Neil and I had been vaguely talking about getting married for a while, but I had no idea that he'd propose while we were in Florida. He'd successfully put me off the scent, so I thought he'd be asking nearer to Christmas or even next year. I also didn't think he'd had any opportunities to buy the engagement ring or to speak to my parents, so I'd definitely decided that it wouldn't be happening while we were on holiday.
We went to the Magic Kingdom on our first day in Florida, which was something we'd planned to do since we booked the holiday nearly a year ago. It's my favourite of all the Disney parks and the atmosphere is just amazing. It's a great place to start your Disney holiday as it just epitomises everything everyone loves about Disney. It also contains the spectacular fairytale castle! I'll be writing a separate blog post on the many merits of the Magic Kingdom, but let it be known that it's probably my favourite place in the whole world.
We had a great morning at the park and blitzed all the most popular rides fairly early on. Space Mountain was amazing as always... probably one of my favourite rides in Disney World. I loved the Dumbo ride and Splash Mountain is always a lot of fun, even if you do get a bit wet. I would probably have been slightly more concerned on these rides if I'd known that Neil was secretly carrying such precious cargo in his pocket!
Splash Mountain...
We had lunch reservations at the Plaza restaurant for 1pm so decided to take a break from rides at around 12:15. Neil suggested that we sat down in the little pavilion in the Plaza Rose Garden, near Cinderella's Castle. My feet were tired by this point (Disney parks are massive!) so I was happy to have a break. The rose garden is a very pretty area and is always quiet as it isn't on the main pathway. We had the pavilion all to ourselves, apart from a few inquisitive ducks!
My initial response in my head was 'Are you serious?' as I was so surprised. Luckily, this isn't the response that came out of my mouth. I obviously said 'yes', in a very shaky and quiet voice. My voice is quiet at the best of times, so I'm amazed he even heard me. I then phoned my parents to tell them the good news, even though they already knew it was coming as Neil had been to see them a few weeks ago. It was a very well kept secret!
After all the excitement, we went to the Plaza for lunch where I had a burger and the most amazing New York strawberry cheesecake. You've just got to have a big burger on your first day in America.
After going on a few more rides, we made our way back to Old Key West at around 4pm when it started to rain. There was another surprise waiting for me back at the resort... a Disney engagement gift set! Neil had ordered the set a few weeks ago and had arranged for it to be delivered to the resort in time for our return on the first day. The gift set included Mickey and Minnie teddies in wedding outfits, a lovely framed photo and personalised greeting from Mickey and Minnie, personalised bridal ears with a veil and tiara, a Mickey chocolate box, Lindt chocolates and a bunch of amazing flowers. As Neil said, he couldn't have chickened out of proposing on the first day as the gift set would have been a bit of a giveaway...
So I was massively surprised for the second time in a few hours! It was such a nice way to follow up the proposal, and something I definitely didn't expect. It also made the engagement even more Disney-esque!
You can probably expect a few blog posts on wedding planning in the next few months, but I need to write a few more blog posts on the holiday first... keep checking back to see which aspect I cover next!
Has anyone else got any lovely engagement stories to share? Send me some links!
