The Happiest Proposal on Earth

Friday, February 20, 2009

Page 11

AT THE SIDEBAR (Column)

The Happiest Proposal on Earth

By J’AMY PACHECO

As a frequent visitor to Disneyland, I’m always looking for new and different ways to spend my time at the park. I love Space Mountain, but I can only go on the roller coaster so many times before my brain cells start protesting by refusing to go back into place.

So when I heard that a young man who was flying into town with his girlfriend needed help popping the question at the Happiest Place on Earth, I was all over it. His plan was to get his girlfriend to pose with him for a picture in front of the iconic castle, then while a Disneyland photographer took the shot, have someone sneak up behind them holding a sign asking her to marry him. Later, they would review their photos, she would spot the sign, and hopefully, say “You bet!”

I signed on to photograph the photograph-taking and the proposal, and enlisted my daughter to serve as videographer. As luck would have it, the morning of the big day dawned…well, I couldn’t say if it actually dawned or not, because it was raining so hard that that I worried it had put out the sun. It took hours to get to Anaheim. Not long after I arrived, I got a text message from the sign bearer, who was flying in from another state. She’d missed her flight.

Since she was bringing the sign, the plan was pushed back a few hours. The fiancé-to-be sent me a text message containing a locker number and combination for me to retrieve his video camera. My daughter and I could figure out everything except how to turn it on, which seemed really important. It took some doing, but we conquered that hurdle and went to scope out the venue.

We quickly noticed two things: the pouring rain showed no sign of stopping, and there wasn’t a Disneyland photographer in sight.

The sign bearer, who had been diverted to a different airport and spent the morning trapped on a Supershuttle tour of Bellflower, finally arrived. We hatched a Plan B, in which the sign bearer would stand on the castle drawbridge, and the fiancé-to-be would propose on the other side of the moat, near the Snow White wishing well. My daughter and I would loiter about the Snow White sector, blending with the tourists, and surreptitiously recording the whole thing for them.

It’s not easy trying to blend with tourists when a marching band keeps passing and you have to get out of their way. But on the upside, the rain stopped. We used the well to wish for sunny skies long enough for the proposal to go off.

The happy couple had gotten soaked at the park that morning, and had returned to their hotel to change clothes. We anxiously awaited their return, hoping we didn’t get accosted for loitering around the wishing well for such a long time.

As time passed, I became convinced that the unsuspecting recipient of the proposal had somehow managed to discover the empty locker, and was at that moment viewing security tapes showing me removing her video camera. Don’t think that didn’t cause some worry.

But the long-awaited text message finally arrived: they were on their way to the Snow White sector.

They stopped at the wishing well, and we tried to hide behind tourists as we photographed them. They made wishes, then casually strolled over to the small, heart-adorned wooden bridge that overlooked the lagoon.

At the sight of the enormous sign, the girl’s jaw dropped. Stunned, she looked at her fiancé-to-be, who dropped to his knee and pulled out a ring. He popped the question, she said, “Yes!” Thank goodness.

What made it especially fun was the fact that none of us had ever met before that day – other than the bride-and-groom-to-be, of course. We had connected online, and I didn’t even know what they looked like when I waited for them to arrive at the wishing well.

A total of 13 people were involved in the planning, preparation and execution of the proposal, and in the end, we all felt like old friends. The newly-engaged couple is hoping for a Disneyland wedding, and we’re hoping to be able to attend.

It’s a remarkable thing, getting to be involved in the beginning of a couple’s new life. I’d have to say it’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever done at Disneyland – and there was no long-lasting impact on my brain cells.

Now all that’s left is for them – and the rest of us — to live happily ever after.

Somehow, that seems entirely possible.