Just a fun memory or two . . .

[disneyvoice]

With all the talk about rude guests (and believe me, we've experienced many ourselves) I started thinking about some nice guests we have experienced and I remembered a situation that happened about three years ago.

My husband, son (who was about 5 at the time), and myself were in line to get on the tame side of Mission Space. We had gotten on it for the first time earlier that day and wanted to get on again. Since we were a party of 3, the cast member had another older lady get in the same line with us. She seemed VERY nervous and told me that she spoke very little English (she was from a Spanish speaking country) and was very nervous. The rest of her group was doing the intense side and she was too scared for that. But she was also nervous because she didn't really understand much that was being said. So I assured her she would be fine and that it was really fun and that I was just as nervous as she was the first time I rode it.

So we get in and when the doors close and everything starts she gets very nervouse so I grabbed her hand and said it would be fine. She was squeezing my hand so tight. So was so scared that she was going to mess up the ride because she couldn't understand when she was supposed to press a button. So I told her I would point to the button when she was supposed to press it.

Well when we took off this woman started laughing and howling hysterically. She was having so much fun and saying all this stuff in Spanish that none of us could understand. She would laugh and clap, etc. This went on the whole ride so we were all cracking up because of how cute she was. I would point to her to push a button and then she would clap because she made something happen. After the ride she had the biggest smile on her face and she hugged me and thanked me for helping her. Now whenever we get on that ride we always talk about the little Hispanic lady who rode with us and we wonder how she is.

Another fun place for getting to know guests is on Kali River Rapids. We have been on this dozens of times and always have the nicest people riding with us. It always seems that you somehow know all these strangers really well by the time you go down the big drop so everyone is entertained by the person who gets drenched.

The first time my son rode Kali River Rapids I think he was maybe 4. It was his first "big boy" ride so he was so excited but also terrified because he didn't know what to expect. That poor little guy was white knuckling the railing when the ride started and was ghost white from fear. Somehow we ended up on the ride with all adults except for my son, and I told everyone this was his first big boy ride at Disney. So the whole ride everyone kept making a big deal over him. It ended up that my son and I were the ones who got drenched which he thought was great and he had a huge smile on his face at the end and was saying "again, again!!!" after it was over. The line wasn't very long so we said that since were soaked we might as well do it again. We were shocked when one older couple said that they had to experience his second big boy ride since they were present for the first, and then everyone else said they wanted to ride again with him! So we all got back in line and rode together again. We were all a bunch of strangers but something about being at WDW made us all friends!

[carlabing]

Disney is such a magical, memory-making place. Thanks for sharing your precious stories.

[Princess Disney Mom]

I've met some really wonderful people in lines or sitting waiting for my kids outside rides. Sometimes I'm having such a good conversation I hate when the line ends.

[Missytara]

Me too! One year I met a guy, his wife, and two granddaughters. He was saying that it was his official 100th trip to Disney. I noticed a slight new york accent when they spoke.

He told me they have moved from LI to Florida a few years ago for retirement. They had gone often as a family, so it seemed natural for them to move to FL. They had family visiting, but just the granddaughters were with them that particular day.

I was thrilled because I went to college on LI. We had some wonderful conversations about the area. Luckily, it was a 40 minute wait, so we had plenty of time to talk.

Anyway, as we were winding down, I asked him how he could make so many trips to Disney. He leaned in really close, and said, actually, I am a retired NYPD detective and I work down here as an undercover officer..... wow, I was stunned. It was so interesting, since I had contemplated moving there when I retired and working in their facilities management dept.

I will never forget that family and how neat it was to talk to them.

So I see lines as a gift.