Your Disney Magic Moment?

[acf_1991]

Hello DISer family!
I was talking to DBF and I was telling him I would love to open up the gates for WDW. He quickly bursted my bubble and said it probably wouldn't happen/ :
Anyway, what was your magical experience? Did you get to be the honorary family of the day? Let's hear those magical stories.

 

[Macduffy]

We ordered a cake for DS(4) birthday at Chef Mickey's. I also got a few extra options added (signed card etc.). We felt like royaly! everyone was so nice and made sure to stop by to wish DS a happy birthday - even all the characters made a big deal over the cake and our little celebration - everyone in the restaurant noticed too LOL
Disney is so good at doing that

 

[stashbin]

I know this sounds cliche' but every moment is magical when we are at DW.
The fact that we do the dining plan and everything is paid for up front allows it to seem "free" while we are there. We forget everything else in the outside world and just immerse ourselves in everything Disney.
We leave our phones in the room, we take Disney transportation...we just soak it up!

 

[smitch425]

My hubby likes to wear various University of Dayton shirts/hats when we are out of town because we usually run into a UD alum just about every place we travel to. We were near the Magic Carpets and the CM running the Jasmine/Aladdin meet and greet started waving to us and yelling "I'm from Dayton, too!" We walked over to her and she asked us a bunch of questions and we started talking about UD basketball. As it turned out, she was friends with my (age 5 at the time) daughter's favorite player. She asked if we had met Jasmine and Aladdin yet and we already had. She then went over to the snack place near there to try to get us something for free, but it was really busy and she couldn't get anyone's attention. We let her know that she didn't have to give us any special treatment, but she was intent on doing something. She finally said "Here, I want you to take this", and she took off her lanyard full of Disney pins and placed it around my daughter's neck! It was such a wonderful moment! The crummy thing was that we had given our backpack with our camera to my in-laws and they were in the Tiki Room when all of this happened so we didn't get any pics with her. It was a day we will never forget! My DD (now 8) has the lanyard displayed in her room and has no plans to ever trade her "special" pins.

 

[lucie]

when we was at disneyland paris for my sons frist time and he was really into peter pan we meet him at our hotle DLH and p/pan took him on a flying trip around the large lobby/reception. and then cinderella joined him too and that was 2008 and he still tells people now!

 

[mommy-on-the-move]

I think all three of the main ones that stand out for me were involving our oldest son- he was 5 at the time and has ASD, dyspraxia and a few other issues but was entirely "into" everything.

He was chosen to do Pirate school with Jack Sparrow and he stood taking it all in so, so intently- he absolutely treasures the scroll he got at the end of it (not to mention the fact I sat down to nurse DS2 on the bench at the side and when Captain Jack made his run to "escape" he came running passed and hurdled us )

The same day he was then asked to "captain" the jungle cruise boat through the water fall whilst our guide had to use their gun (he really, truly thought he was driving it!)

and then at Epcot in Turtle Talk with Crush he was one of the children who got to speak to Crush- he asked his name and when he told him it was Jude he kept calling him "Jammin' Jude-Dude" DS told Crush he could swim really well (which DH, my parents and I were all giggling about as at that stage DS had done 3 years of swimming lessons and still needed 1 on 1 support in the water due to his dyspraxia- he talks a good game! )

For my girls it was arriving in Cinderellas carriage on my sisters wedding day along with their Grandad. I cried alot that day- I am a sucker at weddings!

 

[princessmom29]

Mine is small but was pretty siginificat to us. I work hardo n custom outfits for DD to wear to the parks each day. Thanksgiving day this yrea we were in DHS and it was the most crowded we have ever seen Thanksgiving day. We got some things done early in the morning, but it was getting really packed and we were getting tired and sort of run down toward afternoon. We rode RNRC with out fastpass. It was DD's first time and she loved it. She asked to go agian as we were getting off and i told her it was a 2 hour wait and FP's were gone so we would miss dinner if we went. The CM unloading noticed DD's toy story outfit and complimented her on it. She gave him a polite thanks and he said "follow me". He put os through the hallway with the test car and right back on the ride! It was awesome for DD!

 

[monkey30]

A few times on our last trip, our kids were chosen to have a 'magical moment' where they got extra special cupcakes to decorate and cool little chefs hats. One time was at the resort, and one time was at Chef mickeys, it was great the kids loved it!

 

[dizneechic]

We've had SO many over the years, but one of my recent favorites had to do with my dd when we were there for her 5th birthday. Her birthday day we did the princess breakfast in Norway and with the typical fanfare of cupcake and princess card and hooplah, it was wonderful enough. The real magic was a few days later when we had breakfast at CRT and Belle went up to my dd and told her she was so excited to see her again, she had remembered her from Akershus a few days prior. My dd still tells everyone that her and Belle are friends because they remembered each other and it was by far her favorite moment of that trip.

 

[pyrxtc]

I think my favorite memory was last January when we brought my mother, not a Disney person, for her first visit to WDW. The magic happened before we even got there. We stopped for breakfast and my DH was nice enough to let us go into the outlets that were near the IHOP. We specifically went into Character Warehouse. My mother is a talker and she was telling the CM's that she was going for her first visit and wasn't sure what to expect or if she would like it but that I was making her go with us.

We shopped for a little bit and chatted. I think we were the only ones in the store. Before we left, a CM asked us to wait a minute and disappeared to the back. He came out a few minutes later with a couple of other CM's and a certificate for first visit and a lanyard full of CM pins, 12 in all. We were all surprised and my mother was confused as to why they would give her free stuff. I had to explain Disney magic. After all the thank yous, we headed to Disney. My mother stated that she would just give me the pins later since my kids traded them but we found her collecting a few more with my trading ones and the only time I have ever seen that lanyard is when I am in her bedroom since she has it hanging on her vanity and wears a pin or two on her baseball hat in the summer.

My mother had a lot of fun that trip despite the cold weather and the sickness that visited all the kids. Now, my mother doesn't remember any of it because of her brain injury and it may never come back. She finally got to go at age 58 and loved it even though she didn't really want to go at first. She had fun on all the rides and maybe someday we can take her back or maybe even remember it herself.

 

[mommy-on-the-move]

Now, my mother doesn't remember any of it because of her brain injury and it may never come back. She finally got to go at age 58 and loved it even though she didn't really want to go at first. She had fun on all the rides and maybe someday we can take her back or maybe even remember it herself.

Hello, I just had to respond- my mother is a brain injury survivor too (she had a left cerebral subarachnoid haemorrhage when an anyeurism burst in 1996- we were told the majority die when it ruptures but she survived to surgery, we were then told the specific surgery she required only had a 5-10% survival rate, we were also told that only a fraction of survivors would have no permanent disability as a result but some 15 years later she is the happiest grandmother of six on the planet!) My mothers main after effect of her brain injury was memory loss- she has large chunks she does not recall and often has no idea she's missing those memories until we talk about them as she has no recollection of that ever being part of our life.

She'd lost alot of her recall of our Disney trip as children but when we went back in 2008 for my sisters wedding she found herself recalling some parts and it was wonderful and the parts she did not recall she now has new memories of those rides with her grandkids and my sister and I as adults, it's part of the reason my sister and I do Disney together (other vacations my parents travel with us, my sister doesn't but Disney is a big extended family thing for us) It's giving my mom back memories her brain injury took away.

So please do hang onto that hope and that plan!

We do alot of memory rebuilding with my mom- sometimes places/experiences help her recall the old memories but when they don't we're making new ones to replace them with (this last weekend it was hiking in the woods as previous weeks helped her recall some blocks from my childhood so this weekend my sister drove the 150mile to come join us with her son and it helped too)

 

[ejmdoesn]

We just got back last week from our trip, it was fantastic! My magic moment came when my son and I were waiting for his Pirates League appointment. A CM walked by and he asked to see her pins, then he said, "Oh yeah, but I can't trade with you because my mom accidentally left our lanyards on the bus." ( I had left a bag with our lanyards, autograph books, camera and a few other things and it hadn't been returned to lost and found yet.) The CM (Jessica) gave him a pin to restart his collection. She left and then came back 5 minutes later with a new lanyard and a starter set of pins for him! She said she felt so bad that he didn't have his that she wanted to get him a new one. Then she left again, and came back again because she wanted to know if he had any siblings (two sisters) who were collecting. When she found out about my daughters she gave us vouchers for a lanyard and starter set of pins for each of them, we could redeem them at any spot for new ones. It was amazing, in all she gave us $75 worth of pins and lanyards to replace the ones we lost and it really made my day!

Our bag was found after two days and turned in to lost and found. Thankfully it had everything in it too!

 

[jkc0325]

Those are great stories!!! I've been to WDW three other times with no magic other than the magic of just being there. I'm really hoping for a little magic for my kids this trip. Doesn't have to be big, just a little thing would be nice

 

[katied718]

On the last day of our first trip in 2007, we only had about an hour in the park before leaving for the airport-lucky for us, it happened to be EMH at Magic Kingdom. My 3 year old son had some great character interaction-played dog games with Pluto, and rode in Goofy's arms on Cinderella's Carosel-it felt soooo magical-a fantastic ending to our trip.

Also, on that same trip, our stoller was late coming in from the airline, I kept checking in at the front desk. The day after we arrived, the CM at the front desk said that it probably was lost for good, gave me $40 in cash and told me I could go to the gift shop and buy a new umbrella stroller! I bought the stroller and then we got back to our room, our stroller had been delivered. We used our stroller for the day, but in the evening I returned the stroller and took the $40 back to the front desk. They told me to keep it cuz they had already written it off. Then at Animal Kingdom, my son lost his hat and I went to lost & found to see if it was there, which it wasn't. The CM gave us a voucher for a new hat-they said they didn't want him in the hot sun without a hat! WOW! I just went to see if it was there-wasn't expecting any of this!!

This most recent time, we experienced the Magic after we got home...when we went, we got the photopass CD....well, we came home to find the CD in about 25 pieces-thank you to my 170 pound English Mastiff! I ran to the computer to see if I could order another one-but my pictures had already expired-at that point, I didn't care if I had to pay another $125. It was 10:30 on Saturday nite-Thanksgiving Weekend. I sent Disney an email explaining what happened. By 9:00 am Sunday morning, I got a reply stating that my CD was being recreated and shipped to me for no charge!!!!

The top-notch, world-class service is a big reason why Disney will always be our #1 vacation spot!!

 

[luvmy2babies]

We had several iron-on t-shirts that I got off of the DIS-ign part of this board. We had two restaurant shirts, one for Chef Mickey's and one for Crystal Palace.

It was me, my dd (then 7) and my ds (then 10mo). When the hostess noticed the shirts we became the center of attention. At Crystal Palace they even got the manager out to see them.

That was cool.

Then there was meeting Donald Duck in Epcot. We had just left the Princess lunch at Akershus. Dd decided to keep her dress on and we came upon Donald Duck greeting in Mexico. When he saw her he acted like he had found his lost love. He put his hand over his heart, fanned himself, danced her around like a princess and hugged her. He was a riot.

But the next one brought tears to my eyes.

We were at AK. It was our final day and the last thing we were doing there was seeing Festival of the Lion King. I knew from the planning video that children participated in the show, but had forgotten really. We had good seats, near the front. When the guy came around with the shakers, I wasn't sure what would happen because there was a MAW family in front of us with like 6 children in addition to the MAW child. She was in a wheel chair but when she was chosen she was able to get up and I was glad for that. They picked one other child from that family, the boy in the family next to ours and he gave his last shaker to my daughter. I told her to go ahead then I put ds under my arm like a football to scramble for the camcorder in the bag. I had one minute left on the memory card so had not filmed the rest of the show, but had just enough memory left to film this.

In that minute I thought of all the planning and all we'd been through that year me having my son in January and losing my husband/their father in March, but looked at my daughter and saw the light in her eyes and the tears came.

I wasn't the only one. The dad in the family next to me whose son got picked was crying too.

 

[stashbin]

We had several iron-on t-shirts that I got off of the DIS-ign part of this board. We had two restaurant shirts, one for Chef Mickey's and one for Crystal Palace.

It was me, my dd (then 7) and my ds (then 10mo). When the hostess noticed the shirts we became the center of attention. At Crystal Palace they even got the manager out to see them.

That was cool.

Then there was meeting Donald Duck in Epcot. We had just left the Princess lunch at Akershus. Dd decided to keep her dress on and we came upon Donald Duck greeting in Mexico. When he saw her he acted like he had found his lost love. He put his hand over his heart, fanned himself, danced her around like a princess and hugged her. He was a riot.

But the next one brought tears to my eyes.

We were at AK. It was our final day and the last thing we were doing there was seeing Festival of the Lion King. I knew from the planning video that children participated in the show, but had forgotten really. We had good seats, near the front. When the guy came around with the shakers, I wasn't sure what would happen because there was a MAW family in front of us with like 6 children in addition to the MAW child. She was in a wheel chair but when she was chosen she was able to get up and I was glad for that. They picked one other child from that family, the boy in the family next to ours and he gave his last shaker to my daughter. I told her to go ahead then I put ds under my arm like a football to scramble for the camcorder in the bag. I had one minute left on the memory card so had not filmed the rest of the show, but had just enough memory left to film this.

In that minute I thought of all the planning and all we'd been through that year me having my son in January and losing my husband/their father in March, but looked at my daughter and saw the light in her eyes and the tears came.

I wasn't the only one. The dad in the family next to me whose son got picked was crying too.

I'm crying now too!

 

[stashbin]

We love coffee mugs and bought matching initial Mickey mugs on our last trip. When we got home, my DH was unpacking them and dropped mine. He was so upset with himself. He called the DW gift store of the resort and told them what happened and asked if he could buy another one and have it shipped. They ended up sending us another one for free!

Not a "magical" story...but rather a testimony of how Disney's customer service is second to none!

 

[LCoulter]

Friday, April 1 was the grand opening of the new meet and greet area for Mickey and the princesses. We arrived around 7:30am for the 8am rope drop and went immediately to the meet and greet. DD4 wanted to see Mickey first but there was already a line for him so Daddy convinced her to go to see the princesses first so she was the first child in line.

The cast members told us that we were the first family in to see the princesses and they wanted to do something special for us. We were led into the meet and greet room and DD4 spent about twenty minutes chatting with Bell, Aurora and Cinderella. Then each princess moved to their meet and greet positions and DD got a few minutes with each princess individually. During all this, three photographers were snapping pictures of her and of us watching her, and then a couple of group pictures. They presented her with a signed balloon and pink Minnie ears with a veil and Tierra.

There were other cast members in the room congratulating DD and fussing over her. They offered a special viewing area of the 3pm parade which, of course, we accepted. As we left the room and entered the gift shop a cast member approached DD to offer to have her name embroidered on her hat.

At 2:30pm, we showed up at the parade viewing area which was on the bridge between Main Street and Liberty Square. The little alcove on the bridge was roped off and three rows of benches were put in place. There were already 3 families in the front row so we sat in the second row. As soon as we sat down, a couple of CM came over to us to present us with a framed picture of DD with the princesses.

When the parade started, it would pause in front of us to do dance numbers and the characters that were not on floats would greet the kids and shake hands. DD was so excited and happy.

 

[pyrxtc]

Hello, I just had to respond- my mother is a brain injury survivor too (she had a left cerebral subarachnoid haemorrhage when an anyeurism burst in 1996- we were told the majority die when it ruptures but she survived to surgery, we were then told the specific surgery she required only had a 5-10% survival rate, we were also told that only a fraction of survivors would have no permanent disability as a result but some 15 years later she is the happiest grandmother of six on the planet!) My mothers main after effect of her brain injury was memory loss- she has large chunks she does not recall and often has no idea she's missing those memories until we talk about them as she has no recollection of that ever being part of our life.

She'd lost alot of her recall of our Disney trip as children but when we went back in 2008 for my sisters wedding she found herself recalling some parts and it was wonderful and the parts she did not recall she now has new memories of those rides with her grandkids and my sister and I as adults, it's part of the reason my sister and I do Disney together (other vacations my parents travel with us, my sister doesn't but Disney is a big extended family thing for us) It's giving my mom back memories her brain injury took away.

So please do hang onto that hope and that plan!

We do alot of memory rebuilding with my mom- sometimes places/experiences help her recall the old memories but when they don't we're making new ones to replace them with (this last weekend it was hiking in the woods as previous weeks helped her recall some blocks from my childhood so this weekend my sister drove the 150mile to come join us with her son and it helped too)

My mother had an aneurysm burst also. the largest they had ever seen. They gave us 12 hours left, all of which she was unconscious. Thankfully she had amazing neurosurgeons and a miracle. Hers was directly in the center of the brain in the frontal lobe. we have been finding that when we take her places she has been, she remembers more about that place. Those memories don't always stick but she does it while she is there. She is remembering little things, like the fact that I don't want her in her wheelchair and I make her walk everywhere. She is a much different person than any of us knew but we are all hopeful we can get her back, or at least some of her. Long hard road ahead but will be worth it.

We are waiting for her to remember that she can walk and how to get out of a chair among other small detail things so we can start taking her more places. She still has a lot of damage that her body is repairing and we know that will take time. She has a problem still with her short term memory and lost about 17/22 years of her long term. you could walk out of the room for 5 minutes and she won't remember you were just there.

I'm glad your mother was able to come back from it. Gives me hope.

 

[mommy-on-the-move]

I wish you a whole lot of luck and love with her rehab- it was a long road with my mom, I was a teen when it happened and alot of her rehab fell onto me to help with (I am one of the few people who can say she helped two of the people who taught her how to walk to walk themselves- my gran was a stroke victim and i helped her learn to walk again as well as my mom!) With my mom things came back gradually, it was like she'd wake up somedays and knew she could do something she'd not before. With walking when she got back to it we assumed we were all good again until she came to her first slope and approaching any sort of incline made her brain decide to walk backwards... slopes too a while! She also learnt to write again, speech came back in dribs and drabs and it was a good 3-4 years before she could speak without coming across words she'd completely forgot (hugely frustrating for her, it still happens on occasion now but no one notices except us as it is so rare) Long road but very, very worth it.