The Engagement pre-trip report

Soundstage'95CP · Dec 30, 2011

The Engagement pre-trip & post-trip reports

Pre-Trip Report:
So, I've decided. The most magical way I know of to pop the question would be to do it at Disney World. As we've both been previously married and each have two kids of our own, this created a challenge. I want to make this as adult-oriented of a itinerary as possible and to find a weekend where both sets of kids are at their other parents' homes.

So, checking the calendar, the weekend before Valentine's Day ended up being perfect in so many ways.

The following is my plan. I'll add pictures and a post-trip report upon our return.

I booked the Animal Kingdom Lodge Club Level for 3 nights with the Dining Plan and a 3-day park hopper option.

Now, GF knows that we are going on a weekend getaway to WDW, touted as a trip where we can enjoy the things we can't do with the kids. She does not know that I'm planning on proposing while out there, although I'm sure she suspects it.

I was able to convince her that the first flight out on February 10 was the best way to go. Sure, it means that we have to be at the airport by 4:30am, but it also means that we can actually go to a park for a few hours before having to get ready for dinner. So, if my planning is accurate, a 9:35a arrival will allow us to check in at AKL-club level, and make it over to DHS for a noon ADR at 50's Primetime (by way of a quick diversion to the Fastpass machine at Toy Story Midway Mania, of course). There are only 3-4 attractions that we really want to do at DHS, so I'm hoping that we'll have enough time after lunch to do TSMM, RnR, ToT, and maybe StarTours before we have to go back to the hotel and get ready for dinner.

Right now, Dinner is scheduled at 6:30 in the Queen Victoria room at Victoria and Albert's. I'm trying to get that moved to a later time to allow for some R&R back at the room before dinner, but we'll have to wait to see if that happens. V&A is where I think the proposal will happen for a few reasons. 1) What better way to never forget the experience of V&A and 2) I will be a nervous wreck until I get this done (so I very well may do it as a first course so I can enjoy the meal more afterwards). V&A even sends out an email attached with proposal ideas as apparently I'm not the first person that plans to propose there. The hard part is finding the perect way to propose that does not involve white chocolate (GF doesn't like the stuff) and goes with the type of ring she indicated that she wants...silver with dark blue saphire.

The next morning, we're getting up super early for the segway tour at Epcot. The GF does not like getting up early, but realizes that with only two and a half days at the world, it becomes necessary in order to do what we want. Check-in for the tour is at 7:30am. I'm very hopefull that the club lounge at AKL will have something along the lines of a continental breakfast prior to needing to leave for Epcot.

The original plan was to spend the entire day at Epcot, with lunch at Sunshine Seasons, and end with a dinner at Yachtsman Steakhouse and an Illuninations cruise. This idea was nixed after not being able to justify the experience of the fireworks cruise with the cost of it. I felt that the money could be spent better elsewhere on the trip. So, when looking at what ADRs were available, I decided to do something light-hearted and fun and booked the Hoop Dee Doo Review. GF has never seen it, and I've seen it twice. I've always enjoyed the HDDR, and felt this was a good way to spend 2 dining credits considering GF has talked about always wanting to see it.

The next morning starts off early again. This time, it will be for the sunrise safari. This is something we've always wanted to do, but neither one of us has ever stayed at AKL before, let alone club level there. This alone is why I decided on AKL over any of the other resorts' club levels (the cheaper price didn't hurt either).

I've been informed that the sunrise safari includes breakfast, so after it is over, we'll do the things we want to at AK and then catch a lunch at Flame Tree BBQ (if the weather is warm enough to sit outside) midday before going back to the AKL to rest and freshen up for dinner.

For dinner on our last night, I booked the sunset safari. It's fairly expensive, but not much more than the fireworks cruise would have been and includes dinner at Jiko and wine parrings, so in my mind, this is the better experience of the two. After the safari and dinner, it's EMH at Mk until 1am...just so we can say we did all 4 parks.

We leave Monday morning at 7:35 on ME to get back home in time to get pick up the kids from school.

I have a question about EMH at MK for those in the know. Are there any counter-service restaraunts that are open throughout EMH? I need to figure out when I can work in our last counter-service credit prior to leaving.

Any help, suggestions, or comments are welcome.
I'll post pictures and a full trip report upon our return.

GoochDSA · Jan 3, 2012

Soundstage'95CP said:
So, I've decided. The most magical way I know of to pop the question would be to do it at Disney World. As we've both been previously married and each have two kids of our own, this created a challenge. I want to make this as adult-oriented of a itinerary as possible and to find a weekend where both sets of kids are at their other parents' homes.

So, checking the calendar, the weekend before Valentine's Day ended up being perfect in so many ways.

The following is my plan. I'll add pictures and a post-trip report upon our return.

I booked the Animal Kingdom Lodge Club Level for 3 nights with the Dining Plan and a 3-day park hopper option.

Now, GF knows that we are going on a weekend getaway to WDW, touted as a trip where we can enjoy the things we can't do with the kids. She does not know that I'm planning on proposing while out there, although I'm sure she suspects it.

I was able to convince her that the first flight out on February 10 was the best way to go. Sure, it means that we have to be at the airport by 4:30am, but it also means that we can actually go to a park for a few hours before having to get ready for dinner. So, if my planning is accurate, a 9:35a arrival will allow us to check in at AKL-club level, and make it over to DHS for a noon ADR at 50's Primetime (by way of a quick diversion to the Fastpass machine at Toy Story Midway Mania, of course). There are only 3-4 attractions that we really want to do at DHS, so I'm hoping that we'll have enough time after lunch to do TSMM, RnR, ToT, and maybe StarTours before we have to go back to the hotel and get ready for dinner.

Right now, Dinner is scheduled at 6:30 in the Queen Victoria room at Victoria and Albert's. I'm trying to get that moved to a later time to allow for some R&R back at the room before dinner, but we'll have to wait to see if that happens. V&A is where I think the proposal will happen for a few reasons. 1) What better way to never forget the experience of V&A and 2) I will be a nervous wreck until I get this done (so I very well may do it as a first course so I can enjoy the meal more afterwards). V&A even sends out an email attached with proposal ideas as apparently I'm not the first person that plans to propose there. The hard part is finding the perect way to propose that does not involve white chocolate (GF doesn't like the stuff) and goes with the type of ring she indicated that she wants...silver with dark blue saphire.

The next morning, we're getting up super early for the segway tour at Epcot. The GF does not like getting up early, but realizes that with only two and a half days at the world, it becomes necessary in order to do what we want. Check-in for the tour is at 7:30am. I'm very hopefull that the club lounge at AKL will have something along the lines of a continental breakfast prior to needing to leave for Epcot.

The original plan was to spend the entire day at Epcot, with lunch at Sunshine Seasons, and end with a dinner at Yachtsman Steakhouse and an Illuninations cruise. This idea was nixed after not being able to justify the experience of the fireworks cruise with the cost of it. I felt that the money could be spent better elsewhere on the trip. So, when looking at what ADRs were available, I decided to do something light-hearted and fun and booked the Hoop Dee Doo Review. GF has never seen it, and I've seen it twice. I've always enjoyed the HDDR, and felt this was a good way to spend 2 dining credits considering GF has talked about always wanting to see it.

The next morning starts off early again. This time, it will be for the sunrise safari. This is something we've always wanted to do, but neither one of us has ever stayed at AKL before, let alone club level there. This alone is why I decided on AKL over any of the other resorts' club levels (the cheaper price didn't hurt either).

I've been informed that the sunrise safari includes breakfast, so after it is over, we'll do the things we want to at AK and then catch a lunch at Flame Tree BBQ (if the weather is warm enough to sit outside) midday before going back to the AKL to rest and freshen up for dinner.

For dinner on our last night, I booked the sunset safari. It's fairly expensive, but not much more than the fireworks cruise would have been and includes dinner at Jiko and wine parrings, so in my mind, this is the better experience of the two. After the safari and dinner, it's EMH at Mk until 1am...just so we can say we did all 4 parks.

We leave Monday morning at 7:35 on ME to get back home in time to get pick up the kids from school.

I have a question about EMH at MK for those in the know. Are there any counter-service restaraunts that are open throughout EMH? I need to figure out when I can work in our last counter-service credit prior to leaving.

Any help, suggestions, or comments are welcome.
I'll post pictures and a full trip report upon our return.

It sounds like you have a pretty awesome plan. I proposed to my now-fiance durring our stay at AKL-CL this past October. We also did both the Wanyama and Sunrise safari's. The Wanyama was one of the best experiences we have ever had there. Not only was it worth the $190 per person, but I would have paid even more for the same experience. Very well worth it.

The breakfast in the lounge is pretty basic. It has cold cereals, along with quinoa and oatmeal, breakfast pastries, fresh fruit, beverages (juices, milk, coffee, teas, etc.), etc. It's perfect if you aren't into huge breakfasts but like a little something to help get you going in the morning. I believe the coffee and tea first becomes available at 6:30 and the foods don't come out till about 7 or 7:30. We often made it a point to get back to the resort for afternoon tea which starts at 3:30. We'd have a cup of tea and some scones, cookies, brownies, Rice Crispy treats or whatever. Then we would head back to the room to rest and relax/shower, head back up to the lounge to nibble on the offerings before heading back out for the night. We only made it to dessert two or three times but the selections there were very tastey. The CM's in the lounge were fantastic, helpful and friendly.

The only thing I may question is the need for the dining plan. With 3 big meals that don't take the dining plan (V&A's, Sunrise and Sunset Safaris), it doesn't add in a lot of time to use the credits. Also, don't expect to use any meal credits on the day you are doing the Sunrise and Wanyama Safaris. You do not want to do the Wanyama on a full stomache, the meal at Jiko is a huge feast that you are basically sitting down for by 5:15-5:30. I can understand maybe splitting something at lunch time but to have a full meal at that time, even a CS meal, is not something I would suggest. So, while you would be using your 3 TS meals (which I personally wouldn't use 2 credits on any meal if using the basic DDP), I can't see how you would use up all your CS or snack credits. This doesn't even count the fantastic offerings in the CL lounge throughout the day.

Soundstage'95CP · Jan 5, 2012

Excellent point on the dining plan. Per your suggestion, I've decided to drop the dining plan and pay as we go for any other food we might need. I've also dropped 50's Primetime from the plan and changed Hoop Dee Doo Review to Category 1 seating.
Thanks again for your suggestion and sharing your knowledge.

GoochDSA · Jan 5, 2012

Since you dropped your 50's PTC lunch on your first day, which might be a smart move with the big dinner that is on the earlier side, might I suggest The Mara at AKL for a quick bite after checking in and before heading to DHS that day? They have a decent selection (I am personally a fan of the African Stew... yum). As far as your plan for getting FP's for TSMM, unless you are there at RD (which you won't be), don't count too heavily on that. FP's go quick there and you may not be able to get a FP, and if they are still available odds are the return time will be much later than you could use. So, if TSMM is something you must do, plan on waiting on the 60-90 minute stand-by line for it.

After dinner the night you propose, or the following morning, make sure you stop by the CL Lounge and ask them for "Just Engaged" buttons. I proposed right before we went on the Wanyama on our arrival day and after the safari we went up and asked them for buttons. Chris went into the little closet they have up there, he wrote our names and the date on our buttons and gave us a little gift. He also went ahead and noted the celebration on all of our ADR's for us (some of the restaurants did a little something special for us). It was also a lot of fun wearing the buttons. Basically any CM we past would say some sort of congrats, even CM's that were 30 feet from us would yell. Characters are also a lot of fun when they see the button. It really adds to the magic and celebration.

Soundstage'95CP · Feb 16, 2012

She said "YES"!

Well, now for the fun part; the post-trip report.
Mods, please feel free to move this thread into the trip reports forum.

Friday, February 10, 2012:

It's an early morning flying out of DFW with a 6am flight. Checking in at the airline kiosk, the prompt asks us if we'd like to upgrade to first class seating for a nominal fee. No question, yes, we would like to have our bag fees waived and breakfast on the flight with more leg room. I've never purchased this upgrade before when offered. It ended up being a great choice by the time we noticed that one of the many cheerleader groups performing at WDW was to be on our flight.

Arrival at MCO and transfer to AKL was smooth. It took about an hour from plane to check-in. We stayed AKL club level, so check in was smooth. There are several little things that staying club level add; if taken individually these little things are probably not worth it. Put all these little things together, however, and I found great benefit in staying club level. This was our first time staying club level at any resort, and hopefully it will not be our last.
"Please help yourselves to drinks and snacks while we check you in." "The King bed room you've requested is ready." "Here's a copy of your itinerary with all of your reservations." Very nice.

It's our first time staying at AKL, so our first stop after snacking and checking in at the club lounge was to check out our room.

Here's a look from our 4th floor balcony:

After dropping off our carry-on bags, we headed off to DHS as planned. We were able to ride RNRC, ToT, ST, and TGMR. TSM was temporarily closed, so we had to skip it. We didn't want to do too much because we wanted to rest a bit before we had to get ready for dinner.

Tonight's dinner is a 6:30pm reservation at Victoria & Albert's Queen Victoria Room. We decided to take a cab from AKL to GF.

The V&A Queen Victoria room has four tables, and while each table can seat up to four people, most nights there are only a total of eight people dining.
Tonight, there are six people dining including ourselves, however another couple will later join us in the room as overflow from the main dining room. That couple has the main dining room menu, and not the expanded menu that the rest of us are offered.

Queen Victoria Room pic:

I'll leave most of the details of dining in the Queen Victoria Room to another thread: http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=832700
But, I have to describe the proposal. I was looking to ask for my girlfriend's hand in marriage closer to the beginning of the meal. So, knowing that the Amuse-Bouche is paired with champaign, I opted to propose as a second half of the Amuse-Bouche. For those that are wanting to propose at V&A, they have three basic suggestions that work well. In the first, the engagement ring is centered on a bed of fresh rose petals. The second option, the ring is accompanied with a long-stem chocolate rose. The third option, the ring is presented inside of a white-chocolate Cinderella slipper. I went for the chocolate rose, minus the long stem, with a glass slipper imbedded with a blue saphire that matched the stone in the engagement ring.

Here's the presentation, minus the ring as it was already on her finger:

After our amazing evening at V&A, it was a cab back to AKL. We were going to go to EMH at Epcot to get some Photopass pictures taken in our suit and gown, but it had started to rain and we were tired. We'll be back at Epcot in the morning.

Trouble · Feb 16, 2012

Congratulations!

I hope you do both the write up of V&As as well as a post TR for the engagement weekend. I will have to keep an eye out if you decide to start a new thread.

Congrats again!

GoochDSA · Feb 16, 2012

Congrats! Glad to see your proposal went well. It looked great. Your check-in at AKL-CL went a lot smoother than mine. We waited almost 4 hours for our room (I had planned to propose once we got into the room, which the hotel knew about, so I started off a little PO'ed, but it worked out in the end). I'm looking forward to seeing how the rest of your trip went.

Soundstage'95CP · Feb 20, 2012

Day 2

Day 2 starts off early, really early.
We have a 7:45am Segway tour at Epcot which requires a 7:30am check-in.
No worries, so we think, as multiple cast members at AKL assured us that there will either be an Epcot bus or a Character Breakfast bus that will take us there in plenty of time. We just have to make sure we catch the bus that arrives precisely at 7am.
So, at 6:45am we head out to the bus stop and wait.
And wait.
And wait.
And, it's a bus headed to MK, not ours. I ask the bus driver how long for an Epcot or CB bus to take us to Epcot for our reservation. "Should be about 5 minutes".
Wait some more. A HS bus. Same question, same answer.
Wait some more. Another MK bus (it's 7am now). A call to dispatch and I'm assured that "one is on it's way".
Wait some more. An AK bus. Same question and a driver call to dispatch, but this time the answer is that there is no way to get to Epcot by 7:30 as buses won't be dispatched until 7:30 for Epcot. 7:19am now.
So, we head over to catch a cab, that will later be refunded to us by the club level CM that gave us the wrong bus information.
We get to Epcot right at 7:30 and run to the turnstyles.
There is no one around as we start to wonder if we missed the tour.
Two nice CM's come up to the tour/CB entrance and assure us that we did not miss the tour. We were just the first ones there.

In fact, we ended up being the only ones there. Our Segway tour, which would normally have up to 10 people on it was only going to be 4 people today. But, two of those people did not show up. It was just us; a private Segway tour of Epcot. The hour-long training, only took about 25 minutes, so the rest of the hour and a half, we spent zig-zaging around both Future World and then World Showcase. We went on paths that just can't be navigated with the larger groups such as the bridges in Japan, and the House of Fez in Morocco. At one point we even went inside of Restaraunt Marrakech. It was a wonderfull tour, and so much fun. I wish we had more pictures to share from this, but we honestly didn't do much more than the tour today.

The rest of the day we did Mission Space, Test Track, and Sorin'...all with the help of some Fastpasses.

That afternoon, we ate at Sunshine Seasons, rested at the hotel and went to Hoop Dee Doo for the later seating.

Early day tomorrow: safari at AK

The Engagement pre-trip report

Soundstage'95CP

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Soundstage'95CP

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Trouble

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