bsj1701
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2014
I believe this is my first (and probably last) trip report. I just don’t think I am that great of a writer or that my photos are that much different than yours. This time I wanted to share though…
First a little background. We are big Disney fans (aren’t we all!) My wife and I Honeymooned at Walt Disney World in 1986. I was there once before that as a child. Since then my wife and I have visited on many occasions both with and without kids. My numbers pale compared to many of yours, but I don’t think they are too bad for someone from the Midwest. We’ve been to Disneyland around 6-8 times, double that for Walt Disney World, and we’ve been to Disneyland Paris twice. Now, onto my report, I am only focusing on those events concerning my anniversary, the rest of the trip was awesome as well though…
October 2016
This was a trip to celebrate my 30th wedding anniversary. I love my wife more than she will ever realize. I hope most men feel this way about their wives. I probably do a poor job of showing it sometimes, but I do try. I wanted to do something special for our anniversary, but I was stumped. After 30 years, I wanted something beyond dinner and flowers so I decided to ask for help. I wrote a letter to the President of Walt Disney World and asked if there was any “Disney Magic” available!
Shortly thereafter I was contacted by email and phone by an assistant who asked a lot of questions (do you have a favorite ride, favorite character, etc.) We mainly talked to each other via email to keep things a secret from my wife. She looked at my plans for the week as well as dining and fast pass schedule and we worked around that.
What we came up with was this… My wife LOVES the Dapper Dan’s. Their final performance of the day for October 24th (anniversary is actually the 25th, but I wanted this done at MK and that is the day we were going to be there) was at like 3:40pm after the parade in front of the fire station. My wife likes to watch the parade from above at the train station so that sounded perfect. I was asked to upload a picture of the two of us and to tell the Disney people what I would be wearing on that day. Then of course to be in the right spot at the right time.
When it was packing time, I had to remember to pack what I said I was going to wear and actually wear it on the right day! I also sent out a message here to see if anyone else would be at MK that day and be able to film this event. Disney was going to have a photographer present, but I also wanted a video if possible. I was able to find one person who said she would be there and would also be seeing the parade so it might be possible for her to record video.
So on October 24th we did our normal plans and luckily no performance of the Dapper Dan’s fit into our schedule except the last one! At around 2:00 or so we headed to the train station. Something had changed since our last visit. The center area was now reserved for those paying for VIP tours! This was quite a surprise to us and I’m still unhappy about things like this happening, but we still found a decent spot and viewed the parade from there.
After the parade we headed down to wait by the fire station. I looked around to see if any Disney employee was in the area and did not notice anyone. I told my wife I was going to use the restroom and I would be right back. I was so nervous, months of planning and keeping a secret and now the time was finally here! When I returned from the restroom I noticed a cast member standing by a street pole. As I looked at her, she smiled at me and nodded her head. This was really happening!!
After a few minutes the Dapper Dan’s came out and began their performance. They song several songs during which my wife was so busy taking pictures she did not notice the Disney photographer taking pictures of us! Soon they announced our names and asked us to step forward so they could recognize our 30th wedding anniversary. My wife was quite surprised, she later told me she thought it might have been Magic Band related! They then asked me to join them in singing “Let me call you Sweetheart” to my wife. I tried to explain it really was they who were to do the singing and I am not a singer, but they insisted I be part of the show. So as I joined them in singing to my wife I was looking around the crowd trying to see if anyone was filming with their cell phone or camera. There was a lot going on and I did not notice anyone filming. I was not surprised, I knew it would be a long shot to find someone who would help me with this. The Disney photographer did take a lot of photos though. Below is one of them…
So everything went off as planned and I sincerely thank everyone involved in the planning and execution of this special event!
The next day was our actual wedding anniversary. I had packed an engraved glass poem/letter to my wife and gave that to her in the morning. We spent the day at Epcot. My wife asked if I had any surprises planned that day. I said “No!” I lied to my wife…
I am a big Elvis Presley fan. My wife, not so much, but she is OK with a few songs. Months before I had contacted JELLYROLLS at the Boardwalk and requested a little known Elvis song to be played that evening. I even scanned and sent sheet music for it. The song is “Puppet on a String” I hope it is OK to post a link…
Little did I know, the Piano players never received the music. I wrote my request and a note about our anniversary on a napkin and sent it up with some money to the Piano guys. They finally read my note and admitted they had never heard of the song but they would see what they could do. So 2 guys perform while 2 others are getting ready back stage. The first guys finished their set and the other 2 guys came out. Eventually they asked if we were still in the audience and I waved my hand. They too admitted they had never heard the song but they would give it a try. Soon I heard a familiar melody from the piano and the player began to sing the lyrics. It was nearly perfect! I can only imagine this guy backstage trying to find the song on youtube or something and listening to it a couple of times. Then he came out and pretty much nailed it! I am amazed by people like this who can hear and memorize music and lyrics in just a few minutes and then perform it!
Soon we returned home and looked at all our photos and got some prints made. I thought it would be cool to send a photo to Disney and get it autographed by the Dapper Dan’s! My first attempt at this resulted in having the photo returned somehow unsigned. My second attempt resulted in the photo/autograph below…
Now I was a little disappointed! I really wanted each member to sign their own name! The only thing I could think of was some sort of privacy thing. They didn’t want to give out their real names. That is unfortunate, but I would have been happier with “Happy Anniversary from Bill, Bob, George” or whatever instead of the “signature” I received. Truly a rare disappointment from this trip.
Several weeks later, I think, after we were home, I received an email from an address I wasn’t familiar with but the subject was something like Disney video or Disney anniversary or something like that. So I looked at it (before downloading the attachment) and guess what… it was video from our event!! My contact here came through for me, THANK YOU IOWATATER!!!!!! Not only that (and this is a pet peeve of mine) most people shoot video with their phones in the vertical position. This looks wonderful if all you are ever going to do is watch it on your phone, but if you watch it on a widescreen TV it just looks stupid. IOWATATER had filmed it, or edited it, so that it was in the horizontal position and the video looks great on my computer/TV screen!
I hope you have enjoyed my story. Disney has done many things that have changed my Park experience over the years, some good, some not so good, but it is special moments like this that make me continue to visit "The Happiest Place on Earth." If anyone involved ever reads this, thank you again. This really meant a lot to me.
Brian
First a little background. We are big Disney fans (aren’t we all!) My wife and I Honeymooned at Walt Disney World in 1986. I was there once before that as a child. Since then my wife and I have visited on many occasions both with and without kids. My numbers pale compared to many of yours, but I don’t think they are too bad for someone from the Midwest. We’ve been to Disneyland around 6-8 times, double that for Walt Disney World, and we’ve been to Disneyland Paris twice. Now, onto my report, I am only focusing on those events concerning my anniversary, the rest of the trip was awesome as well though…
October 2016
This was a trip to celebrate my 30th wedding anniversary. I love my wife more than she will ever realize. I hope most men feel this way about their wives. I probably do a poor job of showing it sometimes, but I do try. I wanted to do something special for our anniversary, but I was stumped. After 30 years, I wanted something beyond dinner and flowers so I decided to ask for help. I wrote a letter to the President of Walt Disney World and asked if there was any “Disney Magic” available!
Shortly thereafter I was contacted by email and phone by an assistant who asked a lot of questions (do you have a favorite ride, favorite character, etc.) We mainly talked to each other via email to keep things a secret from my wife. She looked at my plans for the week as well as dining and fast pass schedule and we worked around that.
What we came up with was this… My wife LOVES the Dapper Dan’s. Their final performance of the day for October 24th (anniversary is actually the 25th, but I wanted this done at MK and that is the day we were going to be there) was at like 3:40pm after the parade in front of the fire station. My wife likes to watch the parade from above at the train station so that sounded perfect. I was asked to upload a picture of the two of us and to tell the Disney people what I would be wearing on that day. Then of course to be in the right spot at the right time.
When it was packing time, I had to remember to pack what I said I was going to wear and actually wear it on the right day! I also sent out a message here to see if anyone else would be at MK that day and be able to film this event. Disney was going to have a photographer present, but I also wanted a video if possible. I was able to find one person who said she would be there and would also be seeing the parade so it might be possible for her to record video.
So on October 24th we did our normal plans and luckily no performance of the Dapper Dan’s fit into our schedule except the last one! At around 2:00 or so we headed to the train station. Something had changed since our last visit. The center area was now reserved for those paying for VIP tours! This was quite a surprise to us and I’m still unhappy about things like this happening, but we still found a decent spot and viewed the parade from there.
After the parade we headed down to wait by the fire station. I looked around to see if any Disney employee was in the area and did not notice anyone. I told my wife I was going to use the restroom and I would be right back. I was so nervous, months of planning and keeping a secret and now the time was finally here! When I returned from the restroom I noticed a cast member standing by a street pole. As I looked at her, she smiled at me and nodded her head. This was really happening!!
After a few minutes the Dapper Dan’s came out and began their performance. They song several songs during which my wife was so busy taking pictures she did not notice the Disney photographer taking pictures of us! Soon they announced our names and asked us to step forward so they could recognize our 30th wedding anniversary. My wife was quite surprised, she later told me she thought it might have been Magic Band related! They then asked me to join them in singing “Let me call you Sweetheart” to my wife. I tried to explain it really was they who were to do the singing and I am not a singer, but they insisted I be part of the show. So as I joined them in singing to my wife I was looking around the crowd trying to see if anyone was filming with their cell phone or camera. There was a lot going on and I did not notice anyone filming. I was not surprised, I knew it would be a long shot to find someone who would help me with this. The Disney photographer did take a lot of photos though. Below is one of them…
So everything went off as planned and I sincerely thank everyone involved in the planning and execution of this special event!
The next day was our actual wedding anniversary. I had packed an engraved glass poem/letter to my wife and gave that to her in the morning. We spent the day at Epcot. My wife asked if I had any surprises planned that day. I said “No!” I lied to my wife…
I am a big Elvis Presley fan. My wife, not so much, but she is OK with a few songs. Months before I had contacted JELLYROLLS at the Boardwalk and requested a little known Elvis song to be played that evening. I even scanned and sent sheet music for it. The song is “Puppet on a String” I hope it is OK to post a link…
Little did I know, the Piano players never received the music. I wrote my request and a note about our anniversary on a napkin and sent it up with some money to the Piano guys. They finally read my note and admitted they had never heard of the song but they would see what they could do. So 2 guys perform while 2 others are getting ready back stage. The first guys finished their set and the other 2 guys came out. Eventually they asked if we were still in the audience and I waved my hand. They too admitted they had never heard the song but they would give it a try. Soon I heard a familiar melody from the piano and the player began to sing the lyrics. It was nearly perfect! I can only imagine this guy backstage trying to find the song on youtube or something and listening to it a couple of times. Then he came out and pretty much nailed it! I am amazed by people like this who can hear and memorize music and lyrics in just a few minutes and then perform it!
Soon we returned home and looked at all our photos and got some prints made. I thought it would be cool to send a photo to Disney and get it autographed by the Dapper Dan’s! My first attempt at this resulted in having the photo returned somehow unsigned. My second attempt resulted in the photo/autograph below…
Now I was a little disappointed! I really wanted each member to sign their own name! The only thing I could think of was some sort of privacy thing. They didn’t want to give out their real names. That is unfortunate, but I would have been happier with “Happy Anniversary from Bill, Bob, George” or whatever instead of the “signature” I received. Truly a rare disappointment from this trip.
Several weeks later, I think, after we were home, I received an email from an address I wasn’t familiar with but the subject was something like Disney video or Disney anniversary or something like that. So I looked at it (before downloading the attachment) and guess what… it was video from our event!! My contact here came through for me, THANK YOU IOWATATER!!!!!! Not only that (and this is a pet peeve of mine) most people shoot video with their phones in the vertical position. This looks wonderful if all you are ever going to do is watch it on your phone, but if you watch it on a widescreen TV it just looks stupid. IOWATATER had filmed it, or edited it, so that it was in the horizontal position and the video looks great on my computer/TV screen!
I hope you have enjoyed my story. Disney has done many things that have changed my Park experience over the years, some good, some not so good, but it is special moments like this that make me continue to visit "The Happiest Place on Earth." If anyone involved ever reads this, thank you again. This really meant a lot to me.
Brian
