I'm a character attendant, and witnessed at least one magical moment every day at work. I could probably list dozens of them, but these two are definitely things I'll never forget. I was with Pooh, Tigger, and Eeyore in the UK at Epcot everyday. For those of you who don't know, they're out all day except for about an hour in the afternoon, otherwise, Pooh and his friends go get some honey and come right back in just a few minutes. I had just let the last family go up to the characters, telling anyone who came up to the line that they would be right back. Since the characters are in a toy store, all the families said they would go look around and come back in a few minutes when they came back. A mom and dad came up with their son, a little boy who didn't have any legs. This boy "walked" around just like anyone else, using his hands to help drag his body along the ground. The parents started screaming in excitement because they saw Tigger, who was their son's favorite, and they even pulled out a hat for him to put on. I explained to them that they were just about to leave, but after looking at my watch and seeing we had about 2 more minutes, let them come inside. This little boy HOPPED over to Tigger, giggling at how he could bounce just like Tigger. We were all completely amazed watching him bounce up and down without any legs, and it was amazing to see how excited he got. We took tons of pictures of him, and tons with just him and Tigger. His parents told me that this was their first trip to Disney and their son had been most excited about meeting Tigger more than anything, so this was definitely going to be what he talked about for years when they got home. I'm so glad I was able to witness it
I definitely think the next story I'm about to share is when I got to make the most magic for kids. Two little girls were waiting in line, one in a Belle dress and one in an Ariel dress. The other attendant I was with had taken Pooh and his friends to go get their honey, so I sat down on the floor and talked to these little girls. I asked the girl in the Ariel dress why she wasn't with Flounder or Eric, and asked the girl in the Belle dress where the Beast was today. They thought I was insane at first, but eventually started to play along with me. I took out 2 index cards and asked if they could sign their autographs for me (I kept both of them.) One of their mom's (I'm guessing they were friends) told me to stop, she had to video tape this to show her friends and family, and made me re-enact my whole conversation with them. The mom's thanked me tons for being so sweet to their girls, who were shy at first when Pooh & co. came back but when I introduced them as Belle and Ariel, really played the part.
Okay. One more story haha. I went to visit my UK friends when I was off one day and was wasting time till I was meeting up with a roommate. I got to their location a few minutes before they came back out after their extended break. The photographer there was someone I know, so we were talking for a while. There was a family waiting in front of me, who started to ask me about my job and such. I explained to them about the College Program and how I worked in the UK everyday but was off today. Their son, who was 4, was a chatterbox, and asked me dozens of questions about Pooh, Tigger, and Eeyore. At first he made a comment like "but they're not real right?" I answered, "Of course they're real! Pooh even invites me over for some honey sometimes!" His eyes just lit up as I told him more and more stories about my days of hanging out with Pooh, Tigger, and Eeyore. When the 3 came back, he asked me to come into the room with his family when he met them, because he wanted to tell them I was here. He walked right up to Pooh and said "Pooh, your girlfriend Marissa is here!" It was one of the funniest and cutest things I have ever witnessed. His family wanted me to take some pictures with their son and Pooh, Tigger, and Eeyore, and we all danced around together for a few minutes. It's amazing the magic that you can make even when you're NOT working.