Disney-Like Behavior...Inspired by UnDisney-Like Behavior

[ShannonRT]

Stories like these make me cry. I am a firm believer in "paying it forward" and what goes around comes around. I don't know of any other company in the world that does customer service as well as Disney. It's just the little things that make every moment spent there so special. And people wonder why we go back year after year. Some people just don't "get" it.

As for me personally, I will always give up my seat on the bus to a child, an elderly person, or an adult holding a child. Last trip I got so frustrated after a rainy evening at MGM. We were the first people on the bus at park closing and went all the way to the back and sat down. As the bus filled up, one of the last families on was a mom, dad and 2 kids. The mom and 1 child got a seat, but the dad was left standing while holding a sleeping (and probably fairly heavy) 2-year-old. Well, they were all the way at the front of the bus and I was in back, with lots more people standing in the aisle. I waited a few minutes, but when NO ONE stood up and offered him their seat, I couldn't stand it and told my mom not to let anyone sit down when I got up. I made my way to the front of the bus and told him to go sit down, giving all the other folks who were sitting nearby mean looks in the process!!

 

[bytheblood]

2004: A VERY generous person on these boards (hey Lauren, you know who I'm talking about), had to cancel a family trip due to a health reason. She gave my family her tickets to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, and refused any money. We'd never met (still haven't), live 1,000 milies away from each other, and in her time of crisis, gave so generously. We had an amazing time, made even more special by a new-found friend.

Disney Magic really does exist!

That made me cry.

 

[urglewurgle]

giving all the other folks who were sitting nearby mean looks in the process!!

lol! good on you! i am a one for being a little, well, rude to people who are like that... i give dirty looks... if someone bumps me and doesn't say sorry i will say (in a loud voice) "oh, excuse me!" or "SORRY! did i get in your way?"... oh, and my fave... people dropping litter... "i think you've droppped something...."

 

[mattsdragon]

I tried to give away fast passes to test track one day, nobody would take them. I couldn't believe it. Some people even looked at me like I was pooping on their shoes.

 

[bytheblood]

We were sitting to watch Fantasmic and there was a family in front of us. Two beautiful boys, a mom and dad. We sat behind them and they were a bit annoying from the start. The boys that is. So, my daughter had on all these glow bracelets and I had some in my backpack. I took a few of them, put them on the little boys, it opened the door to great conversation with the mom and dad as well as those little boys settling down and talking to my daughter. It was a great experience. Just goes to show that if we be nie first, then great things can happen.

 

[oybolshoi]

A couple of years ago DH and I were finishing up afternoon tea at the Grand Floridian...I had ordered one of Cinderella's slippers to go with the meal and when it came time to have the "real" dessert that comes with the grand tea we were stuffed. There was a woman sitting next to us with her mother and her two children - I overheard them when they placed their order and I guess the menu prices were a little more than they expected so they were just splitting tea sandwiches. We had our waitress take the desert tray over to their table so the kids could have our dessert instead - the look on their faces were priceless and then the waitress got in the act and let them have one of each dessert on the tray so they ended up with four instead of two.

Everyone should get to have a cream puff swan when having afternoon tea...it's an unwritten rule!

We always try to do something unexpected like that for a little one on a WDW trip - share the magic (and the sugar!!).

 

[athenna]

I tried to give away fast passes to test track one day, nobody would take them. I couldn't believe it. Some people even looked at me like I was pooping on their shoes.

Lol I hope that wasn't me! A very nice person offered to give my best friend and I their fast passes for test track, we were so grateful, but we explained we just couldn't accept them as we both have motion sickness and don't ride test track. But I certainly appreciated the gesture!

 

[Msslaydbug]

I love these threads. With the theme of paying it forward we like to pay for the person parking behind us in line sincew e have AP's and are usually staying onsite.

I would like to know where you all are getting these glow bracelets from in bulk ?

 

[Feralpeg]

A few years ago, DD and I were sitting on Main Street waiting for the parade to begin. A CM walked up to DD and noticed she didn't have her name on her hat. He asked DD her name and if he could borrow her hat for a few minutes. He walked away. When he came back, DD's name was embroidered on the back of her hat. She was thrilled.

 

[bunnysmum]

I love this thread!

We were sprinkled with pixie dust a few times on our most recent (first ever) trip to WDW. One really cool thing that happened was after we had ridden Soarin' for the third time, we were collecting our things from under the seat and I was trying to get my dd5 out of her seat and my Mom dropped something, so we were a little slow getting out of the theater area, and the place was rapidly filling up with the next group of riders.

As we pushed open the exit door, a CM said to us, "hey, don't you want to ride?" I said, "We'd love to, but we just finished our ride!" He motioned us back in and sat dd and I next to each other and my Mom a couple of people away from us, and we all enjoyed our favorite ride one more time that night! So much fun, and totally unexpected.

Another very kind thing that happened was our treatment by bell services at POR one night. My dd had taken a really bad fall at Epcot, skipping after two CM's from Canada who were sort of running down a path. She fell hard on concrete and it scared the daylights out of me, b/c I couldn't tell what was wrong with her or where she was hurt for a minute or two because she was screaming so much. Turned out it was just a badly bruised and scraped up knee and hand (first aid fixed us up nicely and even gave us a wheelchair to take to the park exit...thanks ladies!).

The bus driver was very nice to my dd on the way back to the resort, and once we got to the bus stop there, he said that if bell services couldn't take us back closer to our room, he would radio another driver to be watching for us at the lobby and he would take us as close as possible to our room (which unfortunately, at Alligator Bayou, would still have been a haul for a little girl with a bumped up knee who thought she was SERIOUSLY injured).

Well, I explained what had happened at bell services, and the young man there not only was very sympathetic, but gave dd stickers, and nabbed the next cart driver he saw and asked him to take us to our room. The driver did so very promptly, and then, flatly REFUSED my tip! How kind is that??

On another night, we were heading out of the Magic Kingdom after Wishes, when a CM who was sweeping up called after my dd (dressed as Snow White), "Oh Princess! Princess!" When my dd turned to him, he asked, "Did you make a wish, Princess?" My dd told him that she had, and he said, "I hope it comes true"

What a magical place!

Oh my gosh, and I just love the CM sweeping up the pixie dust on the sidewalk at Epcot at night. (sigh)

Well, we try to do our part in spreading the magic, so on our last day at WDW, I stood in line at Seasons, looking for people who weren't on the dining plan (had cash or credit card in hand) to treat to lunch since we hadn't used up all our CS meals. That was fun!

My dd even got into this. We ate at Ohana one night, and I had gotten her a little flowery lei from a dollar-type store before we left and she wore it there. As we were leaving, dd met a little girl, about 3 yrs old, v cute, and the two of them saw each other, and just hugged! It was so sweet. Then, dd took off her lei and gave it to the little girl and said, "I want her to have it". Her family tried to give it back, but dd was insistent. I assured them that dd meant what she said. Afterward, on the way downstairs, dd said, "I feel good all over!" I told her that's what happens when we do something nice for someone.

 

[bunnysmum]

Sorry, I don't mean to hog this thread, but I keep thinking of other awesome CM's and guests who were so kind to us on our last trip.

We were at Splash Mtn near closing, and had ridden 4 times! It was hands down my dd's favorite ride. Some nice CM's were helping my Mom get ride photos and my dd was chatting with one of them, a very friendly young man who talked about the fact that we were celebrating her birthday that week. Well, this young man and another CM (a delightful young lady) both chatted with my dd and kept her happily occupied while we waited for Mom to get the ride photos. When we were finally finished, we were heading out the Splash Mtn exit, and the young man came running out after us, and handed my dd a dollar and said, "Here! This is for your birthday!" Then ran back inside!

At Cosmic Ray's my dd was tired and found a chair next to the wall by the counter where I was ordering. I was keeping an eye on her as I ordered and waited for our food. A very sweet CM came up to my dd and stationed herself next to her and chatted with her the whole time til I got our food. By the time I had our order, dd was talking with TWO very nice CM's. I'm so impressed with them. (Yes, we did observe one or two instances of Undisneylike behavior by CM's...a couple of cranky character "handlers", but that's not what THIS thread is about)

At Crystal Palace, we were there early for lunch, and one of the CM's (a character handler) was just delightful. She seated herself at our table, and informed Tigger that she was our "sister". She chatted and joked with us for several minutes, and even came back a few times to visit her "family". Our server Samy was wonderful, too.

CM's...you guys ROCK!!!!

 

[minniedisney1]

We were at The Earl of Sandwich in Dec. during lunch rush. I was a cold rainy day. If you have been there at this time before, you know that 1) it's SUPER crowded & 2) There are few tables available. I stood in the line while my DH took my sleeping DS to find a table. It literally took like 20min. When I finally got to the table, a woman told my what a great DH I had. Apparently he had been "saving" tables for people that he thought needed them. While we were eating, we made a game of it. When someone near us would leave, One would save the table, and the other would find someone with kids/stollers etc. and give it to them.

 

[yellowfish78]

Whenever I had leftover snacks, counter service or paper food vouchers (or anything left from the old Silver Plan from years ago!) I always find a family to give them away to at the resort. I just wait at the checkout line on my checkout day and "pay". It's an awesome feeling!
At least once a day I make sure I ask someone if they want their picture taken together...I know I have too many photos of just my DBF at Disney!

 

[mmeb144]

My DD and I spotted Christmas ornaments that you assemble yourself at Wal-mart about 2 months before our trip. We got them, thinking that we would hang them on the doors at our resort, giving them away to other guests. After we thought about it all week, we were there 12/18 - 12/25, we decided to give them away to CMs. So, on Christmas Eve we began our giveaway. First, the CMs at the front desk, then any other CMs that we could find. We ended the ornament giveaway on Christmas Day at MK. The look on the CM's faces was priceless. I'm glad we were able to spread a little cheer around on a special day. I love Disney and the CMs that make it go.

Marie

 

[DebIreland]

We met so many nice people in WDW on our visit last summer - we met so many nice people on our trip to the U.S. period. It was such a pleasure to be there.

On our Epcot day, the kids were really tired so we didn't get to the park as early as we would have liked. We went to get fastpasses for Soarin' but they were gone. We were on our way out and a couple with 2 kids came over to us (perhaps we looked sad or stressed ) and asked if we'd like their fastpasses. They had done Soarin' already early that morning, had got more fastpasses but decided to leave the park early. We were overjoyed. As it turned out, we only needed 3 of the 4 FPs as we did the baby swap so I gave the 4th one to a very confused looking man who seemed to be overcome by the 2.5 hour queue - he was stunned but happy!

Anyone else love the atmosphere on the Disney buses? It added so much to our holiday - we got chatting to so many great people.

Speaking of buses, on at least two occasions people gave up their seat on the bus to me so I could sit down with the baby I'd like to think we were courteous that way too - my boys regularly gave up their seats to those who needed them.

Thanks to the CM at POFQ who gave us Building 4 as requested.

The Mousekeepers - what can I say? They're just fabulous - at both POFQ and WL - towel animals, smiles, great rooms - great people they are!

Thanks to the nice couple in the Baby Center at MK who gave me a diaper!!!!! Yep, I went in to change my baby and brought just about everything *but* a diaper (DH had taken them out of the changing bag and put them in his backpack earlier) so the couple next to me gave me one!

On our last day we gave our 2 spray fans to a family checking in at WL - they were thrilled!

 

[Mom to a Princess]

In the fall of 2002 My mom, dd and I went on a week long vacation to WDW. We stayed at ALL Star Sports. On our first day in the MK it seemed that each time we were in line to meet a character it was thier time to take a break. DD bing only 18 months was having a hard time with this.

Luck finally seemed on our side when we found a group of characters back by the train station in toontown. Daisy was there. My dd was just crazy for her at that time. Well ofcourse when it came to dds time they had to go on break. DD got very upset. My mom took her over to a bench and was calming her down. I aksed the cm when they would be back (the characters were gone by this point) and she told me other places I could see them but that this was not a regular spot for them. I thanked the cm and we ended up talking for a few minutes. I am not sure how it came about but I ended up teling her that we were there because my mom had just been diagnosed with end stage lung cancer and she wanted to take my dd on her first trip to wdw but knew that once she started radiation and chemo she would not be able to travel. The CM asked me to wait for a minute so she could find out where Daisy was going to be next. Well about ten minutes went by and dd was getting anxious to leave when all of a sudden the cm came back with Daisy, the white rabbit, king john, and gideon. Now we were not in view from the main walkwa so no one knew the characters were there. My dd and my mom got to "play" with the characters alone for about ten minutes before the characters had to go back in. I can not tell you what this meant to me. I am sitting her crying just thinking back on it. My dd still talks about her dance with Daisy and Grandma. My mom fought long and hard but lost her battle with cancer in January of 2004. However that trip with her and dd gave them lots to talk about and remember during my moms time when she could not get around.

While we have experinced many disney like behaviors before and since this there will never be anything more macigal for me.

 

[DebIreland]

Mom To A Princess,
That's an amazing story. Such a beautiful memory to cherish forever.

 

[Mom to a Princess]

Mom To A Princess,
That's an amazing story. Such a beautiful memory to cherish forever.

Thanks to that CM!!!

I put together a wonderful frame at home of DD, my mom, the characters, and myself from that moment. Each time I look at it I know that my mom is here with us and urging us to go to WDW again. My mom was a Mickey fanatic.

That story just proves how nice people can be. If we had been rude and agrumentative with that CM this never would have happened. But instead by talking with them and thanking them for thier help we ended up have an incredible experience.

Each time we go to WDW I try to help someone out in someway, a fast pass a smile, whatever we can do. This is sure a hard thing to pay forward but you never really know what kind of effect you will have on people!

 

[2giddy4wdw]

In the fall of 2002 My mom, dd and I went on a week long vacation to WDW. We stayed at ALL Star Sports. On our first day in the MK it seemed that each time we were in line to meet a character it was thier time to take a break. DD bing only 18 months was having a hard time with this.

Luck finally seemed on our side when we found a group of characters back by the train station in toontown. Daisy was there. My dd was just crazy for her at that time. Well ofcourse when it came to dds time they had to go on break. DD got very upset. My mom took her over to a bench and was calming her down. I aksed the cm when they would be back (the characters were gone by this point) and she told me other places I could see them but that this was not a regular spot for them. I thanked the cm and we ended up talking for a few minutes. I am not sure how it came about but I ended up teling her that we were there because my mom had just been diagnosed with end stage lung cancer and she wanted to take my dd on her first trip to wdw but knew that once she started radiation and chemo she would not be able to travel. The CM asked me to wait for a minute so she could find out where Daisy was going to be next. Well about ten minutes went by and dd was getting anxious to leave when all of a sudden the cm came back with Daisy, the white rabbit, king john, and gideon. Now we were not in view from the main walkwa so no one knew the characters were there. My dd and my mom got to "play" with the characters alone for about ten minutes before the characters had to go back in. I can not tell you what this meant to me. I am sitting her crying just thinking back on it. My dd still talks about her dance with Daisy and Grandma. My mom fought long and hard but lost her battle with cancer in January of 2004. However that trip with her and dd gave them lots to talk about and remember during my moms time when she could not get around.

While we have experinced many disney like behaviors before and since this there will never be anything more macigal for me.

What a great memory for you and your family. It just goes to show that there are alot of really great people who will go out of their way for others. And to all of you who have done something special for someone else - way to go!!!!

 

[urglewurgle]

mom to a princess - that's a lovely story... i'm so glad you, you DD and your mom got to share that experience before it was too late. And i'm very sure your mom is urging you to go back!

If we had been rude and agrumentative with that CM this never would have happened. But instead by talking with them and thanking them for thier help we ended up have an incredible experience.

i totally agree! it's always better to be nice and calm....