sharing the love not the hate

[BC1836]

Another one of our lengthy drives [see "For 2,000+ Mile Drivers Only!" thread] is approaching and we enjoy the journey because it brings us closer to WDW. Crowds? Sure. Joy and pleasure? Absolutely!

 

[corrinna]

This has really put me in the Disney mood......12 until we arrive at Disney!!!!

My son and I always share our table with others anytime we eat. We meet a lot of great people that way and get to share the magic. A couple trips ago, we were at epcot trying to find a table to eat our lunch when an older couple returned that favor to us!!

We are always giving away fast passes to others. We will actually stand and watch people see the long wait for a ride, and my son is always finding the perfect pair to pass them along to. Sometimes, watching others get the fast passes is more fun than riding the ride.

For Christmas this year, my cousins bought me a Disney Trivia Book. I am looking forward to using the book when we go out to the parks. It will be fun for the kids waiting in line around us and of course, me too!

Thanks to all for sharing all the positive stories, keep it up!!

 

[yrdlyprincess]

wow- I only read the 1st comments on this thread but that is amazing I thought that I was the only one, DH & myself were mentally prepared for someone to cut in front of us or push my child down ---freaky things...but I think that the worse that happened was MY children got sick (high fevers) the bus was late on 2 important occasions, but whatever!!

 

[ireland_nicole]

Disney really is my Laughing Place; yes, we encountered all kinds of people, but: 1)both gave away and received FP's-and picking the family to give them to is awesome!. 2)Big thank you to the 2 families that shared their pool toys at CBR last June! It really made our kids day 3)Major kudos to the in room babysitter! Wish we could have taken her home, she was so amazing and drummroll please.......... Last year at Disney was the first time my DD8 who has autism, ran up to me and jumped into my lap! I was completely overwhelmed at how much the magic of WDW lit her up inside!
I'll stop now, cause I'm starting to cry already.

But: thanks to all the CM's, esp. Bus driver Bob, and the guy who booked our reservations for our trip this Sept. I may not remember all the names, but I will never forget their impact!
Nicole

 

[jack hannah bananah]

It is funny you started this thread. I just told my DH yesterday, some of my favorite memories at Disney are the times we were able to help people out
Some examples:
Helped a family look for a lost child

Gave a balloon that my kids didn't need to a little kid melting down. Honestly, this helped me out - the balloon was driving me nuts.

Helped a little girl who dislocated her elbow (happens a lot at Disney) - saved them a trip to the Orlando emergency room.
Be careful when holding your children's hands (especially if they are under three). They pull away - you stay put - their elbow pops out. This is painful for the child, but easy to correct. However, the first-aid staff won't fix it because they can't be sure that is what it is.
Yes, this happened to us a year ago. The positive spin - my son got a free Disney t-shirt (the first-aid people cut his shirt off him to get a better look), my DH got a back lot tour of MK in a free ambulance ride (I was in the back with our son). Also, Disney paid for the cab ride back to the park - they know every hour is worth a lot of money to their guests.

To me, helping people is the magic of Disney (I know totally cheesy).

 

[mmcguire]

When my DS (now 14) was small, we were at MK for the night parade. We were somewhere near the hub, where there was a wall. A man and his children standing on it for a good view. DS couldn't see the parade very well, and the man asked us if he could come up there and stand with them. The man was so nice, and even held on to DS's shoulders so he wouldn't fall down.


I also will never forget how kind and respectful the CMs were to my mom last August. Due to a lung disease, she had to go in a wheelchair, and was very self-concious about it. The CMs always spoke directly to her, and treated her like a queen. It was probably her last trip to WDW, and they really made it special.

 

[ReneeA]

We've spread the magic over the years and had it returned to us 10 fold.

We stayed at ASMo when our kids were 2 & 3. One of the bus rides to MK was very full, and DH and I ended up standing on the bus trying to juggle kids, strollers, and bags. DH had DS3, and he's a large guy who doesn't have trouble planting himself in a spot and keeping his balance. I'm not quite so graceful. I was having obvious trouble right from the start, and a very nice lady from Ireland (sitting - with a cast on her leg) was watching me. She asked me if she could hold DD2. DD is fairly shy and will not go to strangers at all. I said, "I don't mind at all...but she's pretty shy...I'm not sure if she'll go for it." All she said to DD was, "Hi pretty girl, what's your name?" That child climbed up in her lap without even being asked. Then she pointed out all the landmarks and DD named them for her. I was able to hold on and juggle everything, and know that DD was safe. When we got off the bus, DD whispered to me, "I liked that lady, Mama."

We also had a good experience at LeCellier. We didn't have ADR's there, but due to a "problem in the kitchen" at Coral Reef that night, they told us that we'd have to find another TS place to eat. We wandered to LeCellier without much hope of getting a table there. I explained the story about Coral Reef being closed to the CM...and she said she didn't think she would be able to squeeze us in.

Well, I went to Lake Superior State in Sault Ste. Marie, MI, on the Sault Ste. Marie, Canada border. I just happened to mention it to her. One of the CM's was from the Soo, Canada...the CM at the door went to get him. I got a big hug and lots of questions about where I had been in his hometown. We were seated right away during the very busy dinner hour (without an ADR). Not only that, we were given the Chef's table service - the chef came out to personalize our meals for us...then the kid's desserts were brought out to the table by the Chef and he let the kids help put their own desserts together. They also each got Chef's hats personalized with their names.

What could have been a disaster (Coral Reef being closed) turned into the best experience of our trip.

 

[mash]

We are annual passholders and get to go quite frequently. Rarely have we seen anyone rude. This past fall I took our children to the parks and we received free "Year of Magical Dreams" Mickey ears. Shortly after receiving the Mickey ears we were waiting for Dumbo. A little girl waiting in line was absolutely fascinated with the shiny ears on the hats. We gave her and her brother two of our hats. They were so delighted.

There are so many great ways to pass the magic to other guests. We always give away any fast passes that we aren't going to use. I give winks and sympathetic smiles to parents that have a little one in a meltdown. We chat to folks while waiting in lines.

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to write something down. This is a great thread. You have all inspired me to do more to pass the magic the next time I'm in one of the parks.

 

[Cee]

One day at DTD Marketplace, my DD(22) and I were standing and waiting for
other DD(26) to have her caricature done. A mother and her daughter walked
past us who had obviously both had the works done at BBB. My daughter and
I gushed, "Oooooooh, two beautiful princesses!" and we did a deep, respectful
curtsy to both of them as they passed. The kid looked confused but the mom
was highly amused. Maybe she tells the story to this day. It doesn't take
much to put a smile on someone's face.

 

[mmcguire]

We are annual passholders and get to go quite frequently. Rarely have we seen anyone rude. This past fall I took our children to the parks and we received free "Year of Magical Dreams" Mickey ears. Shortly after receiving the Mickey ears we were waiting for Dumbo. A little girl waiting in line was absolutely fascinated with the shiny ears on the hats. We gave her and her brother two of our hats. They were so delighted.

That is awesome. You know what? We have six pairs of YOMD ears sitting in the top of our closet. We won them throughout the year last year, and have never worn them once -- even when we went to WDW last summer. Thanks to your post, I think I will take them with us in Aug and give them to some kids that will enjoy them.

 

[bellebud]

drummroll please.......... Last year at Disney was the first time my DD8 who has autism, ran up to me and jumped into my lap! I was completely overwhelmed at how much the magic of WDW lit her up inside!
I'll stop now, cause I'm starting to cry already.

That is SUCH a beautiful story!! I remember being on the phone w/ CRO five years ago, booking my first trip, and I was very nervous about travelling w/ my dd so far away from home because she had a seizure disorder (she was 3yo at the time), and he assured me how disney is used to caring for kids and adults w/ medical issues and I had nothing to worry about. He really made me feel better... but the most memorable part of the conversation was him telling me about the many austistic children who come there and their parents say how Disney opens the kids' shell a little bit each time they come -and that he always hears from parents amazing stories of autistic kids doing *firsts* at WDW - things like the first hug they've initiated w/ a certain family member, etc. I can believe it too... I remember my ds was 21 months at our first trip, and his vocabulary EXPLODED while there - dh and I were amazed. It was probably time for it to expand, but I couldn't believe the amount of words he added in our 12 days there - nothing before or after w/ him or his sister ever felt like such a leap in abilities in such a short time.

Stuff like that just fuels my love of WDW...

 

[LovesHauntedMansion]

Every bathroom I went into, I was expecting to see filth after reading many reports of dirty bathrooms at WDW. However, there was not a dirty bathroom to be found for the entire trip!

 

[UP Disney]

We were on Carousel of Progress and due to technical difficulties, it stopped and restarted the first scene about 6 times. We had a group of college students in the room with us. They made what could have been a not so pleasant experience fun. They started the wave, sang songs, etc. It is one of our most pleasant memories from all our trips. It taught us to relax and enjoy the moment! Whenever things like this happen, we try to laugh about it and make good use of our time together.

 

[MATTLIZ]

I JUST HAVE TO SAY... I LOVE THIS THREAD!

I have only read one-half of it so far, but will finish reading the rest tomorrow as it is bedtime and I am very tired! But, I just have to say that I agree that after reading ALL of the negative on these boards, all I keep telling my son is we will go with a POSITIVE attitude and just have a wondeful time on our 2nd trip to THE WORLD!!!

The most positive thing that I remember from our first trip was: I like to talk to people that are next to me on the bus trips around disney! I remember this one older gentleman in particular that I talked to for awhile as we were going from POP to MK and it is a bit of a trip! He said he and his wife were retired and moved to Florida about 5 years ago and both got "part-time positions" as CMs and both work about 2 months out of the year just to have discounts to be able to stay at disney themselves whenever they wanted to over the other 10 months when they were not working. He said he usually worked at ToT and LOVED IT!!! It was quite interesting talking to him! He was very nice!

 

[MATTLIZ]

To the top! Let's keep the love going!!

 

[Purple Nightshade]

My dh loved to play the games at Chester and Hesters. He won alot of dinosaurs, frogs, etc. He all ways gave them away to the little ones. The look on their faces were priceless. I now do this myself in his honor.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Bump

 

[JodyLynC]

Time to do da Bump

 

[ScrapperKimmyD]

I've warned people about "Beverly" (even though they still tried it anyway)

Huh????

shirts that looked like the covers of magazines with all these little puns about the individual priness...they were really cool.

Are they still available and if so, where??? They sound great!

And I'm crying again, just from typing this out!

I have tears streaming down my face! Thanks for sharing!

 

[tlrotzoll]

I am very lucky because I get to do this for people every day.

We CMs have a saying. My role is Attractions (or housekeeping, or merchandise, etc...). My JOB is making magic.

THANK YOU FOR THIS. It truly is an incredible place!