Disney magic you unexpectedly stumbled upon?

[aaarcher86]

I don't know if counts because it's not actually 'in' the parks lol.

But my kids (2 and 4) got to summon Tinkerbell the last few days the store was open and received certificates. The experience in itself was great.

Sadly, we were in a car accident on the drive home from the trip, totaled the car and lost the certificates. My kids were so upset - that was something they really enjoyed and they looked at the certificates every night and talked about it after they did it.

I had emailed guest services a while back asking if they could possibly mail certs for my kids. I didn't expect them to, but it couldn't hurt to try.

I completely forgot about it since it's been about 1.5 months since that email and unexpected life events happen. Today a HUGE box came from UPS while my kids were napping. My husband (thinking I ordered MORE stuff from Disney ) tore it open to investigate the goods. Inside were 2 big Tinkerbell dolls, 2 hand painted and personalized boxes, and inside each small painted box was a summoning Tinkerbell certificate signed by Tink herself!!

Seriously... cried. Only Disney would go out of their way like this. You can't help but feel overwhelmed with happiness and magic when things like this happen. It sounds so cheesy sometimes, but Disney is truly so magical and caring.

 

[d1gitman]

We had a trip in May of 2005 and DW was el prego. We had booked part of our stay at CBR and part at POP. We checked in to CBR on day one and had quickly discovered that it was going to be too much walking from room to main building and pool and also to the bus stop. Nothing was wrong other than all that added walking. DW wasn't too happy about it. I called the front desk and explained our dilemma, they put us through to guest sv'cs. Before you know it, they upgraded us to WL with a courtyard view, for no charge. On top of it, they handed us a $20 bill to pay for the taxi ride over. We were blown away and needless to say, very pleased with WL accomodations.

 

[C*Beans]

One night we were leaving MK with my then 4yo and 2yo sons. Erik, my 4yo, asked to ride Pirates one more time and I told him no b/c we needed to be up early the next day. Well, we forgot about the fireworks and ran into a huge crowd at the Castle as the fireworks started. We stopped and watched. At one point you could hear Jiminy Cricket saying, "Make a wish- your dreams may come true" and then the finale ensued. At the end, there was a mass exodus for the exit so I turned to my husband and suggested we go ride Pirates to let the crowds die down before we headed to the bus. My 4 yo jumped up and down and shouted, "YES! Dreams really DO come true! That is what I wished for! Jiminy Cricket was RIGHT!". It was a special, sweet, memory making moment!

Oh my goodness, what a great story! I laughed and cried at the same time.

 

[Beckypooh1972]

We had a trip in May of 2005 and DW was el prego. We had booked part of our stay at CBR and part at POP. We checked in to CBR on day one and had quickly discovered that it was going to be too much walking from room to main building and pool and also to the bus stop. Nothing was wrong other than all that added walking. DW wasn't too happy about it. I called the front desk and explained our dilemma, they put us through to guest sv'cs. Before you know it, they upgraded us to WL with a courtyard view, for no charge. On top of it, they handed us a $20 bill to pay for the taxi ride over. We were blown away and needless to say, very pleased with WL accomodations.

Wow! What great service!

 

[Tiresius]

One night, my mom and I decided to have a relaxing evening out of the parks, and after dinner at Ohana decided to hang out for a bit on the Poly beach. We knew about the Electrical Water Parade, so we stuck around for probably about an hour just lounging on the beach watching the water and the people, then we watched the EWP. Afterwards, we had to get back to our resort (Pop or ASMu, I don't really remember), so the easiest way was to head to the MK and catch a bus there. Well, we noticed a boat dock, so decided to take a boat across the lagoon rather than the monorail. We were the only people on the boat, and sat outside in the dark for what we presumed would be a short trip to MK. Turns out that the EWP route was timed perfectly with ours so that we ended up "stuck" on the other side of the floats in the middle of the lagoon. The boat driver shut off the engine and we floated, just mom and I, watching the other side of the parade go by. When it ended, we turned to each other and both decided that it was our favorite moment of the trip. If we had been in a rush or the boat was crowded, we might have felt different, but it was so relaxing and so corny in the best possible way that it felt like magic. We got to see the parade twice, once out on the water with the MK entrance as the backdrop and the breeze blowing. It was totally unexpected, and I'm not sure you could plan it if you tried, but our timing was just right that night and I have always wondered if I could do it again.

 

[Prolif1k]

Mine probably isn't too uncommon, but my girlfriend and I thought it was pretty cool...

While on Kilimanjaro Safaris, we had two awesome animal experiences on the same ride. First, two giraffes came right up to our truck, causing the driver to stop. One of them came up to the side right where we are and lowered his head and tried to poke his head into the truck. It was pretty awesome to see them that close.

Then, when we got further down the road, the rhinos were excited about something and were running at a full sprint stampede along the road next to us and then cut in front of the truck and ran down the road. The CM said that seeing them at full sprint like that isn't very common, so that was cool.

I really enjoyed reading everyone's stories so far. =)

 

[disneydee6]

Subscribing!! Love this thread!

Our first trip, we arrived at the Backlot Tour (back when they had the "tool time" segment) and the CM asked my dad to play al borland. It was so fun for us to watch my quiet (yet hilarious) dad on the screen 'next' to tim taylor . For our first trip, and being so little, it was so fun to see our dad get involved in the disney fun!

Another FANTASTIC disney moment was after a long long day at DHS, we took the boat back to the Beach Club. The last boat running, all the people aboard were tired and quiet, enjoying the breeze. Our captain of the friendship boat got on the speaker and began to crack jokes, one after another, and literally had the everyone in the boat laughing the whole time! It was such a pleasure to have that happen after a tiring day in disney, and it really made our day special.

 

[Toluca Legs TurkeyCo]

Free crackerjacks just for walking by Casey's Corner at the right time.

 

[DaniB]

But if the crowds are high and the weather is bad, it can be no so much fun. After our last MVMCP I learned I will never buy the tickets ahead of time and will wait till the day of the party to make sure the weather will cooperate. In our last 3 trips to Disney, the ONLY rain we experienced was during MVMCP!

You can purchase tickets the day of MNSSHP? They don't get sold out in advance?

 

[DaniB]

But my kids (2 and 4) got to summon Tinkerbell the last few days the store was open and received certificates. The experience in itself was great.

Sadly, we were in a car accident on the drive home from the trip, totaled the car and lost the certificates. My kids were so upset - that was something they really enjoyed and they looked at the certificates every night and talked about it after they did it.

I had emailed guest services a while back asking if they could possibly mail certs for my kids. I didn't expect them to, but it couldn't hurt to try.

I completely forgot about it since it's been about 1.5 months since that email and unexpected life events happen. Today a HUGE box came from UPS while my kids were napping. My husband (thinking I ordered MORE stuff from Disney ) tore it open to investigate the goods. Inside were 2 big Tinkerbell dolls, 2 hand painted and personalized boxes, and inside each small painted box was a summoning Tinkerbell certificate signed by Tink herself!!

Seriously... cried. Only Disney would go out of their way like this. You can't help but feel overwhelmed with happiness and magic when things like this happen. It sounds so cheesy sometimes, but Disney is truly so magical and caring.

I remember you posting about the lost certificates! I'm so glad Disney was able to send you new ones. What a nice surprise for the kids to find there was more then just new certificates!!

 

[Costino1]

I got a few as well....

If you goto the contemporary where the little convenience store is, theres a door to go outside to a patio underneath the monorail entrance....if you stay there for a few minutes you'll have a monorail 2 feet literally above your head! i got an amazing photo of the underbelly of a monorail.

Second is being the ONLYYYY person on Pirates of the Carib. The fireworks were going off and I wanted to ride it before I left so I jumped right on...no line or anything! I was the only person on the only boat. Talk about a fun personal experience!!

Last is being on BTMR during Wishes and going up the hill and seeing the castle and fireworks...amazing.

 

[disneydee6]

son on the only boat. Talk about a fun personal experience!!

Last is being on BTMR during Wishes and going up the hill and seeing the castle and fireworks...amazing.

Since so many seem to love this, I might have to experience this when we go! Is there a way to time this happening (hahaha I wanna SCHEDULE disney magic! )

 

[purvislets]

We had a couple unexpected surprises on our last trip. We were celebrating DD's birthday and she wore her pin everywhere! It was close to midday in MK and she decided that she wanted a frozen fruit bar while we waited for our Peter Pan FP return time.

We got up to the CM and she tells Nati happy birthday... then says that Mickey said she could have her treat for free because it was her special day! I was elated, not because we were going to save a few bucks, but because of the look on my daughter's face after getting a special gift from The Mouse himself!

A little later that same day, we were heading to Package Pickup to get our on-ride photo from Splash (too funny! She'd never ridden it before and the look on her face is just priceless!). As we were waiting for the CM to come from the back with our items, another CM told my daughter to close her eyes and hold out her hands for a special birthday surprise. He gave her 6 or 7 plastic jewels, about the size of a quarter, into her hand. You would have thought he just handed her a diamond necklace! Really made her feel like a princess!

 

[arbolita]

Last year on our honeymoon, DH and I had a reservation for 'Ohana at 6:35. They were running behind, so we had a bit of a wait before we were seated at our table, and DH was starting to get annoyed. However, it wound up working out in our favor because they had seated us by a window, and just as we were starting our dessert, Wishes was beginning at MK. We had a perfect view of everything, and is one of my favorite memories from the trip.

 

[It'sWDW4me]

This is a great idea for a thread. Seems like the most magical memories from a Disney trip are the unplanned things that occur when you slow down and savor your trip.

I know this one is going to be hard to believe, but I swear it is true. When we were at Pop 2 years ago, we saw two bunnies playing leapfrog. One bunny would jump over the top of the other one and turn and face him, then the other bunny would take a turn jumping over his friend. This went on for several minutes. It was the strangest thing! We didn't take a picture, because we didn't want to startle them at the time, but now I sorta wish we had. I don't know if anyone would ever believe this if they hadn't seen it with their own eyes.

June

I saw a pair of bunnies doing the same thing the other week (at home, though, not at WDW ). I think it may be a mating "dance". Whatever they were doing, it sure was fun to watch - bunny 1 jump and then in one motion flip to face the other bunny; bunny 2 jump and then flip.... I watched them for quite a few minutes.

 

[bamamolly]

The first time DH and I went to Disney together, he proposed in front of the castle. We found out there was a restaurant up in the castle (obviously didn't know about this), so we got a reservation for that night and went to have dinner. We had an awesome dinner and our waiter was so great. Before we left, he gave us a box which had champaign flutes in it with the CRT logo on them. He said normally that's given to the honeymooners but when he heard our story of getting engaged, he decided we deserved them too.

 

[disney2008]

This was a small one but meant a lot to my daughter. We had 3 FPs for Test Track. She rode with her dad while I stayed with my son who was too short to ride. I started talking to the CM about the ride, where they exit, about riding by myself, and he gave me a 2nd fast pass (they were already gone for the day) so that my daughter could ride again with me. She was excited that she got to ride again!

 

[kcormier]

I am not sure if this really counts as Disney Magic - but my husband and I were selected to open Hollywood Studios three years ago. It was great! After we did the rope drop, we were given the choice of riding Tower of Terror or Rockin Roller Coaster - we picked Rockin Roller Coaster! We were walked straight through to the front row and our Hollywood Stuidos Escort was waiting for us after the ride with a complimentary photo of us on the ride. It was so fun!

A year later we were at Magic Kingdom and the park was near closing time when my husband had to use the rest rooms near Casey's Corner. As I waited outside the rest room, I noticed a little girl walking up to me with her Mother and they were admiring my pins. It finally dawned on me who they were....Katie Holmes and Suri Cruise! Then I noticed Tom Cruise walking up behind them. They they were escorted into a "back door" to exit the park. I was so sad that my husband missed the whole thing. When he came out of the rest room I told him what just happened as we walked to or last stop of the night - the Confectionary. As we were walking inside I heard people walking up behind us. I turned around and it was all three of them! We were in the Confectionary with them and Tom Cruise was behind us in line at the counter. He said hello and was very nice.

That might not be Disney magic - but I have never been that close to any celebrities in my whole life!

 

[carolinamama]

We took our son on his first Disney trip back in 2006, and it was DH's first trip since 1985. We hit the parks the same day we arrived. One of the first things we did at DHS was ToT. DS was just barely 40", so he was allowed in the queue. But we were doing rider swap and shouldn't have gotten in the queue, but we didn't know. One of the CMs took me and DS down the CM stairwell to the ride exit below. I couldn't tell if the CM was truly irritated or just playing his part!! He must have just been playing his part because he left us and returned with a smaller version of his costume for DS to wear!! It had 'Jr Bellhop' on the nametag and everything. DS put on the coat and hat, then he was told to stand at a particular set of doors and say "Welcome back!" whenever they opened. So when DH was done with his ride, he unexpectedly was welcomed back by his son!!

DH was floored. DS thought it was fun. I think I started to tear up, seriously. We had only been there a few hours, and DH starts talking about Disney magic. I guess I've convinced him considering our trip travel record every since!

 

[Taja]

We arrived on the last possible day to take advantage of free dining in 2006--probably September 29 or 30. It was what our work schedules permitted.

We were wandering around MK in the afternoon of the night we were attending MNSSHP, and chatted with a CM for a bit--probably about 15 or 20 minutes--near the bridge between Frontierland and Main Street. Apparently he was posted there for some reason...and we soon discovered why!

Just as we were about to move on, he asked if we would be staying for MNSSHP. We were. And did we have any plans for viewing the parade? No, we didn't.

Turned out they were testing that area with benches just off of the bridge as a VIP viewing area, and we had the opportunity to be test subjects!

We were in the front row with a couple of small families with young children. The view was spectacular!

Instead of throwing candy to the audience during the parade, as CMs did on most of the parade route, they were stuffing our treat bags! We acquired a lot of chocolate from Goofy's Candy Kitchen, most of which went home with my BFF. Probably a good five pounds of chocolate, plus the other stuff we acquired while trick or treating. She used it for Halloween at her house and for her grandchildren. *LOL*