Impressed with something at the Christmas Party last night

[Momof4inFL]

My kids and I attended MVMCP last night, Dec 18th and for the first time I saw something that honestly gave me goosebumps and brought tears to my eyes. At around 1030pm or so we were inside of the Dance Party at Cosmic Rays. My children and myself thought this was probably the best part of the whole thing, well ok not the best, but it was very cool! In any event...
There was a young man who was in a wheelchair, I will not speculate what reason he was in the wheelchair, but it was for a disability that would not allow him to get out of the chair at all. During the party, Chip and Dale were there, sorry I cannot tell the two apart, but one of them came over to this young man and absolutely made his night. He "danced" with him in his chair, put his scarf around him, and just all around brought obvious joy to the young man's night. Of course later, the other chimpmunk came along, as well as Pluto, and then Lilo and Stitch later. I thought it was so very sweet for the characters to come over to him, and the expression on the young man's face was priceless. His family was recording the whole thing and their look was beautiful too. Once again, Disney magic at it's best.
~Patti

 

[mufasa0505]

That's a great story. Brought tears to my eyes just reading it! The people who play Chip & Dale are great. I always have great interactions with them.

 

[byoung]

Nice report!

 

[Shane]

The characters are great

 

[David R]

The characters always try to make a point to reach out to those in wheelchairs who cannot or feel they cannot get close to them due to the crowd of people around them.

Dale is the one with the red nose

 

[blue_eyes5212]

Something happened like that while I was there too! It happened at the Epcot Character meeting place. There was a little girl in a wheelchair, probably between 8-10 years old, with a "Make a Wish Foundation" pin on her hat. All the characters stopped what they were doing and came over to her and took tons of pictures! Her family was so happy and so was she! It truly touched my heart!! It was wonderful!! And it is why I love Disney so very much!!

 

[Daisie]

 

[Momof4inFL]

Dale is the one with the red nose

Thank you!! Hopefully I remember that now hehe.

 

[Adi12982]

What a sweet story - my little brother has Cerebral Palsy and DIsney is a place where he feels like everyone else.

THe way I tell them apart that Chip, like a chocolate chip, has a brown nose

 

[bytheblood]

Thank you for sharing. This brought tears to my eyes. This is why I love Disney so much.

 

[Chester's Mum]

Let's hear it for the cast members. They are amazing.

 

[STEAMBOAT209]

The CM's are just great and special for what they do to bring joy to our families.

Thank you, all CM's for doing what you do, and a big HAPPY HOLIDAY'S to YOU ALL...... Calvin & Michele

 

[twinmum]

We made our first family trip to WDW in November with our twin sons, age 8. One of our sons has cerebral palsy and was in his wheelchair (rather than his walker) most of the time. Every CM, especially the characters, went way out of their way to make his visit speical. But...what was even more impressive is that they also made sure that his able-bodied twin brother felt no less special. In fact, many CMs mentioned that they feel it is a special part of their role to help families of children with disabilities enjoy times together and make the challenges easier for a few days (and that's their words, not mine!).

 

[Cass]

What a great story, I was at MVMCP December 18th too, (my birthday)

What a beautiful night weather wise, we had a great time.

 

[TravelMom]

I took my son, his friend (in a wheelchair) and his friend's Mom to WDW when the boys were 11 (now 18 and off to college - sigh!). The handlers and characters were so nice to the boys. A woman with Rafiki literally grabbed us out of the line to meet him and pulled us aside and said "Rafiki, you have someone very special who came to see you!". Similarly, Chewbacca, Buzz and Woody, Mickey and so on.

Back then, we also went to the front of most ride lines. But because of the difficulties transferring and dealing with the wheelchair, it ended up 'even', if you know what I mean. But if we hadn't been able to leap up to the front, we would have done far fewer things, because of the extra time it takes to travel with a wheelchair.

The other Mom and I wanted to go on Space Mountain and we were standing in the arcade nearby trying to figure out how to 'Swap' with the boys because neither would/could go on it and Chris and I really wanted to do one 'adult' thrill ride. The arcade worked PLEADED with us to let the boys stay in the arcade while we went in line. We really hesitated - both boys were a mature 11, but still... Anyway, we capitulated and thankfully the line was short and we were back in a half an hour. In that time, the arcade guy gave the boys a bazillion credits to use to play (we had left them money but he wouldn't let them use it) and had given them some little toys. What a thrill for them!

It was funny, after a solid week of sheer thrills and special treatment, the disabled boy's favorite things: Hall of Presidents, American Adventure, and Innovations. True egghead!

 

[Dan Murphy]

Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful.

I captured a similar moment, about 4 or 5 years ago, near the Great Movie Ride, this time it was Rafiki. The picture here captures but a moment, but this interchange between the girl in the chair, who was very, very disabled, and Rafiki, lasted several minutes, honestly. It was hard to focus the camera with the misty eyes I had. It is one of my favorite moments in all my trips to the World.