Lesson learned during Disney engagement

[Bender123]

I quickly learned that setting up a celebration meal was a mistake...a few lucky coincidences saved the day. Prior to the trip, I made reservations at California Grill...When asked what I was celebrating, I said "Engagement" without ever thinking of the Disney gears now put into place.

My plan was to propose at Epcot in the evening. We are both huge fans of German things, so Germany was selected. In also knowing that she is a fan of the 1930s/40s pinup style, I selected the Studios as a site "B". Neither are usual places in Disney World for this type of event.

When we checked in at CBR, the CM gleefully handed me "Engagement" celebration buttons. This was nice, but I hadn't asked yet. Thank goodness she was in the restroom at the time. I handed them back and said, "Not yet...Can we take that note off until I ask?"

To start the next day, we were at the Studios and problem number one popped up...FP+ on TSMM...CM says "congratulations on your engagement!" directly to her. We were with my brothers family and they were celebrating an anniversary and she was in line with my brother...she wrote it off as them saying engagement instead of anniversary.

Next up was a ride on Tower of Terror...Was in line talking to my 13 year old daughter and they congratulated us on our engagement. That was weird, as she is a kid and now I know I need to get move the schedule up. The engagement is obviously on the system and I could see it when she tapped in for her FP+. Thank goodness the CM didn't say anything to her that time.

After a quick meeting with my daughters at lunch, we decided to go straight out and do it at the studios in front of the theater, which is her favorite park icon. Needless to say, it went off perfectly after that. Tons of crying, congratulations and fun after that point! Disney tried a bit too hard to make our time special, but it all turned out fine in the end and was a great experience.

I guess the Studios is not a normal place to do this, as every CM that was there stated it was not a normal thing for their park. Glad we got to be unique and got a great story out of it.

 

[Weather_Lady]

Aw - congratulations!!!

 

[21stamps]

Whew, so glad you were with other people. That was a close call!!

Congratulations!!

 

[Master Yoda]

Not the first time I have heard a story like this. You would think the mouse would put some sort of note on an engagement celebration that it is a secret.

 

[Souvenir]

I don't think you can really blame this on Disney. Guests seem to like to call attention to their personal situations such as first visit, birthday, anniversary, etc.. I've read posts here on the forum, and on others, where people are upset that their special occasion or circumstance was not acknowledged. Disney is dam--d if they do, and dam--d if they don't. When someone says they're celebrating an engagement I can see where the natural assumption is that they are there to celebrate having gotten engaged, PREVIOUSLY. I think it would be clearer to say that you're celebrating proposing if it hasn't happened yet. I just don't think Disney did anything wrong here. They were trying to give OP the personal attention they thought he requested. If you want something to be a surprise you have to be a little bit careful about how you put out the information.

OP- congratulations and I'm glad it worked out.

 

[mousehockey37]

Agreed, Disney wasn't in the wrong. Things for celebrating are things that have already happened. Not anticipation of things to come. Disney can ADD that to your file of what you're celebrating AFTER you're done.

Needless to say though, Congrats OP, you dodged the bullet and she said yes.

 

[GrimGrinningGhost15]

Congrats!

My sister in laws BF just told us he will be proposing on our trip in Sept. (YAY! We love him!) Did you have any issues getting the ring in to the parks? Future BIL is nervous about having it in his pocket. Or any readers... tips? I of course would keep it in my camera bag but if he can have it on him so we don't have to fumble around and make the swap, that would be best.

 

[Bender123]

Congrats!

My sister in laws BF just told us he will be proposing on our trip in Sept. (YAY! We love him!) Did you have any issues getting the ring in to the parks? Future BIL is nervous about having it in his pocket. Or any readers... tips? I of course would keep it in my camera bag but if he can have it on him so we don't have to fumble around and make the swap, that would be best.

My mother held on to it...The problem was security kept pulling it out and looking inside the box, so she always had to be the last one in through security and usually in a different line.

 

[Master Yoda]

I don't think you can really blame this on Disney. Guests seem to like to call attention to their personal situations such as first visit, birthday, anniversary, etc.. I've read posts here on the forum, and on others, where people are upset that their special occasion or circumstance was not acknowledged. Disney is dam--d if they do, and dam--d if they don't. When someone says they're celebrating an engagement I can see where the natural assumption is that they are there to celebrate having gotten engaged, PREVIOUSLY. I think it would be clearer to say that you're celebrating proposing if it hasn't happened yet. I just don't think Disney did anything wrong here. They were trying to give OP the personal attention they thought he requested. If you want something to be a surprise you have to be a little bit careful about how you put out the information.

OP- congratulations and I'm glad it worked out.

This is one of those situations where I think the mouse could put a little more thought into it and do a little better job.

Engagements are the one celebration where a little extra tact might be required as quite a few will be a surprise to at least one member of the party. If Disney is hell bent on doing them, there should be a way to indicate a "surprise engagement" so it does not get spoiled. As it sits right now, the only way to keep it secret is to not tell Disney about it when they ask and your average guest is simply not going to know that.

 

[Bender123]

This is one of those situations where I think the mouse could put a little more thought into it and do a little better job.

Engagements are the one celebration where a little extra tact might be required as quite a few will be a surprise to at least one member of the party. If Disney is hell bent on doing them, there should be a way to indicate a "surprise engagement" so it does not get spoiled. As it sits right now, the only way to keep it secret is to not tell Disney about it when they ask and your average guest is simply not going to know that.

Im a frequent guest and I didn't know...Engagement isn't exactly something that comes up often in your average Disney experience.

 

[GrimGrinningGhost15]

My mother held on to it...The problem was security kept pulling it out and looking inside the box, so she always had to be the last one in through security and usually in a different line.

Oh good to know, maybe I will just hold on to it then and try and hop in a different line from the SIL. thank you!