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

[antree]

We are waiting!!!

 

[Honeibee]

OMG what a great story! Thanks you soooo much for sharing!

DH didn't propose at WDW but we were married there. Dreams really do come true....

 

[princesscj]

Got to hear more!!!!

 

[ATAfamily]

Congrats!!!

I'm hanging on the edge of my seat waiting until tonight's update.

 

[RachaelRol]

I should be working but what the HE**!!

 

[tammyandtommy]

Im sure somewhere its dinner time, I can smell my pork and krau cookin, its almost time here.
Go GO Go LOL

 

[01Sweetpea]

Just found this.... GREAT report...waiting for the next installment!

 

[eeyore45]

Maelstrom is a fast pass?!??!???!

really? Well shucky darns, I'm gonna have to check on that!!

Where's the tapping foot patiently waiting icon??

 

[magicmommy]

This is like waiting for Southwest to extend their schedule!!!!

 

[kathymc]

CONGRATULATIONS
now give us more!

 

[tammyandtommy]

what time does this guy eat dinner.lol

 

[wdwdreamin2]

"I...am...waiting...for...Vizzini...
You surely are a meanie.....!!!!!"

 

[angel*lady]

Checking in and impatiently waiting for the next installment!!! I've been stuck at home with a broken ankle for over 6 weeks! I NEED this story!!!!

 

[gr8ful4Him]

...it's definitely past dinner time

 

[AlwaysEeyore]

This is like waiting for Southwest to extend their schedule!!!!

That's too funny!

 

[miste76]

Ok, I'm waiting too!!! Just wanted to let you know!!!

 

[VW_Guy]

Hey guys:

Geez, I'm sorry I kept you all waiting with baited breath. I starting writing after a little afternoon walk with the DF, and since there was nothing but reruns on TV tonight, I decided to just keep right on writing. So hopefully the wait is worth it. I would also like to explain my writing somewhat. (and why it takes me so dang long) I've been making a concious effort to make this TR something that is actually useful as well as entertaining. As I am recounting our trip, I'm also attempting to throw in as much info and opinions about the attraction or restaraunt we are at in order to hopefully enlighten some of the less DIS-experienced readers. So, I hope you enjoy it!

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



So, here’s the thing: months and months before this all was happening, DF and I were discussing getting married, and I gravely admitted it was an inevitability at this point, and I asked for her ring size “just in case”. She gave me an estimated ring size of about 6.5, as that was the size of the last ring she purchased. Unfortunately, the last ring she purchased was her high school class ring nearly 5 years prior. And, as I’m sure all of you are well aware, most of us tend to fill out a bit during the first few semesters of college. DF and I had both managed to stave off the typical “Freshman 15” because we were both athletes in high school, (I wasn’t a particularly good athlete, and spent the balance of my after school time in the choir/drama department, but I played sports nonetheless) and to this day still exercise regularly. However, with age our bodies filled out naturally, as they should. What I’m getting at in a very roundabout (don’t want to even hint at my very skinny and beautiful DF being the least bit portly) way, is that DF’s ring size was actually around about a 7.5, and the ring was very much too small. This, however, did not stop DF from forcing said ring onto her finger the night before, and sleeping with it on. In the morning, after noticing that her finger was a bit numb, she decided to take the ring off for now, and let her finger get back to normal. After tugging and pulling for ten minutes, I offered some help, and was immediately smacked on the arm for pulling too hard. So, to numb the finger, and help shrink the knuckle a bit, I had her soak her hand in some ice, while I found something slippery to slather her with. After another 5 minutes of prying and pulling and having DF bear down, we eventually got the ring off. This is the aftermath—notice the mangled ring finger.

So, after the morning’s drama had ended, we dressed and showered for the day, and headed off to the bus depot for day 2. Epcot!! Whoo! Being an engineer and general science-geek, my favorite park is of course, Epcot. (Or, for all you diehard old schoolers like me, EPCOTCenter) DF really enjoys the park as well, but for a totally different reason. She is a born traveler, and is always up for a bit of globe-hopping, so she feels right at home in the World Showcase. On the way out to the busses, we pop into the cafeteria for a cup of coffee to wash down the bagels we had brought along for breakfasts in the hotel. Unfortunately, this is when I discover one of my (very few and far between) Disney letdowns. All they have is Nescafe. I search the room high and low for something resembling REAL coffee, but no such luck. I’m stuck with instant grit.



Some of my fellow coffee-drinkers might be saying “So what, it kinda tastes like coffee, and its got caffeine, what’s the big deal?” The big deal, my unknowing friend, is that I am a coffee snob. No, not the amateur coffee snob, who likes to go into Starbucks and order an espresso shot-whip cream topped drink that takes almost as long to make as it does to order. “I’d like a triple shot nonfat latte double-rich Columbian with half whip, half cream, powdered with cinnamon, and a sprinkle of pollen from the rare Guave-Guave plant of southern Timbuktu—and I’d like it served in a double cup with three brown straws and one black straw, arranged in the position of the sight-lines of Stonehenge. To go. Thanks.” Those people would cause me a brain aneurism if I ever encountered them. Which is why I don’t go to Starbucks. No, I’m the kind of coffee snob who only drinks his coffee black (like a MAN) and can tell the difference between a Kona blend, and the 100% real thing from Hawaii. I have long ago been nominated by my office to buy the coffee and coffee making equipment, as long as they don’t have to go back to the dark ages of Folgers. “Please, don’t make us go back!” they plead—well, in my mind they say that—in real life, they just come by my cube and ask if I can make them some more coffee when it runs out in the afternoon. So, with an office-approved bankroll of no less than $500, I went out and bought a top-of-the-line Cuisineart coffeemaker with thermal carafe (none of that ‘warming plate’ crap here, folks—I like my coffee brewed only once, not slow-cooked all the day long), a home coffee grinder, and a weekly supply of top-rate whole bean coffee from around the world. Ironically, I’ve found that the Starbucks whole bean bags that you buy at the grocery store are head and shoulders above anything you can get out of the fancy-looking hoppers in the gourmet foods section, but you still won’t find me anywhere close to an actual Starbucks. So, as you might imagine, I am disappointed with the instant Nescafe—even if they do serve it out of a funky-looking spigot.

With my cup of brown-imitation-Joe in hand, we hop on the next bus to Epcot. By the time we arrive, its going on 11AM, due somewhat to the ring fiasco, but mostly due to our blatant oversleeping after a VERY long first day. Go ahead, scold me now for committing one of the cardinal sins of Disney newbies, but both of us were in no mood to be storming the gates at 7AM when we had been up late into the night last night. And, as I said before, we (DF) was trying our (her) best to make this an ACTUAL vacation, and not a Commando Disney Attraction Raid, as *some* of us would normally do (me). Having never stayed on-property before (I know, my parents were cheap) we never depended on the Disney Transport System, and so had no clue how far of a walk it was going to be from the bus depot to the gates. Actually, in comparison to walking from your car out in the boonies of the parking lot, its nothing, but even a couple hundred yards can seem like a mile when you are SO CLOSE to Epcot. After DF ran through the biometrics boogie once again, we got through the gates and weaved our way around in the foreboding jaggedness of the “Leave a Legacy” landscape that they actually have the gall to call an attraction.

Spaceship Earth was only showing a wait time of 10 minutes, and while the correct “DIS” thing would be to pass this attraction up and get to the heavy hitters before the lines got too long, we figured most of the crowds were already here, and a 30 minute side-trip wouldn’t hurt. I regretted going on SE about halfway through when I remembered just how SLOW this attraction is. I don’t think I’ve ever noticed because this is usually the ride we save for the after-lunch wind-down. This ride is perfect when you have a full stomach, the day is just reaching its hottest hours, and you just want someplace to relax and enjoy. The ride back down from the top of the ball is the best part, when you turn around and are reclined to the perfect afternoon-napping position. I got none of this atmosphere riding in the middle of the morning. With Test Track, and the all-new-to-us Mission: Space and Soarin’ just minutes away, all I could think was “hurry UUUUUUUUP!”

We finished with SE and made a beeline for the Test Track/Mission: Space section of the park. I figured TT was the best bet of the two, as it was the older and less glamorous, but of course, by now the standby line was well over an hour wait. So, while we were there, we grabbed a pair of Fast Passes and went to check out Mission: Space. To my amazement, there was no wait time posted for Mission: Space, and in fact, there were two CMs out near the main walkway yelling “No wait for Mission: Space!” Now, some of you may be thinking that we had just fallen on some incredible luck, but actually, this made total sense. As some of you from the Northeast may recall, during the early summer of 2005, a young boy from New Jersey that was unknowingly suffering from a heart condition rode M:S and unfortunately passed away shortly after riding. After a few weeks, it was well publicized that the child had a pre-existing condition that had caused the accident, and Disney assured their guests that the G-forces on M:S had been reduced to very safe levels. However, it seemed the assurances were not being accepted at this point, and the crowds were still staying away. I had read all the articles on the subject, and wasn’t worried at all. Actually, I was slightly disappointed that I wouldn’t be riding at the attractions full capacity, but DF had no problems knowing that the ride had been dumb-ed down. She was a bit unsure of mixing a potentially lethal ride with her penchant for motion sickness, but I assured her it couldn’t be all THAT bad. So, she agreed to go on.

As we moved through the empty queue right up to the pre-show screens, a group of three students not much younger than us were having a similar motion-sickness conversation. There were two guys and one girl, and one of the guys and the girl were both unsure. They were talking to the CM at the door the whole time during the pre-show. The guy would say “So, how bad IS this ride—I hear a lot of people get sick.” To which the CM replied “Yea, some do get sick, but the trick is to keep your head still and facing forward and just concentrate on the screen. You shouldn’t have any problems.” Then the girl would wonder “Yea, but how many people do you tell that to that walk out of here with sick all over them?” The CM didn’t really have an answer for that. The guy was really not sure about the whole thing and wanted to leave, and then the girl said that if he wasn’t going to do it, then she wasn’t either. The second guy eventually goaded the first one into going on by using the age-old guy trick—he insulted his masculinity. Yes, it worked as “Double-Dog Dares” back in the schoolyard days, and given the correct circumstances, it will still work on the most mature of grown men. Luckily, DF is totally wrapped up in the pre-show and does not notice the conversation—I think if she would’ve she may have changed her mind. So, we end up in the same row of seats as the three students, and as far as I can tell, they were having a good time just like me.

I thought the ride was great. At the beginning, the sensation is totally different from anything I’ve been subjected to, so it took a little getting used to, but after “liftoff” I was loving it. I could hear DF squealing her happy squeal next to me, so I knew she was having a good time too. As soon as we got out of our seats and were walking toward the exit, I said “LETS DO IT AGAIN!” and went mock-running for the door. When DF eventually caught up she was not looking quite so happy. “Lets NOT do it again?” I sheepishly said. DF nodded her head in that—I’m feeling sick and I don’t want to move around too much—sort of way. After a few seconds the nausea had passed and she managed to flatly say “I’m never doing that again.” So I guess that answered that.

We continued slowly through the Disney-standard gift store exit and felt the whoosh of heat hit us when the door opened. If I didn’t know better, I’d have sworn the temperature spiked 10 degrees while we were in there. It was then I spied our previous “crewmates” huddled over one of the planters. At first I though they may have found a gecko or something, but as we walked past I heard some heaving, and sure enough, the hesitant guy that was threatened with emasculation was tasting his breakfast a second time (in a bad way). If it weren’t for that sight, I probably would’ve ditched DF for another quick ride, but as it was, Universe of Energy was right around the corner, and Bill Nye the Science Guy just happens to be one of my personal heros.



We made it over to UofE with about 5 minutes until the next show time. This had for some reason always been one of my favorite attractions at Disney, and I think its because it hasn’t changed much since my first trip there. The pre-show room wasn’t even near full, and most of the people were either lined up at the front of the room, ready to bust down the doors, or they were at the very back of the room, standing against the walls. I knew from experience that this pre-show is one of the best Epcot has to offer, so I proceeded to plop down in the exact center of the room and lay down on the cool floor spread-eagle style. Ahhhhhh, I loooooove the Universe of Energy. I know its probably not the cleanest place to lay down, but hey, when you are already hot and tired, you make due.

Pretty soon the show started, and I have to say, when I first saw the revamped Ellen DeGeneres version as a teen, I thought she was horrible. However, as I have gotten older, and my comedic tastes have turned a bit more to the cynical side, I now think she is one of the funniest people around. I would absolutely love this show just with Ellen, when, oh, here comes my buddy Billy. Long before I saw him in UofE, I discovered Bill Nye’s show when I was in high school. Admittedly, I was a little older than the target demographic, and already knew from class most of the scientific principles he was describing, but I still bought into his brand of “Gee-Whiz” science just like I had as a kid with Mr. Wizard. In this particular showing, I think he isn’t quite up to his typical “Science Guy” standards as on his (now cancelled) show, and he really glazes over a lot of the renewable energies in order to get on to the fossil fuels, but, hey—the attraction IS sponsored by Exxon/Mobil, so I guess I can’t expect too much.

After watching the show and being hustled by the crowd into the ride portion, we found we had a row all to ourselves. (so much for the hustling, huh crowd?) I know this may sound very un-macho, but every time this ride starts I get the heebie-geebies as we start slowly moving into the dinosaur area. At first it’s pitch black and although all your senses are straining for something to register, the only thing that does is the swampy smell coming from ahead. Then, the lights start to come up, and your eyes adjust, and you can see the outline of the dinos, and for a split second, your subconscious kicks in and you think—“Holy crap! That could really be a dinosaur!” But eventually, you get close enough to hear the “whiiiiiir-phhhssssss….whiiiiiiiir-phhhsssss” of the animatronics, and you see the jerky, repeated movements, and realize they are still just robots. Whew. So, we slowly meander through the same old classic dino scene, where the dinos look very old and very out-of-date since “Jurassic Park” showed us what a “real” T-Rex is supposed to look like; and then pass the new section where the (somewhat poor) likeness of Ellen is “fighting” with a sea-serpent that looks like it could really care less that she was there, and we come back for the finale. This is the section where they move on from attacking your olfactory sense with the Eu ‘d CRAPPER scent in the dino room, to attacking your hearing and vision with the brightest and loudest movie display this side of an IMAX. Seriously, I LOVE a good Audio-Video display, but this one is on the brink even for me.



After the ringing and spots have gone, we are whooshed out into the Florida sun where the temperature has just jumped another 15 degrees. Seriously, who keeps turning the heat up! Enough already! Our senses acclimate to the new environment as we make our way over to Test Track for our FastPass return time. We walk right into a pre-stage room, and follow the group in front of us to find a spot near the middle.

This attraction is a lot of fun, and it involves cars, so being the car nut that I am, I should really LOVE this attraction, but there are one or two drawbacks. The first is the pre-stage sequence. A bunch of people are pushed into a small room, and, unlike most other pre-shows, there isn’t a restricted pecking order. We are not directed to a specific row, or to stand on a numbered triangle—we are pushed into a room, and the first one out the other side is the first one on the ride. As the room fills up, the rude guests who know whats-what begin to shove their way to the other side, so they can be the first ones out the door. Now, I don’t mind if you butt in line in front of me—its only going to add a whole 10 sections to my wait, but what I don’t like is to be pushed around, and with my larger stature, I can not be moved if I don’t want to be. So, as I feel people begin to try and push past me, I move slightly, not to allow them by, but to block them from moving. Its not that I’m being mean or vindictive (well, maybe just a bit) I just think it would make everyone’s stay a bit nicer if we abided by the Golden Rule more and the Laws of the Jungle less.



My second gripe about TT is noticed once the cars are underway. You hear all this motor-revving, and tire squealing, but I’m sitting there thinking—THIS is supposed to be fast? I’ve had much more spirited rides on my bed at 3 in the morning after a good night out. Yes, that is an entirely different ride, but you get my point. At least with similar rides like Dinosaur at the Animal Kingdom, or Indiana Jones at Disneyland, you feel as if there may be some lack of control—there is usually at least one point on the ride where you think you may be going one way, but you go the other and are pleasantly surprised. With TT, there are no real surprises—after the first ride at the “crash test” you are never again worried that you might just hit the wall, because you are only ever going about 25 mph. After you get outside, yes, you get up to almost 70 mph. Wow. I do that like, almost hardly never in my own car at home. Except EVERY MORNING on my way to work. And the sensation of being in the open air isn’t all that thrilling either—convertible anyone? In the end, I DO have fun, and I DO think its worth doing again next year, but I just can’t help to think about what potential the ride has, and how it always lets me down.



After exiting the attraction proper and entering GM’s paltry attempt to sell you a car on your way out the door, (as if any of us had any money left after purchasing a Disney trip) we head over to the Land for some much-needed Lunch.


Stay tuned for the next installment--
Part VI—A Soarin' We Will Go, Or: You want me to wait HOW LONG?!?

And, also, I just noticed I didn't get anywhere near the part about us trying to get the ring resized by Disney, and I at the rate I'm going, I probably won't for another two or three installments, but I promise I will eventually!!

 

[jackdis]

Once again, great writing! Can't wait for more. But I couldn't see the picture of the mangled finger!!

 

[marlynnp]

So glad you posted another installment! I thought I'd need to track you down and deliver dinner!!!

 

[eblack0409]

You've got me hooked....it doesn't matter how long you take, I will tune in!!!!

The ring is beautiful!