Amazing Adventures of the 2013 Disney Moms Panel Search

[bunkkinsmom]

Originally Posted by disneydreamgirl

I should be getting ready for work right now! Checked in for more CM stories - really enjoyed the new ones.

Thanks for the insider info, bunkkinsmom! Loved the thread of pics...what a great night...everything looked wonderful and that cake was spectacular!!

Ok, now I need to hustle my buns! Have a great day everyone!

Yeah I worked with a Disney baker to plan a cake for MIL but it was SUPER expensive. The cake shown in that thread is AMAZING! This was another posters thread, but the venue is really beautiful. There were 8 of us and the private crepe chef and there was plenty of room. I wouldn't suggest more than that though. From a numbers standpoint, we did it for under $500. I honestly don't think that's too outrageous for the amount of deserts we consumed as well as the private chef. We had 2 different kinds of crepes, a huge chocolate banana torte, fruit, cupcakes, tea, coffee, hot chocolate, and a few other deserts that I can't remember. It was way too much food!!! Honestly, I would do this again in a heartbeat.........and I just might!!!!

[marhs]

Today I woke up with this song in my head... "I got a feeling... that tonight's gonna be a good night..." So, maybe not tonight, but soon we should hear about the next round and I am feeling good right now! One step at a time, right?!!?!

Your CM stories have been great! Keep 'em coming while we wait!!!
Happy Wednesday everyone!

[khiguchi]

Originally Posted by bunkkinsmom

OOOH OOOH! I wanna play!

I have 2 very different CM stories:

First....... 4 years ago our first WDW trip as an extended family. There were 8 of us. My MIL and FIL had never been to Disney and my SIL had been but never with kids. So there we are, 5 adults and 3 kids under 7, sitting in the window at Cosmic Rays on our first day in The World. My In-Laws were saying how great everything was and we were trying to explain that they hadn't even begun to see the entire picture. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something very strange. Where we were sitting we could see the front door of the restaurant from the outside. We were in a front window that sort of jutted out, so the front door was actually a little behind us. A CM was cleaning the outside windows of the front doors with glass cleaner. A child about 7 walked up to the door from the inside and stopped when he saw the CM, as if his way was being blocked. Without blinking and without hesitation, the CM took the glass cleaner foam spray and drew a tic-tac-toe board on the window. The child, also without hesitation pointed to the center square from the other side of the glass door. The CM put and X in that square and the kid nodded and smiled. The CM then placed his "O" and the child pointed to another square. Every time they finished a game, the CM would take his towel and erase the game and start over. This went on for over 10 minutes. I was in complete awe at the simplicity and effectiveness of this tiny piece of pixie dust. I told the in-laws "you see, it's not the just the grounds, or the rides, or the restaurants...... it's DISNEY. It just IS." They have been believers ever since.

I absolutely love hearing stories that happen to "new" Disney fans and they get to experience the magic for themselves! It really is the small things...

[snshine123]

Originally Posted by DisneyLifeMel

Hi... She tweeted her email address not long ago: laura.spencer@disney.com . Enjoy the mac & cheese. If nothing else, a new recipe will certainly help pass the time while we wait for news!

Thanks all!!! I knew someone here would have it! I will share the recipe as soon as it comes. She swears it tastes even better than the real thing!

[Jump4Joy8390]

Happy Wednesday to everyone here in the Waiting Room!

Thought I'd share a couple of our CM stories to pass the time....

One of my favourites happened in 2008 at Walt Disney World. We were at Epcot one afternoon, at the Character Meet and Greet Spot to meet Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and then Pluto. Mickey’s “handler” took a picture of us with our camera, we got Mickey's autograph, and moved along to Minnie. The next evening, we were at the Magic Kingdom, in the old Toontown, in line again to meet Mickey, this time in his judging tent. When we got to the front of the line, his “handler” turned to us and said, “You guys were at Epcot yesterday!” We thought it was so amazing that she remembered us – it was a day and a half later! She must have met hundreds of people between our 2 visits! Amazing!

Another time, my daughter and I were waiting by the castle at the Magic Kingdom, near the Sleepy Hollow restaurant. A Cast Member came outside with 2 big frozen drinks. I looked at her and said something like, “Wow, what are those?!?!” She said, “They’re Slushies – would you like them?” And she handed them to us! So nice!

Stuff like this happens all the time - it's why we love Disney so much!

Okay back to waiting.....

[DisFanInCO]

Just got a few minutes in between all my work meetings this week to catch up on the Waiting Room. What great CM stories you've all shared! And Bunkkinsmom - THANK YOU for the info on UK Pubside! I'm trying to get my hubby to plan a 40th birthday trip to the World for me (it's a couple years away, but gotta start dropping hints as early as possible!) and this sounds like a great option to hint to him about.

I have had so many great CM encounters - I love heading to the parks early and talking to the CMs before it gets busy. Everyone has such interesting stories and reasons for working at Disney! One special encounter happened on our trip to Disneyland this past Jan. We were waiting for the evening parade to start and my daughter, who was wearing her Belle costume, was getting a little antsy, wondering (loudly) when it was going to start. The CM making sure the parade route was clear heard her and came over to us. We started chatting with her and learned that she has 9 grandkids and they are ALL boys, so she always love seeing the "princesses" when they visit the park. We talked for a few more minutes and then she had to move on, but before she left, she reached in to her pocket, handed something to my DH and said "for the princess". DH handed it to my daughter and her eyes lit up - it was a small replica of Cinderella's glass slipper. DD totally forgot she was waiting for the parade and just sat and stared at it for the rest of the evening. She ended up sleeping with it for the rest of our trip and it now has a place of honor in her room. She also often talks about going back to visit "the lady who gave me Cinderella's slipper" so we will be looking out for her on our next trip!

[skater]

Those little daily interactions are why we keep going back to WDW. The CM's in Epcot who stop what they're doing to juggle a soccer ball with my soccer nut. The CM's at AKL who share their amazing stories of home with all of us. The CM's who still call my young adult DD a princess. That magic just doesn't happen anywhere else.

The first time we took my son was just 9 months after we adopted him from S. Korea at age 5. We headed to Dumbo first and standing by the ride was Stitch. Both of my boys adore Stitch (it truly is an adoption story to us), and my son ran up to him and threw his arms around him. Stitch's handler asked him if he would like to ride Dumbo with Sitch! How wonderful that my son's first WDW ride was with the character he most identified with. It was a truly amazing experience.

[Suzanne033]

Ok... I will join in on the waiting fun:

We were at Disney on the first day of our 3 day Land/4 day Sea Disney Cruise package in 2004. We were just finishing dinner at the Rose & Crown when our waitress informed us that Illuminations was going to be cancelled that evening. She said that the reason for the cancellation was because Mickey was unable to make it over to Epcot from Hollywood Studio in time to officially start Illuminations. At that point my husband and I were starting to catching on that something was going on. The waitress then asked our daughter if she would be willing to fill in for Mickey and start the show. After some initial trepidation (she was very shy then) she agreed and within minutes they had her outside standing on a podium with a ‘magic wand’ in hand and with three waves of the wand a firework shot out from behind us and Illuminations began.

It was a perfectly magical way to start our vacation!!!

[Suey12]

Hello

Just stopping by to say how lovely it was to meet so many of you at the Moms Panel Meet & Greet at California Grill on Saturday. Many of us have been online friends for years, who would have believed we would ever meet in person?

Continued GOOD LUCK to all of you awaiting news of Round Two. I think the waiting is the hardest part.

[FlyingBelle]

This last trip we were on the bus going back to the hotel from EPCOT. We were all hot and tired (and DS was sick, so we weren't getting much sleep at night).

We had to wait about 30 minutes for a bus to All Star Sports, and when the bus arrived, we were the only ones waiting for it (it was before Illuminations).

We got on the bus, happy to be sitting and in air conditioning. The driver was pleasant and told us we should wait a bit to see if anyone else was heading out before fireworks. So, we waited about another 15 minutes until another family showed up.

In the meantime though, DD (5) was doing her best to sit still and behave (did I mention we were all hot and tired??), and the driver came over and handed her a pink coin and said "You've been doing your very best to be a good little princess!". We looked at the coin and it said "You were caught being good!"

It was a really sweet gesture and made my daughter feel really special

[WhereMagicLivesMom]

This is my first post...and I just want to say thanks to everyone for sharing these sweet,Disney memories.

All this pixie dust is incredible.

[logpey]

Originally Posted by Suzanne033

Ok... I will join in on the waiting fun:

. After some initial trepidation (she was very shy then) she agreed and within minutes they had her outside standing on a podium with a ‘magic wand’ in hand and with three waves of the wand a firework shot out from behind us and Illuminations began.
It was a perfectly magical way to start our vacation!!!

Great Story! Loved hearing it, something y'all will never forget!

[logpey]

It was fabulous meeting a few of the guys & dolls Ive spoken with for years on this website & other social media outlets. Disney brought us together & there really is no LOVE like Disney LOVE!
I accomplished so many firsts this WDW trip, no matter how many times you go--there are firsts to be had, heres my list:
Solo trip (without hubby & kids),Rundisney race, MNSSHP, F&W Festival, POR stay, also first meeting with Disney friends (Disney Divas) from social media sites & none of them were NUTS except me, lol (I dodged a bullet there), but these peeps were "real" & most looked like their current avatar, lol!!!
Another first for me was--challenging myself to try new things & you know "be uncomfortable" -- to see what your made of, so I went solo to Magic Kingdom on my last night & rode rides, shopped & watched some of the MNSSHP parade all by myself, it was funny having a picture on Buzz Lightyear Spaceship Spin by myself, I was a Star Cadet but I was missing my Galactic Hero (I will post pic later, its funny) A few Disney Divas met up with me for a portion of the night & that was also fun, a group of women brought together by Disney LOVE is a powerful thing & really just having good, non judgemental (we all know how women can be), innocent fun together made for a delightful end to my trip!!

I'm wishing good thoughts to everyone trying out for the Moms Panel & here's hoping 2nd round news is coming this weekend!!

[uccats97]

One of many CM stories I have experienced over the years...

This happened on our most recent trip in July. We were at MK and had just left the Pirate's League where my 3 girls had gotten makeovers, 2 mermaids & 1 Empress. My 16 year old son opted out, lol! We were headed to ride WTP when a CM came out of Storybook Treats and approached us saying "Hey guys, can I talk to you for a minute?" I absolutely know that when a CM wants to talk to you, you listen! (I learned my lesson from a previous trip and I regret that decision deeply, more on that later.) The CM starts asking the girls "Do you like princesses? Do you know Ariel? What color is Ariel's hair?" They start to get excited and respond quickly, pointing out that 2 of them have red hair like Ariel and 1 of them is even wearing an Ariel shirt. The CM then asks "What kind of ice cream do you think Ariel with her red hair would like?" The girls answer "Strawberry!". The CM tells us "Ariel decided she wanted some ice cream so she came in our shop and made a huge mess and this giant ice cream and she wants to share it with you!" Just then 3 more CM's come out with items behind their backs. They presented our family of 6 with a huge strawberry shortcake/banana split sundae with spoons and napkins for all. We all were so excited and shocked! The had me get out the camera and took our picture with it and then another picture with us & the CM's who surprised us. It was such a magical moment! We will never forget it! These random acts of kindness are what makes Disney such a wonderful place! And the sundae was awesome

[DisneyLifeMel]

Originally Posted by logpey

It was fabulous meeting a few of the guys & dolls Ive spoken with for years on this website & other social media outlets. Disney brought us together & there really is no LOVE like Disney LOVE!
I accomplished so many firsts this WDW trip, no matter how many times you go--there are firsts to be had, heres my list:
Solo trip (without hubby & kids),Rundisney race, MNSSHP, F&W Festival, POR stay, also first meeting with Disney friends (Disney Divas) from social media sites & none of them were NUTS except me, lol (I dodged a bullet there), but these peeps were "real" & most looked like their current avatar, lol!!!
Another first for me was--challenging myself to try new things & you know "be uncomfortable" -- to see what your made of, so I went solo to Magic Kingdom on my last night & rode rides, shopped & watched some of the MNSSHP parade all by myself, it was funny having a picture on Buzz Lightyear Spaceship Spin by myself, I was a Star Cadet but I was missing my Galactic Hero (I will post pic later, its funny) A few Disney Divas met up with me for a portion of the night & that was also fun, a group of women brought together by Disney LOVE is a powerful thing & really just having good, non judgemental (we all know how women can be), innocent fun together made for a delightful end to my trip!!

I'm wishing good thoughts to everyone trying out for the Moms Panel & here's hoping 2nd round news is coming this weekend!!

OK, Dawn, now you are making me a bit sad that I didn't get to go to this year's Diva reunion. And I totally agree about Disney Love! Hopefully this becomes an annual event. Has anyone started talking about next year yet?