Now how about a lovely castmember thread?

[mmorano88]

In December hubby and I went to Disney for 5 nights. This was before I knew about ADR and such. One night, we went to go check out some hotels and grab a bite to eat. We walked into Ohana and the hostess said no seating available. So we sat at the bar and had some drinks. I saw the floor manager walking by and asked him "is there room for two more in this fun place?" He smiled and within five minutes had a table set up for us.

 

[VMKYouAreMissed]

Galen in the Magic Kingdom pin store and Jarred the tour guide for kttk in Magic Kingdom are two of the best CMs I have ever encountered. And Heidi in Magic Kingdom. All wonderful.

 

[Captain Hook Wannabe]

Love the thread. I'm going to mention a CM who works at the Contemporary gift shop on the 4th floor. I never got his name, but you can't miss him. He wears Goofy ears and a rainbow mohawk while he works. He is just full of Disney spirit. When my two sons pin traded with him last summer, he was just so engaging. After my sons gave him a sticker to show their appreciation for trading, he said he would put a picture of the sticker on his facebook page. My kids thought that was awesome.

I wrote an email to the proper place, but because I never got his name, I wonder if it did any good. My kids already talk about pin trading with him again in August.

 

[discnewbie]

These stories are all so sweet! I have tears in my eyes from some of them... the doll maker...the CM who arranged a private play at California Adventure ... (although I found the adults talking about how easy it would be to beat a child at a game, to be thoroughly repulsive).

Mine is a pretty simple one. The CM that impressed me the most was Vidia the fairy. She really got involved in her role. My daughter wanted to meet Tinkerbell but Vidia truly stole the show. My son was hanging back as he didn't want to meet the fairies, but Vidia marched right up to him and shook his hand and engaged him in some small talk, and then took his hand and led him back over to the main area and talked to both of my kids about posing for pictures. They both loved that interaction.

 

[ddwwelsh]

Back in 2005, we took our daughter to Disney for the first time. We had taken advantage of the Extra Magic Hours, and we were headed back to All-Star Movies Resort. The bus was full of people who were running on fumes. The driver was trying to lighten the mood by telling some corny little jokes. Somehow, our five year-old found her second wind and started yelling out the punchlines before the driver could. Once some guests got off at the next stop, he called her up to sit right behind him. He handed her the microphone, and let her have at it. They heckled each other back and forth for the duration of the ride. Then, when we were about to get off at our resort, he handed her a junior driver's license.

We still laugh about that night and how gracious he was to let a 5 year old steal his thunder.

 

[momof2mouses]

In 2008, our last trip to WDW, my youngest daughter was almost 6. We went into Main Street Bakery and she was a little rambunctious...jumping around and just being a 5 year old at WALT DISNEY WORLD!!! Well in her excitement she spilled her chocolate milk. We have always taught our girls to clean up after themselves, so without even having to be told, she got some paper towels and cleaned up the spill. We were proud of her and told her thank you. As we were leaving, one of the CMs, seems like she was dressed like a granny...not sure about this but seems like I remember that....anyway she came up and told DD how much she appreciated her help in taking care of the bakery and presented her with a huge Micky Choco chip cookie! DD was so proud of her cookie; her prize for being such a good helper! Will never forget that as long as I live! She still talks about it to this day

 

[eticketride]

I will just cut and paste the email to and from guest relations.

Dear Mr. *****,

Thank you for writing to us about your visit to the Walt Disney World®
Resort.

I am very glad you had such an enjoyable experience and truly appreciate
the time you took to share your compliments for Melanie, a Cast Member
at the Jedi Training Academy. Your email reinforces how our Cast
Members can make a tremendous difference with each Guest. It is
heartwarming to know that Cast Members such as Melanie exemplified Walt
Disney's dream to create happy and memorable experiences for all of our
Guests. Please be assured your comments will be shared with the
appropriate leadership so she can be commended for the great service she
provided you.

Mr. *******, thank you again for writing to us. We look forward to
future opportunities to entertain you.

Best Regards,

M***n T***r
Guest Experience Services
Walt Disney World Resort

/jm
3137082

Original Message Follows: ------------------------
Hello,

I am sure the majority of emails you receive are complaints about "less
than magical" interactions with your cast members. However, I wanted to
write and let you know about a wonderful experience we had with Melanie
(I hope that is her name, it may have been Melodie?) who works in the
Jedi Training Academy at Hollywood Studios. On Friday February 8th, our
4 year old son signed up for Jedi Training, but he was pretty nervous
about it. Melanie was very sweet to him and took him under her wing and
made sure he felt as comfortable as possible. Despite Melanie's best
efforts, our son began crying when Darth Vader made his appearance.
Melanie took him down from the stage and comforted him in a very caring
way. Then, and this is what really makes her special, she gave our son
her own personal light saber for him to keep. He was so happy with the
light saber and it became the highlight of his trip. Instead of talking
about how scary Darth Vader was, he only remembers how nice Melanie was
and how she gave him a light saber of his very own. He still plays with
it and remembers what a great day that was for him.


I wanted to make sure that you knew that you have a very special
employee working in the Jedi Training area who definitely understands
what makes Disney a magical place.



Thanks for your time,
*********

 

[EPCOTfantasyland]

When: February 2007

Where: in front of Test track

Who: me and my then 4 year old son

What: my son was sitting on the curb pouting, crying, maybe yelling a little, harrumphing, etc. He looked like he was abandoned, I was over across the walk way because he was just very very angry he couldn't ride test track, and he was refusing to sit by me to wait for his dear dad to get back from the ride ( it was one of 2 rides he took for himself in a whole week. He is a great dad) this was 1 of maybe 2 bad moments in a 7 day trip, and DS4 hated strollers so he walked the parks by choice. I love my boy!

Enter super cast member, she comes over and goes to my DS4 so I walk over and explain so she doesn't think he's lost, she says hold on just a moment, in like 1 minute she presents him with one of the ultimate WDW treasures.......drum roll, please.........



A MICKEY ICE CREAM BAR! I love happy endings. End of tantrum, we resumed the Disney magic.


disney cast members are ~~~ AWESOME~~

 

[pieface]

On my May trip celebrating my birthday I was greeted by cast member Santos at French quarter. He wished me a happy birthday and gave me a big hand shake. He gave me a free dessert and he treated me like family. He was great and I wrote a letter to Disney in regards to him. He is what Disney is all about.

 

[CNYDisneyFan]

Last fall was the very first time I had stayed on property. I was purchasing some items at the Island Mercantile at Animal Kingdom. I asked to have them sent back to the hotel where I was staying. I didn't know how it worked and the kindly explained to me how it worked,=.

 

[TinaLala]

So Dd then 5 was a huge Hercules fan. At that time you could only see him and Meg on the boat during Fantasmic, but DD didn't know that. Upon entering HS she spied Phil, ran over to him and said, "Phil, I'm so glad I found you. Where's Hercules? We have to find him." Well Phil was very gracious. Seeing her excitement he jumped up ran over to his handler and made hand movements demanding to know where Hercules was. The handler told us and both Phil and DD slumped in sadness. The fact that Phil interacted with her like that was so perfect. She didnt stop talking about him all day. Yes she screamed for Meg and Hercules during the Fantasmic show!

 

[emilyindisney]

Thank you for this thread! Instead of hearing about the CM that ruined a trip, its great to hear about the people that really make our vacations magical!

When my sister and I visited in January, our first character meal after our arrival the night before was at Tusker House. Our waitress, whose name I wish I could remember, was fantastic! We were sitting at a table next to a woman dining alone and anytime characters came by the waitress would stop what she was doing to come back and take pictures for both tables. She had a genuine interest in what we were doing with the rest of our day, and our trip. She was so nice and attentive and it was a fantastic way to start our trip!

Looking back, I really wish we thought to leave some type of comment card for her.

 

[mmkrush]

When my DD was 5 years old, we were waiting in line for the Carrousel. She saw a certain horse that she was hoping to ride on. When it was our turn to get on the ride, the horse she wanted was already taken. After we got off the ride, I told her, "don't forget to tell Mommy the bad news." A CM who was walking to the Peter Pan ride overheard me say this and asked what happened. When we told him, he grabbed my DD by the hand and said, "come with me." He walked through the exit of the Carrousel and stood with her at the front of the line. When the next ride was boarding he told the CM working the Carrousel that my DD got to pick her horse first. She got the horse she wanted and still remembers how magical she felt five years later.

 

[Arielle22]

When DD was around 12, we went to Whispering Canyons. DD didn't want to eat much. The waiter noticed and came over and asked if everything was ok. DD said yes but she didn't want to eat. The waiter picked up her fork, put some food on it and began to make airplane noises, telling DD she needed to let it come in for a landing.

We all laughed and got some good pictures. DD still didn't eat but we were amused.

 

[FlaNani]

My partner and I have annual passes, but had not yet exchanged them for the new "touch" ones that are being issued, we had the old "scan" ones. We were in line at one of the ticket booths at Hollywood Studios when a CM walked up and asked us what we needed. We explained about the passes, and she said, "I'll help you with that", and she whisked us out of the line, found us a spot in the shade (wow! it was hot that day). She went into the back of the ticket booth, and within a couple of minutes walked out with brand new passes and had even brought new holders because she noticed that ours were really worn.

I wish I could remember her name so that I could give her some props here but she was AWESOME! She definitely knows how to keep the pixie dust flying!

Thank you, un-named cast member!!

 

[MadToad]

Last October, my 3yr old DS accidentally dropped his stuffed Pluto just as we were exiting the Monorail in the Magic Kingdom. Of course it was a PERFECT shot, right between the monorail and the platform. Pluto was gone and DS was inconsolable. One of the monorail CMs came over and explained how we could get Pluto back by going to Lost and Found, but we politely declined. The CM saw how devastated DS was, asked us to wait a minute, then returned with a "No-Strings" form (something I'd never even heard of). Essentially, the form allowed us to walk into any Disney gift shop and receive a new Pluto, free of charge.

I truly wish I'd gotten his name. The stuffed toy was inexpensive, but his thoughtfulness and interaction with DS was priceless.

Thanks again unknown CM!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

In 2010 I was on a solo trip with a tight budget. At Hollywood Studios I had wanted to eat dinner at Starring Rolls but lost track of time and they were already closed. I'm not a big fan of any of the CS locations in DHS, but decided to head over to Backlot Express, not realizing they also closed early. I walked in about 5 minutes after they closed and once I realized they were no longer taking orders I turned around to leave. A manager (whose name escapes me now) saw me and asked what I needed. I explained that I hadn't realized they closed early and would find somewhere else to eat. He asked what I had wanted to order as they still hadn't put the food away so if they had any of what I wanted left I could still get it. I asked for a turkey sandwich meal and he went back to check. He came back out with a turkey sandwich, fries and a cup for me to get a drink. When I tried to pay he informed me that the registers were already closed out so I "had" to take it for free. I was in shock and thanked him repeatedly. Once I sat down I wrote down his name so I wouldn't forget it and I emailed WDW when I got home a few days later.

It wasn't that much, but the fact that he could have just let me walk out and instead went out of his way to give me a free meal meant a lot to me.

 

[Missytara]

I took a friend and her two teenage boys this time.

She commented on how wonderfully friendly and fun everyone was there; we had a few special encounters. They were at Hollywood Studios and a CM noted they were first timers. She asked where they were going to eat that night and it was our Be Our Guest night - she gushed all over them about being able to get a reservation and my friend told her it was all me.....I snagged it big time. So this CM told them if they brought her back a cupcake from BOG, she had some fastpasses for them for two rides when they got back. They didn't expect it, but there she was when they returned!

And the second wonderful one was "Aunt Jen" at 50's Prime Time Cafe. Now, with two teenaged boys, this could be hysterically funny or go horribly wrong. The family at the table next to us had a slightly older boy who basically wore his headphones and listened to his I-Pod for almost all of dinner, until finally he couldn't take it anymore, got up, slammed his chair, and declared he would see the family back at the room.

Well, both of our guys had a devilish little smile and thought they would play Aunt Jen like a $2.00 fiddle. Not so. She got the best of them, and they laughed the entire time. They finally "straightened up" after she grabbed both their gadgets and went in the back, returning a few minutes later with two packages wrapped in paper and packing tape with the note "good luck, Aunt Jen." After finally opening the packages, their "gadgets" were wrapped in two inches of saran wrap - it took them forever to unwrap them.... they talked about it the entire trip.

 

[jimmalru80]

Art the Greeter made our family trips to the Beach Club truly memorable. Art was a Disney CM icon, with an infectious smile that brightened every day. We miss him since his retirement.

 

[theminx08]

We took DS4 and DD2 to meet Mickey and friends at Epcot. DD was scared as we approach so we turned and left. The CM at the door asked if everything was OK and we explained that DD was scared. We had struggled to get her to meet any characters including the princesses all holiday. The CM persuaded her to meet just Minnie and took us to the front of the line. DD was happy meeting Minnie so the CM persuaded her to meet Mickey next. By the time we had finished the children had had a VIP meeting with all the characters. Seeing their faces and how my DD grew in confidence around the characters brought me to tears. It was without a doubt the best Disney memory I've ever had.
We went to guest relations to express our gratitude.