Paying it forward..... and spreading some Magic!!!

[DaniB]

We are getting GAD fastpasses. It's only the two of us and since you can get them for up to 6 people for each voucher, I was thinking of finding a family and asking if they want to join our "party" for a few minutes to get the fastpasses. I know some people think that is "cheating", but I see it as sharing the magic.

Marsha

I see it as sharing the magic as well! We're a family of 4 so we can only invite 2 people to do this with us, but we're going to as well.

I like the ideas of stickers, glowsticks, and giving away FPs. In fact, giving away FPs will be so easy for us to do! We will have GAD FPs to use, and don't plan on riding ToT, RnRc, EE and bunch. We can make a bunch of people's days giving those away!

 

[DaniB]

I made little Thank You cards (business card size) and taped a lifesaver to them and DD6 and DS4 would hand them out to the CMs who cleaned the tables at restaurants, the bus drivers, an awesome janitor who "painted" a giant Mickey head with his mop water on the pavement as my kids stood and watched in amazement! and other CMs who were just helpful to us throughout our trip.

That's a wonderful idea! I have read about many people handing out thank you cards to CMs, but yours is the first I've read to attach something extra special like a lifesaver.

I'm going to steal your idea! Thanks for the heads-up!

 

[madthemouse]

For the past six or seven years I purchase three baloons, and let my daughter pick three children she would like to give them too. She always ask the parents first if it would be ok. Once she's done passing out her baloons, we're on our way to the next attraction. Sometims it's just doing the little things in life.

 

[BLTtinkerbell]

These are all great ideas! A few years back, we went to the Studios and a family leaving, gave us their fastpasses. My kids were so happy to get on ToT and RnRc! We did the same thing for another family on our last day. It was nice to see their smiling faces!

 

[LadySiren]

Can I post one that hasn't happened yet?

A fellow DISer on these boards has offered to share her GAD FPs with us. Since we're a party of 12 and only 7 of us were doing GAD, it meant 5 people would've missed out on these. We have one person who likely won't do a lot of riding due to a recent (like one week ago) diagnosis of a heart condition, so with her extra FPs, our group of 11 riders will be able to do GAD FPs.

I don't want to post her name without her permission here, but she should know who she is, especially when I mention she's got a big test coming up in June. Thank you again - our family truly appreciates you sharing a bit of magic with us.

 

[desert_starr_57]

I am so going to do some of these. I already planned on taking extra glow sticks. I think we will do some more of these. I think it is a fantastic thing to do and to teach my DC to do!!

 

[ppoe65]

These are all great ideas and I am happy to hear somany people are doing this.

The last couple of trips we had extra CS meals left, so I would order our meals and use remaing credits to pay for what i could of the person behind me. In one instance in Casey's (MK) the DF & DS i offered to purchase food for, it was the DS birthday. They were very appreciative. Made the boy feel special on his bd

 

[Lamandpercy]

I always do this:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=717799

We don't get to see the magic but having no kids of our own giving sweets etc out would seem a bit weird. We give any spare fast passes away too

 

[gzh6464]

-Take other people's pictures

-hand out extra FPs

-randomly ask people if they want to join us using a RS pass (if we have extra spots)

-give directions to those confused by the maps

-give suggestions to newbies....or to anyone reading my posts.

 

[ilovepooh]

Last year we bought DS a huge mickey head shaped balloon 2 days before we were getting on an airplane. DH said since we can't take it with us he wanted to give it to someone else to enjoy! I think we will do that every year!

 

[jenn-n-okla]

I always have to buy the double strollers for the entire stay we are there. My daughter uses oxygen so it is just easier for us to get one of those expensive yet awesome Disney strollers. At the end of the day I always look for a family heading to the stroller line. I ask if they have bought their stroller tickets yet and if not I hand them mine. I was done with it and was going to turn it in anyway. My mother and my husband thought I was nuts and "wasting time", "let them pay for it just like we did", bla bla bla. But I strongly believe in "paying it forward". You never know what good will come of it.
Those stroller rentals are outragous!
By the 3 day my daughters were on the look out for families that would need one.

 

[miss_bell]

I have done numerous pay it forwards in Disney but the one that stands out the most is just after wishes in magic kingdom I was in one of the stores and a girl of about 12 came up to me and told me she really like my necklace and bracelet (they were the glow stick kind but made from beads rather than one link) I thanked the girl then offered her the bracelet, she was really thrilled. Then she came back over with her mom who also thanked me for the bracelet and so I gave her the necklace (i had no need for it really) the poor girl started to cry in excitement, I was also at the cash register at the time and the Disney cast member serving asked if I knew the girl which I replied no then she started to cry saying "Magical things always happen in Disney but that is the nicest thing I have ever seen" which then made start to cry.

 

[Plucker001]

We do the same thing as Jenn. We always rent a double stroller and look for a family when we are leaving the park to give it to.

 

[angelsmith52]

This is an awesome thread. I am definitely making a list of things to mak wishes come true the next time we are there!

 

[disneymom1980]

The last time DH and I were in Disney, we had tons of snack credits left on our last day. We had to stop at Epcot to get the pearl ring that I got in Japan fixed, and we stopped to get a drink. An older couple was behind us, also waiting to get drinks. I asked them if I could use some of our snack credits to purchase their drinks for them. They looked at me like I was crazy and kept saying, "Are you sure????" They were not on the dining plan, and I pretty sure they didn't know how it worked, but they did finally agree to let me get them for them and kept thanking us. It made us feel good to be able to use our credits to help someone else.

Also, when we were seeing Spectro magic that same trip, we managed to find a fairly decent spot because all of the people in front of us were sitting, so they were easy to see over. Shortly after we stood behind them, we heard a family where the little girl was really upset because she couldn't see. We talked to the parents and offered to let both girls in the family stand in front of us (it really wasn't a big deal because we could easily see over them as well). The parents, and the little girls were all very thankful, and we had a nice conversation with the parents waiting for the parade to start.

 

[mrs_noopie]

I love to share the magic!

We bring party-favor-sized bottles of bubbles, and let DD give a few away to other kids around us for waiting-in-line fun and bonding.

We bring a tube of the thin glow sticks from the party/drug/dollar store - the kind that come with connectors to make glow necklaces and bracelets. It's so fun for DD (and us) to give them away while waiting for fireworks to start! Kids LOVE them, and parents are so grateful.

Buy a helium balloon in the AM, carry it around and enjoy it all day. When you leave the park, hand it away to someone else to enjoy. We stayed at AKL, where you aren't supposed to have balloons... DD was very skeptical about giving hers away, but once she did she was very happy to make another kid's day! Did this two days in a row when staying at AKL...

We always give away our unused FPs!
Once TSM broke down and we were given FPs valid anytime in the next week. When we checked-out of our hotel the next morning, we handed the TSM FPs to someone in line who was checking-in - talk about a happy reaction!

And outside of the parks... I always make it known to new friends I meet that I have lots of fantastic advice to share if they're thinking about a trip to WDW!

 

[crabbygal902]

I use leftover snack credits to buy snacks for the next person in line at the end of my vacation. Funny thing---someone who is leaving Disney World ALWAYS tries to buy my families' 1st CS meal each and every trip! We always do the DDP, so it isn't necessary. Is this karma??

I buy lots of extra glow necklaces before the trip and have my kids give them out to other kids who are standing near us for fireworks shows.

We always give away extra FPs before we leave a park. And how do we manage to have extra FPs?? I have no idea! It's like they multiply or something!

I buy an EXPENSIVE ($10?) balloon at the beginning of our trip to identify our stroller, and we give it away to a child who is checking in when we are on our way home.

I send postcards from WDW to my friends' children from their favorite characters. Many of these parents are a little 'mad' at me for having to plan their own WDW vacations to visit the characters!

 

[drputt]

Man, you guys are awesome!!!

My wife and I leave for our 9th WDW vacation & were looking for something different to do--we'll definitely be Sharing the Magic next week.

I have always seemed to end up 1st in line for the next available monorail. I try to find a group of kids behind me in line (the wife and I are childless) & ask the CM if they can ride in the front. Does this qualify?

 

[Snork]

If I have left over credits on my arcade card at check out I will give it to a parent at the check in line. I would never give it to a child and usually get some pretty odd looks from the father, but after I give it up and explain that I am checking out they are pretty open to it.

 

[brasey]

We were there for Christmas and I brought candy canes and DS10 & DD6 gave them to Cast Members. The kids loving giving them out and the Cast Members loved getting them.