Did you ever want to thank a stranger you briefly met at WDW?

[susiemouse]

This past October my husband, two children & I were in Epcot and had dinner reservations at Beirgarten in Germany. If anyone knows Beirgarten you are seated at a large dining table that usually seats 8. This sometimes means that you are seated with other parties and share the table as we did on this one particular evening. My husband and I met a couple from Jacksonville who were down for an overnight for International Food and Wine Expo. We instantly hit it off talking about different resorts, dining areas and rides at the parks. They were particularly knowledgeable about WDW and the holidays. It was so great to meet such down to earth people who have a love for the same place and engaged in great conversation! Towards the end of the dinner we walked outside with them and they were very kind to point out the hidden Mickey to my children (who love hm's) on the crown of a king on the exterior of the building. As we all headed our separate ways to Illuminations we all thanked each other for a great dinner! This brief meeting set the tone for a wonderful evening!

Thank you to a wonderful couple!

Has anyone else ever had a similar experience?

 

[Cherinva]

It's hard to pinpoint just one experience, as I have had a number of them. Although, one that stands out happened in 2008. We were staying at the ASMusic, and it was early in the morning. I had left the room to get coffee and sat down at a table for a few minutes. This lady was seated near me and we got to talking about our trips and what we have done, and what we were doing next. She noticed that I was wearing my lanyard with my pins on it, so we compaired each others. I noticed that she had a...(ugg, it's hard to describe)..it's Mickey Ears with a little link through...I asked her where she got it as I really liked it. She said that she got it at DisneyLand. I said oh, ok. She then told me that she was from Canada and that they go to DL more than WDW...at that point she took the Mickey off her lanyard and handed it over to me, saying that she could always get another one. I was floored!!!! I offered to let her have any of my pins, and she graciously declined. To this day, I keep my little mickey on my lanyard and wear him proudly...I don't know who she is, but I will remember her always. She made my day. Disney Folks are just the BEST!

 

[FireDancer]

In 2004 I was on Kali River Rapids and a the water knocked my contact out. Some how it managed to land on the back of my hand so I had the contact. I held onto it and as I was getting ready to go find contact solution someone getting off the ride with me opened her purse and handed me a small single use packet of contact solution. I didn't even ask. I did thank her of course.

 

[BriarRosie]

After reading Frank's Kali encounter, I have to say that I was the stranger who helped out another guest one time. I have a bag that I call the "Mary Poppins fanny pack" because I was able to carry just about anything I could ever need, just like Mary Poppins with her carpetbag. I was in the Land pavilon when I noticed a mother asking a cast member where she could buy a Band-Aid for her son.

Without skipping a beat, I opened up my pack and gave the mom an antibacterial wipe and a Band-Aid from my stash. She looked shocked at how quickly I was able to help and gave me a "thank you" before I went on my way. I bet she carried those items around with her on subsequent trips!

 

[skier_pete]

How about this....we were in line for Philharmagic and there were three young Asian girls in front of us - I think Japanese, but not 100% on that. One of them had stuffed Gingerbread Minnie and Mickey's on their backpack, maybe 6" tall. My DW asked them where they had gotten them, wanting to get them for herself. They spoke very little English, but were able to comminicate they had gotten them not locally, but from Tokyo Disneyland. DW said, "Oh, they are so cute" or something like that, but didn't think anything more of it. A few minutes later, the girl clipped them off of her backpack, and turned to us, and gave them to our DD! We were practically speechless. We said thanks, and tried to get DD to say thank you. (She is shy, and wasn't really the one admiring them anyways.) We didn't really have anything on us to give back in trade, and we separated from them once we were seated, so never saw them again.

So, Domo Iragato to the young girl who gave us a present from the other side of the world!

 

[Joshua_me]

Yes. It was a CM, a bus driver....

A couple of years ago, I took my Mom to the MK on Christmas Eve. (There's a pic of us, below...)

She was just recovering from knee surgery, and getting out of the boat in IASW, she slipped and threw that knee out of it's socket.

Anyway, long story short as we hobbled to the bus stop on our way back to The Dolphin, our bus driver saw us and summed up the situation.

He got out of his bus, helped my Mom in, and in the height of one of the busiest nights of the year took just the two of us back to our hotel.

We had the bus to ourselves.

He "phoned ahead" to The Dolphin and when we arrived there was a wheelchair waiting for us. He could not of been nicer and more accommodating.

I was so blown away by his kindness I tried to slip a $20 into his pocket, but he refused.

"I just want you and your Mom to have a Merry Christmas, that's payment enough for me", he replied.

I almost started crying.

I will *never* forget that night.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

These stories are giving me the warm fuzzies. Keep them coming!

 

[dalt01]

not trying to ring my own bell..........but...........there is this thing i like to do.....i buy the blinky light up necklace like plastic thingys that they sell after dark from the push carts and late at night on the dark bus they look pretty neat when they are on and there is always a very tired youngster sitting on the bus mesmerised by the changing sequence of the lights. when i get off i just take it off my neck and slip it on him/her as i go by and just keep on walking.

 

[auroralark]

I'm loving all these stories!

 

[Mish19]

On Halloween night we had gone to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and I was dressed as an angel with wings. A little girl came over to me and said "Hi, I'm an angel too but I lost my wings" She was so sweet and we spoke for a while with her and her mom. I had a bunch of stickers so I gave them all to her.

 

[Gary Pinkos]

Mine was a cast member!

About 11 years ago, my 5 year old daughter had a stuffed bunny that she was very very attached too. We were driving to Old Key West from PA, and somewhere in the Carolina's we stopped for breakfast. Naturally my daughter took Boo Boo in to the restaurant, and naturally she forgot to bring Boo Boo back to the van........about a hour later we stopped for gas a bathroom break and we realized Boo Boo was missing. After some panic, we figured out which Shoney's we had been at and we called them. They had Boo Boo and offered to send her to us at Old Key West.

Upon arrival I spoke to someone at the check-in desk, they gave me the correct address to have Shoney's send Boo Boo to.....all was right in the world, although my 5 year old was a little nervous......she trusted that dad had handled the situation and she trusted Boo Boo would arrive safe and sound.

We went to our room and maybe 10 minutes later two cast members knocked on our door. When I opened the door the cast members asked for my daughter by name. As my daughter came to meet the cast members, they told my daughter that Mickey had heard that she had temporarily lost Boo Boo, and he sent (He pulled a stuffed Pooh Bear from behind his back) Pooh for my daughter to sleep with till Boo Boo arrived.....her jaw dropped to the floor.......I am 6ft 2in 250 lbs.....I was crying like a baby.

By the way......Shoney's sent Boo Boo Fed-ex next day.....wouldn't take a dime from me.


Gary Pinkos

 

[FoundMyPrince]

During our last visit to WDW, we were leaving Magic Kingdom after Wishes when a couple from England asked DD if she could care for their Mickey balloon. They were headed home the following day and couldn't take the balloon with them. DD was soooo surprised; it was a very special moment for DD.

 

[chaoscent]

Hi Pa People, Philly here
I just wanted to say I am sitting here with tears running down my cheeks. I am getting ready to go to Disney next Wed. A co-worker asked me today "how can you take 4 trips there in one year, I would be so bored". I replied, I am just really, really lucky, that's why. Anyway, this is one of the reasons I love Disney. My nephew (an Army Major) came home from being deployed last year. He is a Disney fan (my niece married smartly ). It was the first trip my my 4 year old nieces. They had saved their money so they could stay in the Poly, a favorite of my nephew's, but difficult to afford. However, they decided it was just what they needed because they had been separated for so long. When they checked in they were told they were being upgraded to Concierge, Castle View. Well, life doesn't get much better than that. We alll had a wonderful vacation.
Also, I posted on the boards my nephew was coming home and he wanted to be a part of the flag ceremony in MK. This is something you need to book in person, and it fills up quickly. I was asking if there was a way I could arrange this for him. A CM who worked in MK sent me a PM and asked me for his information and reserved it for him. There were 10 of us there celebrating his coming home and all of us had tears watching him proudly be a part of such a wonderful tradition. I thanked the woman who did this, but I don't know if she realized what a wonderful gift she gave us. Which is why i feel it is soooo important to "pass it forward" however I can.
Penny

 

[susiemouse]

Thank you so much for sharing your stories! It's refreshing to know that the magic doesn't only live in the property/parks and the cast members! It comes from attendees as well!

 

[amy4bruce]

I live this thread. One time really comes to mind. In 2005 we were waiting for the fireworks at MNSSHP and my DD6 started crying in pain and holding her face. She said her tooth really hurt. Before I could really react a mom next to us dressed as Kim Possible (her husband was dressed as Ron) said, " excuse me but I just overheard what your daughter said." She explained that she was a pediatric dentist and would be happy to look at DD mouth. She took the flashlight she had on her KP belt and saw that DD had eaten so much trick or treat candy that the sugar had settled in a cavity. She had DD rinse her mouth out with some water she had in a cooler. She was so kind and explained what to do until we could get home to our dentist. DD felt better soon and we watched the fireworks with Dr Kim as we called her.
We really had some pixie dust that night! Thanks to Dr Kim, again!

 

[Tink rules]

Since I often travel alone, I sometimes toss myself into other people's conversations (if they are having a general one... nothing personal...)

Well, I was in line at DHS for a Mickey ice cream sandwhich and the guys in front of us were getting some for their wives... but they couldn't decide what to get (their wives were in one of the shops clear across the plaza...) So they asked me... I gave them some suggestions and jokingly said I'd take an ice cream bar... They went up... ordered and turned around and said "Thanks much!" and handed me my ice cream bar!!! (I tried to protest... it didn't go far...)

Also... the first time I had gone to DL, it was a very crowded Saturday night and I was walking through Frontierland and someone walked up to me and gave me his FP's that he had - they were leaving and couldn't use them! It was nice that he was thoughtful instead of just throwing them away.


I think this is also a nice thread for Pay it Forward!!!

 

[lablady]

Well, a couple weeks ago, we'd been at Epcot for hours, been all over World Showcase and Future World and it was HOT!! We had FPs for Test Track, and we were in the area early so made good use of the misting area by the pop fountains. We were fairly melting and still had about 30 minutes before we could even get in line, when we just decided that the Pop Century pool was calling to us!! We started walking away, when I thought about those FPs! There was a mom sitting there with her two kids so I just walked up and told her that we were leaving the park and would she like our FPs? She seemed very shocked that we would do this, even asked me if I was sure! I was sure that we'd make it back, it was only the first full day of our 2 week vacation. after all. She made me feel like I'd given her a huge gift, so it was just as cool for me as it was for her!! What REALLY made me feel good was when my DD7 said as we walked away "you sure are nice Mom" Almost made me cry. I can definitely see why CMs would love being able to create those magical moments every day!

 

[hookedonears]

We were about to have a quick breakfast at the Grand Floridian when a very nice lady came up to us and said she was checking out and because they had bought the standard dining plan, though had primarily eaten at table service restaurants, they had a several counter service meals left and wanted to know if we wanted to use them. Of course we said sure. I thanked her then, but that was a really thoughtful thing to do.

 

[SamSam]

Well, a couple weeks ago, we'd been at Epcot for hours, been all over World Showcase and Future World and it was HOT!! We had FPs for Test Track, and we were in the area early so made good use of the misting area by the pop fountains. We were fairly melting and still had about 30 minutes before we could even get in line, when we just decided that the Pop Century pool was calling to us!! We started walking away, when I thought about those FPs! There was a mom sitting there with her two kids so I just walked up and told her that we were leaving the park and would she like our FPs? She seemed very shocked that we would do this, even asked me if I was sure! I was sure that we'd make it back, it was only the first full day of our 2 week vacation. after all. She made me feel like I'd given her a huge gift, so it was just as cool for me as it was for her!! What REALLY made me feel good was when my DD7 said as we walked away "you sure are nice Mom" Almost made me cry. I can definitely see why CMs would love being able to create those magical moments every day!

Yes, it's so fun to give fast passes away! DH and I always get fast passes and often end up leaving before it's time to use them, so we find someone to give them to; it's so fun to see their faces light up.

 

[dalt01]

twice in the late 90's we were given paper tickets with days left on them. back then the package was not the best way to go so a lot of people got room only ressies and tickets from discounters and such. once was at Boatwrights during "breakfast" (dont even get me started about that ending) from a very nice couple from NY. the other time was in the lobby. one other time we were offered some but we were also on our last day so we told them to give them to someone else. those ticket never expired and we told the folks to keep them for the next time. they said there most likely would not be a next time. as a result i still have tickets with days and multiple water park visits left on them. we use one water park each year.