I proposed in front of the castle just after the fireworks started. This is a long story, so you might want to go get a bite, if you're hungry.
It had been a hectic day, and an end to a hectic journey. It all started with our previous trip to WDW, when we were just dating. We saw a couple get engaged during E-Night in front of the castle, and she (Cathy), now my dear finance told me her dream was to get engaged there too. "Note to self, girl has dream, don't forget" So when I decided it was time to pop the question, I planned a trip to WDW. Fast forward to the day we are going.....
I had the ring in my pocket on the way to the airport, I had a freak out earlier in the week, wondering if it was going to set off the alarm as you go through the metal detector, so I called the airline, the airport, and the manufacturer of the detector to make sure this wouldn't happen, which they assured me it would not. I mean what kind of surprise engagement would it have been if I had to take the ring out in the airport. Here's what I imagined:
"Excuse me sir, you'll have to empty your pockets"
"Um, well, um, I really can't do that"
"Honey, what's going on?"
"nothing dear, you just keep walking"
"SIR! (with the wand waving on my pocket bells and whistles going off, security teams calling for and receiving backup) you need to empty your pockets!",
"Um, well, um, I can't"
Can you just see me asking her to marry me as I'm in a headlock and the security guard is pulling the ring from my pocket??
Anyway, the flight is overbooked, and the airline really offered some good stuff, like $1,000 each in airline money. Normally, we'd jump all over this, but it was like a 9am flight out of LaGuardia in NYC, the next flight would have been 4pm from Long Island. Now I had big plans that included a certain castle, and some fireworks, and a ring, and I couldn't be getting there at 9 at night. So I managed to get my dear girlfriend (hee hee that sounds funny since we're going to be married 3 weeks from today) to stay on the plane and we arrived to go to our lovely hotel. Now her mom had very generously helped pay for the trip, and we were able to stay at the Boardwalk instead of Dixie Landings like I had told her, but she thought I had just gotten some sort of upgrade, I pretty good at that, so she wasn't aware that the trip was a "special one" yet. I think we kinda just kicked around the Boardwalk that day, and then it was time for the MK. This is when it gets surreal. I mean this was months in the works, months! And now the "moment" is rapidly approaching. She says at about 8:00 (fireworks at 9) "I don't think I wanna go to the MK tonight." "WHAT!!!" This is not in my itinerary!! Quick brain, do your stuff!! After some gentle persuading, including, it's our first night on vacation, why don't you ear something nice, it's off to the MK!
Getting REALLY surreal at this point. I have the ring in my back pocket, and I'm holding her hand to make sure it doesn't "accidentally" drift down to my pocket and find the ring. I mean, after surviving the airport, can I really ask her to marry me as we wait for the Monorail because she had to give my tush a little squeeze?, my final destination a mere 4 stops away! I think not! SO we finally get there, FINALLY!! And we head towards the castle, and the fireworks are about to start.
OK, lets take a step back, anyone who is engaged, will know this story is only a scratch on the surface of all the planning that went into this, and the level of paranoia that had developed in my mind hoping she didn't figure it out. And now, after months and months of planning and scheming the moment has finally arrived, so this is as surreal as surreal gets. I have since noticed that there are times in life where time seems to slow, like while you're being followed by a cop, and even though you're not speeding or anything, you freak out, and the long walk to your bosses office when you're late for the 4th day in a row, even though it's not about that.
This was one of those moments, but I wondered where had all the time gone, all the months of planning were now gone, and it was show time.
Well the fireworks started, time slowed, one went off, two, sloower, and then I did it. I got down on one knee, (said some nice things that are for her and I to know) and then said "will you marry me?"
The first words out of her mouth........
"No Way!"
But not in a "no way, never in a million years will I marry you", but in a "holy crap I can't believe this is happening to me", then she said yes, then I put the ring on (then time went back to normal, the weight of the world lifted and I started breathing again). Now I don't know about anyone else, but being a boy growing up, I always thought asking a girl to marry you was a real question, one that you might not get the answer your looking for. This is a big lie, perpetrated on us men by I don't know who, for reasons known only to them (and their black helicopters). It's not really a question that is going to be answered "no", but it's a question that's gonna change everything. Your life as you knew it is over, "bye bye!" And not in a bad way, but from that moment on, it's all different. I say this because I never really had a forum to voice my opinions on getting engaged and what a big scam it is thinking she might say no. Because if you don't know what the answer is going to be, you'd better not ask the question.
Well, after that, we got a round of applause form the people around us, and she jumped up and down, and she cried, and I cried (only a little) and we went back to call her parents and my parents (who were in on it). There was a nice bottle of champagne waiting in our room when we got there, and a card from the Boardwalk staff congratulating us.
Well, that's it, except to say I'm getting married 3 weeks from today, and honeymooning in WDW for 2 1/2 weeks. I'll write about that when I return.