creating pixie dust for other guests.... ideas?

[ariamac]

all of these ideas are so cute! thank you

I also thought of getting some rolls of pennies and leaving them at the penny press machines for kids who are first starting out... and didn't plan ahead and bring a ton of pennies with them to the park/on vacation lol

 

[DanInMN]

Look up "glow stick" on eBay... lot's for pennies each. Sounds like fun!

 

[Readerbug]

This is a wonderful thread! After all, kindness is as catching as the cold...which would you rather have? It IS the plain name for the Disney Magic we are all going for. I also, like an earlier poster, saw the family video where they made a family game/activity out of collecting the parade confetti, on purpose to 'pixie dust' those Bay Lake Tower doorways. What I loved best about seeing that, was thinking about what they're teaching thier kids with that... the joy those kids got from it all.
To those planning to sprinkle ... Don't worry too much about getting the expected reaction from folks! Just bless the next guy over, then.
The glow sticks are a great, dollarstore idea for every firework night. So is just simply writing up kudos for CM's. I'd like to hear some ideas for spreading the magic that I could pass on to my teenagers...it's one thing that would make the trip even more fun for them. What else could teens do for others that doesn't cost anything but a smile?

 

[princessallegra]

We bring glow stick bracelets and stickers! And we also give away whatever balloon we buy that week to a family checking in

 

[cynzilla]

In the park when we do the Pirates League every year for Halloween and get made up, I always find a Make a Wish family and get the parents attention and motion or quietly whisper in a line if it would be ok to give to little boy or girl our gear (sash, patch, earring, headband and sword). Then, as I play pirate I kinda knight them with the sword and give them a Pirate name! The child always lights up and I love to make a sick child smile.

During parade, we always have extra glow stick or bracelets from the Dollar Tree you get 5 to a pack. I have one daughter and it is fun for her, afterwards, to look in the crowds or elsewhere for a kid wearing one she gave them. Actually she saw a little girl that got on the same bus, to the same hotel and they wound up becoming buddies and asked for a play date at the pool the next day which luckily the parents had the same plans.

While eating, if I see or hear a kid acting up, we always have extra Play Packs (from Walmart or Target) and I ask the waiter/waitress to delivery one to the table compliments of our table. It makes a more peaceful meal for everyone all around!

 

[Readerbug]

Right now in the Disney for Famlies' section of the board, there is another thread on "Random acts of kindness" with lots more specific ideas. I'm too new to know if this is a frequently hashed topic, but I'm so thrilled there is two - at least- going on at the same time. Maybe more magic in the Parks is actually generated by us, the guests, and just ripples wider, than we realize!

 

[mydisneykids]

We always take 417?? From the airport. The toll road.
On our last trip down we got up to one of the toll booths and was told by the attendant that the person in front of us had paid our toll. It is only $1.25 but what a magical way to start the trip.

 

[bopper]

Others here have touched on buying items for children who might want them. I'd like to add that, for us, it's not that we can't afford that $12 balloon or a $6 ice cream. Sometimes it's that we've already told them to wait until X time to get it and a stranger handing them one would undermine that. I would certainly still be appreciative of the thoughtfulness (smile and say thank you) but it could be frustrating.

That is why you always have a quiet chat with the parent before offering anything to a kid.

 

[Krabby Patty]

I may get knocked for this but honestly, if someone tried to offer my child something whether it be a balloon or candy, I would probably get a little weirded out. And if someone tried to give my screaming child a sticker while I'm trying to calm them down, I may even get a little perturbed. And there is no way I would accept a meal from someone. I'm not saying the thought isn't nice... it is. But I would stick to something like offering to take a picture. I also kind of think that you can't really "plan" a random act of kindness. It just kind of happens .

ETA: Sorry.. don't want to be a debbie downer, lol. Just giving my opinion.

 

[Jasperann]

On our last trip we had a couple that we meet on a bus give one of our girls a pin. She was really into collecting the baby princesses and she was missing a couple, she was listing off the ones she needed to find and the couple just pulled one of the ones she needed out and gave it to her. She still talks about that, it made her so happy.

We also bring extra glow sticks to share with the kids at the parades or shows. That seems to be the biggest hits. All the kids love it.

 

[scoutie]

Last night, my niece fell off her chair at Tony's, and the server gave her a big balloon with the Mickey ears inside. She then gave it to a little boy waiting outside.

 

[stargazertechie]

Here are the things I normally do for extra pixie dust for other guests. I always ask parents if its OK before giving something to a child.

1) Stop by Michaels Craft Store before I leave and buy 4 or 5 tubes of glow sticks (normally has 10-15 glow sticks in each). I can usually get them for 65 cents a pack after using coupons (one coupon per week for several weeks before). I pass them out at parades.

2) pass out stickers to kids waiting in lines. Same with the glow-sticks: I pick them up on sale/with coupons at craft stores.

3) If I end up with a junk pin from trading (scrapper, etc) I will share them with a young prince or princess who is waiting patiently in line.

4) Pay for snacks for the person ahead of/behind me in line

5) Offer to take photos for couples or families. It hit me on this most recent trip that it is one of the kindest things you can do. Years from now when that fresh-faced toddler is all grown up, the memories and photos will eventually be all that remains of their parents. To have a picture of all 3 (or 4, 5+) members of the family at one time is priceless. We have SO few of mom, dad, and I all in one photo because we never asked others to take photos for us.

6) Offer up that seat on the bus to a child or grandparent, even if your legs are tired. Common courtesy, but sometimes it can be hard.

 

[rlilly79]

And how would that family look? Holes in their shoes? Missing teeth? Lots of kids?

Lol this is great...those well dressed high class looking folks could need the cash a lot more...they may be in debt up to their eye balls just to live that way!! Can't judge based on looks for sure!!

 

[stargazertechie]

I may get knocked for this but honestly, if someone tried to offer my child something whether it be a balloon or candy, I would probably get a little weirded out.

Would it be less weird to you if the person asked YOU first? I would never walk up to a child and just give them something, but honestly, part of the magic of Disney for me is making magic for others.


Which then reminded me of a sweet story. I was sitting next to a dad and his young (3 year old?) daughter. She was admiring my pins, and the dad asked a passing CM how to get into trading. I had a few extra pins, so I asked the dad if it would be OK if I gave a few to his little princess "from Mickey" to get her started. He accepted, and the look of joy on that girl's face as she got to trade with the CM was priceless.

At the end of the parade, she came back up to me and offered me the stuffed dinosaur that she had won at the carinval games at AK in Dinoland. I told her that I couldn't possibly accept, but she was adamant. I looked over to the dad and he said "What you did was really nice, and she wanted to give you something to say thank you- please take it, I know it's silly, but it would mean a lot to her."

I tried to slip it back to him on the way out, and the little girl looked at me and said "No, he yours now! Take good care of him!"


Melted my heart! I have him on a shelf at work as a constant reminder of the generosity and pure hearts that still exist

 

[princessallegra]

I may get knocked for this but honestly, if someone tried to offer my child something whether it be a balloon or candy, I would probably get a little weirded out. And if someone tried to give my screaming child a sticker while I'm trying to calm them down, I may even get a little perturbed. And there is no way I would accept a meal from someone. I'm not saying the thought isn't nice... it is. But I would stick to something like offering to take a picture. I also kind of think that you can't really "plan" a random act of kindness. It just kind of happens .

ETA: Sorry.. don't want to be a debbie downer, lol. Just giving my opinion.

Hahaha well your name is Krabby Patty after all! Lol. We have always asked the parent if it's ok to give a sticker. It sounds a lot weirder than it is I suppose.

 

[Krabby Patty]

Hahaha well your name is Krabby Patty after all! Lol. We have always asked the parent if it's ok to give a sticker. It sounds a lot weirder than it is I suppose.

 

[sazzlynn]

Our last trip, we had gotten rained on and my 4 year old daughter was having a melt down. A gentleman came up and said what's the matter princess and handed her a goofy pin. It changed her whole day! Bless that man b/c it was magically and she still loves her pin. It was such a nice thing to have help dealing with a melt down instead of getting the looks and comments like we'd been getting all week with our intense 2 year old who screamed all week and would yell actually "be happy" at me as I was carrying him away. Funny now, but at the time it was stressful. I hope you have an awesome trip!

 

[erinclemmer]

We are going in February - and my daughters (ages 12 and 9) are planning to take extra glow sticks / bracelets / etc., to hand out to kids during the evening hours for during the fireworks, etc....

My daughters were given glow necklaces during our last visit- another little girl was handing them out. I thought that was a very sweet way to teach a lesson about sharing or being thoughtful. My girls was really excited to get them while waiting the for the light parade. They are very inexpensive at Dollar Tree, easy to through in the back pack and fun to wear. We are taking some with us on our next trip.

 

[richkaryn]

If you get Disney Movie Club mailings (frequently like I do) they have cute fab5 stickers in them that can be cut up and passed out. One benefit is they are different from the ones kids might already have received from a CM.

This is exactly what I planned to do with my stickers that came the other day.
We also have a few extra 99 cent Disney lanyards we picked up at party city along with a handful of extra pins we have. My DS5 and I decided we were going to look for some kids that may seem interested in pin trading (like in line if they talk to him about his pins, etc) but haven't started and we are going to give them a lanyard and a couple pins to get started. (Because buying a starter kit or two can get expensive....we got into trading on our last trip and 4 lanyards/starter kits plus several more full-price pin purchase to feed our newfound trading addiction ended up costing us hundreds of dollars on that trip!)

 

[Jennasis]

We gave dining credits to a couple in line at Flame Tree BBQ. We had two left and had no time to eat (were leaving Florida). So we went up to a couple in line and offered it to them and "bought" them lunch. They were a little suspicious at first (they didn't know what the DDP was) but were thrilled after.