I looked around, trying to decide where to post this, it’s not really a trip report, but it certainly made my trip memorable.
It started with a lovely friend I made while cruising, who is from England. I met Linda while on our trip to the Panama Canal, and we continue to chat frequently on FB. I mentioned that DH & I were taking our great-niece (Haley) to Disney for her 10th birthday. She said she used to work at Disneyland Paris reservation. She offered me her lanyard and pins, and said she would bring them on our next cruise together, this past December. Such a lovely gift and such wonderful pins!
I knew that Haley would really love pin trading as she knows no strangers. I removed all those lovely pins, and replaced them with others I had so she could have some fun. It was the best part of the trip! Haley wasn’t real familiar with the Disney characters, but her favorite color is blue, so any blue pin was her goal. She eagerly looked for cast members to trade with, and they were all happy to accommodate her requests.
Here is Haley outside LeCellier with her lanyard and that ever present open mouth grin!
We had a morning to ourselves where we did Fantasyland, and enjoyed some special “girl-time” together. I told her that Peter Pan was my all-time favorite, and asked if she would ride it with me. She agreed it was now one of her favorite too. It was six days of fun, and on the last day we went to Animal Kingdom.
And here she is after she had her face painted in Dinoland, I love this one! (See the Lanyard?)
We stopped for lunch at the AK, and sent her to find a table and told her to stay there (perhaps my first mistake.) While we waited for the food, she came up to me and said she was in one of the smaller rooms, at the back. I told her to stay at the table as requested, and we would find her. As we headed to the back, I saw her talking to a woman, and her face was white. The woman was talking to one of the restaurant staff, asking them to look in the lost and found. Turns out this trusting child left her lanyard on the table to show it was occupied, and asked this woman with her children to keep an eye on it. The woman swears no one other that staff entered the room, but there were other families in there too, and someone took her pins! The woman felt so bad, and I was unhappy on several levels. First, I had told her to stay at the table -Second, talking to strangers – Third, asking someone to watch her things. My husband knew she felt bad, and while stressing what she had done was wrong, tried to reassure her she would survive. I sat there smoldering, and some of that was selfish, since it was associated with a dear friend, and the loss of the lanyard.
But hey, we're at Disney, and in no time, things were back to normal, we put it behind us, and enjoyed our day. On the way out we stopped at a gift shop where Haley could spend the rest of her trip money, and I could looks around. I had purchased a DS game the last time I was there, so I looked around for one to give Haley to mark our last day, and to take a bit of Disney home. A sweet CM showed me where the games were, and what the selection was. We chatted a bit, and when she asked how our trip was, I related that we brought Haley for her first trip to meet Mickey, and what a wonderful time we all were having, but the only bummer was the loss of the lanyard & pins. She smiled at me and asked if I would wait a moment. I said sure. She asked if Haley was in the store, and I said yes, she was shopping with my husband. Again, she asked if I would wait just a moment. OK, I’m a bit slow at the uptake; I thought she needed to go back into the storeroom to get bags or something. I waited and Haley came over, and I told her to stay with me a bit, after a while the CM came out and started talking to Haley. She asked who her favorite character was, (I think she said Tink) then she left again for a bit, and came back and took her out to the pin cart and told her to select a lanyard. (She picked out a blue one, of course, LOL!) Again she asked us to wait, and when she returned the lanyard was full of princess pins, Tink, and Wendy. (OK excuse me…my eyes are filled with tears again just remembering it!) Haley was shocked! She knew how much those pins cost, because she bought one with her own money. Then this dear CM took her out to the pin cart and told her to select one herself, and she offered to help her. Haley picked out a pin of Big Ben, with Pan and the crew flying around it. OK I was a wreck by then, tears streaming down my face, my husband laughing at me, and Haley looking like a deer in headlights.
We walked away, feeling the magic, DH with his arm around me, teasing me about crying, and then she went and did it!!! Ok, get ready…she gave me the Big Ben Pin! She wanted me know she was sorry of her mistake, and to remind me of our favorite ride, and our time together! Major tears now…(then and now, just remembering!)
So I ask you, kind readers, do you know who this lovely person is? She made a memory that will forever stay in our hearts! I will be writing to Disney to tell them this sweet story, and I have the receipt of the store, so I can give the store and date too. But if anyone knows or meets this kind person, please let her know that her thoughtfulness gave us priceless memories that will last!
Now excuse me while I go look for a Kleenex.
It started with a lovely friend I made while cruising, who is from England. I met Linda while on our trip to the Panama Canal, and we continue to chat frequently on FB. I mentioned that DH & I were taking our great-niece (Haley) to Disney for her 10th birthday. She said she used to work at Disneyland Paris reservation. She offered me her lanyard and pins, and said she would bring them on our next cruise together, this past December. Such a lovely gift and such wonderful pins!
I knew that Haley would really love pin trading as she knows no strangers. I removed all those lovely pins, and replaced them with others I had so she could have some fun. It was the best part of the trip! Haley wasn’t real familiar with the Disney characters, but her favorite color is blue, so any blue pin was her goal. She eagerly looked for cast members to trade with, and they were all happy to accommodate her requests.
Here is Haley outside LeCellier with her lanyard and that ever present open mouth grin!
We had a morning to ourselves where we did Fantasyland, and enjoyed some special “girl-time” together. I told her that Peter Pan was my all-time favorite, and asked if she would ride it with me. She agreed it was now one of her favorite too. It was six days of fun, and on the last day we went to Animal Kingdom.
And here she is after she had her face painted in Dinoland, I love this one! (See the Lanyard?)
We stopped for lunch at the AK, and sent her to find a table and told her to stay there (perhaps my first mistake.) While we waited for the food, she came up to me and said she was in one of the smaller rooms, at the back. I told her to stay at the table as requested, and we would find her. As we headed to the back, I saw her talking to a woman, and her face was white. The woman was talking to one of the restaurant staff, asking them to look in the lost and found. Turns out this trusting child left her lanyard on the table to show it was occupied, and asked this woman with her children to keep an eye on it. The woman swears no one other that staff entered the room, but there were other families in there too, and someone took her pins! The woman felt so bad, and I was unhappy on several levels. First, I had told her to stay at the table -Second, talking to strangers – Third, asking someone to watch her things. My husband knew she felt bad, and while stressing what she had done was wrong, tried to reassure her she would survive. I sat there smoldering, and some of that was selfish, since it was associated with a dear friend, and the loss of the lanyard.
But hey, we're at Disney, and in no time, things were back to normal, we put it behind us, and enjoyed our day. On the way out we stopped at a gift shop where Haley could spend the rest of her trip money, and I could looks around. I had purchased a DS game the last time I was there, so I looked around for one to give Haley to mark our last day, and to take a bit of Disney home. A sweet CM showed me where the games were, and what the selection was. We chatted a bit, and when she asked how our trip was, I related that we brought Haley for her first trip to meet Mickey, and what a wonderful time we all were having, but the only bummer was the loss of the lanyard & pins. She smiled at me and asked if I would wait a moment. I said sure. She asked if Haley was in the store, and I said yes, she was shopping with my husband. Again, she asked if I would wait just a moment. OK, I’m a bit slow at the uptake; I thought she needed to go back into the storeroom to get bags or something. I waited and Haley came over, and I told her to stay with me a bit, after a while the CM came out and started talking to Haley. She asked who her favorite character was, (I think she said Tink) then she left again for a bit, and came back and took her out to the pin cart and told her to select a lanyard. (She picked out a blue one, of course, LOL!) Again she asked us to wait, and when she returned the lanyard was full of princess pins, Tink, and Wendy. (OK excuse me…my eyes are filled with tears again just remembering it!) Haley was shocked! She knew how much those pins cost, because she bought one with her own money. Then this dear CM took her out to the pin cart and told her to select one herself, and she offered to help her. Haley picked out a pin of Big Ben, with Pan and the crew flying around it. OK I was a wreck by then, tears streaming down my face, my husband laughing at me, and Haley looking like a deer in headlights.
We walked away, feeling the magic, DH with his arm around me, teasing me about crying, and then she went and did it!!! Ok, get ready…she gave me the Big Ben Pin! She wanted me know she was sorry of her mistake, and to remind me of our favorite ride, and our time together! Major tears now…(then and now, just remembering!)
So I ask you, kind readers, do you know who this lovely person is? She made a memory that will forever stay in our hearts! I will be writing to Disney to tell them this sweet story, and I have the receipt of the store, so I can give the store and date too. But if anyone knows or meets this kind person, please let her know that her thoughtfulness gave us priceless memories that will last!
Now excuse me while I go look for a Kleenex.
