Trip Report A 36 hour journey, An Engagement and everything in between! WDW 2018

I'm going to start this by apologizing.. it probably wont be well written and I will more than likely miss things out. I'm trying to recall it all but it feels like a life time ago - when really it was only 3 weeks!

Day 0 – Arriving at WDW Coronado Springs.

My Boyfriend Dan and I had a long journey to get back to WDW, a full 36 hours of travelling to be exact. We left home in Perth Australia, and took a 4 hour flight to Melbourne (on the east coast) where we had to wait 6 hours for our connecting flight to LA… Boring!
Luckily the excitement made the time go nice and quick. Back onto a plane for a 14 hour flight from Melbourne to LAX. When we hit LAX we had ANOTHER 6 hour lay over… Not so fun the second time around.

We bought Delta Sky Lounge Passes to make the wait more bearable. Showers and alcohol was our saviour!! Finally time for our last flight from LAX to Orlando… It couldn’t go quick enough. I was ready to start my holiday (or “vacation” as I quickly learnt )

Arriving at MCO was magical, as expected, even though we were exhausted, Dan and I couldn’t keep the smiles off our faces. We made our way over to the Magical Express and walked straight onto our awaiting bus. Lucky for us the first stop was Coronado Springs! It was just after Midnight when we checked in. The cast member Shannon was super lovely. She made sure we had a refurbished room in Cabanas 8A – it was near the Main Pool (dig site) and about a 5 min walk from the main building. Room was beautiful. We wanted a king room but ended up with 2 beds. It didn’t really worry us, we used the second bed to put our bags on. There was no where open to eat or even get any snacks so we ordered dominos and then feel asleep with full bellies!

Not a bad view to wake up too...

more to come...

 

[PrincessJasmyn]

Day 2 cont – 16/05/2018 – Magic Kingdom
Now for our dinner. I wasn’t even hungry now. I was to excited to even think about food, but I couldn’t just not eat, especially since this meal had all been pre-paid. Firstly we ordered a bottle of Sparkling Rose to celebrate. It was amazingly sweet (exactly what I like) I’m going to have to try to find a bottle of it now I am back home. It’s my new favourite! For appetisers we both ordered the Charcuterie Plate. It was so tasty. I even ate the blue cheese which I don’t normally like at all.

Dan took this super cute photo of me while we waited for our meal to arrive!

For Entrees we both ordered the same thing again. Beef and Shrimp. I had mine medium and Dan had his med-rare. Both tasted great! I almost couldn’t finish mine I was so full, but forced the last bites down, I wasn’t leaving food that delicious on the plate.
For dessert we were lucky enough to get a complimentary dessert plate with Chocolate Mousse in a dark chocolate slipper, a chocolate cake and a beautiful Congratulations chocolate piece. I still can’t get over how big it was. A long with this, we could also order our own desserts as well! We decided to get one of each of the sorbets (Raspberry and Lemon) and share it all, because they were the only things on the menu that we didn’t get on our free dessert plate.

During our dessert the fireworks started and we got to watch all of Happily Ever After from inside the castle. Lucky for us we were sat right by the window and didn’t miss a thing. It was such a magical end to an already perfect night!

When the fireworks finished we were allowed to leave the castle.
We headed down stairs and found a quiet place to sit and call our family. It was now around 9:30pm and we spent around 30mins calling everyone to let them know the good news.
10pm came and we shut off our phones and made the most of our night time EMH.
First we went to Haunted Mansion. There was no wait on this, so we walked straight in and onto the ride. Last year when we came to WDW I hadn’t watched the movie. I made sure I watched it before this trip, it made the ride so much more enjoyable!!!

From Haunted Mansion we took off to ride Splash Mountain. Unfortunately it was closed during EMH but we got caught up talking to the 2 cast members out the front. Both girls were so lovely and really excited that we had JUST got engaged!

Said our goodbyes to them and headed to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. This is one of my favourite rides at Magic Kingdom. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a chance to ride SDMT either time we have been here, so I cant compare.
Our last attraction of the night was Winnie the Poohs ride. It was a fun little time waster, but I probably wouldn’t do it again.

We wandered through the shops and bought a couple of items. I bought a shirt and some earrings then it was time to bus back to Coronado Springs. By this time it was close to midnight

 

[becca_]

What a great way to get engaged!! Congrats

 

[riverside]

Congratulations!! What a great proposal!!

 

[LisaBelle]

Congratulations! Loved the proposal!

 

[LeighM]

Congrats on your engagement!

 

[cfry06]

Congratulations!!

 

[Spash007]

Congratulations!

I'm so glad you put up this post yesterday. Today was my 180 day mark, and last night my wife tells me "you may think I'm crazy, but what do you think about trying Cinderella's castle for dinner?" We were planning on doing on Akershus, but this would take the place (we have a 3 year old girl, but can only dine with princesses so much). I hadn't heard much lately about the food, but thanks to your rave review, we decided to go for it! And we actually was able to get a reservation for our last night in December - so excited!

 

[PacNWTigger]

Congratulations to you both! What a great proposal!!

 

[PrincessJasmyn]

Congratulations!

I'm so glad you put up this post yesterday. Today was my 180 day mark, and last night my wife tells me "you may think I'm crazy, but what do you think about trying Cinderella's castle for dinner?" We were planning on doing on Akershus, but this would take the place (we have a 3 year old girl, but can only dine with princesses so much). I hadn't heard much lately about the food, but thanks to your rave review, we decided to go for it! And we actually was able to get a reservation for our last night in December - so excited!

Oh I am SO glad you choose the castle!!
I cant compare to Akershus, I have never been, but honestly, CRT was a great experience and I wouldnt have traded it for anything else (even without the engagement)!!

Ill be looking forward to your trip report when you go!

 

[LeighM]

My husband and I really enjoyed Akershus for dinner. I liked the cold Norwegian buffet (I became addicted to gjetost cheese) and the hot entree off the menu. I can't remember what my husband had but the Norwegian meatballs I had were great! The dessert platter was good too but we were just too full to enjoy it. We had breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table and it was a huge disappointment. But the breakfast at Akershus was much better. Plus, we were on the dining plan and CRT was 2 credits and compared to Akershus 1 credit. I would like to try CRT one time for dinner though.

 

[PrincessJasmyn]

Day 3 – 17/05/2018 – Hollywood Studios

It was another early morning today. We jumped up around 6:30am, got ready, and made our way down to Pepper Market for some early morning breakfast.
We both got Bacon and Eggs rolls. We quickly ate, walked out the front, just in time to get the Hollywood Studios bus.
It wasn’t a Disney transportation bus, so we were very confused, but the cast member flagged the bus down for us just as he was pulling away and we jumped on. It seemed to be a private bus that they were using for the morning. Maybe one of there buses were down?
There were 2 other groups on board and we all got chatting on the short ride to the theme park.

By the time we got there is was close to opening time. I was still on a high from last night and insisted we get a couple of photopass photos first. Of course showing off my new ring!

I bought this shirt last night and I really am not happy with how I look in it. Why must it cling to my stomach?! Still cute though..

We had a fast pass booked for 9:10am for STAR TOURS. I had no idea about this ride or anything involved. I’m so glad I took a motion sickness tablet before starting my day. I think I would have been a bit un well after this 3D experience. We spent a bit of time wandering through the Star Tours Store (as you exit the ride). Dan got some hilarious photos taken where they put your face on one of the characters from the movies. It was great but we were going to pay $30 for a photo.

After this we wandered around the park for a bit, taking in all the sites and tried to organise our day best as possible. I feel like I’m missing an hour or so here, but I know next we went to Rock N Rollercoaster.

This was another ride I was not expecting to be like it was. IT IS SO DAMN FAST!!!
I was standing behind the fence watching everyone take off, holding my breath in anticipation!
I ended up taking my crown off DURING the ride because I could feel it flapping on my head and I was so scared I was going to lose it. My eyes were shut for most of the ride, Dan was screaming besides me. It was so much fun but I probably wouldn’t do it again.

As you can see by my face, I’m really trying to hold it together and not cry.

We also spend some time in the ride exit shop here too! Dan bought an awesome baseball style shirt with micky heads all over it. Very cool. I was good and didn’t get anything!

From here we headed to The Tower Of Terror. The name was too much for me and I refused to go on it. Dan used his fast pass and I found a shady spot to sit and have a big drink of water. It was getting ridiculously hot!

Dan’s photopass photo for this was hilarious. He is in the back right corner with a girl gripping for life on his arm haha!!

While I was waiting for Dan, I scored Toy Storia Mania fastpasses for 1pm. It meant we had a couple of hours to kill, and it was perfect time to go see the Indiana Jones Stunt Show!
This was a highlight for us last trip and was a must see again this year.
We headed over just in time. We were a some of the last people in and got seated to the far right of the stage, close to the back. I found us 2 seats right on the end of a row, and Dan went and got us beers and popcorn. Perfect!

The show was excellent as expected. The only difference was that this time I had actually seen the movie – it made a lot more sense this time around.

We were meant to have lunch at Mama Melrose to get the Fantasmic package, but decided to cancel this reservation the night before, so we could go back to Magic Kingdom in the evening to watch the fireworks from outside of the castle, since we missed them the night before.

Time for our favourite Hollywood Studios ride, TOY STORY MANIA!
I am so lucky we got a same day fast pass for this. I didn’t feel like waiting 60+ mins for this.

Toy Story Mania was an absolute blast as always! Dan beat me, but not by much! My accuracy was much higher

The weather was starting to look a little miserable. It was getting very windy and overcast, that’s Floridas way of telling you the storms coming.
We took refuge in the Muppets 3D movie. Dan grew up with the muppets, its something that he wanted to do again. I could take it or leave it.

When we came out of the theatre, it was just starting to sprinkle with rain. We took this as our sign to leave. We headed to the front of the park, picked up Dan’s mickey shirt that he had sent to the entrance, and I bought an awesome Minnie tote bag.

We were off to get some lunch at Disney Springs!

We had a short wait at Hollywood Studios for the Disney Springs bus then off we went. There was a couple of shops I wanted to visit while we were there. First we went to Planet Hollywood for some food (and drinks!) I got this ridiculous cocktail. I loved it and I got to keep the glass. We also got some small Tostadas (?) to share. They were great!

We spent a bit of time in H&M. They had a lot of Disney Merch, and we each got a few things from there. I think we spent about an hour in there before finally moving on to the Disney store.
I found the Cinderella Spirit Jersey that I had been searching for, and I also found an Ariel one, which I bought for my best friend back home – who was kind enough to house sit for us!

It was pouring with rain the whole time we were at Disney Springs. It was getting a bit too miserable for us and it was time to head back to our hotel to get changed for dinner. We had an ADR at 1900 Park Fare for ANOTHER Cinderella dinner….

 

[LeighM]

I bought the similar pink shirt that says "My Happy Place" and I feel the same way LOL. The shirt is sooooo comfortable but when I looked at pictures of myself wearing it, I looked 3 times top heavier than I really am It's not going to stop me from wearing it but I definitely will think twice about how I pose in pictures!

 

[PrincessJasmyn]

I bought the similar pink shirt that says "My Happy Place" and I feel the same way LOL. The shirt is sooooo comfortable but when I looked at pictures of myself wearing it, I looked 3 times top heavier than I really am It's not going to stop me from wearing it but I definitely will think twice about how I pose in pictures!

I honestly thought I looked great leaving the hotel that morning, photos have proven otherwise hahaha!!

 

[PrincessJasmyn]

Day 3 Cont. – 17/05/2018 – Dinner & Magic Kingdom

Dan and I got an Uber to the Grand Floridian Hotel and headed straight into 1900 Park Fare for dinner.
We were greeted with two very friendly cast members who got us seated almost instantly, even though we were about 15 mins early.

We had a seat close to the door, which wasn’t ideal, but nothing to complain about. June our waitress came over very quickly and explained how the buffet worked as we hadn’t been here before.

The characters were already out and walking around. We got our first round of food, ordered some drinks, and before we knew it, Charming and then Cinderella were at our table.

They were both lovely, but not great at improv. It was very basic conversation between both, we took photos and they were on their way.
Charming honestly looked about 20 years old. He had such a young face. I felt weird getting a photo with him when I was definitely older.

Next it was the AMAZING step sisters. I can not explain how amazing they are!! They put every other characters we met this trip to shame (and we met some beauties!!).
First up it was Drizella!

“How Just Engaged are you really? Like did it just happen?” she said to me in a sassy voice.
“Last night!” I replied with excitement.

Drizella screamed and grabbed my hand. It was so loud that other tables were turning around to stare. Then she proceeded to scream for Charming across the room.
Poor charming was trying to talk to some young girls. He looked up and gave her a death stare. She didn’t stop calling for him. He gave up and walked over.
Her improv is SPECTACULAR. She is able to think on her feet so quickly, Charming couldn’t keep up and didn’t know how to answer her. “Why haven’t you bought Cinderella a ring yet? Did you know they got engaged at your castle last night? Why haven’t you got married yet? Is she not the one?”
I honestly felt a little sorry for the poor kid.

We got our sassy photo together and she was off to the next table.

Then Anastasia came over. Some how we got talking about why im wearing a Cinderella top. I told her ive also got a tattoo of Cindy, and she proceeded to grill me “Why would you want a tattoo of someone who’s friends with mice and talks to bubbles?”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
Anastasia is very vain and constantly complimented herself.

All of a sudden we hear plates crash as someone must have dropped something. BOTH sisters screamed out “CINDERELLA!!!!!!!!!!!!!” AT THE TOP OF THEIR LUNGS. They were on other sides of the restaurant.

The way the girls acted with adults only was darker and rude (mainly towards Cinderella) and very sassy. But to kids, oh my god they were THE SWEETEST!

After Anastasia left our table she moved on to a table with about 3 kids. Before they took their photos together I heard her yell, “Now you make sure you show off that face because you are PERFECT!! Don’t let anyone tell you different”
It gave me goosebumps, it was just so nice!!

Last but not least was Lady Tremaine. Another great character. She was very serious and had conversations with me asking if Dan was rich enough for me to marry and if he has any single uncles. She was disappointed when I told her I worked 2 jobs so dan is the one getting lucky here. She was NOT happy that I said that. “You must never admit to anyone that you work dear. No no no! must not tell people that!!” I couldn't help but laugh.

Our overall dinner I didn’t rate that highly. They had great cocktails (always a plus for me) but I don’t think the food was worth the money. BUT I would pay that again just to have interactions with the step sisters and Lady Tremaine. 100% worth it.

They did give us free dessert – a cupcake each, which I thought was super nice of them.

We finished our dinner and a few drinks at about 8pm. We left and headed on the monorail over to Magic Kingdom in time for Happily Ever After!

We walked in around 8:30pm and got a perfect spot in the middle of main street. We didn’t fight to get any closer as we had a great view of everything form where we were. I don’t know why people try and steak out spots near the front so early. I’d rather watch from where we did and not have to fight for space. We had plenty of room!

The show was magical, as always. I am so happy we choose to come back to Magic Kingdom instead of going to see Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios.

I got a little bit sentimental and shed a few tears during the fireworks. It had been a VERY emotional couple of days. I just hugged my new fiancé a little tighter

The park didn’t close until 10pm and we were lucky enough to get a couple of rides in that we missed. Jungle Cruise, and Pirates.
Jungle Cruise isn’t actually that great at night, but there was only 3 groups on our boat (including us) and our skipper was hilarious. There were no kids, so Joy let out all of the dirty jokes!

Next stop it was Pirates of the Caribbean. Always a good ride!

It was time for the park to close, we wandered back to the bus and back to our hotel.

• Day 4 was check out day and concludes our Disney portion of our 3 week American Holiday.
  
  For those following along, here’s a bit of a spoiler… We were engaged for 12 whole days and ended up getting married in Las Vegas at The Little Vegas Chapel on the 28th May 2018. We had 1 other couple with us. I work with her back home and we had planned to meet up with them in Las Vegas anyway. They were our witnesses!

 

[Brwneyedgirl72]

Congratulations!!!!! You looked absolutely beautiful!!

 

[Gurt]

OMG WOW congratulations you look beautiful

 

[sheriffwoody]

Congrats on the wedding! So fun that you got married in Vegas

 

[LisaBelle]

Wow! Surprise wedding in the middle of the TR! You looked beautiful!

 

[ScarletBegonias]

What a lovely proposal!!! I love that you guys got married in Vegas!

 

[LeighM]

Congrats on the wedding!!