Simple Thing a Cast Member Did...

[mskibbe72]

On our last trip, I was sitting in the Pop Century lobby waiting for my husband to finish souvenir shopping...I was exhausted and sad because it was our last day. I must have looked it because a CM sweeper came up to me and handed me a red carnation and said, 'A beautiful flower for a beautiful woman.' I was so taken aback and flattered. I even kept the flower to remember that memory by.

And then there are the times when you meet a CM from your hometown and they act like your long lost relative, lol. It's such a treat, especially when you're a thousand miles away from home (literally!).

Also (don't know how much this has to do with Disney magic or just being really lucky), but twice while we were waiting in line for Toy Story, they asked for a party of 2..both times my husband and I immediately volunteered and were escorted past the hour long line to the front.

 

[k&Jsmom]

Last Saturday night I was at Epcot with my family. We went to ride Soarin but the wait time was 75 min. I told my ds who is nine, that we can't wait that long or we will miss Illuminations.

We he made a really sad face and we were about to leave. The cast member who was in front of Soarin over heard us and the next thing I know he whips out fast pass for all of us.

While I was in shock I thanked him for sprinking pixie dust on us. That has never happened to us before.

 

[annnewjerz]

My neighbors took their daughter Ava (4) on her first trip to The World in February of this year. I went down separately to surprise her and only a few hours after we landed, I met up with them outside the gates of the MK. My party and her parents were waiting at Guest Relations to activate our Salute tickets, so I watched Ava.

There were CMs at the turnstiles letting guests through---some of which were wearing the big Mickey hands. After seeing here there and hearing how excited she was for her first trip to Disney, he gave her his Mickey glove to wear and wave to guests as they were entering the park. You can see how excited she was, and that little bit of magic really helped entertain her and made me appreciate just a little more how great WDW employees are.

 

[gometros]

My neighbors took their daughter Ava (4) on her first trip to The World in February of this year. I went down separately to surprise her and only a few hours after we landed, I met up with them outside the gates of the MK. My party and her parents were waiting at Guest Relations to activate our Salute tickets, so I watched Ava.

There were CMs at the turnstiles letting guests through---some of which were wearing the big Mickey hands. After seeing here there and hearing how excited she was for her first trip to Disney, he gave her his Mickey glove to wear and wave to guests as they were entering the park. You can see how excited she was, and that little bit of magic really helped entertain her and made me appreciate just a little more how great WDW employees are.

As a fellow SmugMug user, I've got to say that is a great picture!

 

[KS Dis Mom]

All the cast members at the parks and at AKL that let my then 12 year old son interview them!

We went to DW the week after Thanksgiving so that meant our children would be out of school for a week. (None of the teachers had a problem with us taking our kids out of school). We contacted all of DS Jr High teachers and asked for assignments before we left. His Social Studies teacher told him to interview at least 2 people a day and then turn in his journal of interviews.

After a rocky start he interviewed at least 5 - 6 CM a day from all over the world! It was great going through all the countries at EPCOT and learning about the different cultures.

He received an A on his journal!

 

[dansamy]

Our first trip, at 1900 Park Fare, one of my children spilled their drink. I fussed, not harshly, but still I fussed that s/he should be more careful. (I don't recall which one it was, DD-now-11 or DS-now-10. They were 7 and 6 then.) Well, poor child's face crumpled and started to tear up. It had been a long day and I think that was just the last bit to push kiddo over the edge into meltdown mode. Our server happened by and asked what was wrong. I explained that we had a spilled drink and we were upset. She hurried away. When she returned, she had two drinks. One of which she poured on the floor right beside our table to join the already spilled one. All three of my children burst out into laughter, tears and tiredness forgotten. She got a pretty big tip that night!

Feb 2010, we were sitting outside Pecos Bill's eating snacks and waiting for the second parade. The place was dead. Empty. The CM working "crowd control" for the parade played in the road with my children. They played with the hula hoops, spinning them away with english to make them return to the spinner and also spinning them to each other to jump over. All four of them (my three and the CM) had such a good time just playing in the middle of the street. The kids were so disappointed she had to stop and put up the string to clear the parade route!

 

[Magpie]

We visited one Christmas when my son was 10, and in fifth grade. We told him he could have ONE souvenir. He thought about it and thought about it, and then when we were at the Magic Kingdom, he spotted what he thought was the perfect souvenir - a plastic Winnie the Pooh lunch box!

Well, we didn't want to drag it around all day in the park, so we told him, if he still wanted it, we'd pick it up when we returned to MVMCP, a couple days later. I thought he'd change his mind. After all, he was ten! And a boy. And usually quite protective of his dignity, which didn't seem to mesh with a yellow plastic lunch box with Pooh and Friends frolicking on the front of it.

Two days later, not only did he still want the lunch box, but he couldn't talk about anything else. So after MVMCP we went back to the shop, only to discover that the lunch box was gone! Worse than that, the staff couldn't remember ever seeing it, and theorized that maybe it'd been part of the display, which had just changed.

We checked all the shops on the way out of the park - no luck, and no one seemed to know what we were talking about. One CM suggested trying at guest services, but we weren't going to stick around any longer. We were all tired and cranky. MVMCP was crazy crowded, the highly repetitious, somewhat inane parade song was driving my husband crazy (something about "It must be Christmas" over and over and over again), and we briefly lost our daughter in the shops because she decided to sit down in a corner and read a book without telling anyone! The disappointment over the lunch box was the last straw and our son quietly cried all the way back to the hotel.

The next morning I stopped in at Epcot's guest services counter and told them our tale of woe while my husband waited outside with the kids. The CM had just finished dealing with a very unpleasant shout-y family, but he still had a smile for us and got right on the phone to try to track down the lunch box. In no time he'd found one at Downtown Disney and asked them to hold it for us. I'd have been thrilled with just that, but then he asked me how many people there were in our party, and handed me a big stack of any-time fastpasses. It was awesome! We had a great day.

And that evening we picked up the lunchbox at Downtown Disney. My son not only took it to school for many months (until it broke because it really was just a cheap plastic box ), he still has it sitting on a shelf in his bedroom.

Every time I see it, I'm thankful to that CM.

 

[Kellystitch]

I love hearing some of these stories! You all remind me why I finally snapped and decided to do the college program! You've brought me to tears. People can say whatever they want, I love my job and all the happiness it brings others.

I've had many magical moments over the years. Nothing crazy/extravagant, but overall great memories.

1) My family came to visit me on my CP, and my grandfather came with. He was a proud WWII veteran. Wore a hat covered with army pins and a jacket signifying he was a veteran. Watching the afternoon showing of Once Upon a Christmastime parade, Fairy Godmother notices him, and begins blowing him kisses and then saluted him. Don't even mention this to my mom - she cries from even thinking about it to this day.

2) Same trip, we were meeting Carl, Russell, and Dug. We couldn't get over my Grandfather's resemblance to Carl (it's just a *bit* uncanny, lol) The Character Attendant, and all the characters couldn't give him enough attention, and he was the hit of the entire line, haha Carl even let him hold his cane for the picture! This trip was very, very special, as everyone came down for my birthday, and unbeknownst to us, it'd be my grandfather's last trip to the world. He was so proud to tell people I worked there and would tell everyone all about me. He and my grandma went with us on many of the trips when we were younger, and I'm sure they are a big reason why Disney is so important to me.

3) This one happened a few years ago (probably back in 2002..?) I can't remember where I was in MK, or what I was doing, but my mom and I were off doing something, and we reunited with my older brother and my father. They're laughing and are holding a piece of paper in their hands. Apparently my brother got ticketed by a security guard for "poorly impersonating a Disney character" (dopey) and crossing into another land being grumpy. I'd love to know if security guards still do this. We kept the ticket and laminated it.

4) My last day visiting a park as a CP was with my parents, on the week of their 25th anniversary. I made them buttons to wear, and I was donning my CP graduation ears (so CMs had to of known I was a CP). First, we head to Soarin' for some fastpasses. The CM at Fastpass distribution asked me what time my fastpasses were for. They were for sometime later in the afternoon. He reaches in his pocket and asks if I wanted to trade with him for whatever was in his pocket. I laughingly say sure, and he hands me fastpasses that were good immediately and told me I had to take them since we traded fair and square. I was not going to argue! Later that day, we're eating lunch in Liberty Tree Inn. A kind CM walks up behind my parents and motioned to me to stay quiet. She saw the buttons and had wished them a happy anniversary while we were waiting for our food, but gave them a mickey rice crispy to split and a magical moment card, that is still on our fridge to this day. I just couldn't get over these people probably knowing I was not a typical guest, and yet they still went above and beyond for me.

5) Just this summer, I was working at Stitch turnstiles RIGHT after rope drop. A character attendant brought Stitch into the line to say hello to guests, and he walked up to me and for no reason pretended to give me a wet-willie in front of all the kids. I acted along with him and the kids thought it was a riot. I had another instance as a guest with Stitch, and I exclaimed how I love him, but he keeps getting me into trouble at work when he escapes. He crossed his arms and ran away from me, but came back only when I promised to let him get away next time if he gave me a hug.

Now some reverse pixie dust!

1) A little girl walks up to me while standing at Stitch's Great Escape's turnstiles. She exclaims "For You!" to me, and hands me a rose! Now we aren't supposed to accept gifts, so I kindly said thank you but it was such a pretty rose that she should keep it. I refused it 3 times, and she kept insisting. So I kept it and closely guarded that rose for the rest of the night, and even brought it back to my apartment.

2) A group of kids had an autograph book, and asked me to sign it. I laughed and they explained that they were collecting autographs from cast members seeing where everyone was from. It was so cute that these kids wanted to make the people who worked there part of their vacation memories. Made me feel special, that even though WDW employs 70,000+ people, I still matter to someone.

3) One time, around Christmas (so castle all lit and pretty mind you) I was assisting up top at Astro Orbiter. Father is holding his daughter, and tells her to look at the castle, and points at me and tells her that is Princess Kelly's castle! It was so sweet, and while totally untrue, gave me an mini ego-boost for the day, hahaha

I've made a lot of special moments with little kids, and big kids too.
Goofy "gave" me his phone number and sometimes I call him to welcome people to the Magic Kingdom or to wish them a happy birthday. One time there was a boy who was disabled. He was probably around 18/20 but developmentally was a lot younger. His mom had a GAC card for Astro Orbiter, and while his family went upstairs, him and his mom stayed downstairs with me. He was wearing a Goofy hat and shirt, and kept telling much he loved him, and how he was his favorite. So I tell him to come back to Tomorrowland later, since Goofy was at the dance party. Well I remembered having Goofy's number, so I said something like "OH! You're the one he told me about! Come here, he left a message for you!" and called Goofy on the phone. The boy was so excited! When his family came downstairs he and his mom were so excited to tell them about his special phone call.
I called Goofy another time to have him wish a little boy a happy birthday, and the boy got so excited that his father asked what he was listening to. I told him Goofy luckily had left me a voice mail message, so I could call my voice mail back so he could hear it... Father started crying and hugged me and couldn't get over how simple and kind that was to take a minute to make his kid's day.
I also happen to have Mickey and Minnie's cell numbers too, and if there was a couple celebrating an anniversary or honeymoon, I always tried to call them to have Mickey and Minnie give them a special message. ALWAYS gave the phone to the Bride,

I also liked to read people the galacticese dedication plaque outside the main entrance to Stitch. Took me a few months to learn it, but CMs and guests alike think it is so cool I can read it. I made it my goal in my 9 months working there to learn it, and I think the day I broke the "code" was a magical day for me, haha

I get a lot of flack for this Disney thing. People think it's dumb how I love Disney so much, why I keep going back when the CPs don't get paid that much, I've SERIOUSLY had a "friend" (emphasis on the " " lol) say behind my back that I was wasting time and money going to school, why don't I drop out now since I'll be making as much if I just worked at McDonald's with no degree. Like really? I wonder why I'd love a place so much, where complete strangers are out just to make people happy, and are empowered to do whatever it takes to do so. Or where you get such kind, good-natured people who are so appreciative to what we do that you make threads like this, and go to compliment us at GR, and tell us how awesome we are.

It really takes people to make the dream a reality, and Walt wasn't just talking about the CMs.

Sorry to make this so long-winded, but I had a lot to share!

Have a Magical Day!

 

[Bnearing]

2) Same trip, we were meeting Carl, Russell, and Dug. We couldn't get over my Grandfather's resemblance to Carl (it's just a *bit* uncanny, lol) The Character Attendant, and all the characters couldn't give him enough attention, and he was the hit of the entire line, haha Carl even let him hold his cane for the picture! This trip was very, very special, as everyone came down for my birthday, and unbeknownst to us, it'd be my grandfather's last trip to the world. He was so proud to tell people I worked there and would tell everyone all about me. He and my grandma went with us on many of the trips when we were younger, and I'm sure they are a big reason why Disney is so important to me.

I love all your stories but this one (and the picture) is awesome.

 

[gometros]

We visited one Christmas when my son was 10, and in fifth grade. We told him he could have ONE souvenir. He thought about it and thought about it, and then when we were at the Magic Kingdom, he spotted what he thought was the perfect souvenir - a plastic Winnie the Pooh lunch box!

Well, we didn't want to drag it around all day in the park, so we told him, if he still wanted it, we'd pick it up when we returned to MVMCP, a couple days later. I thought he'd change his mind. After all, he was ten! And a boy. And usually quite protective of his dignity, which didn't seem to mesh with a yellow plastic lunch box with Pooh and Friends frolicking on the front of it.

Two days later, not only did he still want the lunch box, but he couldn't talk about anything else. So after MVMCP we went back to the shop, only to discover that the lunch box was gone! Worse than that, the staff couldn't remember ever seeing it, and theorized that maybe it'd been part of the display, which had just changed.

We checked all the shops on the way out of the park - no luck, and no one seemed to know what we were talking about. One CM suggested trying at guest services, but we weren't going to stick around any longer. We were all tired and cranky. MVMCP was crazy crowded, the highly repetitious, somewhat inane parade song was driving my husband crazy (something about "It must be Christmas" over and over and over again), and we briefly lost our daughter in the shops because she decided to sit down in a corner and read a book without telling anyone! The disappointment over the lunch box was the last straw and our son quietly cried all the way back to the hotel.

The next morning I stopped in at Epcot's guest services counter and told them our tale of woe while my husband waited outside with the kids. The CM had just finished dealing with a very unpleasant shout-y family, but he still had a smile for us and got right on the phone to try to track down the lunch box. In no time he'd found one at Downtown Disney and asked them to hold it for us. I'd have been thrilled with just that, but then he asked me how many people there were in our party, and handed me a big stack of any-time fastpasses. It was awesome! We had a great day.

And that evening we picked up the lunchbox at Downtown Disney. My son not only took it to school for many months (until it broke because it really was just a cheap plastic box ), he still has it sitting on a shelf in his bedroom.

Every time I see it, I'm thankful to that CM.

It's amazing how CMs can go the extra mile.

We just came back from a trip to the world. My wife had seen a specific Swaroski watch that a friend had bought in the Contemporary some time back and loved it. We weren't staying there, but hoped we could find it elsewhere. I swear she checked every shop in every park, until we got to DHS. I forgot the name of the shop on Hollywood Boulevard, but she went there to look and found one similar, but not quite the same. The CM brought out a catalog and sure enough, the one she found was a newer version. The CM went into the back to check to see if there were any others and came out with one box. It was the same watch as the one my wife found. She then went back once more and came back with what was the very last model of the exact watch my wife wanted.

Another story - On a trip years ago, I got into a conversation with a young CM from Brazil in Tomorrowland. He was a charming young man and we must have talked for twenty minutes. All of sudden, he says to wait there and he would be right back. he comes back a few minutes later and tells us to follow him. We walk out of Tomorrowland to the main hub and end up at the bath to Liberty Square where he informs us that we were to enjoy the parade from the VIP viewing area. We were seated right next to the Vice President of Austria and his family. What a pleasant surprise!

 

[gometros]

Oooh! Oooh! One more.

This same past trip, my wife surprised me by deciding she was going to try Splash Mountain for the first time in 21 years. She didn't like it back when my now 29-year old son was only 8, because back then, the canoes did not have lap bars. Now that she noticed they did, she decided it was safe enough for her Of course, we had to buy the obligatory photo to prove to our children that mom really rode Splash Mountain. When I mentioned to the CM that it was her first time in so long, the CM found a regular first time visitor button and wrote "First Time in 21 years on Splash Mountain" on it. It was simple thing to do, but it's just what makes Disney different from other places.

 

[Kellystitch]

I love all your stories but this one (and the picture) is awesome.

Thanks! We all had a good laugh about it, but now I can probably never watch UP! again!

Another really special thing a CM did for me was when I inquired about my family's Leave A Legacy tiles. Instead of just telling me where it was, he asked if I wanted to see the original photos. I said sure, since @ this point the pictures were about 10 years old, and he even let me take a picture of them so my family back home could see them. It was so nice of this guy to take an extra second to do something so little and special.

 

[princessbride6205]

We have had a number of surprise magical moments - one really big one and some small ones.
June 2005 - Dinner at Chef Mickey's with a group of 14. This was serving as our rehearsal dinner for our Disney wedding. DH and I got a cute cupcake to share, as well as champagne. This was special, but the most magical part was the character interactions. Chip fed my twin baby cousins, Dale hammed it up with my bridesmaids, and all the character made sure to get pictures with everyone - even though our group was mostly adults.

January 2010 - DD (then 2 1/2) was not amused with our dinner at Sanaa. By the time our entrees arrived, we couldn't entertain or distract her anymore. She started fussing and our server brought her one of the Tinkerbell lights that come with the pricey kid drinks.

October 2010 - DD (then 3) was newly potty trained and had an accident in the bed at CBR during her nap. We called mousekeeping for a change of sheets, but had to leave for a dinner reservation. I left what I consider a decent tip (and a "Sorry. Thank You" note) for this type of service. When we returned that night, we had a freshly made bed and a whole pile of towel animals. I couldn't believe that mousekeeping went above and beyond, just new sheets on the bed would have been fine by me. It was a nice surprise for DD as well, since she was feeling badly about her accident.

January 2011 - this was the most magical trip - we had some pixie dust from cast members, but we also just managed to have a really good time on our own. One of those trips where even when a waiter spills wine on you, you can still laugh about it. Tiny touches of CM magic seemed to be everywhere. One day in MK, a CM was walking around putting a few Mickey stickers in each stroller parked near Philharmagic - a fun surprise when we returned. Another day, my sister got her picture with a lonely Baloo. After the picture, he wouldn't let go of her and then chased after her when we were leaving. At AK one morning, DD was too shy to join the other kids playing shakers with the Africa CMs. So I handed her a shaker to play in her stroller. After the music bit was over, the main CM in African garb came over to DD and told her she was the best shaker player, and that whenever she hears music, she has to dance. After that, every time we saw one of the African street performances, she jumped up to join in.
DD was so excited to meet Pluto, she ran to give him a hug and he wouldn't let go. They hugged for what could have been almost a full minute.

And the biggest magical moment we've experienced...
About to leave the MK on our last day, we were standing around after using the restrooms at the front of the park. A Guest Services CM approaches and asks if we want to come backstage and meet someone special. We said Bibbity Bobbity Boo and opened the door. There was Cinderella! All the adults got choked up and forgot to take any pictures. Luckily there was a Photopass guy in there too! DD was pretty reserved and probably overwhelmed. As magical as it was, we weren't totally sure she was as excited about this experience as we were. However, a few months later for her birthday, she wanted a Cinderella dress, and then wanted to be Cinderella for Halloween. So it definitely left a lasting impression. For me, I was like, where's the DVC kiosk? I'll buy more points! Disney magic.

 

[toklotursa]

bump

 

[ARIELvsURSULA]

On DHs first trip to Disneyland we were eating at Ariel's Grotto before WoC started. He's not the type to order fancy anything so the meal was well beyond anything he'd ever had before. He told me "They have a martini with a color change glowing ice cube in it.. That is so freakin cool. I dont even wanna know the price though." We laughed and the meal carried on. A second later our waitress brought him a Glowtini, free of charge. She said he looked so excited at the idea of a glowing ice cube she couldn't resist giving him one.

 

[michelle06]

On our first trip, we spent 2 days at MK. That was all we could afford. We stood in line forever to meet the princesses. I had left my camera bag outside in the stroller. I did have my camera. It was our turn and my batteries died. The extras were in the stroller! I panicked. The CM told us to wait. I felt bad we were holding up the line. He came back with 2 AAs for my camera and I got all the pics I wanted. I was even more shocked when he said I didn't have to pay for them. I know what they charge for batteries at the parks and it isn't cheap. First visit and definitely felt the pixie dust.

 

[MinnieGolf]

I get a lot of flack for this Disney thing. People think it's dumb how I love Disney so much, why I keep going back when the CPs don't get paid that much, I've SERIOUSLY had a "friend" (emphasis on the " " lol) say behind my back that I was wasting time and money going to school, why don't I drop out now since I'll be making as much if I just worked at McDonald's with no degree. Like really? I wonder why I'd love a place so much, where complete strangers are out just to make people happy, and are empowered to do whatever it takes to do so. Or where you get such kind, good-natured people who are so appreciative to what we do that you make threads like this, and go to compliment us at GR, and tell us how awesome we are.

It really takes people to make the dream a reality, and Walt wasn't just talking about the CMs.

Have a Magical Day!

And THIS is why I love WDW! Thank you, Kelly!

 

[NSmuppetmom]

Our best CM magic story has to be from our first family trip to WDW (4 yrs ago)...
We were a few days into our trip and DS had been looking for Wall-E merchandise (he was / is a HUGE Wall-E fan) and was quite discouraged at not haivng found anything. I figured DHS was our best bet, and by park closing we had still not seen anything bearing Wall-E.
We walked into the store on DHS where they have the character sketches... asked if they had any Wall-E (since he wasn't in the book of samples). We chatted with the 2 CMs in the store and 1 went out back and brought out the on-site animator, even though he was done for the night. We got to chatting and he offered to draw a one of a kind Wall-E sketch for DS. He did not charge us for it, and had it sent to be waiting for us a Guest Services at AK the next day (knowing that was our destination).

It still hangs in DS's room and every time I think about the CM's kindness, I get a bit teary. We did send an email to WDW telling them of his kindness, btw.

 

[ARIELvsURSULA]

I just remembered another great experience. Our last day there, really early on in the day DD saw a shelf of big fluffy Sully plushie dolls from Monsters Inc. It was big and round like a basketball and she said it was funny because he looked like a blueberry. It was quite expensive and you all know souvenirs can rack up quickly. We told her to wait to see if she wanted anything else and we'd go back if she still wanted it at the end of the day. Come closing time we'd all but forgotten about it until she mentions it on the way out of the park. DH and I were exhausted but hauled her all the way back to the store. The shelf was not only empty but the display had already completely changed to something else! DD was heartbroken. DH asked a CM if they had any more, that wonderful person spent a good 10 minutes calling all around the park and tracking down the LAST one in the park for her. She was so happy. She hugged it the whole walk back. Blueberry (as she appropriately named it ) is her favorite plushie still.

 

[indymom21]

We stayed at POR and were riding the bus to Epcot. This was DS4's first trip. We had slept in and hung around the resort until afternoon so he could stay up for the fireworks. We were talking about this on the bus, and a CM overheard. He gave us his cell phone number and asked us to call him in the evening. We called and he told us to meet him to see the fireworks from the docks. He was one of the boat drivers! A magical night for all of us to get such a great view.