Simple Thing a Cast Member Did...

[Gibbs]

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!

Wow! Great experiences. I do believe the cast members make all the difference!

 

[Celesdragon]

I think I'm very lucky in that I've managed to get a little bit of dust on 3 out of 3 trips.

Trip 1 - My best friend and I were staying at AKL and were supposed to be in a standard room, but they moved us up to a (partial?) Savannah view. The room was literally the last possible room on the Zebra trail, so it was a pretty long walk every time we wanted something, but hey, we had giraffes and zebras outside our balcony every morning! We were hanging out at the bar overlooking Boma one night, and the bartender asked us how far to our room. Once she found out, she gave us an extra drink to go, to ensure we stayed 'well-hydrated on our cross-country hike".

Trip 2 - A group of us were exiting from Test Track when a CM pulled over another one of my friends and handed her a hand-written FP for the entire group. She claimed "shhh, I love your shirt, but I'm not allowed to say that". It was for a Nickelodeon show, rather than a Disney show. She let us walk back up through the exit and get right back on a car.

Trip 3 - Two of my friends and I went last year over Labor Day weekend, and attempted to close out MK since it stayed open until 3am. We were talking about calling it quits while waiting in line at Space Mountain, since the crowds were getting very cranky due to the heat & humidity (even at midnight!).

We ended up having to stand and wait about three times right at the loading zone for 'passing meteor showers' and everyone was getting even more restless about the wait, that when it started back up and we were motioned forward, a group ran ahead of us and took the front car that we had been directed to. We just shrugged and got into the next car that pulled up. Not worth getting all annoyed over.

But when we got down to unloading, we were tapped on the shoulder by one of the cast members. She pulled us from the exit line and sent us back up a hidden corridor to the loading zone where the CM in charge of loading plopped us right back in front of the line to ride it again. He said that since the other group had taken our seats, he made sure we got to ride it a second time in a row without waiting.

All small things, but they were enough to make us feel special each time. Especially since our groups were always adults-only, no children. Made it feel more special that they took the time to notice and take care of us without any little princesses/princes hanging around.

 

[Burnedout]

My little guy puked everywhere in our room. We cleaned up and explained to housekeeping. They of course brought us clean towels and bedding and thanked us for rinsing and bagging. A couple of days later there were two beanies (for sick boy and brother) and an autographed mickey and the gang 8x10. It made the Ick of the trip better.

 

[apr9twins]

In October of '11 we were celebrating our 10th anniversary and the day we arrived the Orlando area was getting the most rain they had had in years - pouring, all day long. We didn't care - got our ponchos on and headed to the MK. We had so many CM wish up happy anniversary, it was wonderful. Then we saw the Dapper Dans and they pulled us over to the side (under the movie theater marquee), put my husband in the middle of them, and sang "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" (He add the 'You' part of each line) - it was great! Pouring rain, Mickey ponchos, getting a wonderful serenade on Main Street USA.