"magical moments" on the ships! Did you get one? Here is ours...

[collectoraholic]

There is one bit of pixie dust that still brings tears to my eyes even after all of these years, but it happened at the parks--however, it ends at the ship.

My daughter, at nearly 3, could not speak or walk, and could not really crawl (she would roll). At 3, she would be diagnosed with autism and cerebral palsy.

I was called to a conference in Orlando, and my husband was having difficulties at work, so I took along a neighbor and her child (who was about the same age), and paid for her ticket, and for her to go to the buffets (the girls were young enough that they could get in and eat free that way.)

We went through the Magic Kingdom together, and I couldn't figure out if it had much impact. The other three went to the parks while I went to the conference, and when I was through, I buckled her into her car seat on the plane and she looked at me (which NEVER happened), and said "I saw Mickey!"

I thought I'd lost it, finally. I didn't think I could possibly have heard what I just heard. So I asked her (not really expecting a response), and she replied "I saw Mickey!" They were the first words I ever heard her say.

The second time we took her, she doubled her vocabulary.

The third time we took her, she hugged us for the very first time.

Progress was slow but steady, and she worked very, very hard at school, at home, in speech and occupational therapy, and with all of the social skills training.

When she was in 7th grade, she walked in with a prep sheet for Radiologic Technology, handed it to me and said, "I want to do this. What do I have to do to make it happen?" It was a very demanding course of study--she would have to take summer school the summer before her Freshman and Sophomore year, and probably try to prepare for Running Start, a program which allows advanced students to take college courses instead of their junior and senior year in high school.

She did it all. The child who couldn't use complete sentences in kindergarten is now taking Precalculus and AP Biology. I am just about to scan in her application to Running Start, and everybody is certain she will be accepted, and she will be released from special education at the end of this school year.

For her 16th birthday, she asked to take a Disney cruise to Alaska again this year. (We took one last year.) I am so proud of her I can't even tell you. But when they say, "It all started with a mouse," it means something entirely different to my family.

Sitting here with tears streaming down my face. What a Magical Moment indeed! Congratulations to your daughter for all of her accomplishments. & Congratulations to you and your husband for encouraging her and teaching her to reach for the stars and dream big because dreams really do come true!

 

[livie1205]

we just got off the dream thurs from our very first cruise,here is our "pixie dust" the cruise director came to our room after i had stopped her in the atrim to ask her if the pizza on deck 11 would open back up that evening since I did not know they closed it during dinner....well any she came to our room 1 hour later and told me that they would like to invite our party (of 12) to go eat in cabanas( which was closed because they dont have buffet last night) ....JUST US! well we arrived to one big table near the curved window set up with all the nice dishes and 3 servers (mangs dressed in their whites) and gave us a choice of any menu on the ship!! we chose royal palace menu and after dessert they all carried in ANOTHER dessert from PALO for us with pictures for all the kids signed by all the characters!! IT WAS AMAZING!! they even stuck around and joked and told us mind teasers through our meal!! BEST CRUISE EVER!!

 

[MDTerp]

While not nearly as touching as some of the other stories, it was still something extra special. On our last cruise - Dream last month - my husband was celebrating his birthday. When we returned from an awesome, relaxing day on Castaway Cay, our cabin hostess had prepared a "birthday cake" (from towels) complete with ribbon and a hand written note for my DH. We thought it was a neat, extra touch.

Additionally, on the same cruise, my DD (15) found that the Easter Bunny had paid her bunk a visit and left a little gift bag of Easter Candies. Don't know if that was cruise wide or just special "pixie dust" from our hostess.

 

[USUKMama]

Mellers - that is the most amazing story!

We have only been on two cruises but have two "magical moments". On our first cruise we were picked to be family of the cruise. It was brilliant - there were different surprises in our cabin every night and we were invited to the concierge party. My husband got to talk to Donald Duck using his Donald Duck voice - priceless!

Our second cruise was a couple of weeks ago. My daughter and her cousin ran into Snow White without anyone else around. She kneeled down to let them have a photo with her. The boat rocked as she did this and they all fell over ("Mummy, I fell on Snow White!"). She was great about that but the best was later in the cruise. They met her again and reminded her of the fall. Next thing we knew there was an invitation to the pre party on the last night (before the Till we Meet Again). Amazing!!! My daughter teamed up with Peter Pan and crept up on Captain Hook going, "Tick Tock" - love it!

 

[ruley3]

So glad I had chance to read these wonderful moments..... Glad it got bumped!!!! I hace a few that come to mind over years...

Our Waiter bringing my little brother creme brulee every single evening

At midnight when I was sitting up with Lance as a toddler due to his reflux the CM at guest services presented him with a captain mickey plush and told him Mickey wanted him to have it to feel better!

My teen Layne spending over two hours up in the mass communications room "learning" how all the systems work!!! (Invited since the cable went down for a bit in the cabin)

Layla at age 3 standing in hallway near shutters and Mickey and Minnie appeared out of nowhere and Layla said nanana you can't catch me and took off running and both of them followed her all the way down the hallway while she giggled and giggled.

Most wonderful thing is closing my eyes at many places on the MAGIC and remembering my Mom and feeling her laughter inside my heart and knowing I will always have those moments to cherish!

 

[Donald_Quackers]

I don't know if this qualifies, but it was magical for me. I was on the Fantasy and we were leaving St. Thomas.

I was heading back to my room via the Deck 4 promenade when I saw Minnie laying on a deck chair interacting with another guest. I passed them up and a few moments later, I felt like someone was following me. I turned my head and saw Minnie looking at me with what I could interpret as a enamored look. I offered my arm and we walked all the way down Deck 4 to the aft elevators.

I only wish I had my camera with me! It was the coolest moment of the cruise!

 

[Aurora's Mommy]

Although it wasn't scheduled to launch until the following week, somehow Disney got NASA to launch the space shuttle at midnight on the night we were heading back to Port Canaveral. Spectacular night launch that could be seen from the front of the ship. Still can't figure out how DCL pulled that one off.

 

[mellers]

Sitting here with tears streaming down my face. What a Magical Moment indeed! Congratulations to your daughter for all of her accomplishments. & Congratulations to you and your husband for encouraging her and teaching her to reach for the stars and dream big because dreams really do come true!

Thank you so much for the lovely note:

I have an update to report--said daughter did, indeed, get accepted into Running Start with flying colors, and, moreover, passed the college prerequisite challenge exam to allow her to take Anatomy and Physiology just today--these are the prerequisite courses to the Radiologic Tech program.

She starts college in June!

 

[WAHkoMom]

mellers - I knew she would!!!

 

[LynneyPooh]

Thank you so much for the lovely note:

I have an update to report--said daughter did, indeed, get accepted into Running Start with flying colors, and, moreover, passed the college prerequisite challenge exam to allow her to take Anatomy and Physiology just today--these are the prerequisite courses to the Radiologic Tech program.

She starts college in June!

Congrats! I think this is awesome! I noticed that the orginal post was almost 6 months ago... you have to be thinking: my how time flies...first a beautiful trip to Disney World, now my baby's going to college!

As a Special Ed teacher it warms my heart sooo much when a child decides they're going to push themselves to beat the odds, even more so because it means they have parents who are behind them all the way. Good job mom

 

[mellers]

Congrats! I think this is awesome! I noticed that the orginal post was almost 6 months ago... you have to be thinking: my how time flies...first a beautiful trip to Disney World, now my baby's going to college!

As a Special Ed teacher it warms my heart sooo much when a child decides they're going to push themselves to beat the odds, even more so because it means they have parents who are behind them all the way. Good job mom

Thanks, but it's easy to be a good mom when you have an amazing kid! I am so proud.

 

[dattlighner<3Disney]

These stories are AMAZING AND MAGICAL!!! I can not wait to cruise again in April 2013. When we went on the Magic in November 2010, we had a horrible creaky bathroom door. Maintenance tried and tried to fix it with shims and and what-nots, but nothing worked. On our last evening, our son and daughter each received a stuffed Disney character and my dh and I a bottle of wine, with a lovely note apologizing for the problem. We didn't expect that and just appreciated them trying to fix the problem, daily! And, our servers, wow, truly magical... especially when they would call you by name out of the dining rooms!! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Disney!!

 

[mellers]

mellers - I knew she would!!!

Thanks--Mom is extremely proud.

 

[mgmcpa]

So glad to read all these stories. We are frequent Disneyland vacationers, but this is our first cruise. Sounds like the advice we follow in Disneyland works on the cruises too ... 'Just Ask'.

We are so trained to not expect service providers to go the extra mile that we've learned not to ask for anything extra, but Disney reverses that! We love Disney vacationing and seeing what our "just ask" policy can lead too. Our best one so far was a private jungle cruise ride tour in response to "just asking" if we could take a photo next to an empty boat in our custom jungle cruise shirts.

Can't wait to "just ask" on our cruise to Alaska and see what happens!

 

[lulubella1609]

Our 3 year old fell in love with a CM at the pirate party. The next day she went to the kids club and made pictures for him so we had to find him but didn't know who he is was. So we asked and found him. We told him he had a little stalker and he said I love having little stalkers.
So the rest of our cruise we would have to find him and he was just giving us his schedule so they could say hello. Emma would go up to the other entertainment staff and ask where her boyfriend was. One time they even called him so she could talk to him. On the last night he invited her to a party at studio sea where all the charcters were. He told us that it doesn't happen all the time that a little kid picks a favorite but when it does it's really special.
Emma tried her best to convice the cruise director to let her bring her friend home and in the morning of dembarkation she was really sad that she had to leave her new friend. Anyway one of the Youth activities asked her what was wrong and she said i'm going to miss my boyfriend haha. SHe sat on the floor with her so they could write a note for him together and promised to deliever it to him! Almost 3 months later my 3 year old still talks about him almost every day and asks when we can go back and see him.

 

[Sorcerer Mom]

Thank you so much for the lovely note:

I have an update to report--said daughter did, indeed, get accepted into Running Start with flying colors, and, moreover, passed the college prerequisite challenge exam to allow her to take Anatomy and Physiology just today--these are the prerequisite courses to the Radiologic Tech program.

She starts college in June!

I saw this post and had to go back and find your story...with tears in my eyes as well I want to tell you congratulations on your daughter's accomplishments. How blessed you are and how blessed she is to have what I know is an amazing family supporting her throughout her life. I will share this with my DD who is about to graduate college with her degree in Elementary and Special Education. As she embarks on her career as a teacher, which has wanted to do since she was in 5th grade, she'll love to see how Disney seemed to light the spark within your daughter.

Wishing you all the best for the future!

 

[ashly2499]

Mellers,
Your story is wonderful! What an inspiration.

DH & I went on a Disney cruise and participated the first night Match Your Mate game. After a few very embarrassing questions, we won! I should say DH won it for us- he got ALL of his questions about me correct. We received a spa package (facial for me & Rasul couples treatment).

But it wasn't just winning it that made it special- it was the interactions with the CMs. They called us by name every night. Went we would enter the club, David (I believe that was his name- British guy) would always announce us- "Our favorite couple is back- here's Ben and Ashley!!!!". When we won, they also gave us a bottle of champagne. We don't drink so we awkwardly sat there with it on the table. The CMs noticed and came back and discreetly talked to us. He returned a few minutes later and exchanged it for a bottle of sparkling cider.

DH & I are both former CMs- we met at WDW. I miss working for the mouse, but I love the experience of being able to go back on Disney cruises. Also, this time I booked my own spa treatment! We are going on the Fantasy this summer, and I can't wait!!!!!
We've done two other CLs since our last Disney cruise, and they don't even compare. I'm also kinda pumped about being able to get fountain style Diet Coke 24/7! It's the small things.

 

[yesmylove]

We were on the Dream in April celebrating our 30th anniversary. Our staterooom host found out and when we came to our room at the end of the night there were 2 towel swans, rose petals all over the bed and a long stem red rose on the bed with the number 30 made out of towels. It was very sweet.

 

[DisneyTrek]

Here is my magical moment from our Dream cruise March 31-April 3, 2011. I was returning to my stateroom from an early breakfast. My wife had a sour tummy, so she didn't go with me. I was walking down the hallway to my stateroom when Goofy peeked around a corner and ran towards me. He was still in his pj's! We high fived and I got the picture below. I felt bad that my wife missed him!!

 

[merriwthr]

Wow! I just finished reading this entire thread - and I can honestly say shedding a few tears. My friends and co-workers just can not understand why I am such a Disney-holic. These moments of Pixie Dust are why - and it's not just on DCL - it's everywhere in Disney.

Years and years ago, my DD was 5 or 6 and Disney Paris had just opened. Since we were living in Germany at the time, I took her for a short trip. While there, we were in line for Minnie Mouse. If you've never been there - they did something very different for the character greets - the characters were up on a concrete platform, about 10 steps up - you went up one side and down the other to see the characters. This was supposed to help with the queue. I don't know if they still do this.

Well we were on the way up to see Minnie and were near the top. A "gentleman" and his kid were at the top and had just had their pictures taken when he turned around and spotted another character walking down the sidewalk with its handlers. He grabbed his kid and shot down the "up" side as fast as possible - bowling my daughter over and pushing her down the concrete stairs.

Needless to say, he never stopped - just kept going.

She was banged up and scraped up and crying for all get out. She was and still is very shy and getting her to even go *near* a character was frightening to her. But she wanted to meet Minnie - so we were on the stairs.

The CMs were quick to respond - within seconds the security and medical personnel were there to attend to my daughter. And security caught up with the "gentleman" and his son and not so politely escorted them out of the park.

They took DD to the underground medical area to clean up her scrapes, and make sure she didn't have any serious injuries - luckily she didn't - just lots of scrapes on her knees, elbows and hands. Thankfully she didn't bounce her head on the steps!

While in the medical room - and after the tears had dried - she was sitting in my lap completely exhausted. There was a knock on the door and a CM asked if she was up for some visitors. I asked her if she was okay - and she shyly nodded yes.

The door opened wider - and there was an entire hallway full of characters come to see if she was okay!

We spent the next half hour with every character you could imagine making my little DD feel like she was a special princess. The CM must have told them how shy she was because they were very patient with her as she warmed up to them - all except Minnie. Minnie bent down and opened her arms - and my DD ran right to her for a hug.

Lots more happened that day - but if I hadn't already been a true believer in the Magic of Disney, I was then.

My love for the Mouse will never end...