Simple Thing a Cast Member Did...

[Happitoo]

Back when my daughter was 3 we took a trip to Disney World with my friend and his wife.

We were at AK and my friends went to ride the safari. My daughter had fallen asleep on my lap while I was sitting on a bench nearby, so we didn't go with them.

Where I was sitting apparently was right near the end of Jammin' Jungle Parade right before all the floats etc. go backstage. So with my sleeping daughter, I figure, screw it, I'll go watch the parade. So I scoop her up and wander over to watch since nobody was standing anywhere nearby.

One of the performers sees my daughter sleeping in my arms and turns around to all the other performers singing and dancing, puts her fingers to her lips and mouths "Shhhhh... she's sleeping".

I thought it was cute, but then all the performers start singing in whispers, and the music that's being played actually got quieter. And the whole "Shhh... She's sleeping" keeps going from performer to performer all the way through the parade. King Louie mimes "Shhhh... She's sleeping", people on stilts going "shhh... she's sleeping" and every vehicle, every performer gets quieter, all the way through the whole parade, from beginning to end they lowered the volume and told the performers behind them that she was sleeping as they passed by us. It was pretty neat.

Same trip, my daughter had fallen asleep in her stroller. It was around 5pm and we had 6pm reservations for O'Hana. My friend wanted to ride Pirates as he hadn't had a chance to yet (he was sick the first couple days of our trip). There was a 20 minute wait, so I figured they had time to do it, then we leave, hit the monorail and we're good. So I go find a place to sit down with my daughter while they ride.

They come back maybe 15 minutes later saying they were done and had already rode Pirates. I was confused since it should have been longer. They explain that when they went to go get in line there was a manager and staff member talking about opening up more switchbacks or whatever they're called. My friend was like "oh... does that mean the line is longer than 20 minutes?" and they go "yes, a lot longer". My friend then explained that he was hoping to get it in before dinner since he had missed it earlier in the week due to being sick but it was fine, and goes to leave. They stop him and take him/his wife through the back way and put him on a boat right away.

Alice also insisted on taking a picture with my daughter in Epcot even though she had fallen asleep (are you seeing a theme here) so we have a picture of my daughter passed out in a stroller next to Alice crouching down.

And finally, the time I got to spread Disney magic. On the same trip, my daughter (who is completely awake) and I were waiting at the CBR bus stop by the pirate rooms for a bus to go to AK for breakfast at Tusker House.

So an Epcot bus rolls up, nobody on it, nobody gets on. We keep waiting, more people show up. An Epcot bus rolls up, nobody on it, nobody gets on. We keep waiting. An Epcot bus rolls up, nobody on it, nobody gets on. We keep waiting. This goes on for around 25 minutes. We end up with about 30 people waiting at the bus stop going to AK. We keep getting Epcot buses. You can see everyone get excited when a bus starts pulling up, and then visibly deflate when they realize it's another empty Epcot bus.

So I grab the phone that's there (which I'm pretty sure is only supposed to be for cast members) and go "Hi, there's about 30 people standing at {whatever bus stop I was at} waiting on an AK bus for the past half an hour and we keep getting Epcot buses that are empty." The person on the other end of the line goes "Oh, sorry, we'll get an AK bus there ASAP". As I'm hanging up the phone a bus starts rounding the corner. People get excited... EPCOT! everyone deflates, sign suddenly changes to AK and I scream out "DISNEY MAGIC!!" and wave my hands around like a magician/idiot.

 

[pampam]

During our last Disney trip, my fiance and I went to Main Street Bakery to get some hot chocolate before the fireworks. It was necessary since it was only about 40 degrees outside! The women taking our order noticed my "Just Engaged" pin and congratulated us. (DF had proposed two days earlier.) I didn't realize until we picked up our order that she had decorated our cups with hearts and written "Congratulations Y'all!" It was a small gesture, but it made my day!

This is a great experience.

 

[gometros]

It's sometimes the little things that makes a difference. We're here now and two things stand out. We were in the Main Street Confectionary getting cake pops and I was admiring the Olaf candy apple commenting that I could never eat a whole one. When we paid, the CM slipped us a container holding a few slices of Olaf.

In DHS we took pictures on Hollywood Blvd. John wanted my wife to think of me as her Prince Charming, but I kidded that I thought of myself more as Gaston. We didn't the day there and upon leaving, we came upon John again and he stopped me, saying he was thinking of me all day. He had some ideas he wanted to work with based around the Gaston theme. So he took some more pictures with very cute poses.

Like I said, no biggie, but I'll always remember both gestures (and yes, I stopped by Guest Services on the way out ;-)

Btw, CMs can have Magic moments too. My daughter is a photopass photographer and was working by the International Gateway the other day. A little girl hugged hey and thanked her for taking their picture. Then the next day, in MK, she was asked for HER autograph. As she said on her FB post, that's why she moved down to work for the Mouse.

Sandy
Sent from my Nexus 7 using DISBoards

 

[InfiniteTape]

Last fall, we had an early flight out, so DS5 and I wandered down to the ASMo food court, luggage in hand, as soon as it opened. The boy was really looking forward to one last Mickey waffle. Unfortunately, the CM told us that hot food wouldn't start for another 30 minute. My son took it pretty well, hung his head and wandered off to the cooler for milk.

We waited for the cereal cart to come out. The same CM waved at us from behind the counter and said the first batch of batter was already ready, so she was making us a hot breakfast. "Woohoo!" from the boy.

She asked how our trip went as we paid for the food, and we agreed it had been great. I decided to ask if she knew where to find Mickey Straws (the ones where it twists to make the Mickey head, not the ones with toys or printed patterns). They were probably my favorite souvenir from my trip as a boy, and my son's straw had been ruined in the dishwasher. She said that they move them around, but that she didn't think there were any at ASMo.

Once DS was eating, I took our pile of spare change over to the coin presses for a few more collectables. When I got back, he was proudly holding 4 Mickey Straws, each a different color, with a huge grin on his face.

 

[ConnieB]

Last June, my son had just become OBSESSED with Phineas & Ferb and was totally bummed that there was nothing in the parks about them. We had gone out to the Wal Mart in Kissimmee and found a Perry shirt, so he had to wear it to DHS the next day. When we were getting off of Rock N Roller Coaster, one of the CM's ran over and said, "Did you enjoy your ride, Agent P?" and proceeded to sing Perry's theme song. You should have seen the smile on that kid's face. Little things like that make me go back to WDW.

Just in case you aren't aware, P&F now have a scavenger hunt type game in EPCOT. My kids aren't into that show much, so we haven't played, but I've seen lots of families with the little cell phone player. I think you pick up your game at the Main entrance, but I think I also saw a booth right at the UK end of the bridge (maybe for those coming in the back entrance). Anyway...next time you go be sure to look into this game for him!

 

[momtosam]

Our biggest pixie dust last trip actually came at Universal. My son really wanted a wand from Harry Potter and asked me if he had enough money left. The girl at the stand overheard him and whispered to me, "Don't worry." I told him that he needed a few more dollars, which I would give him, but then he'd be out of spending money. The girl smiled again and whispered, "It's okay," and then she rang him up with a 20% discount. He ended up with a few bucks back in his pocket and was super happy with his wand.

 

[nyislandersprincess]

I have a friend who absolutely ADORES the movie Brother Bear. She has seen it well over a hundred times and just loves everything about it. Every time I've been to Disney, she always asks me to bring her back something Brother Bear related. But I'd never been able to find anything!

Well, when I was there in January, I'd sent her a picture of the bears sketched on the wall of the animators building in DHS. She LOVED it, and probably would have been happy with just that. I was excited to have finally just found SOMETHING with Brother Bear!

But the next day, while I was in EPCOT and exploring the shop in Canada, I found an entire shelf FULL of plush Kodas!! I was so excited, I grabbed one and immediately headed over to the counter to pay for it. The CM working the cash register struck up a conversation with me and asked me if I liked the movie. I admitted that I had never seen it, and that the bear was for my friend who adored the movie and had been asking for YEARS for something Brother Bear related from the parks. That's when she showed me that she also had a Koda pin on her lanyard!

I was really impressed, and replied that I wished I had brought some of my own pins along, because I would have traded with her. She looked around once or twice, took the pin off, and put it in the bag with the plush Koda! I couldn't believe it! She said my friend had obviously been waiting a really long time, and deserved a little extra Brother Bear. I had the biggest smile on my face and kept thanking her repeatedly. It made me so happy! It was so wonderful that a CM was so willing to help me make a friend happy.

 

[Narawen]

My BFF and I were at MK last fall and stopped to watch the dance party in Tomorrowland. We were hanging around the perimeter of the dance area, just watching all the little ones bust a move with the characters. When it came time for Pluto to take a break, he walked over to us (on the opposite side of the dance floor from where he had to exit) and gave us both a big hug and dog kiss before walking off. Small gesture, totally made our night.

 

[freckles04]

On our first trip in 2012, I did a ton of research. I hadn't been since I was my son's age, so I was basically a total first-timer. On our first day, we went to Epcot. We hit Soarin' first to grab paper FP and then rode TT. Only, despite all of my research, I didn't realize we BOTH needed a FP, because I only got 1. (I know, seems silly now, but I was a dumb newbie back then!) When we returned to Soarin, the CM told me I should have gotten one for both of us, but then decided to let us through. He turned what would have been a very sad first day into a magical one.

 

[BrownHP800]

My wife and I were celebrating our 25th anniversary and had our pins on as we walked up to see Beauty and the Beast show. An older CM asked us how many years and we said 25 and he told a younger CM to escort us to the VIP section for the show. That was really neat.

 

[dramadrew]

One of the biggest mistakes you can make at HS is miss your TSM FP. And we did that! We showed up at Tower of Terror at that time and noticed we still had time for that FP. DH had the list and I did not bother to check. We soon realized we missed it. A FP kiosk CM tried to look for us, but the next one wasn't until that evening and we would be in MK by then. However, seeing us dismay, he hit back, tried again, and found an afternoon spot. Just that little extra effort made a difference!

 

[Fishteacher]

While on our first disney cruise we headed down to breakfast and my daughter was super excited to get a plate of Mickey waffles. Unfortunately, they did not have them on the buffet this morning. A cast member who overheard me telling my daughter that she would have to get them the next day came over to my daughter and asked her how many Mickey waffles she would like. My daughters face lit up as he personally delivered them to our table!

 

[texasbelle12]

When my family and I went back in 2003, we took a break from the parks for my brother & sister to take a nap (ages 4 and 9, respectively), and went back to the POR. Once they were recharged we got back on a bus to take us back to the parks. There was one one other family at our stop, so it was a very empty bus. Our bus driver was hilarious! Instead of going ahead and playing the regular bus music, he introduced it as "Bob's Bus Ride of Terror," speaking in a "scary" voice and slowly switched the lights on and off (since it was still daylight outside, my brother was not scared and laughed). We chatted with him and learned he was retired and loved driving the buses! I didn't want to get off the bus! Easily the most memorable bus ride of all of our visits!

 

[stephwtx]

During our recent trip to MK we had a great sprinkle of Pixie Dust or 2!

1. My DD and DS dressed as Ariel and Eric on evening. We originally had FP to meet Ariel and then were going to ride her ride SB but bc they were both so tired I had to bump them til later and go back to the resort to rest. We returned that evening w a FP to ride and were going to meet Ariel SB. My DS is 2 and super active. We got to the Grotto and there was a 25 min wait posted. Man it is hot in that place! DS was getting really squirmy so DH and I decided we would come back later. I was a lil sad bc I knew DS white shirt was not going to be white for much longer l. As we were walking out I just happened to stop and ask the CM what time does the line get shorter? There was no way we were going to be able to wait that long w a wiggly 2 year old. Her face just lit up and said oh Prince Eric your princess is inside waiting for you!! She escorted through the FP line to the 2nd scanner and told the CM the Prince Eric need to be waved through. She was giggling the entire time and kept saying we've never had a visit from Eric! About that time every CM from the MG showed up to watch lol. It really made our evening and trip!

 

[stephwtx]

Sorry I hit send!

2 A couple days later we were at HS. My DS and DD wanted to meet Mr Incredible and Frozone in their Dash and Violet costumes. Someone (read me) didn't read the time guide right so we were 15 mins early for their first m&g. So we plop down at the front of the line and wait. Dad and ads were walking around the area in their full costume when the employee walked out of the drawing w the animator area and walked over to us. (He wasn't a regular CM because he didn't have a costume. he was dressed in business casual clothes. He did have a name badge on but I don't remember his name.) he reached into his bag and pulled out some paper and started writing as he was talking us. He asked DS and DD what their fav part of the movie was etc. they talked for a few mins and then he handed my DD a paper FP for Toy Story Mania! It was very kind of him!

Ok my 3rd lol
My DD and I were meeting Tink. I was wearing my awesome Petes Dragon shirt. It's my favorite disney movie and I sing the sound track all the time lol DD had an awesome interaction w her. I was hanging back holding the autograph books and watching. As my DD was saying goodbye Tink turned to me and said When you see Elliot (the dragons name( in the parade tonight be sure you give him some roasted apples! Those are his favorite. I smiled all night long : ) I'm glad someone else shared my love for Pete and Elliot!

 

[peel]

Back when my daughter was 3 we took a trip to Disney World with my friend and his wife.

We were at AK and my friends went to ride the safari. My daughter had fallen asleep on my lap while I was sitting on a bench nearby, so we didn't go with them.

Where I was sitting apparently was right near the end of Jammin' Jungle Parade right before all the floats etc. go backstage. So with my sleeping daughter, I figure, screw it, I'll go watch the parade. So I scoop her up and wander over to watch since nobody was standing anywhere nearby.

One of the performers sees my daughter sleeping in my arms and turns around to all the other performers singing and dancing, puts her fingers to her lips and mouths "Shhhhh... she's sleeping".

I thought it was cute, but then all the performers start singing in whispers, and the music that's being played actually got quieter. And the whole "Shhh... She's sleeping" keeps going from performer to performer all the way through the parade. King Louie mimes "Shhhh... She's sleeping", people on stilts going "shhh... she's sleeping" and every vehicle, every performer gets quieter, all the way through the whole parade, from beginning to end they lowered the volume and told the performers behind them that she was sleeping as they passed by us. It was pretty neat.

That is one of the coolest Disney stories I've ever heard.

 

[Travelgrrl]

We have quite a few, considering we haven't been too many times:

Went with my son, his best friend (in a wheelchair, visibly differently abled), and his mom. They let us ride Star Wars 4x in a row, as it took quite awhile to buckle B***** into his seat. (Well, 3x was enough for me. Queasy!) When we finally emerged, Chewbacca was outside, with a good long line. As we passed by, the CM swooped her arm around the boys and pulled them to the front of the line. "Chewbacca, here are two very special friends of yours!" A thrill for two Star Wars nuts. (The entire week was like that with B*****, even offsite. People will truly be kind to a disabled child, and include his little friend as well.)

At Epcot, my daughter was carrying her Lee Middleton doll with her (they look and feel very much like real babies) and a handsome French boy stopped her in France and said: "May I kees your bebe?" and then kissed her doll. Then he asked if he could kiss her, and did, on her cheek. She was beyond delighted, and I always laugh, thinking of it, as she was young enough to still proudly carry a doll to the parks, but old enough to appreciate getting kissed by a handsome Frenchman.

A few years later, on a Disney cruise, our French waiter tried to get the kids to eat snails. He brought an extra escargot appetizer for them to try and share. The kids were resistant and just kind of messed up the bread crumbs and butter on top so it looked as if they'd been sampled. The waiter didn't fall for that ruse and hand fed them each a snail. Which they loved, and still love! I turned 40 on the same cruise and the Head Waiter (a woman) made a huge deal out of it, presenting me with a cake and fancy pin.

Once at Illuminations my daughter spied some silk roses that were lit up and we asked the price - sadly more than the cash I had with me. (We were on a budget in those days and souvenirs were few and far between.) After we walked away (my daughter resigned, me a little embarrassed), the CM came running up and gave her one. I tried to give him the cash I did have (about 2/3's of the price) and he wouldn't take it. She kept it in her room for years!

We're going this fall on an all girls trip and this thread makes me excited. I hate all the negative "It's not what it used to be" threads. A vacation is what you make of it - and a little pixie dust is long remembered.

 

[waltsdream]

I love this board so much! I've really loved reading everyone's stories - thank you for posting them, they have truly warmed my heart!!

I believe our most recent trip, early May 2014, was one of the most magical in my memory. Our character interactions were all extremely special, which meant a lot to us as we are all young women in our 20s - it made us feel very special that they took such care to make our visit magical even though there were no kids in our group.

Here are the top 3 most magical interactions of our trip:

1) I met Mickey & Minnie at AK while my friends rode Everest. It was my first time meeting Minnie this trip, and ever since I was just a baby my visits with her have always been very special to me - I LOVE Minnie! When I met her this trip, she pointed out the "Graduating from College!" pin I was wearing and made a big fuss about it. After signing my book, she shooed Mickey out of the meet area and back towards the photographer and made him hold my autograph book. Then she gave me a big hug and we got a picture one on one, followed by another hug and big kisses. I didn't notice until the bus back to the resort later what she had written in my book:



I'm not afraid to admit that I was crying all the way back to the resort after reading this. This truly touched my heart and I will treasure this forever. It means so much to me that a character I've loved and looked up to since I was a baby told me to follow my dreams!

2) When we met Rapunzel for the first time this trip, I presented my newly purchased Pascal plush to her and she went NUTS. She told us to sneak up on him and act like we were ignoring him. When she counted to three, we all snuck up and gave him a kiss:



3) We met Peter Pan on our last day and I was SO excited to meet him - his story has always been one of my very favorites. Well, during our meet in typical Peter fashion he wandered off and found a stick. I don't know what got into me, but suddenly I was holding out my marker he used to sign my book and we were in a sword fight - when my marker cap fell off he proclaimed that he had won. Then I shyly asked him if I could crow with him. He said, "of course," and grabbed my autograph books from me and threw the on the ground, saying "you won't need those, books are for grownups." Then he grabbed my hand and we ran out of the meet area and snuck up on a poor tour group to scare with our crows.



BEST. MOMENT. EVER!!!!!

I'm a little embarrassed to admit that even half an hour after meeting Peter I was still shaking like a leaf and blushing from excitement that this had happened to me!!!!

 

[ArchPsyduck]

I hadn't been to WDW since I was a kid (now 35). My wife and I went for our first time at AK. We found a path that wasn't really marked so we figured we'd just see what was there. It ended up being the meet and greet area for Pooh and his friends. We stood in line for pictures, no autographs, and as I was leaving, Pooh went to his handler and got a marker and note card; he wrote: "Pooh [heart] Woot Shirt," in reference to the T-shirt I was wearing. A nice personal note, and got us hooked on meeting the Real Characters in the parks.

That that same trip, my camera died when meeting Sorcerer Mickey. Mickey took the camera from the Photopass guy, waved his hands over it and it turned on. That mouse really is magic.

Our second trip we met PUSH in tomorrow land. He singled me out of a group and asked where I was from. After telling him I was from Indiana, he mentioned he loved that movie! His favorite character was the giant boulder and the beginning. I ended up being chased briefly by a trash can as it belted out the theme to Raiders of the Lost Arc!

 

[t_daniels]

I hadn't been to WDW since I was a kid (now 35). My wife and I went for our first time at AK. We found a path that wasn't really marked so we figured we'd just see what was there. It ended up being the meet and greet area for Pooh and his friends. We stood in line for pictures, no autographs, and as I was leaving, Pooh went to his handler and got a marker and note card; he wrote: "Pooh [heart] Woot Shirt," in reference to the T-shirt I was wearing. A nice personal note, and got us hooked on meeting the Real Characters in the parks.

That that same trip, my camera died when meeting Sorcerer Mickey. Mickey took the camera from the Photopass guy, waved his hands over it and it turned on. That mouse really is magic.

Our second trip we met PUSH in tomorrow land. He singled me out of a group and asked where I was from. After telling him I was from Indiana, he mentioned he loved that movie! His favorite character was the giant boulder and the beginning. I ended up being chased briefly by a trash can as it belted out the theme to Raiders of the Lost Arc!

THAT is adorable. I never met Push, but..sounds so cute!