MousePlanet Mailbag for February 10, 2005
When we announced our Valentine's Day Special Mailbag, we got numerous
stories from readers; all of them touching and personal. We think you
might end up saying “Awww” a few times over, as we did! Happy
Valentine's Day to all our love birds! Pam Baca dedicates her story to her husband, Rob:
My husband and I vacationed at WDW for our honeymoon. I am the lover
of all things Disney, and Rob is my patient and tolerant husband. He,
however, is still acquiring his taste for Disney. That's what I think
makes our story romantic. We visited Epcot during the Food and Wine Festival. After a day spent
in Future World and the World Showcase, we decided to grab a bench and
watch Illuminations [Epcot's fireworks show]. I went to pick up some steins I was having personalized for Rob and
he went to seek out a seat. We agreed to meet near China. When I returned,
there he was sitting on a bench in front of the China pavilion with
the biggest grin on his face. He had pear wine and apple strudel waiting
for me. We laughed about having German wine and strudel in China, while
in the middle of Florida. As we sat and watched Illuminations, my decidedly non-Disney husband
told me life didn't get much better than this—fireworks over our
head, wine in our hands and me sitting next to him. As you probably
already know, China is not the best place to view Illuminations and,
truthfully, we didn't notice. All I knew was that all was right with
the world at that moment and what made it right was Rob.
Matt Ankley dedicates his story to his wife, Jenn:
Greetings, MousePlanet staff! Ask and ye shall receive. Here is how
I proposed to my wife 10 years ago at the Adventurer's Club, with the
help of several awesome cast members: My wife (then-girlfriend) was in Orlando on business, and I joined
her at the tail end of the trip so we could have a vacation when she
was done. When I arrived in town, I began calling around and was soon
speaking with the manager of the Adventurer's Club. We set a time and
date we would be there (as it was to be a surprise proposal), and I
nervously began practicing what I was to say in the mirror of my hotel
room. My wife's boss and co-workers were all in on the plan, and we
agreed to go out to dinner and some clubs that night. Boy did my wife
get mad when she was unanimously overruled when she suggested they go
somewhere else than the Adventurer's Club that night! We all arrived at the Adventurer's Club and sat to have a drink or
two. I excused myself to “go to the restroom,” but actually
was going to find the Club Manager. I went to a bar, and spoke with
a cast member, who warmly replied, “Oh, welcome, Matt. We all are
expecting you. Wait here.” Shortly, I was joined not by the club
manager, but by a cast member who plays the (Samantha Sterling?) character.
We promptly laid out what we could do, and agreed it would be showtime
in 15 minutes. OK, I now realized I shouldn't have had that one
glass of wine, as I began to feel the biggest, worst case of stagefright
I have ever had, and I do a lot of public speaking! There we were, sitting in the main room at the base of the statue,
chatting with our friends and co-workers. Samantha walked by, glanced
at my fiance to be, and I nodded that was her. Samantha raised her voice,
got up on the stage, and indroduced herself. She began the Adventurer's
Club new member initiation (my cue to be ready) and taught the packed
room the club creed and secret handshake. She needed someone to help
demonstrate, so she asked me to help. Hey—that's my cue! And she
said, “Matt, why don't you join me up here!” So up I went,
with all those people watching from all the floors! Samantha
promptly stepped down and let me have the stage all to myself (yikes!). There I was, with my girlfriend Jenn wondering what I was up to. “Ladies
and Gentlemen, we gather here at the Adventurer's Club to share our
stories of adventure from around the world. I'm doing something a little
different—I've going to share an adventure I am about to embark
on, and I'd like to introduce you to my partner in that adventure…”
I said. I held out my hand to Jenn, who timidly took it and came up on stage.
She meekly stood there, with this half-happy, half-goofy, shy and coy
smile. I held both her hands and said, “We've been together for
5 years now. We've shared so many adventures so far, and we've stood
by each other. It's time we embark on the greatest adventure of all.”
I simultaneously dropped to one knee and pulled out my grandmothers
wedding ring, our family heirloom. “Will you marry me?” I said. She replied softly through her
sobs of joy, “Yes!” and we hugged. The entire crowed erupted
in cheers, and we continued to hug. As the noise died down, the butler
rang his bell from the top floor, and shouted, “Attention, attention!
Matt, your test results have come back from the clinic!” The crowed
erupted in laughter and cheers again! Immediately after, everyone was congratulating us. We even had two
or three people come up to us and ask if that whole thing was real,
if we were Disney actors. Wow, so many people were buying us drinks,
even though we didn't know who they were! The free drinks even continued
after we went to other clubs at Pleasure Island—“Hey! you're
the just engaged couple! Let me buy you two a drink!” continued
well into the night. I can't begin to thank everyone at the Adventurer's Club who helped
make this such a memorable event. I wanted this to be something that
was so special, and it was. To this day we still revel in the experience,
and it couldnt have happend without the help of the Disney cast and
the willingness to play along. Disney Cast truly made a dream come true
that evening- and we caught it on tape. Now, lets see what kind of memories we can make when we go back for
our 10th anniversary this September! Matt wrote back with some more details:
…The entire club cast worked together to help pull this off, and
that was a huge enough gift. I flew in that morning, checked into the
Port Orleans resort, and made the calls. Practiced in front of the mirror, went to meet my then girlfriend and
co-workers for dinner, and then off to Pleasure Island. Walked into
the club, sat and chatted, and walked up to the bartender—the rest
you know! It was such a wonderful experience, and what the cast did was certainly
magical. Our friends went to WDW shortly after and bought us an Adventurer's
Club T-shirt, that we still have today. One side note—we had our
wedding rings inscribed with a fairly famous quote: “Remember,
it all started with a mouse.”
Melissa M. writes:
While the person and I aren't together anymore (but best friends now),
this had to be the most magical and memorable day in my life. I'm a often vistor to the Disney parks. What better way to experince
Disney, than to be a cast member. So I went through the College Program
process, and moved to Florida in January 2002. My first night there
I met Joe, and by the third night of knowing him, we were together and
inseperable. Come Valentine's Day, we had some rough spots in our relationship (…in
a month, I know what you are thinking) and he wanted to make my day.
So, we left Chatham, and he had me close my eyes the entire time as
he drove me to the Magic Kingdom. We got to the Ticket and Transporation Center, and I headed to the
ferry, but he led me to the monorail. We waited for almost an hour so
I could ride in the front of the monorail, just like it was when I was
kid. We headed into the Magic Kingdom, and he closed my eyes again,
and when I opened them, we had on our mouse ears with our names on the
back. (which was funny, because he's just about the most “manly
guy” I know.) That whole day was about romance, so we played in the Magic Kingdom
for most of the day, then headed to Epcot for a romantic dinner in Paris,
then headed back to the Magic Kingdom for my last surprise. We had the
best seats ever for the fireworks, and sitting there waiting for me
was a Mickey Mouse plush holding roses and the two Valentine's Day limited
edition pins. I don't know how he did, but he had some help from his
fellow cast members at the Magic Kingdom. So as the fireworks came to an end, he and I stood up and he kissed
me, and there was a photographer waiting to take a picture of that. Now, how hard is that Valentine's Day to follow, impossible to say
the least. But, every time we experinced Disney together during that
internship, it was just that way every time.
TJ dedicates his story to his wife:
I asked my wonderful wife to marry me outside the hydrolators after
leaving the Living Seas near a garbage can. I coaxed her over to the
area just to left of the exit where it's a concrete circle with a bench
and garage can. This may not be seen as romantic, however the Living
Seas was our first experience at Epcot and I was worried about the ring
being in my pocket. Well, I got down on one knee and asked if she would
marry me, she said yes, then we proceed to The Land where I ended up
being the one crying while waiting for the environmentally friendly
film “The Circle of Life.” She was in shock. It was a nice
ring!
Al Edwards dedicates his story to his wife, Angela:
Here is my proposal story… I was struggling on how to propose to Angela. I decided that the only
way to really make it special was to rely on my old faithful…the
Disney Company. Another reason is that we had been to Disney in September
2002 and she had kind of expected a proposal then so this added to the
special meaning of the trip. I booked a vacation for March 26, 2003.
I realized much later that this was the day we had met 1 year prior. We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge Resort (in Walt Disney World) so
we could be close to the major resorts, and I like riding the boats
to the parks and such. I had told her that we were going to Disney so
I could have a meeting with a program director at Disney. (I have done
contract work for Disney in the past). We had a really early flight
from Atlanta (6 a.m.), checked in and then hit the Magic Kingdom. We were pretty worn out by the time we got back to the hotel and I
was nervous already. I had told her that we had been “comped”
a dinner at Victoria and Albert's cause I thought the folks at Disney
were going to offer me a full-time position. Total [fabrication], by
the way. We got ready for dinner and went on the boat to the Contemporary and
rode the monorail to the Grand Floridian. I had made sure to let the
cast members at Victoria & Albert's know that I was going to propose
and that I wanted a private table. We got there and I was very surprised
to see how small Victoria & Albert's actually is. We had a table that
was right next to the harpist, which kicked up the romance factor a
couple of notches. We elected to do the wine pairing with dinner. I was really struggling
with choosing the wine pairing over my favorite wine by Silver Oak but
I thought the wine pairing would be fun. Boy was I right! After we chose
what we wanted from our personalized menus we got a separate glass of
wine with the particular dish we were served. What a treat! Every wine
was perfect for each course….not the typical red with heavy meat
and white with seafood. We even had wine with Sorbet! Let me tell you
that I was thinking…"what the heck are they doing serving wine
with a sweet dish like sorbet"? Well after a bite of the sorbet I took
a drink… the wine actually tasted like the sorbet! Incredible!
Anyway… after the sorbet dessert there was a surprise course.
The maitre d' came over with a silver-domed platter and placed it in
front of Angela and told her that this was a special dish prepared by
me for her. When he took the dome away, there was the ring in a white
ring box with rose petals around it and a poem that I had written for
her rolled up in front of the ring. The had also just poured a rosé
wine that literally tasted like roses. So this is where she figured
it all out and started to cry. I read the poem with the harpist playing
“How Can I Remember” (from the movie Sabrina) in the
background and then got down on one knee and asked her to marry me.
She said yes, of course, and here we are!
Steve Brunton writes:
The World Showcase pavillions are largely deserted during and the Illuminations
show. With nobody else around, the waterfall area in the Canada pavillion
is a nice little romantic spot. Two other romantic activities are unfortunately no longer available.
Discovery Island in Bay Lake with it winding trails, beautiful birds,
and limited crowds, was a great spot for two people to stroll. My second no-longer-available activity for romance was riding the Magic
Kingdom Sky Ride during the nighttime fireworks. The ride attendants
would allow us to ride back and forth from Fantasyland to Tomorrowland
without getting off since nobody was in line. It was great gazing down
at the park and up at the fireworks.
Anthony Festa dedicates his story to his fiancée, Kelliann:
Ever since I first visited Walt Disney World for the first time five
years ago, I knew right inside Cinderella's Castle would be the perfect
place for a wedding proposal whenever I found the right woman. Well,
last March I had rekindled a friendship with someone I hadn't spoken
to in over 10 years. Within the matter of a couple of weeks, I knew
Kelliann was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. Being
that she is in a Master's program in Michigan, I knew it would be difficult
to convince her to take time off for a long weekend in Walt Disney World
to fulfill my secret plan. However, after only some very light coaxing,
she agreed and everything was set in motion. We made the trip the last week in October and I made sure to purchase
tickets to Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party on Sunday the 24th.
We both love the Renaissance era, so we brough down our finest garb
to don and hit the Magic Kingdom. I had everything planned right down to the last detail. Unfortunately,
I had forgotten to check to make sure the castle would be open during
the party. That plan disrupted, my mind started reeling and I quickly
tried to come up with another spot that would be just as perfect. We found ourselves strolling by the lake and I decided to propose right
then and there. I cleared my throat, reached into my bag to get the
ring… and got upstaged by the Headless Horseman riding past us.
When I finally got Kelliann's attention back, I handed her a Micky and
Minnie engagement pin and got down on one knee. We both started crying,
and to make a long story short, the date is set for December 17, 2005,
and you know we will be back to Walt Disney World on December 18 for
our honeymoon!
Patrick dedicates his story to his wife, Cheryl:
I have quite a story for you. My wife and I had our first date (blind date, met online) at the 2001
Christmas Party for Disney Cast Members. We had a wonderful, romantic
time, enjoyed each other's company, and the scarcity of people in the
park (one of the best things about the CM Christmas Party), and ended
the evening by kissing for the first time in front of the Snow White
wishing well. Less than two years later, on Aug 2, 2003, we were married in the exact
spot! Bringing friends and a licensed minister into the park (but without
telling Disneyland!), we exchanged vows right next to the same wishing
well, with our family all around us. A very magical and unique wedding,
to be sure.
Peter writes:
Hi, late in 2000, my girlfriend Heather and I went to Disneyworld for
New Years 2001. I had planned out a whole week's worth of excitement
with the holiday, but nothing more exciting then the ring and proposal
I had planned. We go to Walt Disney World every year, so we really know what we like
to do. I booked our stay at the Polyesian Resort and packed our bags.
Upon arriving in Orlando from the frozen Northeast, we were a little
stunned at the lack of warm Florida air. When we checked in, we found
out that events we had planned like the Polynesian luau had been cancelled
due to cold weather. On our second day, we went to the Magic Kingdom
and spent most the day waiting on lines as the parks were fairly crowded
at this peak time. Right before sunset and dinner, we walked over near the castle. Toward
the west side, there is a nice little walkway with benches that even
in this crowded time of year was still secluded. It was there I presented
the ring and my request for her hand in marriage. She accepted and the
following days of freezing temperatures (literally 32 degrees), layers
of clothing and red noses were joyous and warm. And, of course, we know
that a happy marriage is only made happier with an annual visit to see
Mickey. Since we are expected this spring, that means that holiday 2005
will be our first 'family' vacation. We couldn't be happier.
Alison Smith dedicates her story to her husband, Phil:
The first time I went to Walt Disney World with my then-boyfriend,
now hubby, Phil, the most romantic evening of my life occurred. We were in college then and so poor that we shared a room with my parents.
About 10 minutes into the trip, Phil came down with a stomach flu and
proceeded to spend three days in bed. Not an easy thing when four adults
are all sharing a tiny hotel room. On the fourth evening, Phil felt slightly better, so I hustled him
up and made a dash for The Magic Kingdom. It was 8 p.m. by the time
we got there and the park closed at 9 p.m.—so I committed the “Disney
Cardinal Sin”—I used an entire day pass to get in for one
hour. We were in line for Splash Mountain at 9 p.m., and had just floated
to the outside area when the fireworks exploded overhead. It was like
a private showing just for us. As I watched those shimmers and sparkles,
and snuggled with Phil, I thought that we must be the only couple in
the park. We made wishes on those fireworks—and four years later mine came
true: I came to Disney World as a bride, with a man who loves The Mouse
as much as I do. …And I remembered to pack Pepto-Bismol just in case!
Katy dedicates her story to her husband, Walt:
I am writing you in response to your search for proposal stories at
Walt Disney World! Well I have a good one! You must know that when I met my husband, Walt (don't you love it?),
one of the first things we discovered that we had in common was a love
for all things Disney. Our first date was Disneyland as I was living
in Los Angeles at the time and he lived in the San Francisco area where
I am from originally. My sister introduced us and he came to see me
in L.A., and naturally we went to Disneyland. Onemonth later, I moved
back home to the San Francisco area. Two years later, we went on vacation to Walt Disney World with his
parents who live in Lexington, Kentucky, and whom I adore. My mother-in-law
was a travel agent at the time and set the whole trip up. I was so excited
as I never thought I would get to Walt Disney World. We stayed at Dixie
Landings. Our first day, May 15, 1995 we spent at Epcot. It was a great day despite
the high heat and humidity. We ended the day with dinner at the Coral
Reef Restaurant. We were seated in the center of the restaurant right
down by the aquarium. While we were reviewing our menus, we saw some divers in the tank feeding
the fish. It was very exciting and they even waved to us. A few minutes
later as I was reviewing my menu again I noticed that the noise level
was raising in the restaurant and I looked up to see in the aquarium,
right in front of me were two divers holding a very large banner that
said, “Katy, Will you marry me?” I have never been so shocked
in all of my life as this was truly a huge surprise, and I looked over
to my boyfriend and cried. At that moment, a waiter appeared and placed a champagne glass in front
of me with a large strawberry on top. Tied to it was a string that hung
down to the bottom of the glass with my ring. Needless to say, I said
yes. We had dinner, which I don't remember, and then went out and saw
Illuminations! It was the most incredible evening I had ever had and
I will never forget my first day at Walt Disney World. Thanks for letting me share my story!
Elizabeth W. dedicates her story to her husband, Ian:
I wanted to dedicate this to my wonderful husband, Ian who created
the most wonderful, imaginative, magical wedding proposal at the Magic
Kingdom. We love going to Walt Disney World in October, so in October 2002 we
took our annual trip down to Disney World, but I didn't know the surprise
my husband had in store for me! At the end of the week, we had tickets to attend Mickey's Not So Scary
Halloween Party which we were really looking forward to. It was such
a beautiful day and my husband suggested that we wait in a quiet spot
for the Halloween party to start. We decided to sit on a bench next
to the castle were Cinderella's wishing well is located. As the sun was setting behind the castle, my husband started to tell
me a story he had been working on (he's a writer). It was a fantasy
story with wizards and fairies. As he was finishing up the story of
how there was only a little fairy dust left in the world, he asked me
to close my eyes and hold out my hands. He continued telling me that
this fairy dust was all that was left in the world and if you make a
wish with it, it would come true. He was left the dust as a gift from
a wizard and wanted me to have the last wish. While my eyes were closed, I felt the soft fairy dust piling up in
my hands. He then told me to open my eyes, blow the magical dust and
make a wish. As I was blowing the dust off my hands, I noticed something
sparkeling. And when I got to the bottom, I realized that it was an
engagement ring! My husband got down on one knee and asked me to marry
him! I was sooooooo estatic, excited, amazed and of course I said “Yes”
right away! It was the most magical moment in my life (along with our
wonderful wedding!). I still feel that exciting flutter in my heart every time I think back
to that special day. My husband put his whole heart and soul into creating
the most romantic proposal. I can't believe he had the ring in his pocket
the whole trip! His sister happend to be there on vacation, too, that week, and walked
by a few minutes after the proposal and took a beautiful picture of
us engaged. I was still awestruck at what had just happened! Now every year when we go back to the Magic Kingdom, we always have
to stop, relax in our favorite spot and take a picture next to the wishing
well where all our dreams came true! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful, loving person in my life
that I can share the magic of Disney with. Happy Valentine's Day Ian!
I Love You!
Stewart writes:
I had it all arranged. I had bought a “token ring” to give
to her. It was in my pocket—we were riding Splash Mountain—I
was fumbling to make sure my timing was just right… OK, we're starting
up the final hill before the big “plunge”—I was getting
ready—still fumbling a bit, as we get almost to the top of the
hill, I tap her on her shoulder: "May I ask you a question,” I asked? "Of course,” she said, “What is it?" When we got to the top of the hill, I pulled out the ring and
I popped the question, just as the camera took our picture. She screamed,
“Yes! Yes! Yes!” Of course, we bought the picture: it's sitting in our living room in
one of those Splash Mountain picture frames. So that's how I “took the plunge” at Disneyland!
David Alonzo dedicates his story to his wife:
I met my wife in July 2000. I sort of had a hint that she was interested
in me when we met, since she and I were “introduced” by her
cousins. We did a lot of stuff together and so forth—as a pair and with
friends. And, of course, we were just friends. It was Christmas time, December 21, 2000. We had planned to meet each
other at the Christmas tree on Main Street in Disneyland to do some
Christmas shopping and have dinner and get on some attractions. It was about 6:20 and I'd finally made it in the park from my office
in Laguna Hills. I stood at the Christmas tree (the Mr. Lincoln side)
and there I saw her. There was masses of people this night, but the
only person I saw walking was her; everyone else was a blur. And it
was right then that I knew she was the one I was going to marry. We
went into the China Closet from there and I was thinking intently on
how I was going to propose to her one day. My wife and I didn't start dating until the following July 2001. We'd
fallen in love and I proposed in August. However, it was sort of a preliminary
proposal since the ring was still being made and so forth. On September 1, 2001 with the help of her cousins, I was able to finagle
a way to get my wife onto that same spot on Main Street where I'd realized
that she was the one for me. We sat on a bench and it was there that
I presented her with an engagement ring and I officially asked her to
marry me. This coming March 2, 2005 will mark our third wedding anniversary—and
where are we spending the day? You guessed it: Disneyland! There's nothing
like love at The Happiest Place on Earth!
Keith writes:
My name is Keith. I'm 16, and the single-most romantic memory I have
took place at Disneyland this past Christmas season. A few friends and
I were hanging out at the park. One of these friends was my semi-girlfriend
Jayme. We've had one of those typically tumultuous high school relationships,
with things starting and ending and fading off due to circumstances
beyond our control and all that jazz. Anyhow, our whole group was trying to part through the crowd at the
Believe… In Holiday Magic fireworks show to get to the Matterhorn.
Our friends got ahead, and we were trapped between walls of people,
me and Jayme alone. We resigned ourselves to simply watching the show. As the fireworks cracked overhead, the wind rising electric, Jayme
slid her hand into mine. I tried to play it cool and pretended it was
no big thing, but it was. All the glories of the fires in the sky were
lost as I looked longingly at her. Our heartbeats seemed to pulsate
through our hands, one and the same. Call me corny, call me cliché,
call me a phony, but I fell in love that night. And just like that, it was over. It didn't end with a big dramatic
kiss, or us going out and living happily ever after. We never talked
about it again after that night, because there's no point in it. But
for that one moment, I felt all that magic that both Disney and love
are supposed to make you feel.
Ken Shelton dedicates his story to his wife, Kelly:
My wife and I got engaged last January 2004 at the Animal Kingdom Lodge.
I had big plans for the engagment, we were going to go on the horse
carriage at the Port Orleans Riverside and there I was going to ask
the question. Well, we arrived at the Animal Kingdom Lodge early in the morning (around
5:30 a.m.) and went out to see the animals (zebras, etc.). With the
sunrise coming up from the east, I really could not wait. It was so
beautiful, the sun rising, the silence of the morning… and I just
asked Kelly to marry me. She said yes, the the funny thing was when
I asked her and she said yes, the zebras were making whooping calls;
maybe they were happy for us or maybe it was time for their morning
meal. Well, I told Kelly the zebras agree, also. We never went on the horse
drawn carriage, but our stay at Walt Disney World was great, and marriage,
well, it is everything I have always wanted, to spend my life with someone
special. Oh yes, Kelly and I were married on November 14, 2004.
Thoughts, questions, or comments? Contact Lani here.
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2005
• January: 6, 13, 20, 27
• February: 3, 10, 17
• March: 10, 17, 31
• April: 14, 21, 28
• May: 26
• June: 2, 9, 30
• July: 7, 28
• August: 4, 11, 18, 25
• September: 4, 15, 22, 29
• October: 1327
2004
• January: 8, 15, 22
• Febuary: 12, 19, 26
• March: 18, 25
• April: 1, 8, 15, 22, 29
• May: 13, 20
• June: 3, 17, 24
• July: 1, 22, 29
• August: 5, 26
• September: 9, 23,
30
• October: 14, 21, 28
• November: 4, 18
• December: 2, 9
2003
• November: 13
• September: 4, 18
• August: 21, 28
• July: 10, 17, 24, 31
• June: 12
• May: 22, 29
• April: 10, 24
• March: 6, 13, 27
• February: 13, 20
• January: 9, 16, 30
2002
• December: 5, 12,
19
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