Help me decide my WDW proposal *UPDATED with proposal14/9/16*

[soarin5505]

Original Post:
HELP!

Bit of background information first...

Me and my Girlfriend are going to WDW in September for 3 weeks staying at AoA. We are both former cast members and last worked their in 2011. We have not been back to WDW since (but have done Disneyland twice and Disneyland Paris twice since!) so after 5 years away from it, this is going to be a special trip.

I am planning to make it even more special by proposing during our trip. It is her birthday whilst we are there so that gives me a good excuse to arrange something special for around her birthday, as we already have solid plans on what to do on her birthday.

So my dilemma is... how?

She doesn't like attention and doesn't care to do things for the sake of being expensive. She has always wanted a nice intimate proposal and I think I have found a few ways to achieve this. So here they are:

Option 1:

Private dining experience at the Grand Floridian.

Cost: £300

The experience is an intimate 4 course meal out on the 3rd floor balcony of the GF facing the lagoon with a partial view of the fireworks. The meal is one seating per night and has butler service. Greeted by butler in the GF lobby and taken up to the balcony where we choose our meals. The menu is similar to that of Citrico's.

*I already have this booked but can cancel it*

The problem: The menu is limited and I am not sure she will find anything she likes. She also stated the other day when we were making our ADR's that she doesn't care for fancy meals or restaurants during our trip.

Option 2

Wishes Cruise

Cost: £250

Private pontoon boat for just over an hour out on Seven seas lagoon to watch Wishes. Music is piped into the boat. I have done this twice before but she has not. It is an amazing experience but just worry that I will find it hard to propose during the fireworks due to lighting and noise.

*I have the option of being able to add food, dessert, wine, etc to the experience*

Option 3

MK view room at the Contemporaty to watch Wishes

Cost: £350

Book a 1 night stay at CR. Spend the day at the water parks, go check in at CR, maybe go to MK for a little while, watch Wishes from the balcony of the room (with music piped in) and pop the question.

Conclusion

So, as you see I have a few options. I will pop the question at the start or during Wishes. I also wanted to try and capture "the moment" with a picture or video but not sure how I will go about that just yet.

Please leave your opinions below. I thought I had this all planned until the heart sinking moment the she isn't interested in fancy meals

*** UPDATE *** 8/4/16

Quick update. I think I am going to go with Option 3 - Theme park view at CR and watch Wishes from our balcony.

We had already planned a day where we are going to go to a water park in the day and go to MK for a relaxed night of a few rides, something to eat and watch Wishes in the Park.

My plan now is:
- On her birthday (3 days before) tell her that I've booked a room at CR for 1 night to watch Wishes from,
- On the actual day go to a water park (either TL or BB) during the day till about 4,
- Back to AoA (where we are staying) to get changed and pick up an overnight bag,
- Go check in at CR,
- Go to MK for a few hours and book some FP+ for late night,
- Grab QS meal at MK or go back to CR and have room service or QS at CR,
- Watch Wishes from balcony whilst drinking wine (will take it with me) and pop the question.

I also plan to set up my camera to "record Wishes" and capture the moment I pop the question. This won't be odd to her as I have just bought a new camera (mainly for our trip), I am a Disney geek and we have already said that we are going to film A LOT of our trip.

I wan't to say a big thank you to everyone for their comments and suggestions. I originally was posting this with just Option 1 or 2 but whilst typing I thought "What about a room at CR?" and I am overwhelmed with the response I have got to this suggestion.

I now just need to book the room at CR and cancel the intimate dining experience I had booked at GF.

Wish me luck!

*** UPDATE *** 30/06/16

Hi Everyone!

I thought I would update you all on my progress with my proposal plans.

I have cancelled the Intimate Dining Experience at the Grand Floridian. This pained me as it seems such a great experience and maybe something I will plan in the future. It was costly but think it would be great for a special meal. Side note, the CM that organises this was outstanding and great to work with.

I have now booked a room at the Contemporary resort. It was originally going to be a few days after my Girlfriend's birthday due to us already planning what to do on her birthday. I have took a bit of a risk and booked an Atrium Club level room with a Magic Kingdom view on her birthday! I was looking at the cost of the standard Theme Park view rooms and it worked out as only costing £90 more to get an Atrium Club level room. The Atrium Club level is all standard rooms on the 12th floor. There is another club level the floor above but is 90% suites with a few standard rooms. I did ring Disney and enquired about standard rooms on that level but they were all booked. They did however offer me a 1 bedroom suite with a Theme Park view for £1070 a night, I politely declined .
I decided on the Atrium Club due to:
- All rooms are on the 12th floor (2 floors below California Grill) so will have a nice high view of MK (Click here to see the view)

- Concierge level services. I have already been emailed by the concierge team asking about my stay and what they can do to help. I have obviously detailed to them my plans and they have given me several options on things like having champagne in the room, etc.

- Club lounge has complimentary breakfast (next day for us), light dinner options (much more won't be needed after Chef Mickey's in the morning!) desserts at night along with beer and wine.

- Met at the entrance to the hotel and taken up to the 12th floor concierge reception to check in.

- From reviews I've read, they make you feel like royalty which I think will be lovely on her birthday and also for my proposal.

- Concierge have also put a note on our booking for my plans and a note to the room assigner for the best view possible due to this.

For £90 more, it has given me a lot more piece of mind and I think we will get close to the price back with food and drinks anyway.


Our plan for her birthday was (and as far as she is concerned, still is!):
9:00 - Drive to the Contemporary Resort (for breakfast).
9:55 - Breakfast at Chef Mickey's.
11:30(ish?) - Head to MK to meet Mickey (hopefully he will sing "Happy Birthday").
12:00 - Drive back to Art of Animation and get bus to DHS (so that we can have birthday drinks)
12:30 - DHS till closing and watch Fantasmic!

So... now MY plan for her birthday is:
9:00 - Drive to the Contemporary Resort and check in.
9:55 - Breakfast at Chef Mickey's.
11:30(ish?) - Head to MK to meet Mickey (hopefully he will sing "Happy Birthday").
12:00 - Take the bus to DHS
17:00 - Leave DHS and head back to the Contemporary.
17:30 - relax in the room or club lounge (free beer and wine!) and sit out on our balcony
21:00 - Watch Wishes and PROPOSE!

The only thing I am really changing is that we won't see Fantasmic on her birthday. I do feel bad about this as it is our favourite show and we really love it but I am hoping that she won't mind too much when I am down on one knee overlooking the castle . I have planned for us to go back and do Fantasmic a few days later when we are planning to see Wishes instead. This is my only real reluctance about the entire plan but as I said, I doubt she will mind in the long run.

The day after we have planned to go to a water park followed by Disney Springs. As it will be September, the water parks don't open till 10am. The morning will probably be spent eating breakfast (free from the club lounge), looking at the castle and ringing home to inform family with our news. Maybe sneak over to MK for some engagement pictures in front of the castle. We have an ADR for Rainforest Cafe that night. I thought a nice relaxing day would be a nice way to spend the day with each other rather than running around the parks, cramming in Fastpasses, etc.

I plan on telling her either the night before her birthday (so that we can pack an overnight bag) or her birthday morning and selling it to her as a "birthday present" to avoid her wondering why I have planned all of this.

***UPDATE*** 27/7/16

The Ring!

Just a quick update to say that I have bought the ring! It is currently being resized so don't have any pictures.

On Friday afternoon I made a (very nervous) secret trip to Manchester as I had an appointment at Tiffany and Co

After much research I didn't see a difference in cost between Tiffany's and other jewellers. My GF has seen the Tiffany setting before and it is exactly the style she likes. I had emailed them already with what I was looking for and they had already advised me on what rings they had. I won't go into the boring details about what happened during my appointment but I will say that the level of service I received was incredible and they quickly eased my nerves.

They had picked out 4 rings for me which we quickly narrowed down to 2. It was a very tough choice and either would have been perfect. I eventually chose "the one".

A platinum classic Tiffany setting with a 0.48 carat E VS1 Princess cut diamond. It was not cheap but it is an absolutely beautiful ring.

I was there for an hour and when I left I was so happy. It was like a weight had been lifted. I couldn't stop smiling. I then had to make a dash home so that I got in at normal time, to avoid suspicion. All Tiffany rings in store are a size L. I had the choice of taking the ring with me and getting it resized after our trip (or potentially at the Tiffany in Orlando) or getting it resized now and maybe again if it isn't quite right when we get back. I opted to have it resized now. I know that she is roughly an N and wanted her to be able to wear it straight away. If we waited then she wouldn't be able to wear it for the 3 weeks of the holiday and then about 2-3 weeks when we get back. As I said, if it's not a perfect fit then we can go back into store when we return and get it resized again.

It all feels real now and my excitement is through the roof!

Thank you again for all your input and comments.

***UPDATE*** 17/8/16

Click here for a mini update

***UPDATE*** 22/8/16

Click here for ANOTHER mini update

[loola30]

Oh it would be option 3 all the way for me! So romantic and there's nobody else around. Good luck!

[Unexpectedpenny]

I'm not keen on attention or fancy restaurants so option 3 would be my choice. That sounds intimate and romantic.

Very exciting!

[soarin5505]

Originally Posted by loola30

Oh it would be option 3 all the way for me! So romantic and there's nobody else around. Good luck!

See more...

Thank you. I had been torn between option 1 & 2 for months and decided to go with option 1. Only in the last few days I thought about staying at CR.

[Emma2288]

Another vote for 3. My fiance proposed to me in the hotel room at AOA. Was perfect as I don't like attention at all! We went to EPCOT afterwards to celebrate

[soarin5505]

Originally Posted by Unexpectedpenny

I'm not keen on attention or fancy restaurants so option 3 would be my choice. That sounds intimate and romantic.

Very exciting!

See more...

Yeah I just want to try and find a slice of WDW we can have to ourselves and have a private moment. We will only be at CR for a few hours with an overnight bag but should be able to arrange some champagne in the room, etc.

[Stitchfan626]

How exciting!

Personally I think I'd go for option 2, but they all sound amazing.

[Maze_Dazrol]

Option 2 for me but again all lovely

[EllenClaire]

all 3 options sound lovely your GF is very lucky but if she isn't fussed about posh meals or lots of people around I think option 3 is a great choice

[ely3857]

I'd do it the morning before you fly...