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

[cjnix29]

We cruised the 5-day Double Dip in September 2008. It was so wonderful. Our room steward asked my daughter if she wanted to make towel animals. Well she jumped at that opportunity. He took her to another room and then called his supervisor who came down with a camera and took pictures of her making towel animals. On our last day we were presented with a nice folder with pictures and a nice certificate for the Magical Moment. We were thrilled. Another magical moment happened in Disneyland. Our first trip was in 2006. We went to Goofy's Kitchen and she and Aladdin hit it off. She was about 6 1/2 years old. Two years later we went again to Disneyland and again went to Goofy's Kitchen. She was very very concerned if Aladdin would remember her or not. I tried to tell her that Aladdin sees many children and may not specifically remember her. Well she was having none of that. He was her Aladdin!!! We get there and he's not there. She was very disappointed. As I was heading out to the restroom, who is walking towards me???? Aladdin and I kid you not, it was the same Aladdin from 2 years ago. Well, I cornered him and told him about how she was so excited to come back but was concerend if he would remember her or not. He just looked at me with this "Mom, calm down, I'll handle this" look, asked her name and said I'll take it from here. As I returned to our table about 10 minutes later here he comes. My DD has not seen him yet and he comes around the corner, says "Hi Every.......... Taylor, is that you??? Wow, how long has it been, about 2 years??? Come here let me see you. My daughter looks at him and says "Oh Aladdin, you remeber, you remember me. She runs to him and gives him this big hug. Of course, I'm crying, she's almost crying. He really played it up. He spent about 15 - 20 minutes with us. It was truly magical. I'll always remember this. To this day, I've never told her about my little meeting with Aladdin. She's 15 now. It truly is one of the most special memories that I have.

Scrapbookqueen
Kellie

Oh my gosh, this made tears come to my eyes! This is fantastic!!!!!

 

[rileysmommy]

On our first cruise in 2007, my dd and my niece were selected for the pin trading. That was a neat surprise for them. My ds was only 16 months at that time and on that cruise he was all about mommy. Wouldn't go to anyone else. Except Stitch. During pictures one night there wasn't anyone around Lilo and Stitch so I asked the CM if I could put my ds on the floor with them (he wasn't walking yet). She said yes as long as no one was waiting for a picture with Lilo and Stitch. Well, Stitch and my ds just bonded. Stitch got down on the floor and played with him and they had a lovely time. I got some great pictures of that. So precious. Later in that same cruise we got another picture with Pirate Stitch and Stitch just took my ds right out of my arms and held him.

On another cruise we were coming back to board after being on Castaway Cay. We knew that Lilo and Stitch were to be at the gangplank so we waited in line for them. The skies were getting darker with storms approaching but we stayed anyway since we now had such an affection for Stitch. We were about 4th in line and the line to get back on the ship was now stretched all the way down the gangplank and onto the island. Just as it was turn for my kids to see Lilo and Stitch the heavens opened up. It just started pouring. And since Stitch doesn't like to get wet, he picked up my ds, Lilo grabbed my dd's hand and they raced them up the gangplank and back onto the ship. My dh and I had to wait in the very long line but Lilo and Stitch just stayed right beyond the security gates with my kids until we got on the ship. It was the cutest thing.

 

[HermanTriplets+1]

This was our best Magical Moment. If anyone wonders if DCL is good for teens, well, take a look....

PRICELESS!!

 

[dolphingirl47]

I have just completed my 8th DCL cruise and we had a bunch of magical moments, but my favourite happened on the Hawaii cruise. It happened on the night we had the rotational menu at Animator's Palate. I am not too keen on the show and DH absolutely hates it. He did not really want to go to dinner that night, but as I love that menu and at that stage we had a table by ourselves, we agreed that we would go to dinner, but leave after the entree and before the show. This what we ended up doing.

We wanted to get some more photos, but we were way too early as late dinner was still in full swing. So we decided to just sit on one of the sofas in the atrium and wait. We had maybe sat there for a couple of minutes when somebody in an officer's uniform came up to us. I was a bit slow on the uptake that day and I just assumed that we were in the way. I was just about to get up, when he said something along the lines of that there is to be no more talk of waves. It was actually Captain Fabian. My DH had made a comment during the Captain's photo the previous day that he would like some more waves. Captain Fabian sat down with us and we had a great chat. He has been with Disney Cruise Line from the very beginning and was involved in the building of all 4 ships. It was very interesting to listen to him and he patiently answered any questions that we had. He spent a good 30 minutes with us. This was definitely a treat. I was impressed that he not only remembered what DH Graham had said, but also that he had recognised us. He must have met hundreds of people the previous day. The whole experience was such a treat.

Corinna

 

[Gina]

These stories are amazing!! Here's ours.

This was from either our first or second Magic cruise, when my son was around 6 or 7. In the Oceaneer Club, they had a slumber party with Goofy and were given adorable travel-size pillows with "Disney Magic" and Disney characters on there in black outline. The kids were given fabric markers and allowed to color them however they wanted.

As it happened, Ernie Sabella -- the voice of Pumbaa -- was on our cruise as well. One day he was doing a meet & greet, and my son decided he wanted to ask Mr. Sabella if he would sign his pillow since Timon & Pumbaa were on there as well. So he trots up there and presents his pillow, and Mr. Sabella was so excited! He had no idea that Pumbaa was on the pillows, and said so in his best Pumbaa voice. He signed the pillow for my son, and it instantly became my son's favorite possession.

Fast forward to disembarkation, and we're at that sad last breakfast when I realize the pillow is missing. I race back to the room, but it had already been completely stripped. Guest services told me to check with lost & found once we got off, but no luck. There, they gave me their phone number and told me to keep checking as sometimes it took a while for items to make it there. I called every day once we got home, but the pillow never showed up. My son was heartbroken.

I knew it couldn't replace the original, but I decided to call DCL and see if there was any way I could buy one, like you can with parks merchandise. I explained the whole story and told her I would be happy to pay whatever the cost and shipping was, just to see that sad look removed from my son's face. She told me she would check on it and get back to me.

Two weeks later, there was a package at our door. A new pillow, re-signed by Mr. Sabella. It turned out that he was on the cruise again with his mother a couple of weeks later, and they went and explained the whole story to him. The look on my son's face was absolutely priceless.

He's 16 and a Junior in high school now, and that pillow is still his most highly prized possession.

Only Disney.

 

[dgmommie]

DH & I went on a Disney cruise and participated the first night Match Your Mate game. ...... 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!!!!"

My husband and I got picked to play that game one one cruise too. He gave a very memorable answer to one question, and for the rest of the cruise, we were referred to as "Couple #2" by the CM who led the game as well as people that were in the audience that night. It really made his cruise complete to have such recognition on the ship!

 

[Princess Bette]

Last July on the Dream, my DS, who was 7, received a Magical Moments certificate for his origami skills from the Oceanears Lab staff. He has Aspergers and does better with self play activities. He attended a session about origami early in our 5 night cruise but asked to do it everyday in the lab. He made several great pieces. We were all surprised on the last night of the cruise when we returned to our stateroom after dinner to find that he had been pixie dusted with the certificate! It did wonders for his self-esteem - it brought tears to my eyes!

 

[ibouncetoo]

We wanted to get some more photos, but we were way too early as late dinner was still in full swing. So we decided to just sit on one of the sofas in the atrium and wait. We had maybe sat there for a couple of minutes when somebody in an officer's uniform came up to us. I was a bit slow on the uptake that day and I just assumed that we were in the way. I was just about to get up, when he said something along the lines of that there is to be no more talk of waves. It was actually Captain Fabian. My DH had made a comment during the Captain's photo the previous day that he would like some more waves. Captain Fabian sat down with us and we had a great chat. He has been with Disney Cruise Line from the very beginning and was involved in the building of all 4 ships. It was very interesting to listen to him and he patiently answered any questions that we had. He spent a good 30 minutes with us. This was definitely a treat. I was impressed that he not only remembered what DH Graham had said, but also that he had recognised us. He must have met hundreds of people the previous day. The whole experience was such a treat.

Corinna

Corinna, Hawaii was my first cruise with Captain Fabian and I was SO impressed by him. He stopped and chatted with us one night in Beach Blanket and always spoke when passing the the halls, etc. He and Captian Henry are the most personable of the DCL captins I think.

.

 

[itzkelly]

LOVE all these stories!!

 

[Disneycruiseteer]

This may not sound like much, but last year my family went on a cruise and brought my best friend, the first night at dinner we both ordered kiddy cocktails along with the other two girls at the table. We were laughing amongst ourselves about how we were jealous that one of the girls got two cherries. From that night on every time we sat down for dinner there were kiddy cocktails and a huge bowl of cherries for all of us.

It's just those small things that make the trips so much better.

 

[Ward On Board]

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.

Wow. I'm speechless. What a blessing for you and your family. Also, a blessing for me to read. I wish her all the luck in the world. Keep up the great support, mom!!

 

[pdwimmer]

Our Pixie dust happened on the Dream. One of my daughters refused to pack dresses. She's more of a tomboy. But all of her cousins traveling with us dressed up for dinner each night. While we were docked in Nassau all the stores on the Dream were closed due to Legal restrictions. My daughter was crying because she didn't have anything nice to wear. The crew let her borrow one of the princess dresses from the kids club to go to dinner and the show after.

 

[alaskanabbott]

DD Kenzie (was 7) and wanted a picture with Captain Jack. The line was crazy and we were too busy to wait. She was a little pouty, when one of her brothers grabs her and bolts to "Captain Jack" who was about to go into the restroom. He was so sweet and didn't mind stopping for a picture with the kids. The smiles are because he just told them "Hurry up now, I need to relieve me rum".....Best part, he wasn't actually Capt Jack, just another parent with a great costume, who totally made my kids night!

 

[zealandsmom]

My daughter has an Alice shirt made for her with her name Kingsley on it.
After the tea, while waiting in line Kingsley yelled "I love you Alice!" which was very memorable..... And very loud!
The next day a mom that was in the room also waiting approached me to tell me Alice was around the corner and asking if anyone had seen "Kingsley"?

We thought that was super adorable!!!

 

[Momma2Jax]

My DS (3) has many, many special needs, both medically and developmentally. He is a fairly new walker, has severe hearing loss, which he recently started wearing hearing aids for, so he only has a few words. We communicate in sign language with him, as well. He is medically fragile, as well as some drastic developmental delays, and sensory processing issues.

We were a little nervous taking him on our cruise, because we honestly don't know how he will respond to some things. We knew that he was nutso for Mickey, and that having a verandah room where we could have "down time" and still not miss sights was important.

On Sept 3rd, when we embarked, we honestly weren't sure if we were pushing it too far. He was SO overstimulated, everything was new, there were tons of people, and he had no nap. He (and us, by extension) was NOT a happy camper. He was having a few sensory melt-downs at the sail away party (we found a place where he could watch but not be surrounded).

Then, Mickey appeared. Suddenly this child who had, no joke, bitten my DH's nose in a sensory freak out moments before, suddenly, clear as day, yelled "MICKEY!!!!!", looked at my DH, and said, "DOWN!!!!!" (he was holding him). DH set him down, and we watched this tiny little redhead RUN up the deck, through people, up the stairs to get to Mickey. Of course we stopped him before he got on stage, because that could have been bad....but he just stopped everything, and watched Mickey in awe.

The trip was amazing for us, but it was certainly not without the normal frustrations of special needs parents. But whenever he saw his Mickey, he lost his marbles (in a good way) and it made it all worth it. That is why we went.

By the time we got home, he was saying words, phrases, and signs that we had never seen him use. He still, today will get all excited and sign "Mickey Boat!" and clap. These are the moments that make everything else worth it!

 

[sheadley]

Thank you for that wonderful story. I now have tears in my eyes. Wish I could've been a fly on that cruise to watch your son get excited about Mickey. What a special memory for all of you.

 

[Bonniec]

Wow...that one made me tear up too!

 

[BAT]

hen, Mickey appeared. Suddenly this child who had, no joke, bitten my DH's nose in a sensory freak out moments before, suddenly, clear as day, yelled "MICKEY!!!!!", looked at my DH, and said, "DOWN!!!!!" (he was holding him). DH set him down, and we watched this tiny little redhead RUN up the deck, through people, up the stairs to get to Mickey. Of course we stopped him before he got on stage, because that could have been bad....but he just stopped everything, and watched Mickey in awe.

The trip was amazing for us, but it was certainly not without the normal frustrations of special needs parents. But whenever he saw his Mickey, he lost his marbles (in a good way) and it made it all worth it. That is why we went.

By the time we got home, he was saying words, phrases, and signs that we had never seen him use. He still, today will get all excited and sign "Mickey Boat!" and clap. These are the moments that make everything else worth it!

What an amazing story, that mouse can truly be absolutely magical!!! Pat yourself in the back for having taken this risk!

 

[piglet33]

One year my DD went down the Mickey Slide so many times that the CM that was up there sent a certificate to our stateroom that had her name on it and "Princess of the Mickey Slide". She was so thrilled.

On the first Eastbound Panama Canal Cruise, my DD made friends with one of the Shutters Photographers. On the last full day of the cruise, we got a call from him asking if she could go to Studio Sea at a specific time. When we got there, we were told to sit at the tables with the other people. Then all of the characters came in and one by one the people had their pictures taken with all of them. My DD was 3 years old at the time and loved every minute of it. We went to Shutters the last morning to pick up the pictures and found them in an envelope as our gift from the photographer. On our next cruise, we brought a mat for the picture and asked to have the characters in the picture sign it. My DD is almost 10 now and still has that picture with the autographed mat hanging in her room.

Here is the pic:

 

[Momma2Jax]

DD Kenzie (was 7) and wanted a picture with Captain Jack. The line was crazy and we were too busy to wait. She was a little pouty, when one of her brothers grabs her and bolts to "Captain Jack" who was about to go into the restroom. He was so sweet and didn't mind stopping for a picture with the kids. The smiles are because he just told them "Hurry up now, I need to relieve me rum".....Best part, he wasn't actually Capt Jack, just another parent with a great costume, who totally made my kids night!

That is so sweet!