[Brian]

Wednesday, May 21, 2003

Day Two (The Big Day!)...

We decided to get breakfast right at the resort before catching the boat to MGM. We were very impressed with the Yacht Club Galley, and knew that we would be back again in the next few days. We found ourselves in the park by 10:00 and headed straight to ToT since we had not yet experienced the new program and effects. After RnRC we moved towards the back of the park and had our traditional lunch at Pizza Planet.

Now of course I had to set my plan into action in order to make sure we were at the right Beauty and the Beast show. A few days before I had confirmed with Doug of Four For A Dollar that we would be at the 4:15 show on that day. I then needed an idea to convince Nicole however. I told her that I had emailed the guys asking if they would be there and telling them about her graduating from college. I told her they then replied to me suggesting that we choose a show where they would hold special seats for us. Doug even sent me a fake email that I showed to her. She was a little hesitant at first but loved the idea of having special seats for the show.

Before heading to the show I needed to get out the ring which I had hid in my camcorder bag. A quick stop in the bathroom gave me the opportunity to get this done. I made sure to arrive at the theater around 3:45, since Doug and the gang would take the stage at 4:00. Quite a crowd had already arrived before the ropes dropped. Doug had instructed me to find an usher who would know the situation and show us to our seats. At this point Nicole was having second thoughts about the seats because she was a little embarassed that we needed to ask the usher. The first usher I spoke to seemed to know what was going on and sent me down to another gentlemen who was stationed at the handicap entrance.

My other responsibility was to slip the usher a piece of paper with Nicole's name on it so Doug knew for sure we were in the crowd. This is where the surprise was nearly ruined. The usher showed us to our special seats in the third row, and I secretly handed him the paper as he looked at me confused. I told him quietly that it was for Doug and we sat down. Then a few minutes later he walked over and asked me who it was for. I told him Doug and then looked at Nicole who was obviously confused. I had to think quick and told her that it was simply a thank you to the group for the great seats. I'm not sure she totally bought it but she insists she had no idea what was going to happen.

Well Four For A Dollar finally came on stage and I was as nervous as ever. To make things even worse a newlywed couple with the bride and groom mouseears were seated next to us! I decided to videotape the performance so that we would have it for later. Fortunately Nicole didn't pay any attention to my especially shaky hand while holding the camcorder. They sung three or four songs and then the moment came. Doug announced they had something special to do before the show. He asked where Nicole from New Jersey was. Nicole immediately looked at me and I basically had to force her to raise her hand. He then said that he had heard that she had just recently graduated college and that they had a special gift for her. They asked her to come to the front of the stage, and said that she could bring her friend (me). So I dropped the camcorder and we headed up.

They came down to the front with us and presented Nicole with a copy of their CD. They then said they would sing her a song and asked if she had a Disney favorite. Scared to death in front of everyone she said "there's so many". So Doug said not to worry, because they had already picked one out anyway. He then turned to me, asked me if there was anything I wanted to say, and handed me the microphone. I turned toward Nicole and dropped to one knee. At this point the crowd (and full theater at that) exploded into a loud mixture of screams, which I thought would never end as I waited to propose. Finally I tried my best to get out all of the words that I had said over and over again in my head throughout the day. I kept it short as Doug had suggested, and hopefully it sounded something like this:

"Nicole, the past six years have been incredible. You are my best friend, and I can't imagine spending a day without you. Will you marry me?"

Nicole responded with "of course!" and my shaking hand somehow got the ring on her shaking hand. After a lot of applause Four For A Dollar started singing "When You Wish Upon A Star." This was probably the scariest part, since the lights were beaming down on us and you could really feel everyone looking at you. After they finished we headed back to our seats for the show. This was definitely the toughest part, since the first thing we wanted to do was call home to our families and friends. I somehow had managed to not tell a single person about my intentions in Florida, so absolutely no one knew yet. Nicole remembers seeing very little of Beauty and the Beast, and I must admit my mind was in a million different places as well. I was just so relieved that I got through it.

The show ended, and a gentleman sitting in front of us asked if we had anyone taping the proposal. We told him no, and he gave us his business card so that he might be able to provide us a copy later. We should receive this soon so we can't wait to see it! Maybe I can post a copy somewhere on the web to add to this report. Walking out of the theater we realized that we had become instant celebrities. We shook a lot of hands and Nicole showed the ring off to everyone who asked. One woman even told us how excited her little girl was for us. We found a bench outside the theater and sat down to start making the phone calls. Of course there were those who claimed that they knew it was going to happen, but after six years I guess everyone is kind of anticipating it. Fortunately the phone eventually went dead on us, so we could move on to the rest of our night.

I had reserved a Fantasmic Dinner Package for the Hollywood Brown Derby. We had an excellent dinner and some great conversations with the castmembers there about our engagement. In my opinion this option is the best for the package, even though it is the most expensive. After dinner we had time to ride Tower one more time before heading to Nicole's favorite nighttime show. This was the end to a perfect day, and we then headed back to the resort.

Somehow I had pulled it all off, but not without a lot of help from Four For A Dollar. We are now bigger fans than ever, as we were amazed at how magical they made the proposal. I could have never imagined that I would be doing it in front of that many people, let alone right there in WDW. It is truly a moment the two of us will never forget.

Although the big surprise was over, Nicole was still in for some more smaller ones. Now we had four more days to celebrate!

On to day three...