Their happily ever after started at Disney World

Disney World has long been touted as the Magic Kingdom where dreams come true. With castles, princesses and fairy tales brought to life, it can also be a romantic destination. For Lacy McComas and Jack Kruger, the Africa section of the Animal Kingdom proved to be the most romantic place of all. That’s where they met and fell in love.

Kruger, from Bloemfontein, South Africa, was working in the park as a cultural representative. McComas, from Otis Orchards, worked at the train station. It was August 2006. Each day they road the bus together from the Disney-owned apartment complexes where they lived.”The sad part was at the beginning; I didn’t really like her,” Kruger said.

“I’m a talkative person,” McComas said and laughed. “I’ll go talk to anybody.” But Kruger didn’t offer much in the way of conversation. “I asked his friend, ‘Why doesn’t Jack talk?’ ” recalled McComas. She loved his South African accent and wanted to hear more.

The park staff began each day with a morning meeting. One day Kruger said he looked at McComas and thought, “Wow! She’s got a great smile. It was like, ding!”

A smile was easy to notice, but their unflattering park costumes made noticing anything else a bit more difficult. “Mine looked like pajamas,” said Kruger, who was a park greeter.

Pink and purple tie-dye pajamas,” added McComas. She didn’t fare much better. As a train conductor/engineer, she wore an outfit resembling a maritime military ensemble. But at a company beach party the couple saw each other in civilian clothes for the first time.

McComas was impressed. “I said, ‘Jack, you’re hot!’ ” A friend snapped a picture of the two of them.

Their first date maintained the multicultural theme of Disney World. “He was going to learn basketball and I was going to learn rugby,” said McComas. It didn’t work out very well, so for their next date they came up with something else. Throughout the day they each jotted down questions to ask the other. Later that night they exchanged lists. Some questions were basic: “What’s your favorite color?” Others were more insightful: “If I came to South Africa where would you most like to take me?”

The date stretched on into the evening, and Kruger almost missed the last bus back to his apartment. The long conversation was a turning point in their relationship. “We talked about everything,” said Kruger. His mother was battling breast cancer at home, and McComas’ mother was a breast cancer survivor. He found himself confiding about his fears for his mother as well as his hopes and dreams for the future.

“Jack said he was looking for the love of his life,” she recalled.

“If I’d thought anything was going to come of this I would have never laid it all out there,” Kruger said with an abashed grin. “I even talked about past relationships!”

“Well, I would have never chomped down two huge hamburgers right in front of him!” said McComas. By the end of October their friendship had blossomed in romance. In January 2007 McComas brought Kruger home to Otis Orchards to meet her family.

His girlfriend assured him, “You’ll like Spokane. It’s a real American city.” And he did. “I fell in love with Spokane,” he said.

By the time the couple returned to Disney World they knew they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. However, Kruger’s visa was only good for one year, and that year was quickly drawing to a close. Their contracts at the park ended in April. In May, Kruger joined McComas in Spokane for three weeks. Before he left for South Africa he said he did the “dad talk thing.” He told McComas’ father that he was serious about Lacy – that he wasn’t going to go home and forget about her.

Soon the couple were separated for the first time since they began dating. Due to the long flight, the 10-hour time difference, and difficulty obtaining phone cards, four days passed before the couple could talk. “It scared me,” McComas said and her eyes grew wet. “I was worried.”

Finally home in Bloemfontein, Kruger was able to call her. “Every time I got money, I went out and bought a phone card,” he said. The couple began to make wedding plans despite the distance. They applied for a fiancé visa for Kruger and found it would take months to process. They couldn’t wait that long to see each other. In November McComas traveled to South Africa. “I loved it,” she said.

She met Kruger’s family, but there was still something important Kruger had to do. “The government said we were officially engaged, but I hadn’t proposed.” He remedied that by taking McComas to a secluded island in the middle of a lake. He gave her a little box filled with photos of their time together. At the bottom of the stack atop the first picture of them together, she found her engagement ring.

All too soon it was time for McComas to fly home. “It’s harder being pulled apart the second time,” she said. The paperwork has made wedding planning difficult, but the couple is hoping to marry in August. It helps that Kruger is now back in the States on a temporary visa.

Though they come from different nations and different cultures, they’ve discovered many commonalities in their hopes and dreams for the future. And instead of dividing them, their differences have drawn them closer.

McComas said, “His strengths are my weaknesses, and my weaknesses are his strengths.”

They haven’t yet discussed honeymoon plans, but no one would be surprised if the trip includes a visit to the Magic Kingdom. For Lacy McComas and Jack Kruger, Disney World will always be a place where dreams really do come true.