What magical moment has a Disney cast member created for you?
This question has been on my mind since I took my son to visit Disney’s Port Orleans Resort – Riverside over the weekend for a snack and a stroll along the resort’s Sassagoula River. This resort holds a special place in my memory, as this was the first place a Disney cast member went above and beyond to create a magical moment for my family.
This special moment took place in the early 1990s, when I was vacationing at the resort with my mom. Each night, after spending a full day at the parks, we’d walk our sore feet into the resort’s Riverside Food Court to pick up what we decided were the best peanut butter cookies either one of us ever had. Throughout our vacation, we returned night after night to satisfy our sugar fix.
On the last night of our stay, I remember remarking to my mom (in front of the group of cast members who had come to know us and our nightly purchase), how much I’d miss these sweets when we returned home to Pennsylvania.
Twenty minutes after returning to our resort room, we heard a knock on the door and opened it to find a member of the Room Service team, standing there with a complimentary plate of a dozen peanut butter cookies and a pitcher of cold milk. We couldn’t believe our eyes!
The thoughtfulness of this surprise became the highlight of our vacation, and that is exactly the purpose of a “magical moment” – it’s an experience that cast members create for us guests that just blow our minds. They are the unbelievable acts of kindness that surprise us, delight us, and keep us coming back to create new memories.
So now it’s your turn. What are some of the most magical moments a Disney cast member has created for you?
Comments
The most recent experience for me was on my 21st birthday. My mom took me to Walt Disney World for the first time and we went to Magic Kingdom on my birthday, doing the Extra Magic Morning for that day and everything. I had never been to any Disney park on my birthday before and I had always, always wanted to do that. Everywhere I went, Cast Members would notice and say “happy birthday” and “happy birthday, chelsea!” It made me feel so special! I even remember that this little girl in the long line on Thunder Mountain had seen my button and even she wished me a happy birthday. It was one of the most magical days at Disney that I had ever experienced!
Wow, we’ve already reached 100 amazing stories! Keep them coming!
During our last trip to Magic Kingdom, my 1st grade daughter fell in love with an adorable stuffed Eeyore in one of the shops. She’d been saving money for months to spend at WDW, and enthusiastically purchased Eeyore with her own money. She was thrilled with Eeyore and carried him around all day–including to dinner at Crystal Palace, where we got adorable pictures of real Eeyore hugging her and holding stuffed Eeyore. She had her first trip on Space Mountain that night as well, and I just had to buy the ride picture, as she was nervously (yet excitedly!) clutching her Eeyore on the ride. We had a perfect Disney Day, until during the fireworks she looked down and realized Eeyore was not in her bag. She must have dropped him in the crowd–and it was so dark and crowded, there was no way we were going to find him. Tears filled her eyes as she somberly started walking towards the bus to head back to the hotel. Not wanting our perfect day to end on a sad note, we dashed in to a Main Street toy shop and found a shelf full of the exact same Eeyore. Hooray! But then the magic happened. As we went to check out, the manager noticed my daughter’s red teary eyes and asked what was wrong. I explained that we’d lost special Eeyore during the fireworks, but that we were glad to be buying a new one. Without another word, she clipped off the tags, handed the new Eeyore to my daughter without charge, and told her to have a magical evening! (At that point MY eyes filled with tears! It was so nice!)
In March, my 20 year old son (first visit to MK) and his girlfriend were at a PhotoPass stop on Main Street while a show was on stage at the castle. The PhotoPass person told my son the exact time in the show to come back for another photo and they will have fireworks in their picture. My son and girlfriend went back and my son dipped his girlfriend (like at the end of a slow dance). We now have 4-5 pictures of the two of them with fireworks going off in the background. So very cute! Later, I thought I should have gotten her name to report such a nice thing.
Since we live in Orlando we have had MANY magical moments but 2 of the best have to be from this spring…
1. On the first day that my daughter (age 6) was tall enough to ride Space Mountain, when we got to the end, she was sitting in the front row, had held her hands up the entire time and was smiling so big when we got into the station, that the cast member made her an honorary space pilot and we got to ride it again in the front… she was so excited…
2. early this spring we were walking back from Big Thunder Mountain, in the rain, my daughter RAN up onto the porch of the Country Bears and as soon as her foot hit the wood it slid and she ended up on her back, knocking the wind out of her. The cast member at the door of the bears rushed over to check that she was ok and when we realized she was more scared than anything the cast member asked if she could help her out and whispered in her ear… so i had no clue what she was doing but we went into the theater and Hailey got to WAKE UP the Animals to START the show… she still talks about that…
But most every week we are touched by how far the cast will go to make our visit magical
I was just at Disney World last week. My friend and I wanted to ride the Peter Pan ride. When we got there it said a 70 minute wait. So we asked about the fastpass and the cast member told us they were all given out for the day. Betsy was the cast members name and she told us to get in the fastpass line and tell Jennifer taking the fastpass tickets that Betsy was giving us a “Magical Moment”. It was great and very kind of her…to let two adults ride a kids ride…that just happens to be one of the family and friends favorites. Thanks Betsy for that Magical Moment!
This past Novemeber we took our annual visit to the World and experinced and unexpected tragety that only a true Disney Cast Member could solve. A little back story fisrt. My oldest daughter Brooklyn (age 6) and her Aunt Shell are completely head over heals in love with Duffy. So in the middle of our trip my dauther received as a gift a Duffy doll and Duffy purse. In the purse were two of my dauthers frists vynlmations. She was so excited that she also had to take a picture with the big bear himself along with her new gifts. After this exciting moment My Daughter and baeutiful wife (Carey) wanted to ride Rock-N-Roller Coaster so we boarded a boat and headed to the Studios with my daughter maining the rear of the craft. After the last resort stop the Captain bellowed “we are now off to Disney’s Hollwood Studios”. My daughter in her excitement jumped up and Cheered. Roughly one second later we heard an aweful scream. When we truned to my daughter we realized that little Duffy had choosen to take a swim. My daughter was in complete disbelief and terror as she watched little Duffy float away as we continued on our way to the Studios. Upon exiting the boat the Captain made a radio call to other Cast Members about little Duffy. My daughter was unconsolable until 5 minutes later when a speed boat with two cast members came roaring through the water with little Duffy in their hands. Nothing at that time could have made my daughter so happy as these cast memebers who handed over the wet critter. My wife cried and said only in Disney would employees (Cast Members) care so much about something so little because it meant something very much to a little girl. Till this day this is a story we will always remember. We even stopped at the customer service center to let them know about these truely generous poeple. To all Cast Memebers, keep up the great work as every little thing you do is so magical to many.
WDW provides wonderful magical moments every time I visit!
My husband and I had our honeymoon there…and every CM that saw our buttons had something sweet to say. We were pulled out of line and taken straight to the cars on a Dinoland ride, an ice cream stand man asked us out of the blue if we’d like Mickey ice creams to cool off, and on the last night of our trip, the candy store CMs in Hollywood Studios pulled us aside to dip our own chocolate strawberries behind the counter…we got paper hats, a certificate, and a lovely box of chocolate dipped strawberries to share.
My last trip with with my best friend, and we went to celebrate earning our Masters Degrees. Once again, all of the CMs who saw our buttons congratulated us and had such sweet things to say. She and I had the surprise of finding a paintbrush on Tom Sawyer Island, and the CM who gave us our fastpass prizes rode us back to shore on a special raft trip.
I just had my first son in March and I am already saving for his first WDW trip. What a joy it will be to see the magic happen for him!
One of my favorite places to eat is 50’s Prime Time Cafe in Hollywood Studios. Each time I’ve been there it’s been so amazing to have the cast members get into true character and make you feel like family. The last time I went, I was exhausted and slightly annoyed that my family had insisted on stopping to eat at that moment when my fast pass for Tower of Terror would “expire” in the next 30 minutes. Our waiter said he was our cousin and he was angry with us for never visiting. It must’ve been obvious that I was in a bad mood, because he started going on and on about how we used to have so much fun when we were younger and how he wished he could see me smile like from back then. My sister made it a point to tell him why I was annoyed and he told me not to worry about it, that he would personally escort me over to Tower of Terror after lunch, and make sure I didn’t have to wait to ride since my fast pass was going to expire. I found that hard to believe, but went along with it. Sure enough, as soon as we were done eating (even ate the veggies per his request!) he told me to grab my stuff and escorted me over to Tower of Terror and made sure I got in to the fast pass lane without any issues. I couldn’t believe how nice and thoughtful he was. He went out of his way to cheer me up and make sure I got to ride one of the best rides ever!
On our first trip to WDW in 2005, our daughter, Annie, wasn’t quite 2 yrs old. She was very articulate, however, and carried on quite a conversation with a CM while waiting in line to meet King Louie and Baloo. We were the last guests in line, so we had a while to chat. After getting their autographs, we finished our day at the Magic Kingdom. Two or three days later, we went back to MK. We were waiting in line to meet Jasmine and Aladdin. When it was finally our turn, Aladdin looked at our daughter and said, “Is your name Annie?” Sure enough, “Aladdin” was the very same CM from a few days earlier! He went on to say that he had heard all about her from his friends Baloo and King Louie, and that they wanted him to tell her “hello.” I still get tears when I think about how special he made her feel. After all the people he meets over the course of a day, to remember our little girl days later, it was so amazing. We fell in love with Disney on that trip, and have gone back each year, ever since.
During our visit to Epcot (the best place on earth I might add), the younger girls in our family were having their pictures taken with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto and Goofy inside. Our teenage son decided to wait on the outside of the building with some other adults while the younger kids were inside. Well, Minnie spotted Jake through the glass and proceeding to walk over to the glass and begin flirting with Jake. She was blowing him kisses and touching the glass as though she were really touching him. It was the greatest! Probably one of the few times he actually smiled…..you know how teenage boys are! AND, we’ve got pictures of it, so this memory will never fade. Truly a magical moment. Thanks Minnie!
My son was barely a toddler when my family decided we would sneak into the English garden behind the shops at EPCOT to rest. Well, we were thrilled to find Eeyore there greeting guests. My son was especially excited, as his nursery was classic Pooh, and his favorite stuffed animal was his “EO”. When we reached the end of the line, the Cast Member assisting Eeyore told us he would be back in about 30 minutes. I was leading my son away, but he began to cry while reaching back for his friend. The Cast Member called me over and said, “Wait right here” and led Eeyore away. She and Eeyore returned about 5 minutes later, and we were the only ones left in the garden! The most precious picture I have of that vacation was my little William standing on tiptoes to kiss the nose of Eeyore. They walked hand in hand in that English garden for several minutes. Definately worth the price of admission!!!
Sounds like a great photo!
Last summer, my husband, our son and I spent a week in Walt Disney World. My son and I are Annual Passholders at Disneyland, so we upgraded to the Premier pass before we left California. However, when we tried to enter Epcot that first day, something was wrong with our passes. We went to guest services, where a cast member realized there had been a step missed when converting our passes at Disneyland. He would need to talk to processing in Disneyland to get it straightened out, but it was only 7AM on the West Coast. He took my phone number, told me he’d keep us posted with what was happening, and gave us one-day passes to get us into Epcot so we could begin our vacation. Not too long after, he called me to let us know that things were being taken care of, and he would let us know when our passes were fixed. He called a little later to let me know that the passes were now correctly activated, and we could pick them up at guest services at any time. He turned what could have been a frustrating start to a long-anticipated vacation into a non-issue. And on top of that… when we went to guest services to pick up our passes, he had tucked into the envelope a certificate for free ice cream bars, with the reason for the certificate written in as “because you rock!” He was the one who rocked!
Last September while our family was in Disney World, we stood in front of Test Track at Epcot trying to make a decision on what to do. I had never rode TT before since I was pregnant the last time we were at Disney and we have a toddler too small to ride. The wait time was 60 minutes with no fast passes remaining. My husband was telling me to just go ahead and ride it without him and he would wait outside with the baby. Out of no where a Cast Member appears and literally says to us “Why don’t I make a little magic happen for you!” He escorts our entire family of 5 through a little VIP tour of the Test Track Pavilion and puts us first in line to ride! A magical memory our family will never forget!
About two months ago, I was at Magic Kingdom with some friends from my college, waiting for The next Philharmagic show to start. We were Hidden Mickey hunting, so we skimmed through my book one last time for our clues. A cast member came over the intercom with Donald Duck trivia, and asked if anyone knew Donald’s middle name. Well because my parent’s names are Donald and Daisy, I knew the answer and sprinted over to answer Fauntleroy! He game me a Mickey sticker for being right, then noticed my Hidden Mickey book called me over to the side. He told us a few more hidden things to watch out for, and let us stay in the theater for four shows so we could find them all. He made the show even more special for us because now we have a secret for every time we go!
I recently attended Star Wars Weekends with the reopening of Star Tours. My three year old niece LOVES R2-D2 and her parents bought her a R2-D2 toy. The park became VERY crowded (as we expected) and it was also VERY hot. My niece, while walking to the Playhouse Disney show, dropped her new toy and it broke. She was quite sad- but I told her I was going to take it to “fix” it. I found a Disney cast member and told him what happened- the closest place for me to get a new one was at Jabba’s Hut (and the cast member told me there was a two hour wait just to get inside). The cast member said, “Let me see what I can do” and vanished- and about 10 minutes later he arrived with a new R2-D2 toy! My niece was none the wiser when she came out of the Playhouse Disney show. It totally made our day! Thanks for the magic!
We just got back home from our first Disney vacation with our five year old triplets last week. We stayed in a cabin in Ft Wilderness campgrounds. One day, we came back to our cabin early to go swimming, and we met a couple of women from the housekeeping staff who were still cleaning our cabin. When our kids saw them, they immediately started filling them in about our day and showed them the goodies we had just puchased in Magic Kingdom. They stopped, took the time to listen, ask questions, and check out the kids’ toys, and then finished up their work and left. The next day when we returned to the cabin, we found three little bunnies made from wash cloths sitting on top of the TV for the kids, and we found a beautiful swan made from bath towels sitting in our bathroom. That was extremely thoughtful and such a nice surprise, and the kids were thrilled to death with their bunnies! Just goes to show that the magic doesn’t stop when you leave the Magic Kingdom!
That’s true!
On my second trip to Disney, all I wanted was to meet Belle. She was (and still is at over 20) my favorite Disney princess. My family had arrived at the spot in France where we could meet her, but we had just missed her and the Beast. I started crying because that was the one thing I wanted to do, so my Dad went to speak to the handler that had been with them and he told my dad where we needed to be and at what time in order to meet her next time.
When we got there at that time, not only did I get to see Belle first, but she came out of the Cast Member area calling for me by name. That picture and this story is one of my most cherished childhood memory and it is all because of that unknown handler…He or she helped to make my trip so magical I still go back as an adult and feel that magic!
How special! That’s a great memory to have.
On my familys last Disney trip in September 2010, we had two very Magical Moments. While we were at the Animal Kingdom we were chosen to be in the Mickey’s Jammin Jungle Parade. Then on our last day in Disney we had breakfast reservations at the Crystal Palace and showed up at the MK before 8:00am, one of the cast members Dolores came over to us and chose us as the “First Family” and we got a tour of the empty park taking pictures at various sections of the park. We got to arrive at the front of the park on the train with all the characters, we did the countdown in front of everyone waiting to get into the park that day!! It was such a great experience, we got to take alot of pictures in Toon Town which will bring back wonderful memories of years past and this special trip in particular! We got to thank Dolores when we exited the park for picking us as the First Family and making this trip so special for us!
My favorite was the Prince Caspian set – when we walked in and saw him and the setting, I said WOW! out loud. He was so wonderful, I had to get in the picture with my great-nieces. I love looking at it, you can see we were having fun. He asked their names and said they had PRINCESS names and when I said I wanted to be in the picture, he said, “Of course! You’re a high princess, too !” WHAT FUN !!
While visiting the magic kingdom back in march, my youngest daughter and i were on a Pin trading mission (more for her). We were walking the the emporium shop on main street when we stopped in the middle of the store where all the princess and fairy items are and she was conversing with a cast member, about her pins. As I turned around I pointed out a pin of the Citrus bird. I told my daughter and the cast member that my parents have a picture of me when i was a little girl of around 4, in a green dress with a red collar, climbing on a trash can (trying to that is) over by the Citrus Stand (now by Aladin’s flying carpet ride) where the Citrus bird charachter was standing, i desperately wanted to get to him. I can still see that day in my head as clear as ever. The cast member was nicely awed by my story. Marissa asked if i wanted her to trade for the pin, and I said, oh no, you trade for something you want. Next thing i know, as we are walking away, the cast member tapped me on the shoulder and said, thank you for sharing your magical moment with me, i want you to have this, and she gave me her Citrus Bird. That started me on the way to collecting the pins of my childhood memory.
One of my favorite characters is Sebastian, partly because my nickname is “crab”. I am always looking for anything Sebastian and find him hard to find.
I was standing in line with a friend’s daughter to get autographs at Epcot when a cast member noticed my nickname on my backpack. He thought it was funny and I explained why it was there and that I love Sebastian. At that time I noticed a Sebastian pin on his lanyard, I thought I had died and gone to heaven, only problem I didn’t have any pins with me at the time. I told him I would go buy a pin and come back and trade with him and he GAVE me his pin. Very unexpected and yet very classic of the Disney cast members. I have treasured my pin. I can’t wait for the new Little Mermaid area to open at the Magic Kingdom. I hope they have Sebastian memorabilia. I understand it is prevalent in California, not sure why not in Florida. Either way – it made my day. Thanks to all of the cast members for always going above and beyond for the guests as we visit the parks.
On our last outing to Disneyworld and our 2 year old daughter’s first, we decided to do something we had never done during the dozens of previous trips. We made sure to stand in line for virtually every character photo op/signing we came across. As we headed down the path to visit Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore at Animal Kingdom, Eeyore and his escort met us on the path. The cast member invited my daughter to “escort” Eeyore down to his station. She was in heaven. As she walked along, hand in hand with Eeyore, the cast member offered to take a photo of the three of us as well as provided opportunities for me to take photos of my little girl thoroughly delighted. What a treat!
It was our first trip to WDW with our kids, then age 6 and 3. We stayed at the Carribean Beach Resort and every day the custodial staff did different stuff with the stuffed animals we had brought from home and any of the toys we had purchased in the parks. It started with my daughters penguin wearing my glasses and reading a book, the next night he was watching tv. It was such and awesome experience for my kids, while we had a great time at all the parks everyday and usually stayed till the park closed, the kids were not sad to leave because they wanted to see what had happened in the room. We were leaving to go to one of the parks in the morning when we were speculating about what would happen in our room while we were gone. One of the housekeeping staff overheard us and took my kids aside and told them a little secret…..It was tinkerbell who came into the room to move everything about. That little bit of knowledge made the trip extra special. One the last day when we were leaving each of my kids left a note for tinkerbell for making their trip extra fun. I wish i knew who that housekeeper cast member was, she definitely made the trip one to remember and is one of the reasons why we would never think of staying anywhere else but on a disney property when we visit WDW.
We visited Disneyland in March, and decided to watch the fireworks on a tuesday night. At first we were going to sit at the end of main street, near the little place that sells hot dogs, but my 17 year old daughter mentioned that we may see at that well from there, since two trees were in the way. We walked to the middle of main street and just stood there for a minute, wondering if that was a good spot. A CM came by, and my husband asked him if he thought this was a good spot. The CM looked at us, and said “well, it could be, but i have a much better spot for you, please follow me.” We thought, ok, he’s going to get us a little closer to the castle, which still would’ve been nice. Well, much to our surprise, he walked us right into the middle, right behind the Walt and Mickey statue, to a roped off area with benches, opened the rope and pointed to one of the benches, saying “here, i told you i’d have a better spot”. Wow, those were the BEST fireworks ever, even my hubby keeps telling this story to everyone! The CM’s name was Michael, and i’m hoping he knows how much we enjoyed the fireworks that day, and that was an experience we’ll never forget!
The greeter named Arnie at Port Orleans French Quarter made our day. We were leaving, vacation was over, and we were all teary eyed and bummed that it was really time to go home. Arnie looked at my daughter who was so sad and told her, “You… have to go now but it’s OK. See, around here, things are always changing and always getting better. If you go home for a little while, when you come back we will have brand new things to show you. It will be worth the wait, I promise!” He turned her tears into a smile and I will never forget his thoughtfulness towards my daughter.
Last fall, we visited Disney after my husband returned from a long deployment in the Middle East. Unfortunately, all of our restaurant reservations were lost in the computers. I started to panic. Tony Made everything right. He made us lunch reservations, and while we were eating, two cast members came over and presented our three children with lanyards and trading pins — we had never done any pin collecting before, and the kids were thrilled! They turned a potentially confusing and uncomfortable morning into a wonderful memory for all of us.
Three years ago, during the week of Thanksgiving, we were visiting Disney World. We were at the Hollywood Studios and waiting to board the Toy Story ride when my 3 1/2 year old nephew became sick to his stomach and vomitted, soiling his pants and shirt. My sister-in-law promptly left the line and went in search of clothes for him. She found several tshirts at one of the souvenier shops but could not find any pants. The souvenier shop directed him to customer service near the front of the park. They went into customer service, and my sister-in-law explained what had happened. The employee disappeared to the back of the store and came out a few moments later with a pair of fleece pants (new with tags). When my sister-in-law asked what she owed for the pants, the employee kindly said, “They’re a gift from Mickey.”
The time we got to ride in the front of the Monorail, after we arrived at the Magic Kingdom, we were getting ready to step off and get back in line to continue on to our destination, but the conductor told us to stay. There was no one else asking to ride in the front and he let us ride the full circuit in the front. I am 49 years old and still carry my Honorary Monorail Conducter card in my wallet!
Wonderful!
My wife and I spent our honeymood at Disney World in October. We had a magical time. One of the moments that stuck out was our dinner at Cinderella’s castle during the fireworks.My wife had decided she wanted to wear her wedding reception dress to dinner. On our way to the dinner, we had to make our way through the crowd lined up for the last parade of the night. A cast member suggested we find our way to the pavement of main street to get through the crowd. As we walked down Main St, the crowd started applauding and cheering for us as they thought we had just gotten married that moment due to the fact my wife was wearing her white dress and veil. Another cast member helped us get through the crowd in front of Cinderella’s Castle to keep us from having to go through Frontierland. We will remember that walk down Main St for the rest of our lives. I can still hear the crowd to this day.
It was our first trip to Disney World, my 4 year old daughter went to Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique and dress as Cinderella. She was so at awe at herself and how everyone treated her. She was so excited and happy. We walk out and there was Fairy Godmother!!!!!!!!!! Ava just knew it was just for her! FG even showed her how to curtsey, spin, and put her hands for a picture. It was truly magical! I will never forget it nor has Ava. Best part of Disney is watching my kids BELIEVE!
As we wait in line with my 14 month old daughter to see the princesses, I realize I am doing it more for myself than for her, even though she loves them, she won’t remember this. The wait was 60 mins & it flew by. When we met Cinderella, I put my 14 month old on the ground to walk up to her. She asks me Shelby’s name & she says “Hi Tiny Princess Shelby! Look in your hair! That’s me! Oh how wonderful!” And then, the most magical thing in the world happened. Shelby sat on her lap. My always-on-the-go, never be still child, just sat there. Like this was where she belonged. Cinderella looked at me & with the sweetest, most sincere voice asked me, “Can Tiny Princess Shelby come live with me in the castle please?” I almost said yes. I was too busy choking back the tears.When I saw my princess with my favorite Disney princess, I looked over at my husband, tears in my eyes & he smiled at me. He knows that Cinderella has always been my favorite princess & to see her holding MY princess was all my heart could take. I even told Cinderella that she was my favorite princess. She said, “Well I think Tiny Princess Shelby is your favorite now.” I smiled & said yes.I am certain as my daughter gets older, because of this experience, Cinderella will be her favorite princess also. The pictures I got of them together are priceless. I am not sure if she does this with everyone, but it sure made me feel special. She spent a good 10 minutes just holding my daughter & hugging on her so sweetly. So thank you Cinderella for making that the most magical moment in our trip. I will never forget it.
Joni- What a great experience!
Over the past 18 years, cast members have done special little things that make me love Disney even more, but just last week I stayed, with my family, in Disney’s Boardwalk Villas. After returning home from my freshman year of college, I was feeling a little down and trying to erase the “freshman fifteen”. While my family relaxed in the room after a long day at the parks, I went down to the fitness center and ran on the treadmill. Just when I was about to give up, a cast member who happened to be a lifeguard, stopped in front of the windows in the gym and gave me a giant thumbs up. He flashed a huge smile and then kept walking. I laughed and got the extra push I needed, and actually had fun doing it!
I’d like to share a magical moment I gave to some others, though. Near the end of one day at EPCOT, I had about 3 or 4 extra FastPasses. I decided to make some magic. I walked up to strangers (adults and children) and simply asked, “Do you believe in magic?” ! After some curious responses, I asked again, “Do you believe in magic?” And when they said “Yes”, I presented them with a FastPass. Not only did they rejoice in the Magic, I felt the Joy of sharing magic with them. My partner was amazed at the Joy we both felt from sharing the Magic with others!
Thanks for sharing the magic!
When I was a little kid, I had one of those mickey balloons, and i accidentally let it go. I remember crying when a cast memeber came up to me, and found out what happened, she said she would be right back, and she came back with winnie the pooh who handed me a ballon himself!
This past weekend my family and I went to Disneyland to celebrate my nieces 3rd birthday. We stopped by city hall to get her a birthday button. On her button she had the number 3 on it. While waiting for the for roller coaster in toon town the female cast member there wished her a happy birthday, she also tried to guess how hold she was turning. Since her age was on the button she “guessed” correctly, but my niece didn’t know that. Her little face when she confirmed her age was adorable, to top it off they shared a celebratory high five, which made my nieces day even better.
My parents took us kids to Disney many times in the past and they even went by themselves a couple of times. So when my Dad became ill he said he wanted to go to Disney World one last time. We decided to stay on property for the first time for a few days then stay a few days in Orlando. We chose Dixie Landings as it was known then and it was lovley. Dad loved it there so much he wondered if we could stay longer. I secretly spoke with the front desk and told them our circumstances and they said they would see what they could do. They said to check back again the day before we checked out. So the day before we left I checked back again just as everyone was having breakfast. The front desk castmember said to go wait in the cafeteria and they would let me know. Well a few minutes later a cast member found us and said we could stay the extra days and handed us each a new key card for the remainder of our stay and said we did not even have to change rooms. Dad was so surprised and happy and we had a great time. Turns out it was his last trip, but it was magical!
I and many of my family members at both Disneyland and Disney World have had tons of wonderful “pixie dust” moments and that is what keeps us loving Disney and keeps us all coming back year after year.
I had the pleasure of doing two college programs at Walt Disney World. My story happened at the Sci-fi Dine in theater. I had previous experiences when once a cast member found out that i was also a cm, the service wouldn’t be as good. Our server Mike was absoluely amazing. He asked me where i worked, what my favorite part of being a cm was, and just treated us wonderfully. He gave a us a frisbee and stamped speeding ticket on my receipt (i was in the drivers seat). That experience inspired me to create those little moments for everyone i came in contact with. Thanks Mike!
In 2002, my family happened to be at WDW on my birthday and I got my pick of which park to visit. I wanted to go to Animal Kingdom, so that was where we went. While we were purchasing our tickets, my mom made a comment about it being the “most expensive birthday gift ever.” The woman at the window then gave me a great, big “It’s my Birthday” button. And within a half hour of being in the park I had a cast member approach me and offer me his pin lanyard, saying that I could chose any pin that I wanted. I picked a ballerina Minnie, which I still have to this day. That was my most memorable birthday.
In 2008 I took my kids to WDW. Also on this trip was my mother and 3 of my nieces. This was my mother and my 5th time to WDW but my kids and nieces 1st. We wanted to stay at POP but after I booked my reservation I started booking my mother’s and noticed the POP was not available. I called to book her reservation and found out mine had been booked at All Star Music, not POP. I told the CM that it was fine (I have stayed there before and love it). I asked him if we could get connecting rooms so that we would all be together. He informed that All Stars does not have connecting rooms but he would put us in rooms side by side. I told him that would be great. Once we arrived we found out that he had upgraded us for free to 2 family suites right beside each other. 2 rooms beside each other would have been fine, I couldn’t believe he took the step to give us suites just because we couldn’t get connecting rooms. I wish I had remembered his name so I could have wrote to Disney about how wonderful it was!
I just took the tour Keys to the Kingdom yesterday with my mom and the tour guide, Janson, was awesome! He was so funny, energetic, and super nice. I’ve been going to Disney since I was a baby and now I’m a yearly pass holder so I go all the time and this past trip will always be one of my favorite trips!!! He made it such a memorable experience and I can’t say enough good things about him! I want to take the tour again and I hope he is still working there when I do, because I will definitely request him!!!
One of the fondest memories I have of a trip to Disneyland was when Wade from the dream squad in 2008 helped me propose to my girlfriend with a private ride on the Storybookland boats during the fireworks when the ride isn’t running. A Cast Member took us out on the water and with the backdrop of the fireworks and music I got down on one knee. When we came back around Wade had a ton of other Cast Members standing there cheering when they heard she had said yes and he handed us bride and groom Mickey ears. He and the rest of the dream team then took us to Fantasmic where they gave us special seating and honored us there too! I’ve been to Disneyland 6 times since then with my wife and we always track Wade down wherever he is to thank him for making one of the most important moments in my life even more magical. He made us feel like the most important people in the magic kingdom that day and every time we visit. Cast Members are special people and make Disneyland the GREATEST place in the world.
How exciting! That attraction will be special to you for years to come, I’m sure.
My husband surprised me with my longstanding “Disney dream” getaway in January for my birthday. (Well, I suppose it wasn’t much of a getaway, as we live 5 miles from the park & have annuals, but our monthly, on-site, long weekends are our version of vacation.) We stayed 4 nights at the Animal Kingdom Lodge & it was simply amazing. The last day/night of our stay didn’t go very well. Long story short – our character breakfast at Ohana was ruined by another set of guests & this started a chain of events that just went badly wrong that day. To top it off, I had discovered that a VERY dear family member had just passed away unexpectedly. When we returned from dinner that evening, it all caught up with me. As much as I tried to be discreet, I was slightly crying as we crossed the lobby. A very observant Cast Member took notice of this & brought me a box of tissues, kindly asking if I was okay. I apologized for my state & very briefly explained that being my actual bday, the day’s events were particularly hard to accept. An hour later, I received an amazing gourmet gift basket in my room, along with stuffed Mickeys for my kids. The basket also contained confirmation of a FREE character breakfast @ Cape May the next morning, along with private transportation for my family. Shortly after, the same INCREDIBLE Cast Member called my room to see if I was ok & to extend her personal wishes for a magical birthday. Walt would have been so very proud. I was utterly speechless & grateful beyond belief. Absolutely an unnecessary act of legitimate, true human kindness.
We were on our daughter’s Make A Wish trip in April, 2008. We were dining at 1900 Park Fare for dinner. Bobbi Z was helping the characters that day. She and the manager, Lynn, went OUT OF THEIR WAY to make sure both my girls had a magical experience.
Bobbi chatted with us about our dining plans for the trip and if we had everything we needed. I mentioned we couldn’t get into Chef Mickey’s. Not a huge deal for us. Bobbi however took it upon herself to get us a dining reservation there!
Lynn noticed my girls didn’t have lanyards and viola, my girls had lanyards AND pins!
They set up a private meet and greet with Cinderella and her friends in the courtyard. The stepsisters serenaded us (hysterical). I’ll NEVER forget the laughter that came from my girls that day.
Lynn is no longer at 1900 Park Fare but Bobbi has become a wonderful friend of the family. We are sure to visit her at 1900 Park Fare or Crystal Palace every trip. My girls are always remembering that magical day at 1900 Park Fare and how amazing Bobbi and Lynn were to us.
Back in 2001 I would sketch Disney characters and take my drawings to the park so that they could be signed by the character on the page. At check in at the Grand Floridian, I was a very excited little girl. I showed my drawings to everyone at the front desk, but one cast member stuck out in particular. He looked at every single drawing and told me how wonderful they were. On the last full day of our trip, we were notified that a car had arrived for us. We thought it was some sort of mistake, but when we arrived in the lobby, Ariel, the cast member, was waiting for us. He had arranged a trip for my family and I to go to Hollywood Studios to meet the Disney Animators. We met with the artists, took pictures, and even took home some of their original sketches. Until today, Ariel and I still email back and forth. We also meet whenever my family takes another vacation to our favorite place on earth. Ariel has had a huge impact on the way I think about strangersand how I can help them on a daily basis. Walt Disney World is truely amazing!
Wow, that is amazing! What a great alternative to carrying around an autograph book, too.
In 2004 I took my parents and brother to Disneyland in Anaheim for our first dream holiday as a family. While waiting in line at the bakery on Main Street to get coffee, my Mum burst out in tears through sheer happiness. The server asked her if she was OK and upon learning that she had waited over 40 years for the visit to California, the Cast Member removed a pin from his shirt and gave it to her to remember her first moments in Disneyland. She treasures that pin now. I can’t remember the man’s name but I’ll never forget his kindness to a very happy lady!
What a great memory. That must have been a very special trip.
While at Hollywood Studios for the reopening of Star Tours on May 20, we were waiting with the crowds to see the opening ceremony. There was a family beside us with 2 little boys playing with their light sabers. A guy in his 20s or so who was also waiting for the festivities to begin put on his Jedi robe, pulled out his own light saber and began showing the boys tricks. It was fun to watch and helped pass the time. Later that day, we heard singing from one of the very long lines to see the characters and realized it was the same guy from earlier, just having fun where he was.
We were walking through the World Showcase at Epcot a few days later, when I noticed a cast member with a pin I wanted to trade. After I walked off, I realized it was the same person we had seen at Hollywood Studios! Even when not “on duty” he had been working to bring magic to the guests.
My family and I took a trip to WDW when I was 15. Too old to get caught up in the magic and too young to know how fun the magic is. We were at dinner at the Coral Reef in EPCOT and had just ordered when I noticed that there was a turtle that got lodged in between the glass and a rock in the corner of the aquarium. As the waiter came by to refill our drinks, my mom made a comment that I was worried about the turtle. I told the waiter that it really appeared stuck (it was trying to swim but couldn’t get lose). As our dinner arrived, we watched as a cast member in full scuba gear jumped in the tank, swam down to dislodged the turtle. He then swam over and waved to us at our table. It’s been 20 years and it is still one of my favorite memories.
Very cool! Coral Reef is a great place.
I have been to various Disney Parks around the world, and each one holds wonderful memories. But one of my favorite CM magical moments would be at WDW back in Aug 2004. We were having a last-minute mini family reunion-type vacation (my mom was one of 8 siblings and 3 others were already going when we decided to). Well, my youngest cousin (he was probably about 11) wanted to go on Star Tours, but his older brother and some of the others wanted to go do something else; so my mom, my aunt and I took him over. While we were waiting in line, the CM brought him over to the control panel where he could watch the monitor of the people currently riding. He even let him release the doors at the end. My cousin was so excited! The CM told us to wait around after our “tour” was done. When we exited the ride, he had a certificate all ready to be filled out with my cousin’s name, making him an honorary piolt. And just so I wouldn’t feel left out, he made one for me, naming me the world’s best cousin! We both felt very special and he couldn’t wait to show his dad and brother. We made sure we stopped by City Hall (and wrote a letter when we got home) to let them know just how much this meant to us (all the more so after we lost my uncle 5 months later). Thank you Disney (especially the great CMs) for helping add just a little extra magic to an already precious vacation!
A few years back my daughter and I were sitting on the curb across from the Main St. Bakery, when a cast member came out and handed her a Mickey shapped rice crispy treat! my daughters face lit up. a true magical experience!
While celebrating Christmas at Disney World this past December (2010), we stopped for lunch at Pizzafari. The restaurant was packed. A cast member approached our table and asked our two granddaughters (ages 4 and 6) if they would like to lead the restaurant in a song. They chose “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer”. They sang their hearts out and loved the applause that followed. Afterwards, a plate of gingerbread men, frosting, and decorations was brought to the table and the cast member who chose the girls to sing helped us decorate the cookies. We had many magical experiences during this most recent visit to WDW, but the girls are still talking about singing in the restaurant.
How special is that!! What a great holiday memory!
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