Just Engaged: An August 2010 Trip Report!

As the title suggests, this was an especially exciting trip for us and I can’t wait to share all of the fun details. Seeing as how I am lucky enough to write one of these every few months or so, I’m going to forego the normal introductions. Instead, why don’t I share five non-Disney things you might not already know about the two of us? Let’s see... non-Disney stuff?! This might be hard!

1 – We love live music! Seriously, aside from Disney, this is what we spend money on. Some of our favorite artists we’ve seen live include David Gray, Ben Folds, Brandi Carlile, Ryan Adams and the Cardinals, KT Tunstall, She & Him, Jack Johnson, A Fine Frenzy, Counting Crows, Nickel Creek, and Jimmy Buffett to name a few.

2 – We name inanimate objects and refer to them as such... this is especially true for electronics, and oddly enough they really do take on personalities. No,seriously! For example, our laptops are Petunia (mine) and Frances (his); our Garmin’s are Neville and Navi; and my camera is more affectionately known as Ginger. Weird? Maybe just a little bit. :ROFLOL:

3 – As much as I hate to admit it, we are complete and utter TV junkies. We LOVE our TV. And if I had to pick the one show we are jointly most excited to see this fall season it would have to be Dexter. Bring on the creepy.

4 – We are totally one of those couples who met at a bar. It just so happened that we both worked there while in college. Ahhh... everyone loves a good cliché, right?! :lookaroun

5 – We have a standing tradition of buying one another a book to celebrate each holiday. And when I say holiday, I mean every holiday you can think of from St. Patrick’s Day to Christmas. Usually the only time we stray outside the lines is on birthdays. We’ve built quite an impressive collection so far ranging from popular fiction to non-fiction, children’s books to biographies and we throw in some Disney “coffee table” books and “Art of’s” for good measure every now and then. Amazon is our friend! As are the myriad of used book stores we come across in the different places we visit. We already have enough to fill our own library when we buy a house!

Of course, no introduction is complete without the requisite photo, but for the heck of it, let’s go “old school.” Here we are with the elusive Rescue Rangers in 2004:

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We started planning this trip sometime after the Princess Half Marathon and eventually booked when the AP rates came out earlier in the summer. To be more precise, while I was in the midst of a quick weekend trip with my mom, Brett called and made the resort reservations, solidifying our stay at Caribbean Beach from August 13-August 17. And then, as per usual, we decided we would drive down after work on Thursday, so we booked a hotel through priceline for the night of the 12th.

Just the other day I realized that we haven’t repeated a resort since I began writing trip reports... so here’s a look back:
The Contemporary – September 2008
Old Key West – December 2008
Port Orleans Riverside – January 2009
Wilderness Lodge/Animal Kingdom Lodge – July 2009
The Beach Club – December 2009
Pop Century – March 2010
Coronado Springs – June 2010

We were both incredibly excited for this trip because we felt like it was our first truly “us” trip in a long while that spanned a decent amount of time and didn’t include some kind of endurance event to focus on. :eek: Okay, so I’m not gonna lie... I went into this trip “hoping” there’d be a little something special, but not really expecting it. There was one small detail that tipped me off ahead of time. I ALWAYS maintain the reservations and type up a minimal list of our dining plans/confirmation #s and before I could do it for this trip, Brett told me he typed it up at work one day when he had some free time. Hmmmm... interesting. I started wondering if he’d made some changes to the dining. And then I started thinking, why would he have any reason to mess with our dining?! I tried to dismiss this thought though, mostly because I didn’t want to be disappointed if it turned out he wasn’t planning on proposing. Thankfully, he did! So let’s get to it…
 
Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!! I am so excited for you guys!! It's about damn time, lol. Can't wait to hear all of the details! Congratulations again!!!
 

harveyt0206

Well-Known Member
Congratulations and best wishes to you both. Now, on with the trip report. :):sohappy: Can't wait to read the rest of it.
 

HollyBelle

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!! I am so excited for you guys!! It's about damn time, lol. Can't wait to hear all of the details! Congratulations again!!!

:ROFLOL:That's true... it is about damn time!! And thank you!

I've so been waiting for your trip report, Holly! Now get going! :lol:

I'll get up a mini update tonight and then we'll get to the good stuff! I'm still sad we didn't meet up, especially when I read your fun updates.

Congratulations!!!!!!!

Thank you, Pusta100!

Congratulations and best wishes to you both. Now, on with the trip report. :):sohappy: Can't wait to read the rest of it.

Thanks! I have a feeling this is gonna be a long one, especially considering it was only a four day trip.
 

HollyBelle

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Thursday, August 12: Travel/DTD

Brett had to work at least half the day, so I got everything packed and we were ready to roll as soon as he wrapped things up. Therefore, we didn’t check in to the Radisson just off site until around 8:30pm. We quickly changed and headed over to Downtown Disney for a LATE dinner. We had plans to check out the Meatball Bar at Portobello. MMmmm… handcrafted meatballs and beer! Anything that ties a Top Chef to Disney has got to be good.

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We decided to each try 3 meatball sliders. I ordered the chicken with sage, beef and veal with parsley, and salmon with tarragon and Brett had the spicy pork in addition to the chicken and beef sliders. Brett’s favorite was the chicken hands down, which surprised him because he fully expected the pork to be the big winner. And my favorite was the beef and veal… it was so tender. I wasn’t too fond of the salmon, but I think that may be because of the tarragon.

OM NOM NOM NOM!!

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We become fixated on the darnedest things… and throughout the summer we’ve been channeling the Cookie Monster anytime we get hungry (especially for cookies). So, with that said, we’re going to use Cookie’s Om Nom Nom scale to rank our food this trip! More on the Origin of Nom Nom Nom here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cqz9ZXUoUcE

The Meatball Bar gets three out of four Noms. It was super tasty and a great place for a quick bite to eat, plus the meatballs went so well with a nice cold beer! And it didn’t hurt that it was so darn cheap, 3 meatball sliders for $5 is a steal!

We spent a little time browsing around Downtown Disney before heading back to the hotel. Our plan was to get up early and check in at Caribbean Beach in time to still make rope drop at the Studios, so we wanted to get a good night’s sleep.


Next up... check in and DHS! :sohappy:
 

KnK

New Member
Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Actually, until a couple of trip reports ago, I thought you were married!!!!!

Welcome to the club!
 

HollyBelle

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Actually, until a couple of trip reports ago, I thought you were married!!!!!

Welcome to the club!

It's a common misconception, most people already think we're hitched! And thanks for the welcome, Kris... I think I rather like this club! :D
 

HollyBelle

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
YAY!....congrats looking forward to it!

Oh and I have never heard of the meatball bar..where is this information?

Thanks, Dana! Brett found the information on the Disney Parks Blog over the summer: http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2010/07/belly-up-to-the-meatball-bar-at-downtown-disney/

And there's also some information on the Portobello website: http://portobellorestaurant.com/news_reviews.html

I don't know if you're a Top Chef fan, but Tony Mantuano (from Masters) was a consultant for the concept.
 

maggiegrace1

Well-Known Member
Thanks, Dana! Brett found the information on the Disney Parks Blog over the summer: http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2010/07/belly-up-to-the-meatball-bar-at-downtown-disney/

And there's also some information on the Portobello website: http://portobellorestaurant.com/news_reviews.html

I don't know if you're a Top Chef fan, but Tony Mantuano (from Masters) was a consultant for the concept.
Thanks..we will check that out and YES!!!! Love Top Chef and Top Chef Masters..:sohappy:
 

diddy_mouse

Well-Known Member
Yay!!!! That is such awesome news, Holly! :sohappy: I will now stalk this thread for updates...heehee. (not intended to sound creepy XD)

Congrats again! :D
 

jesemeca

Well-Known Member
Congratulations. Can't wait to hear all about it. I've enjoyed all of your other trip reports, so I'm sure this one will be good too.
 

HopLow

Member
OMG, congrats!!!!! :sohappy: There will be a ring pic included in the TR, right???? Can't wait to hear all about the proposal!



And my Garmin is named Daniel and he is British. :p
 

foreverbelle

Well-Known Member
Congrats Holly! That is wonderful.

Of course since I am at work I can't get any pictures...:eek: Which means I will just have to come back here once I escape.

But congrats on the engagement!!
 

WishIWasAtWDW

Well-Known Member
congrats holly!!! i was so excited to see this post but sad too because i leave for wdw tomorrow so i won't be able to read your report til i get back! :( :lol: its really funny/sad that i am about to head off to the world and yet i am sad i can't read someone else's trip report! i am looking forward to reading all about your trip when i return!
 

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