Well, it’s been over a month since the trip, but I still feel like sharing this trip report with everyone, just in time for Valentine’s Day. My girlfriend and I had been planning this trip to Florida for quite some time. She hadn’t been to Walt Disney World in the two years since our College Program in fall 02 (when we met), and we would be visiting with other friends of hers from the same program. I still try to visit WDW a few times a year; as a College Program campus rep to my school, I still receive the same perks as hourly cast members. We had talked about being engaged for quite some time now, but exactly when and where I would do it remained a mystery to her. We’ve been in a long distance relationship since returning home from our college program, yet it had turned out wonderfully, and I promised her the best week of her life. Anyone could propose at Christmastime or New Year’s, but a Disney proposal had to be the way to go for me.
We arrived in town on New Year’s Eve (lots of Iowa and LSU fans in town for the bowl game.) We stayed at the Sheraton Vistana Resort, beautiful resort might I add. Location was great, actually right next door to our former CP housing at Vista Way.
We went to downtown Orlando for New Year’s Eve which was alright, though I later heard from a CM friend that The Boardwalk is the place to be with entertainment and fireworks from several parks to be seen at midnight, and there is no admission. The crowds on New Year’s Day were fairly large at MGM. This would be her first time seeing Osborne Family Christmas Lights or Fantasmic. Despite living at WDW for several months, she really hadn’t seen much of what the parks had to offer in my opinion. We went to Magic Kingdom after Fantasmic to watch SpectroMagic. We watched Spectro from the roped off area at the Hub. This has been my favorite place for parade viewing since this was where I caught most all the parades (Spectro, SACT, MNSSHP, MVMCP) when I worked Parade Audience Control.
On the 2nd, we went to Epcot hoping to visit The Land before it closed. However, we were greeted with a construction fence as I realized this was The Land’s first day closed, not its last day open.
She had worked at the Sunshine Season Food Fair during her CP, yet was not as bothered as I was to see The Land closed. We saw Turtle Talk with Crush for the first time, a great show that you just don’t hear enough about. Among other things, we also caught the Dragon Legend Acrobats (very talented kids), Off Kilter (always a great show), and Mission Space (her first time there, apprehensive at first to ride, but enjoyed it after I convinced her to ride.) We then made a quick trip around the World Showcase for a few essentials (hers - funnel cake in USA, mine - beer in Germany.) We made it back to a saved spot on the front of World Showcase Lagoon just in time for Illuminations (her favorite.) :sohappy:
On the 3rd, we went to Animal Kingdom, (her first time visiting DAK), crowds were fairly small. No wait on Dinosaur, good seats at Tarzan, shorter lines at Bug’s Life and Safari, etc. I got to show off why eating in the rear seating at Flame Tree Barbecue makes a trip to DAK worth alone, as the musical boat w/ Chip & Dale and others came by, and Everest continues to grow. At night we went to Pleasure Island, (cast members get in free night) as she loves to dance, and I caught the Comedy Warehouse show for the first time. (Good show, lots of older Disney memorabilia for decorations.)
On the 4th, we went to Cocoa Beach. The water was pretty cold, but when you live 1500 miles away, you don’t mind the cold temps as much. That night we went to Jellirolls (free on Tuesdays for CMs as well.) By the end of the evening, everyone in our party (except my girlfriend of course) knew I planned to pop the question the next night at the Magic Kingdom....
We arrived in town on New Year’s Eve (lots of Iowa and LSU fans in town for the bowl game.) We stayed at the Sheraton Vistana Resort, beautiful resort might I add. Location was great, actually right next door to our former CP housing at Vista Way.
We went to downtown Orlando for New Year’s Eve which was alright, though I later heard from a CM friend that The Boardwalk is the place to be with entertainment and fireworks from several parks to be seen at midnight, and there is no admission. The crowds on New Year’s Day were fairly large at MGM. This would be her first time seeing Osborne Family Christmas Lights or Fantasmic. Despite living at WDW for several months, she really hadn’t seen much of what the parks had to offer in my opinion. We went to Magic Kingdom after Fantasmic to watch SpectroMagic. We watched Spectro from the roped off area at the Hub. This has been my favorite place for parade viewing since this was where I caught most all the parades (Spectro, SACT, MNSSHP, MVMCP) when I worked Parade Audience Control.
On the 2nd, we went to Epcot hoping to visit The Land before it closed. However, we were greeted with a construction fence as I realized this was The Land’s first day closed, not its last day open.
She had worked at the Sunshine Season Food Fair during her CP, yet was not as bothered as I was to see The Land closed. We saw Turtle Talk with Crush for the first time, a great show that you just don’t hear enough about. Among other things, we also caught the Dragon Legend Acrobats (very talented kids), Off Kilter (always a great show), and Mission Space (her first time there, apprehensive at first to ride, but enjoyed it after I convinced her to ride.) We then made a quick trip around the World Showcase for a few essentials (hers - funnel cake in USA, mine - beer in Germany.) We made it back to a saved spot on the front of World Showcase Lagoon just in time for Illuminations (her favorite.) :sohappy: On the 3rd, we went to Animal Kingdom, (her first time visiting DAK), crowds were fairly small. No wait on Dinosaur, good seats at Tarzan, shorter lines at Bug’s Life and Safari, etc. I got to show off why eating in the rear seating at Flame Tree Barbecue makes a trip to DAK worth alone, as the musical boat w/ Chip & Dale and others came by, and Everest continues to grow. At night we went to Pleasure Island, (cast members get in free night) as she loves to dance, and I caught the Comedy Warehouse show for the first time. (Good show, lots of older Disney memorabilia for decorations.)
On the 4th, we went to Cocoa Beach. The water was pretty cold, but when you live 1500 miles away, you don’t mind the cold temps as much. That night we went to Jellirolls (free on Tuesdays for CMs as well.) By the end of the evening, everyone in our party (except my girlfriend of course) knew I planned to pop the question the next night at the Magic Kingdom....
Apparently one lady stated "I've never seen this here before" as if we were part of Disney entertainment show or something. 
). The next day we stopped at Downtown Disney as we had pretty much put off any shopping until the last day, then headed back home…..happily ever after. 
