Character Attendant magic moments

[tinker_beth]

I'm starting my program in August as a character attendant and was wondering if anyone can share stories where they've been able to make someone's trip special in that role. It seems like there are fewer opportunities to make a little magic in this role than in the others. I know these things are what you make them and you can make anyone's trip special with just a little effort so I guess I'm just looking for some inspiration. Please and thank you!

 

[Singledad]

I can tell you as a guest that it was a character handler on my last trip (earlier this month) who made me nearly cry with joy. First off, I just asked if she knew of any way to have someone call to the restaurant I forgot my backpack at to let them know I will be there to get it, I just wanted to finish going thru this line first... next thing I know another cast member is going to walk over there for me! It is only because of her making sure to get the right person that I managed to have the autograph book for buzz lightyear. something small like that, and other things like her making sure that those entering the line knew that woody was due for a break in 30 min. (the time for the line was 25 at that point, but close.) and that he may or may not be there when we hit the front. This was very helpful because I was able to prepare my child that woody may not be there. With having a special needs kid that meant being able to prevent a full meltdown.

I mean, She didn't know offhand if they could call to the restaurant, and I said, okay, thanks anyway. I figured you couldn't. But she didn't just leave it at that, she made sure to find out, and make sure something was done.

 

[KiSsMySaSs89]

I was in merchandise, and I've posted this story on another thread but I'll copy and paste it here:

On my last day of work, one of my managers was trying to do a basics walk with me, just discussing what I had learned and all that good stuff. We saw the cutest two year-old little girl. She was holding two small Minnie plushes and had a Minnie Mouse t-shirt on. My manager, Michelle, and I found out, from her father than Minnie Mouse was her favorite. Michelle asked him if they'd gotten a chance to meet Minnie Mouse and he said "No, not yet." Michelle told me to go check the line at Mickey's to find out if Minnie was there. I ran into the Entertainment manager on my way over and told her about the little girl and she told me that she was pretty sure Minnie was there at the time and that the line wasn't very long. I came back and told Michelle and the father and offered to walk them over there right away. He ran and got his wife and other daughter out of line to see the fairies and I took them over to Mickey's. They went to stand in line while I spoke to the Character attendant. I told her that the family really wanted to see Minnie, but the character attendant said that she wasn't sure that Minnie would be there when they got back or not (since Minnie kept leaving to go to shopping). She said she'd be right back and went to go check to see if Minnie was going to be there. She came back a few minutes later and told me that Minnie was still in and out. So I asked her if there was something we could do to insure that they would see Minnie, since we'd just pulled his wife and other daughter out of the fairy line specifically so they could see Minnie. She offered to back door them, to see if they would be able to see Minnie. She told me to go get them and bring them to the rope, while she went to do something. So I went and got them out of the line, and brought them to the rope and told them that the character attendant would be back and take them in to see Minnie. Awhile later I was straightening things and I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and saw the mom. She was like "My daughter was the one with the Minnie Mouses...I just wanted to say thank you! That was so amazing. We got in there and she ran up to Minnie and kissed her on the nose." Then Michelle came up and she thanked her as well. It was just awesome, because I was there for almost 7 months and people would always talk about how they were able to get kids back-doored to see characters or get autographs for them, and I had always wanted to be able to do that, and I finally did it on my very last day. It was about as magical for me as it was for them.

In this case it was all three of us (Michelle, me and the character attendant) that made the moment magical. If Michelle hadn't asked me to go see if we could get them in to see Minnie, then I never would have gone to check. If I had taken the Entertainment manager's word on Minnie being there, and not bothered talking to the character attendant about it then the family may not have seen Minnie at all, and if the character attendant hadn't gone to the back to check or offered to back door them, then again the family may not have seen Minnie. So, there you go haha.

 

[Joanna71985]

I was part of a magical moment at DHS. I got to pick the family for the Power Rangers meet (right before they went back in after their set, a family got to take a group picture with all the Power Rangers). The kids were so happy to be picked!

 

[santadog]

I am a single parent and I take my daughter to one of the parks at least once a year.
2 of the moments that stick out most in my mind are:
at the 2009 Halloween Party at DCA, my daughter was dressed as "Boo". During a villain meet and greet, Cruella DeVille told us she was looking for Sully, to make a coat out of him.
This kind of freaked out my daughter (she was 4 at the time) and she insisted on finding Sully to warn him. Unfortunately the big guy wasn't doing a meet and greet. We met a character wrangler (she was working with JoJo and Goliath) and when she heard the story, she got on her walkie-talkie and found out Sully was out dancing in the Hollywood Backlot area.
She arranged for us to meet with him and "warn" him privately before he came back from his next break.

The other was a handler at Epcot who was working with Jasmine. Previously on that trip, DD had asked where Abu was, and she was told "He may be over in Morocco, trying to steal apples".
Well, that led to a couple of days looking all over for the little monkey...
I talked to the handler while we were in line a few days later, and the handler spoke to Jasmine, and when it was DD's turn, Jasmine "remembered" her name, and gave DD an Abu pin for her efforts in looking for him.


In short (too late, I know), I'd just watch the line, and if you see someone looking anxious, find out a name or something kid specific you can feed to the character (especially if it's a "face") - don't underestimate how much the "small" things can mean.

 

[Fata turchina]

When my little sister was in second grade (so back in August of 2000,) we were waiting in line for Cinderella but she had to leave for the parade. My sister had an autograph book and the attendant told her she could get Cinderella to sign it for us and told us where to wait to watch the parade and that she would return it for us.

We waited there and sure enough, the attendant brought the signed book and my mom was relieved we wouldn't have to wait in line again. The spot the attendant told us to wait at was perfect for the parade too.

 

[tinker_beth]

hey everyone thanks for the responses these are some cool stories

 

[keypooh90]

Awesome stories! I think character attendant is going to be one of my top picks for spring 2012.

 

[MissRiss89]

Although it seems at times I have more negative stories about work than positive ones, there have been many moments where I take a step back and I am SO incredibly thankful to have the opportunity to make magic for guests. During my CP, one of the most magical moments for me was when a family friend of mine came to visit with a huge group. She has severe disabilities, and came with a group of young adults who also have severe disabilities that make it very hard for them to function. I am a special education major, and always love getting to spend time with guests like that. We had about 5 minutes left of our set (I was with Pooh, Tigger, and Eeyore in the UK) and I let them know this would probably be their last group. There was about 10 adults or so, along with their caretakers, who came into the area (it's a roped off room in the back of the UK toy shop.) Well, this last group ended up spending about 15 minutes with the Pooh characters. They were so overwhelmed by seeing them, and jut wanted to be hugged and touched by them. Some of them started crying from joy, and their caretakers told me that this was the first time they had seen their group so happy and understanding of what was happening since they had gotten to Disney. I could not help but cry alongside all these happy young adults. My family friend and another friend thanked me for making all of their dreams come true, and it was all I could do not to completely sob my eyes out. Although being an attendant can extremely stressful and frustrating at times, it is moments like these that make everything completely worth it!