Trip Report Holidays, Christmas Castle, and a Proposal

Dates: December 8th, 2019 to December 15th, 2019

Who: Me(Chloe) The Red Head surprised proposed to girlfriend. My Girlfriend(Anissa) the Sneaky one who kept the proposal a surprise.

Resort: Pop Century

Date of Proposal: December 12th, 2019 Magic Kingdom

Day 1 12/8/19: We left for BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport bright and early in the morning so we would be arriving in Orlando by 10:30 A.M. Everything went pretty smooth with check in and we were off and the flight was fine. We arrived on time at Orlando and got to the Magically Express and soon we were off to the Pop Century Resort. Once we boarded the Magical Express it actually started the Disney Magically feeling. We arrived way before our room was ready as we expected so we had a carry on bag with out bathing suits in them so we put them on after my girlfriend checked us in and we hung out splashing around at the pool and grabbing a bite to eat at the quick service area and some drinks as well for lunch. Once our room was ready we went to the room and unpacked everything and just relaxed a bit for later in the evening we were going Disney Springs for Chef Arts Homecoming. What a wonderful meal. After a little stroll around Disney Springs we headed back to Pop Century and to bed for out first day at the parks the next day.

106719356-706503696869419-8848343691209945401-n.jpg

105365280_701166124015633_4725348046383810254_n.jpg

104568239_649430778991640_8335031927669978146_n.jpg

,,, more to come
 
Last edited:

RememberWhen

Well-Known Member
Thank You, can't want to get December 12th the proposal day.
It sounds lovely. My wife and I have been many times and now we bring the kids. It’s a great place! I remember one interaction with Minnie at a meet-and-greet: we had gotten engaged not too long before and had pins. Minnie saw the pin on my shirt and asked where the fiancé was. I told her it was my girlfriend and she was so sweet and silly and lovely with us. She told us to talk to Mickey for her.
We always have a good time and I can’t wait to hear about the rest of your trip.
 

Mickey Pride

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
It sounds lovely. My wife and I have been many times and now we bring the kids. It’s a great place! I remember one interaction with Minnie at a meet-and-greet: we had gotten engaged not too long before and had pins. Minnie saw the pin on my shirt and asked where the fiancé was. I told her it was my girlfriend and she was so sweet and silly and lovely with us. She told us to talk to Mickey for her.
We always have a good time and I can’t wait to hear about the rest of your trip.
It was my best day ever. I have no idea how she surprised me, but she did. I will have Day Two tomorrow and will go on from there as so others can follow along and I don't post it all too fast.
 

Mickey Pride

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 2: 12/9/2019

Where: Epcot

My girlfriend and I are notorious for sleeping in so needless to say it is no rope drops for us. We woke at 9:30 in the morning which is actually pretty early for us when we don't have to work. We took our time to get out to the bus and off we went to my favorite park Epcot for our first adventure at WDW. The bus did not take very long to arrive which was very nice. We arrived at our destination and World Showcase was opened and as we were running on empty and feeling a bit sluggish we headed straight for the French Pavilion and the bakery for some coffee and a chocolate croissant. Since we are late starters usually we did not have an early FP and our 1st one was for Frozen Ever After later in the afternoon. So after the refreshments we were off to my favorite ride Soarin' It was a pretty light day so far in Epcot and the wait time was just over 30 minutes which was great. So we got in the line for that and rode the ride. After that since it was the holidays and this being my first ever time at WDW during the holidays my girlfriend suggested to go around World Showcase and here the stories of how Christmas is in the different countries. My girlfriend was brought up in Disney and not me at all. Until I met her I was really not exposed much to Disney. So I thought that sounded great so we strolled around the World Showcase doing that and also using the FP for Frozen Ever After. After we did we were ready for our meal at another one of my favorite places in all of WDW and that would be Via Napoli. We got a pizza and enjoyed it thoroughly. As the evening started the come on we wanted to o at least 3 more rides and we added two more FP's in Test Track and Spaceship Earth. Both of those rides were very enjoyable. We were also going to do Journey Into Imagination, but ran out of time because we wanted to get a decent spot for Epcot Forever. This was the first time for the both of us seeing Epcot Forever and wow it was wonderful. After that was over we walked back to the bus and headed back to POP Century for a shower and a good nights sleep for our next days adventure at Hollywood Studios. So be sure to tune in for more adventures tomorrow. Thanks for viewing.

75572640-2659960147419555-3160631661314913499-n.jpg

57045414-296849797875941-1127024503758592772-n.jpg

DSC-0167.jpg

60126507-171016953899937-7091156663615130960-n.jpg
 

Mickey Pride

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 3: December 10, 2019

Where: Hollywood Studios

Once again we started off with sleeping in and it felt good. We both got up and headed down to the quick service food area and grabbed some coffee before heading over to the bus to take us over to Hollywood Studios. The new Star Wars area is now opened, but I myself not being much of a Star Wars fan was not very excited about that. My girlfriend was however. I was more excited for The Tower of Terror. So we arrived in Hollywood Studios and our first destination was a FP for Slinky's Dog Dash so we headed over to Toy Story Land and road that ride which was a first and the ride was great. We also did Toy Story Mania! which was also a lot of fun. After that we were getting a bit on the hungry side so we decided to grab a bite to eat at Woody's Lunch Box. After a nice bite to eat we decided to take a stroll over to Muppets 3D to see how long the wait was till the next show. We waited and got in on the next show. I love the Muppets and enjoyed this show a lot. After this show it was getting close to the time for our FP for Rise of Resistance. My girlfriend was really anticipating this. She loved the ride and I thought it was good as well. It was very crowded in this area so we decided to get the other Star Wars ride out of the way and then get out of that area. We did that ride which I thought was rather boring. I can't even remember what it was called. As you can tell I am not a Star Wars fan. :) Off we went to my neck of the woods to tackle the Rock N Roller Coaster and then eat dinner at the 50's Prime Time Cafe. The wait time for RnRC wasn't horrible and the ride was fantastic as usual. Off to the 50's Prime Time Cafe for some fun and great food. I got the Cousin Megan's Traditional Meatloaf and it was yummy. Our waitress/cousin was phenomenal. After dinner we walked around looking at the Holiday lights and wanted to finish off the evening with our last FP of The Tower of Terror. This ride is my favorite in the park and what a way to end the night at Hollywood Studios. We said our goodbyes to Hollywood Studios and headed for the bus and back to the resort. Tomorrow we will be heading to the Animal Kingdom.

92454238-221027839113180-2090271495765023167-n.jpg

43714504-2172644573061535-3203900039316327636-n.jpg

79534780-712306299261026-5348529909536081006-n.jpg

72556388-124643855636581-2299752691873582141-n.jpg
 

Mickey Pride

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 4: December 11, 2019

Where: Animal Kingdom

The sleeping in theme is getting to be a habit. Well we are so use to it on the weekends that it is no surprise that it continued even in WDW. We had the same idea as yesterday morning to hit the quick service for some coffee and a quick bite before heading to the bus for the Animal Kingdom. I tell not setting a FP till the afternoon was a smart idea on our part. So we did that and eventually made it to the Animal Kindom where our first adventure for the day was to go on the Kilamanjaro Safari to view the animals. We went over there and the line was long so we decided against that and headed over to the Tree of Life to check out It's Tough To Be A Bug show. This little show was pretty cute. After that it was getting close already to our FP for Flight of Passage and we didn't want to mess around and miss that so we headed over to Pandora and walked around viewing the beautiful area and then when the time came rode Flight of Passage. This ride is in my opinion one of the best in all of WDW. After that we went over to the Na'vi River Journey and waited in a rather long line for that ride. I have heard many people say that this ride was not very good, but I enjoyed it a lot. It for one is a very beautiful ride and also one to just relax on. After hitting those two rides there was basically one more ride today we definitely wanted to hit as we were coming back for a 2nd day to the Animal Kingdom and that was Expedition Everest. We wanted to grab a bit of lunch at a cart somewhere so we did that before we headed over to Expedition Everest. The one thing about the Animal Kingdom I love is just walking around the park is lovely. It is a beautiful park to just look at and with all the Holiday decorations up it made it even better. So Expedition Everest really wasn't that horrible of a wait time so we did that and then spent some time just walking around shopping in the stores for a bit. We also popped on Primeval Whirl which was fun. The evening was quickly approaching and so was our dining plans for the Tusker House. We headed our there and had a really nice meal. We planned on staying for Rivers of Light, but since we were coming back again and were feeling tired we headed back to the bus and back to the resort for a bit of an earlier evening back at the resort than the late evenings. That was kind of nice as we got to spend some quality time in the room before just collapsing in bed. The next day would be our first day at the Magic Kingdom and could actually be a surprise on the way for me. Stay tuned.

67511887-1355959937888277-7254237946220123565-n.jpg
50589194-602573943534554-1427505559343315605-n.jpg

79352558-181693833025289-5138003800426234411-n.jpg

92202374-684496618758873-7902866423579621473-n.jpg
 

Mickey Pride

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 5: December 12, 2019

Where: Magic Kingdom

Our first day at the Magic Kingdom started off as any typical vacation morning for us with the usual late start, coffee, pastries, and the bus station. Once we arrived the magic that is the Magic Kingdom and especially during the holidays as I would find out with the decorations,parades, and even some changes in the rides were amazing. We set out down Main Street USA and the usual sight of Cinderellas Castle was gorgeous. We decided to head over to Tomorrowlad and attempt to ride Space Mountain first which wasn't a bad idea because the wait time wasn't awful. After Space Mountain we headed over to Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. After Buzz which was a lot of fun we headed over to Fantasyland to our first FP Peter Pan and walked around that area for about 15 minutes before getting on that ride. After Peter Pan we checked the map to see when the parade was starting and it was only like 30 minutes away so we headed back to the Main Street area and grabbed a half decent spot for the Mickey's Once Upon A Christmas Parade. The parade was amazing. Once the parade was over and the crowd thinned out some we headed over to Casey's for a bite to eat for a late snack then it was back to Fantasyland. We headed to the Seven Dwarfs Mine Ride to see what the wait time was and it was getting close to an hour so we said the heck with that and went over to Snow White and rode that instead. After Snow White we popped over to Its A Small World which also wasn't a horrible wait time so we did that as well. Then it was off to Adventureland next. We had a FP for Pirates of the Caribbean and we got on that ride which is my girlfriends favorite ride. After that we headed over to Liberty Square to do the Haunted Mansion. The wait for the Haunted Mansion was long, but we were like oh well lets do this as all that was left for the day was grabbing food at the Columbia Harbour House and the Nighttime Show. So we did the Haunted Mansion and what a great ride that is. After that we headed over to the Columbia Harbour House where I enjoyed a Lobster Roll. We then headed back to the Main Street area to watch the Night Time Show and to have the surprise of my life. We got to the are and people were lining up as usual. I believe my girlfriend/fiance must have had something worked out with a Cast Member to have us go out into the center area when she planned on proposing because things seemed to be cleared out for us in that area for a few minutes. So the next thing you know I was in front of Cinderella's Castle in the middle of Main Street USA with fake snowflakes falling, standing in front of the love of my life and everything seemed to be moving in slow motion at that point. When she started to get down on one knee is when i started to react I think. It actually seemed like we were the only two people in all of the Magic Kingdom at that moment, but actually there were a ton of people staring at us. She said these words to me, "Since we have been together you have made me the happiest person in the world, now will you make you marry me and make this a Happily Ever After." I believe I was losing it by then. I of course said YES and I gave her a huge huge and kiss. There was a bunch of applause from people I didn't even know and many people afterwards asking to see the ring which you will all get to see a closer up photo later in this thread. After the Night Time show I believe I was still shaking as we went back to the bus and back to the resort that evening. Tomorrow I was going to wake up next to my FIANCE and head off to our 2nd day of the Animal Kingdom.

159413274440844875.jpeg

59593153-1824720914296437-5609095595112076059-n.jpg

46966695-668124306922499-3960033227620855542-n.jpg

46411718-373824736753886-8424470754139729988-n.jpg
 

Mickey Pride

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 6: December 13, 2019

Where: Animal Kingdom (Day 2)

We decided to wake up even later as we stayed up late in the room the following evening celebrating our engagement the night before. So we were just going to wake up and take it slow and hang around the Hippy Dippy Pool during the day and eat some snackie things and have some cocktails before heading over to the Animal Kingdom later. We basically wanted to do 3 things the Kilamanjaro Safari which we had a FP for and Kali River Rapids and then Rivers of Light. We also had a reservation for the Yak & Yeti. That was all. So we enjoyed are early part of the day relaxing at the pool and then went back to the room and got dressed for the Animal Kingdom. We got the bus and headed over and arrived just in time to get the the Safari for our FP time. The Safari is one of my favorite attractions in the Animal Kingdom. After that we strolled around looking in some shops as we headed over to Kali River Rapids we waited in a nice sized line for that one, but it was worth it. Kali is a fun ride. After Kali we had a little rime to kill so we just walked around shopping while heading over to that area. The Yak and Yeti was very tasty and I had the Shrimp Lo Mein meal. After the meal there was still time to kill before Rivers of Life so we decided to see Its Tough To Be A Bug again. What a cute show. We then just walked around enjoying the beauty of the Animal Kingdom. We then headed over the Rivers of Light before it was to start so we could get in and go in line and we went into the show. What a beautiful show it was. A great way to end a great day. Off to the buses and back to the resort as tomorrow will be our last full day in the parks at the Magic Kingdom.
40514514_811420572582558_3275847591140599769_n.jpg

60002892-2338791529497172-3881051412210999269-n.jpg

84072710-186662792582483-3571629206396350681-n.jpg

43258806-1916428485144579-7083522457000214528-n.jpg
 

Mickey Pride

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 7: December 14, 2019

Where: Magic Kingdom (Day 2)

We woke up probably the earliest we have the entire vacation and got ready for out last full day in the parks :( . We headed to the quick service area for some morning coffee and a danish and then it was off to the bus station and to the Magic Kingdom. It was one last walking into Main Street USA and seeing the beauty of Cinderella's Castle all dressed up for the holiday. What a picture it was. Just to think of it I got proposed to just a few days ago on this street. We really didn't have a big agenda other than viewing the fireworks in the evening and eating at the Skipper Canteen so we were just going to get on rides that we really wanted to. We headed first to Splash Mountain and rode that because that is one of our favorites. Then we headed over to The Seven Dwarfs Mine Ride and waited in a gigantic line for this ide, but since we really had no agenda it really didn't matter. As we headed back we saw Mickey's Philharmagic was going to start in a bit so we waited and saw that. That show is actually pretty amazing. I then told my fiance I wanted to ride Winnie The Pooh no matter how long the wait was so we went over and the wait was 50 minutes so I gave her my pouty face and into the line we went. Prior to that we set a FP for Pirates of the Caribbean and started heading over that way. Once we got there we walked around in a shop until it was time for the FP and then went onto that ride. After that ride was completed it was time to go over for dinner at the Skipper Canteen which we had never ate before. I got the Curried Vegetable Crew Stew which was outstanding. Once that was over we basically were just waiting for the fireworks so we decided to go shopping in the Emporium and I was in my element, but was Fiance is not much into the shopping thing so she got tired of it and decided to scope out a good stop for the fireworks. Once I was done with the walking around the Emporium I texted my Fiance to see where she was at and located her and we waited for the evening show. The show was amazing is all I can say. Once that was over the crowd started to move towards the exit and we both kind of just stood back and waited for most of the crowd to move along and leave. We then started leaving and looking back on the castle one last time for a photo to remember this amazing trip as the beginning of our own Happily Ever After.
73457366-159680875245471-3556972432044380161-n.jpg

159397254797231020.jpg

62214146-145234376558642-8542533081420226428-n.jpg

78730502-1050782068615354-8173257548642767490-n.jpg
 

Mickey Pride

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 8: December 15, 2019

Where: Home

Well we reached that point of the vacation where most people don't want to talk about and that is the day that you have to go back to reality and home. We woke up bright and early this morning and packed out suitcases and grabbed some coffee before we headed to the Magical Express to take us to Orlando Airport. First though I did promise all who followed this trip report that they would see the bling of my engagement ring before this was over so these are the final photos. Thank you all for following along and liking my trip report.

20190328-193820-01.jpg

45851001-357298111733450-229474571549259837-n.jpg
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom