We're back and engaged! - May 20-25, 2003 - Completed!
About This Page: This is a discussion on We're back and engaged! - May 20-25, 2003 - Completed! within the Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports, part of the PassPorter Community - Message Boards and Forums; CONGRATULATIONS! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] What a perfect place to propose! I hope your wedding and your marriage ...

DisneyDreams87 · 06-12-2003, 03:39 PM

CONGRATULATIONS! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] What a perfect place to propose! I hope your wedding and your marriage are blessed! You sound like quite a romantic and I'm sure your fiance appreciates that!

Brian · 06-12-2003, 07:44 PM

Well here we go finally, ready to start the trip report. Thanks again for all the well wishes!

I'm going to start this trip report well before we actually got to WDW, since there was clearly a lot of unique planning to make this all happen. I apologize in advance for such a long post, but a lot went into this vacation. I'm guessing that this will be the longest installment of my report. Here we go...

Well everything really started last fall, as I was approaching my college graduation in December. Nicole and I had been together nearly 6 years at this point. Throughout our college years we planned our entire future, although realistically we knew rushing marriage would be silly with both of us in school. But now that I was prepared to move on and with Nicole finished in May, I figured we had finally reached that point when we were ready to get engaged. She had always hoped it could happen sooner, so I knew I didn't have to worry about her being hesitant.

Our first vacation together was to WDW to celebrate her high school graduation (I am a year older). During my sophomore year I moved to Florida for four months to participate in the WDW College Program. Upon my return Nicole and I had visited WDW at least twice a year, so there was little doubt that this was the perfect place to get engaged. And we had always thrown around the idea of actually getting married there, so it seemed to be the obvious choice.

I started looking into a January trip, when she was in between semesters and I could justify the trip as a graduation celebration for myself. However her mom unexpectedly booked a Carribbean cruise for all of us, so my plans were out. While I certainly could have popped the question there, I decided to stick with my original idea. So as soon as we returned I started planning a March trip, this time during her spring break. I booked a room at POR and airfare and thought everything was set, until I landed a job with the school district I had been working part-time for. Because our spring break was different than Nicole's, I was forced to cancel once again. I began to think that this wasn't going to work out as planned.

We then began considering a move to Florida so that Nicole could attend pharmacy school at the University of Florida. Now I was willing to take the time off of work in order to check on housing and employment, so I booked POR and airfare once again for a long Memorial Day weekend (Tuesday night through Sunday). I immediately began considering exactly how I would propose. I had lots of the obvious ideas in my head (fireworks, private boat ride, beach), but wanted to do something different and that really had a connection to her. I contacted the local planning agency since Disney no longer offers engagement packages. They came up with some great ideas, just nothing that seemed perfect in my mind. The truth is I had no idea exactly what that was.

I then considered her absolute favorite thing at WDW, the Beauty and the Beast show at MGM. Coupled with the show, we had become very big fans of Four For A Dollar (Return 2 Zero off property) who open for the show. I was very pleased to find that they had a website so I had a very convenient means of contacting them without completely embarassing myself. I wasn't sure if this was something they had even been asked, but I figured it couldn't hurt to try. The next day I received an email back from Doug of the group. He explained that this was something they did from time to time, and that they would be happy to be part of it. The best thing was they pretty much had a set plan already so there was very little I had to consider. He simply told me to email them a day or two before we left, which I thought was crazy since it was then almost two months away. My only responsibility was to convince Nicole we needed to go to a specific show and ask for special seats up front, but her graduation was a perfect cover for all of that. Now I just needed to plan everything else!

The ring was going to be the tough part. Nicole's father had passed away a few days after 9-11 after a battle with cancer. Her mom had offered Nicole her engagement ring if she wanted to use it one day, as a symbol of her dad. They talked it over with me to make sure I was alright with that, which of course I was. We decided that we would get the stone put in a new setting when the time came, and her mom put the ring away.

So I first considered privately asking her mom for the ring, but I was worried that she could simply not keep the excitement to herself and ruin the surprise. So instead I decided to try to trick Nicole into asking for the ring, so that the two of us could pick out the setting together since it held such sentimental value. I convinced her that I simply wanted to take care of the cost of this now while I had a good job with so few bills. I constantly reminded her that we could not engaged now and not to get excited, because she still had pharmacy school left and there was no way we could afford a wedding. It may sound cruel now, but it certainly worked perfectly. After finding out what she liked, I secretly had it done quickly so that it would be ready before we left. I even asked her if she wanted to go out to look more when we got back from vacation, so that there was no way she could see it coming in WDW.

The last part of my planning was the resort debate. Since I was still recruiting for Disney's College Program at my school, I receive a significant discount on almost everything at WDW. It had even allowed us a stay at GF with her family in 2002. I had initially booked POR since we had stayed there before and loved it. But I started to second guess myself since it was such a special occasion. So I looked into the deluxe resorts and found that AKL had my discount available and I switched. Still I was second guessing myself because I booked a standard view room since the savannah view was such a jump in price. But just two weeks before leaving I finally went for her all-time wish, the Yacht Club. I knew this would be the last time visiting with my discount, so there couldn't have been a more perfect time to go for it. I then made priority seatings at her favorite restaurants as well as the carriage ride at POR.

Everything now seemed to be planned, and I confirmed my plan with Doug a few days in advance. I decided to plan the proposal for our first full day in Florida, so that we could celebrate our engagement the remainder of our time there.

On to day one...

PS - I LUV WDW · 06-13-2003, 12:15 PM

Wow! Thanks for all of the pre-trip details! I cannot wait until you get to the actual day of the asking in your report.

Glad you found time to write and share this [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Pam

**Tinkerbelly** · 06-13-2003, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by yo ho yo ho:
Ooooh, this is so exciting! More! More! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/cool.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/cool.gif[/img]

<font size="2" face="Comic Sans MS, Arial">I couldn't agree with you more..

MORE! MORE! MORE! [img]graemlins/wavin.gif[/img]

tikibird · 06-13-2003, 08:19 PM

Wow, excellent start - can't wait to hear more details!!! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Brian · 06-14-2003, 09:18 PM

Tuesday, May 20, 2003

Day One...

Finally the day to leave came, and of course I was more nervous than ever. My biggest worry was safely hiding the ring somewhere Nicole would never find it. One of my concerns was carrying it onto the plane with me. I definitely didn't want to take a chance packing it in my checked luggage, but there was also the risk of my carry-on being searched at the gate. And of course this was the same day the terror threat level had been raised, so I must have looked panicked going through security. Fortunately both of us got through smoothly, and we had a great flight from Philly to Orlando. We arrived around 10:00 pm since I had to work earlier in the day.

The first big surprise for Nicole was that we were staying at Yacht Club, so when I booked Tiffany Towncar I had requested that they try to keep it a secret until we actually arrived at the resort. We had a great driver named Arshad, who immediately made sure that Nicole got in the car first so he could confirm everything with me outside the car where she couldn't hear. He also kept the conversation going during the ride, so that Nicole had little chance to actually pay attention to where we were going. I noticed she started to get suspicious and kept trying to quietly let me know that she thought the driver was lost. I did my best to ignore her and continued to talk to Arshad. Finally we pulled in and had to stop at security, and a huge smile came to her face.

Check-in was very quick and we were soon in our room. It was a standard view room but we were very satisfied with the location. It was room number 4111, which is actually a little behind the bus stop. There were plenty of trees outside the balcony however to hide any of this. It was a short walk from the main elevator, and the hallway was always quiet. The only downside I could actually see is that it was a decent walk to the ice machine, but thats not something I was too concerned about.

Since it was late we decided to do just a little exploring, and ended up in the Crew's Cup for a drink. We were a little hungry and disappointed that room service was pretty much our only option for a snack, so we headed back to the room. I knew I needed some sleep since tomorrow would be the big day, and little did Nicole know that Yacht Club was only the first surprise of our trip.

On to Day two...

**Tinkerbelly** · 06-14-2003, 09:30 PM

And................ [img]graemlins/love.gif[/img]

Can't wait until the next post! This is getting good!! Love is in the air!!!

Brian · 06-14-2003, 11:16 PM

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...

tikibird · 06-15-2003, 07:31 AM

Wow, what a great way to start the morning - reading about what an excellent job you did in proposing! [img]graemlins/love.gif[/img] Congratulations to both of you, and thanks so much for sharing your special moment with us! [img]graemlins/love.gif[/img]

Can't wait to hear more details about your trip! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

**Tinkerbelly** · 06-15-2003, 08:06 AM

[img]graemlins/love.gif[/img] OMG..I totally have elephant tears!! Brian I wish the best for you two..Prayers for a healthy and happy marriage for many, many years ahead! You did a great job..and what a special time in your lives that you will never forget! I have to agree with tikibird..what a way to wake up!! [img]graemlins/love.gif[/img]

Thanks so much!! And I'm waiting for more! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

luvnwdwgal · 06-15-2003, 10:01 AM

Brian, you're a sweetheart! Congratulations to the both of you! I know you will have a very magical marriage! Can't wait to read about Nicole's other surprises! [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

jennyh · 06-15-2003, 07:56 PM

What a magical and wonderful proposal! You are a great guy for going to all of that trouble for your sweetheart! Congratulations on your engagement, looking forward to seeing the rest of your report!

lilprincess · 06-15-2003, 08:24 PM

How magical and romantic!! [img]graemlins/love.gif[/img] What a great love story...and engagement! I can't wait to hear the rest! [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

**statelady01** · 06-15-2003, 09:32 PM

Nicole is a lucky girl- sounds like your planning really paid off in memories that will last forever! Congrats again and can't wait to hear the rest!

[img]graemlins/wavin.gif[/img]

**MrsM** · 06-16-2003, 04:45 AM

How romantic! I'm sure the rest of your trip was magical!

06-12-2003, 03:39 PM	#16 (permalink)
DisneyDreams87 Community Rank: Traveler Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 296	Re: We\'re back and engaged! - May 20-25, 2003 - Completed! CONGRATULATIONS! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] What a perfect place to propose! I hope your wedding and your marriage are blessed! You sound like quite a romantic and I'm sure your fiance appreciates that!

06-12-2003, 07:44 PM	#17 (permalink)
Brian Community Rank: Traveler Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Jersey Shore Posts: 373	Re: We\'re back and engaged! - May 20-25, 2003 - Completed! Well here we go finally, ready to start the trip report. Thanks again for all the well wishes! I'm going to start this trip report well before we actually got to WDW, since there was clearly a lot of unique planning to make this all happen. I apologize in advance for such a long post, but a lot went into this vacation. I'm guessing that this will be the longest installment of my report. Here we go... Well everything really started last fall, as I was approaching my college graduation in December. Nicole and I had been together nearly 6 years at this point. Throughout our college years we planned our entire future, although realistically we knew rushing marriage would be silly with both of us in school. But now that I was prepared to move on and with Nicole finished in May, I figured we had finally reached that point when we were ready to get engaged. She had always hoped it could happen sooner, so I knew I didn't have to worry about her being hesitant. Our first vacation together was to WDW to celebrate her high school graduation (I am a year older). During my sophomore year I moved to Florida for four months to participate in the WDW College Program. Upon my return Nicole and I had visited WDW at least twice a year, so there was little doubt that this was the perfect place to get engaged. And we had always thrown around the idea of actually getting married there, so it seemed to be the obvious choice. I started looking into a January trip, when she was in between semesters and I could justify the trip as a graduation celebration for myself. However her mom unexpectedly booked a Carribbean cruise for all of us, so my plans were out. While I certainly could have popped the question there, I decided to stick with my original idea. So as soon as we returned I started planning a March trip, this time during her spring break. I booked a room at POR and airfare and thought everything was set, until I landed a job with the school district I had been working part-time for. Because our spring break was different than Nicole's, I was forced to cancel once again. I began to think that this wasn't going to work out as planned. We then began considering a move to Florida so that Nicole could attend pharmacy school at the University of Florida. Now I was willing to take the time off of work in order to check on housing and employment, so I booked POR and airfare once again for a long Memorial Day weekend (Tuesday night through Sunday). I immediately began considering exactly how I would propose. I had lots of the obvious ideas in my head (fireworks, private boat ride, beach), but wanted to do something different and that really had a connection to her. I contacted the local planning agency since Disney no longer offers engagement packages. They came up with some great ideas, just nothing that seemed perfect in my mind. The truth is I had no idea exactly what that was. I then considered her absolute favorite thing at WDW, the Beauty and the Beast show at MGM. Coupled with the show, we had become very big fans of Four For A Dollar (Return 2 Zero off property) who open for the show. I was very pleased to find that they had a website so I had a very convenient means of contacting them without completely embarassing myself. I wasn't sure if this was something they had even been asked, but I figured it couldn't hurt to try. The next day I received an email back from Doug of the group. He explained that this was something they did from time to time, and that they would be happy to be part of it. The best thing was they pretty much had a set plan already so there was very little I had to consider. He simply told me to email them a day or two before we left, which I thought was crazy since it was then almost two months away. My only responsibility was to convince Nicole we needed to go to a specific show and ask for special seats up front, but her graduation was a perfect cover for all of that. Now I just needed to plan everything else! The ring was going to be the tough part. Nicole's father had passed away a few days after 9-11 after a battle with cancer. Her mom had offered Nicole her engagement ring if she wanted to use it one day, as a symbol of her dad. They talked it over with me to make sure I was alright with that, which of course I was. We decided that we would get the stone put in a new setting when the time came, and her mom put the ring away. So I first considered privately asking her mom for the ring, but I was worried that she could simply not keep the excitement to herself and ruin the surprise. So instead I decided to try to trick Nicole into asking for the ring, so that the two of us could pick out the setting together since it held such sentimental value. I convinced her that I simply wanted to take care of the cost of this now while I had a good job with so few bills. I constantly reminded her that we could not engaged now and not to get excited, because she still had pharmacy school left and there was no way we could afford a wedding. It may sound cruel now, but it certainly worked perfectly. After finding out what she liked, I secretly had it done quickly so that it would be ready before we left. I even asked her if she wanted to go out to look more when we got back from vacation, so that there was no way she could see it coming in WDW. The last part of my planning was the resort debate. Since I was still recruiting for Disney's College Program at my school, I receive a significant discount on almost everything at WDW. It had even allowed us a stay at GF with her family in 2002. I had initially booked POR since we had stayed there before and loved it. But I started to second guess myself since it was such a special occasion. So I looked into the deluxe resorts and found that AKL had my discount available and I switched. Still I was second guessing myself because I booked a standard view room since the savannah view was such a jump in price. But just two weeks before leaving I finally went for her all-time wish, the Yacht Club. I knew this would be the last time visiting with my discount, so there couldn't have been a more perfect time to go for it. I then made priority seatings at her favorite restaurants as well as the carriage ride at POR. Everything now seemed to be planned, and I confirmed my plan with Doug a few days in advance. I decided to plan the proposal for our first full day in Florida, so that we could celebrate our engagement the remainder of our time there. On to day one...

06-13-2003, 12:15 PM	#18 (permalink)
PS - I LUV WDW Community Rank: Trekker Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 1,588	Re: We\'re back and engaged! - May 20-25, 2003 - Completed! Wow! Thanks for all of the pre-trip details! I cannot wait until you get to the actual day of the asking in your report. Glad you found time to write and share this [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pam

06-13-2003, 08:19 PM	#20 (permalink)
tikibird Community Rank: Navigator Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Pittsburgh, PA , USA Posts: 6,148	Re: We\'re back and engaged! - May 20-25, 2003 - Completed! Wow, excellent start - can't wait to hear more details!!! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

06-14-2003, 09:18 PM	#21 (permalink)
Brian Community Rank: Traveler Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Jersey Shore Posts: 373	Re: We\'re back and engaged! - May 20-25, 2003 - Completed! Tuesday, May 20, 2003 Day One... Finally the day to leave came, and of course I was more nervous than ever. My biggest worry was safely hiding the ring somewhere Nicole would never find it. One of my concerns was carrying it onto the plane with me. I definitely didn't want to take a chance packing it in my checked luggage, but there was also the risk of my carry-on being searched at the gate. And of course this was the same day the terror threat level had been raised, so I must have looked panicked going through security. Fortunately both of us got through smoothly, and we had a great flight from Philly to Orlando. We arrived around 10:00 pm since I had to work earlier in the day. The first big surprise for Nicole was that we were staying at Yacht Club, so when I booked Tiffany Towncar I had requested that they try to keep it a secret until we actually arrived at the resort. We had a great driver named Arshad, who immediately made sure that Nicole got in the car first so he could confirm everything with me outside the car where she couldn't hear. He also kept the conversation going during the ride, so that Nicole had little chance to actually pay attention to where we were going. I noticed she started to get suspicious and kept trying to quietly let me know that she thought the driver was lost. I did my best to ignore her and continued to talk to Arshad. Finally we pulled in and had to stop at security, and a huge smile came to her face. Check-in was very quick and we were soon in our room. It was a standard view room but we were very satisfied with the location. It was room number 4111, which is actually a little behind the bus stop. There were plenty of trees outside the balcony however to hide any of this. It was a short walk from the main elevator, and the hallway was always quiet. The only downside I could actually see is that it was a decent walk to the ice machine, but thats not something I was too concerned about. Since it was late we decided to do just a little exploring, and ended up in the Crew's Cup for a drink. We were a little hungry and disappointed that room service was pretty much our only option for a snack, so we headed back to the room. I knew I needed some sleep since tomorrow would be the big day, and little did Nicole know that Yacht Club was only the first surprise of our trip. On to Day two...

06-14-2003, 11:16 PM	#23 (permalink)
Brian Community Rank: Traveler Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Jersey Shore Posts: 373	Re: We\'re back and engaged! - May 20-25, 2003 - Completed! 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...

06-15-2003, 07:31 AM	#24 (permalink)
tikibird Community Rank: Navigator Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Pittsburgh, PA , USA Posts: 6,148	Re: We\'re back and engaged! - May 20-25, 2003 - Completed! Wow, what a great way to start the morning - reading about what an excellent job you did in proposing! [img]graemlins/love.gif[/img] Congratulations to both of you, and thanks so much for sharing your special moment with us! [img]graemlins/love.gif[/img] Can't wait to hear more details about your trip! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

06-15-2003, 10:01 AM	#26 (permalink)
luvnwdwgal Community Rank: Legend Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: North Central Ohio Posts: 17,294	Re: We\'re back and engaged! - May 20-25, 2003 - Completed! Brian, you're a sweetheart! Congratulations to the both of you! I know you will have a very magical marriage! Can't wait to read about Nicole's other surprises! [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

06-15-2003, 07:56 PM	#27 (permalink)
jennyh Community Rank: Wayfarer Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Elkridge, MD Posts: 130	Re: We\'re back and engaged! - May 20-25, 2003 - Completed! What a magical and wonderful proposal! You are a great guy for going to all of that trouble for your sweetheart! Congratulations on your engagement, looking forward to seeing the rest of your report!

06-15-2003, 08:24 PM	#28 (permalink)
lilprincess Community Rank: Adventurer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern NJ Posts: 811	Re: We\'re back and engaged! - May 20-25, 2003 - Completed! How magical and romantic!! [img]graemlins/love.gif[/img] What a great love story...and engagement! I can't wait to hear the rest! [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

06-15-2003, 09:32 PM	#29 (permalink)
statelady01 PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Explorer Join Date: May 2002 Location: Davenport, Florida- 10 miles from WDW! Posts: 10,123	Re: We\'re back and engaged! - May 20-25, 2003 - Completed! Nicole is a lucky girl- sounds like your planning really paid off in memories that will last forever! Congrats again and can't wait to hear the rest! [img]graemlins/wavin.gif[/img]

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