Guest stories

[tower_of_terror_luvr]

Any stories of when you made a family whole trip? Any stories of where a guest totally was mad. thanks

 

[disneymegs]

At the BBB, I had a sweet little princess who talked so much and so did her mom! They were so pleasant and I could tell they were grateful for the experience. We said our goodbyes and I told them to have a magical day. I did another princess after and finished up about a half hour after the original princess had left. I heard her call my name and apparently she had been sitting there for about 15 minutes for me to finish the other girl because she went and bought an autograph book because she wanted my autograph! I thought it was sweet

 

[WanderGirl]

Guests have the potential to get insane at times, especially when they've been waiting for a while and don't get what 'they' want.

I remember getting yelled at by one lady because she walked through the exit gate (which I pointed out) then she told me there was no sign on it (there was - a big one). About 5 minutes later I rotated and found her waiting in line at the entrance.. at which point she asked me why it was taking so long, then got really worked up about the exit thing again and told me I wasn't listening to her.. made me livid, but you have to grit your teeth, put on a smile and expediently rid yourself of them instead of exploding.

That being said, there are 100 other guests who will be lovely or at least not infuriate you for that 1 person who decides you've single handedly ruined their holiday, lol.

 

[Joanna71985]

For the first one- back in 2006 during the Year of a Million Dreams celebration, I was working with Buzz in Tomorrowland. One dream was picking a family to ride with Buzz on his ride. The family we picked, it was the little boy's birthday and he was thrilled! The mom was so happy, she started crying. Totally made my day.

Now, for the second one- unfortunately I experience this all the time when working with the characters. I had a family start cursing me out, and going to Guest Relations, because JoJo and Goliath were going in and Handy Manny was coming out to replace them (shocking, because usually it was the other way around). It was a pretty bad experience

 

[Dreamstuff]

At my restaurant we marched this little girl into the center and my friend and I proceeded to dance around her and sing happy birthday and then hand her a chocolate cupcake with sprinkles. She was so happy as was her family. They made us pose with her and take a picture for their vacation scrapbook.
One of the best days at work ever.

 

[WanderGirl]

Remembered the awesome story I have. Was a bit frazzled when I wrote my above post and I think I made things sound a little negative..

Anyway, I used to work at a place in Innoventions (EPCOT) where you made frogs out of velcro, dressed them up and took them home with you. In between massive groups of people completely tearing up the stations you'd have down time to play around with the velcro a bit and make random things - I made a fair few princess dresses in my time there.
Anyway, this little girl comes along when we weren't too busy, so I knelt down with her and helped her dress up this frog exactly how she wanted it, named it and took photos etc. She thanked me (with a bit of prompting from Mum) and then they left. About a minute later this blur comes rushing in towards me, grabs hold and hugs me really tight, says 'thankyouthankyouthankyou' and then runs off again - yes, it was that little girl. Made me grin for the rest of the day, and I'm smiling now just thinking about it!

 

[tower_of_terror_luvr]

i am loving reading the stories...keep em coming

 

[KiSsMySaSs89]

Okay, so I have a few floating around in my head... Not sure how long this will be. Haha! (yeah, there are like 8 stories here; but definitely read 3, 4, and 6 if you don't have time for anything else at the moment, but you should read them all)

Okay, well to start off I worked merchandise in Toontown ( so sad it's gone). And these will be all good stories. Also, I should probably mention that my managers had to go to a meeting once a week with the area manager, and they would always come to me for a story, because it seemed like I always had one.

1) One day I was working at the entrance cart (the pin cart next to Pete's Garage) and this lady came up and handed me a pin to buy. I was about to scan it when she said something along the lines of "This is the second time doing this." Basically, they had just bought the pin a few hours ago, and they went to see Mickey and when they came out her son realized his pin was gone and was very upset. I asked to see her receipt from the previous purchase-just make sure she actually had bought the pin before. Then, I quietly did a "no strings" and gave her the pin back. She asked me how much it was I informed her that it was free. She looked like she was about to cry and said how much she appreciated it and that her son would be thrilled. She walked away and began helping another guest and as soon as they moved, I saw the lady again, this time with a little boy who immediately ran up to me and gave me a big hug and said "Thank you!"
There were other stories involving guest replacement and "no strings" but that was the best reaction I got and the most memorable.

2) I always came back with great guest stories after merchantaining (AKA: Greeting). This was the first big guest moment I remember having and I was so excited afterwards that I ran up to my manager and told her and she put it in our Toontown newsletter that was posted backstage mostly everyday from the previous day. I was at the front of the store with a Minnie headband and Mickey gloves. This little girl came in and I addressed her as "princess" , not only because she was a little girl, but she was wearing a princess hat. She smiled and said that she was going to see the princesses and I told her that she would have to come back and tell me all about it. A little while later, I felt a tug on my shirt and I looked down to see the little girl. I bent down to her level and she began to show me the autographs that she got from the princesses. I gave her some stickers and she gave me a huge hug and said "Thank you for my stickers, Minnie."

3)Another day, I was merchantaining again at the front and there was a group of people over to the side who were waiting for the rest of their party to come out of meeting the fairies. One of the men, large black man named Glenn, came up and stood beside me and said something like "I could do this!" And began waving at every one along with me. I laughed and told him that that deserved stickers and gave him a few, which he shared with the rest of his party. And then he continued waving (Now I don't remember which happened first, but I think it happened this way) I told them to wait there and went to the back and filled out a magical moment card putting the magical moment as "Honorary CM" When I came back and handed it to him, he was truly touched and he gave me a hug, then asked his wife to take a picture of us. Then I found out that it was his first time there along with several other members of his party. So I grabbed a bunch of "First visit" buttons and filled them out. But think that was the first time I was asked to be in a picture with a guest. I felt honored.

4) This story also appeared one day in the newsletter. While merchantaining (yet again, except this time I was in the back of the store at the exit to the character greeting) I was playing with a small basketball. A little girl standing in line waved me over and said, "can we play catch?" so I said "Sure!" and her father helped her out of line. So we began bouncing the ball back and forth and we were talking. I found out her name was Kaya (pronounced like Ky-ah). After a few minutes the line started to move and she thanked me for playing with her and hopped back in. I was merchantaining for awhile, and I got bumped to go back to the computer and picked up "the character train" which is where we would get people to put on hats and gloves and march around the store to Sebastian singing "Hot Hot Hot" As I was getting ready with some people I saw Kaya. Her dad saw me as well and said "Hey, look Kaya! It's your new friend!" I convinced her to come dance with me and then I filled out the magical moment card we give out for the character train. I went to pick up a new assignment and was sent to one of the 10 or so registers we had inside the store. who do you think one of the first guests that came to my register was? That's right Kaya and her parents. I laughed and said "We keep running into each other!" Kaya giggled and handed me the necklace she wanted to buy. After I rang her up I asked if she wanted me to put it in a bag or if she wanted to wear it. She told me she wanted to wear it so I asked her if she wanted me to take it out. She said "yes" so I took it out of the plastic and handed her the chain and asked if she wanted to do it, or if she wanted me to. She told me she wanted me to do it for her, so I came out from behind the counter and told her to hold her hair in front of her and put it on. And I saw her dad take a picture of us. She said "thank you" and walked away but her dad turned to me and said "Thank you so much. You really have no idea. This is her first time here and you've just made it so special" I never know what to say to that. "You're welcome" just doesn't seem like enough. It wasn't like I was really trying to do anything super special, but their appreciation meant so much.

5) One day, the rain had sent everybody indoors. I was supposed to be stocking, but when there are so many people you're practically stepping over bodies trying to get around, it's kind of hard to do. I was frustrated to say the least and would have much rather been backstage so I could breathe, but alas I could not do that so, I was just greeting guests, asking if I could help them find anything. I walked up to one family and this little boy, who I think was autistic, turned around, smiled and gave me a huge hug. Then he started talking about how he loved fruit and some vegetables, but not all, he didn't like broccoli. I told him that I loved broccoli with ranch dressing. His little sister tapped me on the arm and asked me a question about why Belle had a cape in the playset we sold. (I told her it was so she wouldn't get cold, because that was the best answer I could come up with at the time) but as I bent down to answer her, I heard her brother turn to his mom and say "She says that she likes broccoli with ranch dressing so I have to try that, okay?" He then began talking about his favorite rides and began quoting lines from "The Incredibles" It definitely brightened my day.

6) 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 who, after checking in the back, informed me that Minnie may or may not be there when they they got to the front. She offered to back door them, to ensure they would see Minnie. 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.

7) One day, when I was merchantaining in the back, a little boy came out smiling and going on and on, about how he "couldn't believe that happened" and noticed the lip print on his cheek, so I was like "Did you get kissed?!" He turned to me and smile and nodded. "I can't believe it!" So I asked him "who kissed you?" and he was like "Belle! And i can't believe it! I just can't believe it!" So, I told him to wait there, and went and grabbed an "I'm celebrating" button and said that he was celebrating "Getting kissed by Belle" Which I'm pretty sure he worse proudly for the rest of the day haha.

8)So guess what I was doing? If you guessed "Merchantaining" you'd be right. This time I was at the front of the store, and two little girls wanted to look at my pins. The older girl didn't see any that she wanted, but the younger saw a Tinkerbell that she didn't have, the only problem was that she didn't have any pins that she wanted to give up. The father turned to the older girl and asked her if there was a pin that she wouldn't mind giving up so that her sister could have the Tinkerbell. The little girl was reluctant, but didn't put up much of a fight as she handed me a pin and traded for the Tinkerbell. Her parents commended her on doing such a nice thing, and I agreed, so I stopped her and said, "You know what? That was a really nice thing you did for your sister. So nice, that I'm going to give you your pin back." I wanted to show her that when you do nice things you get rewarded and now she was able to trade for a pin that she really wanted. The whole family was grateful.

Those are the best ones I have. There were a few others I was going to mention but they weren't as good as these.

 

[ohsnapxitsamanda]

Kissmysass, I almost cried reading your stories! They were so amazing, and I definitely can't wait to get down there and create some Disney magic of my own.

 

[taigirl87]

Kissmysass, I almost cried reading your stories! They were so amazing, and I definitely can't wait to get down there and create some Disney magic of my own.

I got teary eyed too reading her stories!

One bad experience I had was during SpectroMagic. I was put by the castle(don't remember the position name...only did it the one time and luckily was never put there again!) We had to keep the walkways clear for safety reasons, and so that the crt(cinderella's royal table) guests could get to their reservations on time. There was one young family from Brazil who would not listen to me and feigned not being able to understand english(and said in perfect english to a fellow cast member that he only spoke Portuguese and spanish ha ha). anyways, I was working hard trying to keep the father and wife out of the walkway while the parade was going on, and my fellow cast member went to find someone who spoke spanish. The father turned to me and poked/shoved(not hard) my shoulder twice and said something to me in portuguese. no idea what he said. anyways, when my fellow cm came back, i told him what happened and he went and got a manager and then the manager spoke to me about what happened and if i a: wanted to press charges(no, because I wasnt hurt, just shaken up) and b: if i wanted to go home(again no, because I didn't want to let it ruin my day) They talked to the guest, but I don't know what was said or the outcome, but I did go on to have a better evening during wishes and the second Spectro.

I have many good experiences, but there are two that always stand out. The first is I was working Spectro(again) and I was at firehouse waiting for the parade to start. I was supposed to be doing PACtivities, but instead I was talking to a family about Chef Mickeys and hollywood studios(i told them about mater and mcqueen, they didn't know you could meet them!) They kept asking me all sorts of different questions about the parks and my experience at Disney. Their kids were really cute and I even let them play with my light wand a little bit, showing them what we used them for. The parade started and I since I was stationed right by the family, I kept looking at their kids for reactions and telling them what to watch out for. After any parade, breakdown of the ropes and stanchions are to be done quickly, but while I was doing my breakdown, the family stopped me and asked if I could take a picture with their kids. After the picture the kids gave me hugs and even gave me kisses on the cheeks. It made me feel like I really made a difference in their vacation, even though it was only as simple as talking to them.

The second was when I wasn't working(for reals!) and my roommates and I went to see the christmas parade. There was this really cute little girl who we(mostly me) talked to while we waited for the Parade to start. She just kept telling me about all the different things they had been doing and about the rides they went on. During the parade she would get really excited to see her favorite characters, afterwards, we were saying our goodbyes, and I told her, and her grandma, that we were Cast members. The Grandma was so thankful that we were so nice to her grandaughter! I have a picture with this little girl that my roommate took. She was just too cute!

 

[Frizzbird]

Kissmysass, I love your stories especially #6. I was an attendant and I sometimes felt like I never really got to see the magic like that. I have many unhappy guest stories but I honestly can't think of an AMAZING magical moment story. It makes me a bit sad and I sometimes think that maybe I wasn't trying hard enough. I hope that maybe I did create a magical moment for someone and I just didn't know it.

I won't share any of my unhappy guest stories. They really aren't even worth remembering. Attendants have to deal with MANY unhappy guests but its best to let that negativity roll off your back and move on. And thats true in all roles.

 

[tobiasschnell]

Great stories shared by you all.

 

[WhiteRabbit88]

Back when I worked merchandise I had a little kid that was pin trading with me. I overheard the mom saying that it was his first trade so I wrote him a magical moment card that read "official pin trader" and then they went outside to watch MSEP. A few minutes later he came back in and said thanks for the card so I told him to pick any one pin in the store so he picked out a Phineas and Ferb pin and brought it back to me. I told him it was his, he ran outside to show his mom and I quietly filled out and processed the no strings. Then I feel 2 tiny arms around my legs and he had ran back in AGAIN and hugged me, the mom was behind him in tears saying this was the best moment of their vacation. All while this beautiful light parade is passing by outside.

 

[tink774]

Loving these stories!

One of my favorite moments was when I was at Fastpass Return. Earlier, a family gave me an extra FP they had because someone chickened out, so I put it aside. A while later, a group of kids ran up and they were all showing me their passes and one little boy at the end of the line was in tears because his mom had his and forgot to give it to him before they separated. He assumed he couldn't go in and sat down on a nearby fence to wait (his brothers all told him "Too bad" and ran through the line without him). So I quickly asked him to come over and handed him the extra pass from earlier. The look of thrilled disbelief on his face was so sweet!

Amusingly, the WORST guest I've seen so far was also at FP Return. It was the peak of the day and the FP line was already backed up so getting in before the time on your pass was just out of the question. A man and his two kids came up and they were forty-five minutes early so I asked them to please wait a bit longer and perhaps go enjoy another attraction until the designated time to return. This dad just went off on me! He was swearing and basically trying to bully me into letting them in but I was calm and tried to explain. So he and the kids stood off to the side and this guy continued to verbally harass me for several minutes while I tried to do my job. I won't go into details but there was a lot more swearing and name-calling. When he realized that it wasn't getting a rise out of me, he started harassing other guests! Being a jerk to me is one thing, but his behavior towards the other guests was completely out of line and luckily someone reported him to a manager nearby so I didn't have to leave my position unattended. He was escorted off with two mortified children behind him. I've seen all kinds of behavior from angry guests, but this guy was just so rude that it stuck out in my mind a lot more than some of my other experiences.

 

[slp1650]

One of my favorite moments was when I was at Fastpass Return. Earlier, a family gave me an extra FP they had because someone chickened out, so I put it aside. A while later, a group of kids ran up and they were all showing me their passes and one little boy at the end of the line was in tears because his mom had his and forgot to give it to him before they separated. He assumed he couldn't go in and sat down on a nearby fence to wait (his brothers all told him "Too bad" and ran through the line without him). So I quickly asked him to come over and handed him the extra pass from earlier. The look of thrilled disbelief on his face was so sweet!

I have yet to be a CM (so soon though on a PI), but I am looking forward to making some awesome memories (hence the name for my blog).

When my parents and I go down to WDW or even DL we tend to get fast passes we know we won't be in the park for due to dinner reservations or other plans. Then, on our way out of the park we find a group of 2 or 3 and just give them to that group. Apparently it started when someone gave my parents on a trip. The next day my parents started to do it as well. We don't do it everyday, but we do it on occasion and it's always great to see the people's faces light up.

 

[beckysmith]

I have yet to be a CM (so soon though on a PI), but I am looking forward to making some awesome memories (hence the name for my blog).

When my parents and I go down to WDW or even DL we tend to get fast passes we know we won't be in the park for due to dinner reservations or other plans. Then, on our way out of the park we find a group of 2 or 3 and just give them to that group. Apparently it started when someone gave my parents on a trip. The next day my parents started to do it as well. We don't do it everyday, but we do it on occasion and it's always great to see the people's faces light up.

We do that too!!
It kind of started by accident- we got four fast passes for Expedition Everest so my brother and I could ride twice -but I was feeling sick all day . By the time our fast passes were good I knew I could not get on the ride so we gave them away and made a family really happy.

 

[Woodskeeper]

I've had a fair amount of good and bad experiences working the food carts at Hollywood Studios.

Fortunately the bad are not so terrible because I can only think of one in particular right now, and that's because it just happened yesterday. I was working at the ice-cream/soda cart by the Fantasmic entrance. Everyone was lining up for the first show, so we were a bit crowded. One lady comes to the side of my cart and asks how much a water is. I tell her, and then she asks for one (not so much as ask, more like command: "Give me Water.") I quickly explain that I have a line in front of the cart and I must help all of them first. She then puts her purse on my cash box and explains that she's getting ready so she has the money. I have to ask her to move her purse because I need to get into my cash box and she again asks for a water. I motion towards the line and once again explain that I can't help her unless she gets in line, or until the line is gone. She then leans over me (so that she's now in between the carts) and asks my filler if he'll get her a water. I said a bit more firmly that there are other people ahead of her and she will have to wait. She got so mad that she just took her purse and left, leaving the next guest in line a bit shocked. But everyone else in line was glad to see she left. Some people just hate waiting...

I have a lot more good stories though! For ODF/ODV we don't have NSA cards. Instead we have spoil sheets, since ice cream tends to melt and fall and break more often than not. We're allowed to spoil treats for magical moments.

I once had a 7 year old boy keep coming to my cart, looking at the prices saying "that's expensive!" and walking away. He did this about 3 times before he got in line with money. As he's in line I hear him talking with a guy behind him who commented on how sweaty he was. The little boy said "Well I've been pushing my grandma around today." I looked to the side and his grandma was there in a wheelchair with no one else. Well, my heart just about melted, so when he got to the front I took his order and then went to the front of the cart, got on his eye level and told him that Mickey thinks he's doing a wonderful job helping his grandma and that he wants to reward him with free ice cream. The boy looked at me with a HUGE smile and said "Really? For me? Oh thank you! Thank you!" and then he ran to his grandma and said "Grandma, Grandma! Mickey gave me these ice creams because he thinks I'm doing a great job helping you today!" It totally made my day!

Another time a woman and her son were sitting by my cart and no one else was there at the time, so I started talking with her about their trip and what they've done so far. She explained that it was their first Disney trip, so I was helping her pick out which nighttime activities to do and what rides not to miss. At one point another mother and son sat down, and they started talking. Well, they were there for hours, and their sons (5 and 7) kept coming up to talk to me at my cart. At one point one of the moms got a water, so I gave her two ice-creams and asked her to give them to the boys. Well they were just ecstatic and they came up to thank me, and the first woman I was talking with just kept saying how magical I made their trip. It was really special.

This next one is more exciting for me then for the guests =P I was working at the one funnel cake cart in the park (it gets SUPER busy) and we had a non-stop line for about 3 hours. Well, the cook realized a little too late that we were running low on batter, so I volunteered to go out and tell everyone in the line (at that point about a 15 minute line) that we wouldn't have any batter for a bit. Of course we get the groans and eye rolls, but this one family just kept asking me questions. When the batter might be in, how long would the current batter last. I didn't really have any definite answers, but they thanked me for answering them as best I could and decided to stay in line. They explained that it was their last day there, and all they wanted was a funnel cake, but day after day they would get to the place too late, or they would run out of batter. They just had the worst luck with funnel cakes their entire trip. Well, just after we ran out and I had to go outside again to let them know we were out of batter, our stocker came with more batter, and this family got SO excited! They started chanting my name, as though I had traveled far to find it myself, but I was so happy they were able to get their funnel cakes! If the line hadn't been ridiculous they would have totally gotten them for free, but you have to be careful with magical moments when there's a line because then people start saying "well what about me?"

Well, those are the best ones. There are others, where I'll surprise someone for their birthday, or reward someone because they let someone cut in front of them, or because something went wrong and they didn't complain. But the above are the best reactions I've had =D I'm switching to merch at MK next week, so I hope to have some more exciting stories =D

 

[ohsnapxitsamanda]

I'm not a CM yet either (I'll be on the CP come August though!!), but I do have to share this story about a magical moment that happened to me.

Back in April, I went to Disney with my family (my 12th trip!), and it was during the week of my birthday. My birthday was actually on our last day, so I was saving the "Happy Birthday" button until then. The rest of the week, I wore my "I'm Celebrating" button. Well, one day we went to Hollywood Studios for the day. We were getting ready to leave, and it was really hot outside, so I stopped at one of the food carts right by the entrance to get a water. I get up to the counter, and tell the guy what I want. He notices my button, and he asks me what I'm celebrating, and I tell him my birthday. Well, he rings me up, and goes to get my water. When he comes back, he sets my water down, along with a Mickey ice cream bar. After he takes my money, he pushes them both towards me, and tells me not to forget my birthday present. I was already having a magical birthday week, and getting that free ice cream just made it even better, especially since I wasn't expecting it.

I definitely can't wait until I get down there and can make some magical moments for families, too.

 

[merfsko]

My stories all involve pin trading. I worked Custodial, so I spent most of my guest interaction either just talking, blowing bubbles or pin trading.

1. I was waiting for the Hoedown to finish, so I could finish a trash run, when a Dad and a little girl came up to look at my pins.She was really shy, so she kind of just pointed at the pins she liked (toddler Belle and Figment), but seemed happy with "just looking" (her Dad told me that the Mom had the lanyard). They thanked me, and left. About 10 minutes later, I had switched zones, and I see the same Dad and daughter. He told me they'd been looking for me everywhere and siad he couldn't beleive that they actually had found me. They had gone and retrieved one of her pins to trade, and she was so sweet choose the baby Belle. I remembered she had been looking at the Figment pin, so I asked her how old she was. She finally whispered "five," so I told her five was a very special age, and I gave her Figment. Her face was absolutely priceless. She and her father both thanked me, and went on their way. Immediately after, a woman who had been waiting in line for a character nearby came up to me and said "I just had to tell you, that was absolutely adorable, and it made my day."

2. My other favourite moment, was when a Mom and her daughter stopped to look at my pins, the Mom spotted a Tink head that she apparently loved, and suggested her daughter to trade. But, as Moms do, she was like "But if you don't like it, you don't have to trade for it." So the daughter decided not to. The Mom was wearing another lanyard, so I asked if she liked the Tink, and she told me that she was wearing her son's lanyard, and that they weren't her pins. So I just handed her the Tink pin and said "She's yours." The Mom's face just lit up, and she kept thanking me. I think parents spend so much time making the trip magical for their children, that they get left out of the magic- esp. because most of the "magical moments" are geared towards younger guests. But it was worth it just to make the Mom feel special.

I love reading everyone's stories and magic! Keep them coming!

 

[slp1650]

I have two pin stories, one that happened to me and still affects me to this day, and the other a moment I created for someone else even though I was a guest and not a CM...

It was 2009 and I was just starting to pin trade. We checked into our hotel and we were staying at Beach Club on the concierge level. As we're talking to the guy I notice he has a stitch olympic pin on. At the time I didn't have any traders and had to pass it up. For the rest of the trip I looked on every CM's lanyard and none had that pin! I found Mickey's and tinks and a few others, but no stitch! On the last day my parents found the CM working ground level concierge for Yacht Club. They asked if he had the lanyard, and he did, but it was in the car. A few hours later my parents and I are walking through the yacht club, we see him, and they tell me to ask him if he has it. He tells me "Well, my lanyard's in the car, but I just happened to bring this pin in..." he had gone out and gotten the stitch pin and brought it in for me. After that trip, I saw that pin everywhere, of course! So even today when I'm asked which in my collection is my favorite, I always point to that regular edition stitch pin....

On another trip, my dad was talking to a custodian about his (my dad's) camera. It happens often at Disney because his camera looks professional so people are always checking to make sure he's not a professional. Anyway, as we're standing there this little girl comes up to look at my pins. I kneel down and show them to her and ask if she wants to trade (she looks like she does, just shy). So I trade her one of her tour pins that I have duplicates of and trade it for a beginning trading set princess pin. Now, I don't like the princesses all that much, but still happily traded in order to keep the experience magical (I've had experiences with terrible traders who have left a sour taste in my mouth). I ended up giving my cousin the princess pin because she likes all the princesses, but definitely didn't mind losing a pin in order to create that smile from the little girl.