere memorable like the Lion Shrine, or in front of Old Main. After slyly mentioning taking our First-Date-Anniversary-Vacation (July 21st) at Penn State, I was shot down with a “…But I want to go on a REAL vacation.” response. And, as I’m sure most of you will agree, the first mention of a “real vacation” could only mean one thing—Disney!



So, I jumped right into the pre-pre-planning. Which, as you know, is the planning you have to have in-place before you can start the pre-planning. I began my Disney research by running a basic budget analysis and cost-comparing a trip to Disney including airfare, lodging, tickets and transport to a trip to The Shore (which is where my DGF wanted to go) including gas, lodging, food prices, and entertainment. After showing the numbers to her, and demonstrating how a mere 10%-20% in increased cost would yield a 1000% gain in fun had by us, my DGF shook her head, muttered something about “EngiNERD” under her breath, and agreed to go to Disney. So, after the convincing was over, and the basics of the trip figured out, (dates, hotel, etc.) it was time to get into the fun stuff… Pre-planning!

Stay tuned for Part II--Planning: Or, Stop talking about the Disney trip, its only February for @^%*%& Sake!

 

[horsegirl]

Okay, fella. I'm hooked! Get on with it soon, 'kay?!

 

[MomofCKJ]

I'm signing on too! Can't wait for the rest!

My trip is not till December and I have nothing to do till then but read Trip Reports. I am certifiably addicted!

Allyson

 

[ToTLaugher]

Don't make us wait too long!

 

[a*lil*bit*goofy]

whoohoo i love engagement trip reports! of course, yours is the first that i will have read, but i love it!

 

[FionaLovesShrek]

Subscribing.

 

[KTSMOM]

Can't wait to hear more!

 

[emilymad]

Great start!! As a fellow PSU alum and Disney freak I can see how the only thing that would top an Old Main engagement would be a Disney one. Can't wait to here the rest.

 

[mickeymousemommy]

Waiting for the rest of the story...............

 

[CinRell]

waaaaiting!!

 

[*Robin*]

Yikes...and what scares me, is I could be your Mom...

And my poor son...lol...double yikes...what have I done????!!



I can't miss this one!

Robin

 

[APB513]

You've hooked me!!! I can't wait to read more.

 

[Magical JenK]

Signing up to hear the rest!!

 

[VW_Guy]

Geeeeeezzz....almost 200 views in about two hours!?!

I must be goooooood...

Anyway, I'm working on the second installment now, and I should have it done soon (shhhh... don't tell my boss ). Also, after I posted, I realized my sig contains some rather useful info on some of the particulars of the trip, so I guess I can't do the whole "Will she say yes?!!?" cliffhanger....

 

[OhMari]

Geeeeeezzz....almost 200 views in about two hours!?!

I must be goooooood...

Anyway, I'm working on the second installment now, and I should have it done soon (shhhh... don't tell my boss ). Also, after I posted, I realized my sig contains some rather useful info on some of the particulars of the trip, so I guess I can't do the whole "Will she say yes?!!?" cliffhanger....

Take the line out of your sig until you finish your report. Thanks for sharing with us.

 

[ENSOCK]

I can't wait to see how it goes!

 

[Belle Amy]

As a PA girl at birth, I got my amusement park foundation from Hershey Park and Dorney Park and the Wildwater Kingdom!! Moving to Florida and discovering Disney made me a well rounded theme park goer. Can't wait to hear more about the engagement!!!

 

[VW_Guy]

Okay, so here it is:

Part II--Planning: Or, Stop talking about the Disney trip, its only February for @^%*%& Sake!



So, to begin the pre-planning I did what any moderately-sane (engineering) person would do—I began some research:

-Go to Barnes and Noble and buy every book containing the words “Disney” “Guide” “Unofficial” and “Vacation” in the title

CHECK.

-Spend three hours a day on the DISboards. Minimum.

CHECK.

-Look into every possible route (including those from Philly to Orlando via Chicago) from every airline out there to find cheapest possible airfare.

CHECK.

-Ask cleverly disguised proposal questions such as: “If I proposed to you in front of a crowd of people, what would you do?”

CHECK.

-Make mental note not propose in front of crowd of people when response to previous question is “I would say no.”

CHECK AND DOUBLE CHECK.



By this time, we had reached Spring of 2005, and I was doing my best to keep the whole trip planning thing low-key. However, I think carrying around a now-tattered copy of “The Unofficial Guide 2005” and reading it whenever I had some down time was a bit of a giveaway. Fortunately, DGF knew from her previous Disney experience with me and my family (two years prior) how into it I could get, so she didn’t suspect there was any additional ‘proposal’ suspense heaped onto the already gargantuan ‘Disney’ suspense.



After I had completed my research (i.e.-finished reading “The Unofficial Guide 2005”, “Birnbaum’s 2005”, “Passporter 2005”, “Hidden Mickeys” and Eve Zibart’s “Inside Disney” (which I HIGHLY recommend), I began to set the final plans for the trip. We would stay over at my parent’s house in Lancaster the night before, so my Dad could drive us to the Philly airport at 4AM so we could catch our flight at 7AM. From there, we would land at OCM around 10 AM on July 21st (that’s right critical readers who remember from Part I—this would be three years to the day of our first date). We would stay on-site at a Value resort for 4 nights, get 5 day hoppers with no pluses (we aren’t much into the water parks) and try out the new dining plan. We would leave on July 25th at 4PM after spending a half day in the parks, arriving back home in Philly by 7PM.



Over the next few weeks, I booked the flight, signed up and received the AWESOMENESS that is the Disney Visa card, which ultimately allowed me to finance the trip at 0% for the first 6 months (after going broke buying the *ahem* 1 karat art deco inspiried ring), not to mention the free Disney Dollars I got for signing up. After consulting the Unofficial guide, and some fellow DIS’ers, I booked a King room at AS Music, as it was supposed to be the least popular value resort for kids, and therefore most popular with the quiet and cheap crowd. So we were set. All we had to do now was wait.



And wait.



And wait.



Grrrrrr……



FINALLY the week came. And what lay ahead for me was the most terrifying part of this entire saga. No, I’m not afraid of flying, or the dreaded airport security wait, I had one more loose string to tie up before we could leave for Disney. I had to ask DGF’s dad for his permission to ask his daughter to marry me. Now, I don’t know if there are any married or engaged guys out there reading this, but if you are, I’m sure you are in agreement with me. Asking this seemingly innocuous question is one of the hardest things a man will ever have to do in his entire life.



For one thing, there are the semantics of the occasion itself. I had to somehow get him alone on a weekday night without DGF finding out about it. This would not be easy. Then, there is the question itself. You girls might think it’s a simple one-sided question. “Can I marry your daughter?” But no—to a guy asking it, and to a guy being asked it, it can mean a number of totally different things. To the father, it might mean, “Can I take away your only daughter and move her to a place where you will only get to talk to her sporadically on the phone and maybe see her once every weekend?” Or it could mean, “Hey old man, can I be your new, younger, better replacement as the most important male figure in your daughter’s daily life?” On the other hand, to the guy asking it, it could mean, “Can I be allowed to sleep with your daughter on a nightly basis and not feel uncomfortable around you, even though we basically lived together the past 2 years of college?” Or, “I would like you not kill me when I eventually have a baby with your daughter, so I’m asking you this now so you won’t get mad.”



Added to all this ambivalence was the fact that DGF’s dad was a man amongst men. He served in the army paratroopers, and lifts about twice my body weight over his head repeatedly for fun. So, conceivably he could kill me with his bare hands. Goodie. However, after all my hand-wringing, I eventually seized an opportunity when my DGF and her mom and brother were out shopping or working, and I popped over to their house to corner the unknowingly soon-to-be father in law. The experience was not one that I’m sure he or I would like to relive, but in the end it was an incredibly awkward conversation for both of us, and the affirmative answer was sealed with an equally awkward handshake.



FINALLY the day came. I think for the first time in my Disney-going career, I got a full 6 hours of sleep the night before leaving—mostly due to the frantic and exhausting packing of my DGF the entire DAY before. Apparently the way I am a psycho planner, my DGF is a psycho packer. She had an outfit and a matching pair of shoes for every possible situation we might encounter. Including being stuck on top of SplashMountain in a blizzard (I may be embellishing just a bit, but the girl is nutso). So, we sluggishly arose at the crack of dawn’s butt only to fall back asleep ten minutes into the hour car ride to the airport. On a side note, you might think my Dad is a modern-day hero for driving us THIS far THIS early, but truth be told, he really enjoys stuff like that. I don’t know if it’s the proposition of spending some quality road-trip time with his son, or just getting away from my Mom’s snoring, but it would almost be a slight NOT to ask him to do this for us.


Stay tuned for Part III--Touchdown: Or, How long is too long to stay awake for your first day at Disney?

 

[Grammyof2]

I am in and hooked. Can't wait for more

 

[Quinn222]

I am impatiently awaiting the next installment!