Simple Thing a Cast Member Did...

[nonzerosum]

So many to list, but here are a few.

Waiting to take a picture by the main gates in front of the railroad station. @ CMs approached, but my kids could only see one from where they were standing. The visible CM started chatting and distracting my kids while the second CM (who my kids couldn't see) threw a handful of Mickey shaped confettti above my kids so it landed on and around them. The CM made a big deal about how rare this is and that it was Tinkerbell flying overhead noticing what special kids they were. My DD was over the moon and believed every bit of it. Before you knew it the second CM had disappeared into the crowd. My daughter got down on hands and knees and picked up every bit of the confetti.

On my son's birthday we were passing the Buzz ride and noted the late FP return time. The CM noticed my son's Buzz hat and birthday pin and called him over by name and asked if he would like a FP valid immediately for the whole family.

 

[PersonalizedMouse]

Chef Sergio
DD8 is allergic to chocolate, dairy and eggs. Before the addition of tofutti this year, dessert really was awful for her. Fruit cup every night. When we went to Akershus, Chef Sergio came to our table for the allergy talk. He said, no child should come to Disney and not have an amazing dessert.
He brought her out a giant plate decorated with a Mickey head with Raspberry syrup, candies and the fruit salad. It was so unique and she knew it. Her smile went ear to ear. I will always be grateful to him for that.

The free MK view at the Contemporary rocked too....

 

[pampam]

Since reading this thread and tearing up every 5 minutes, I thought I'd share my recent experience as my first post...

In November, my DH and I decided to take our kids to WDW in January as a side trip from visiting my parents who are snowbirds. We started to talk non-stot about our trip to our 2 year old. She, and we, were ridiculously excited. Two days from our departure my grandmother took gravely ill and I had to make the choice to cancel our trip. She passed on our departure day. I called and rescheduled that same day, which was really way too soon. I felt terrible for my DD and tremendously guilty that I couldn't give her what I had promised so I made the phone call. The CM I spoke to (Connor) was the most compassionate person ever. I rebooked for this April and fully expected to pay much more for the trip. Connor, saying he had experienced his own loss a few months before, said he would talk to his "Fairy Godmother" to get the best possible rate. After quite awhile he managed to get us the same unbelievable rate we had first booked for Jan. I was very appreciative.

Flash forward to later that night and I opened the email to find I had been charged a whole lot more. I called back the next morning and spoke to the rudest, nastiest person that you could ever imagine. I'm not even kidding. After an hour of him essentially calling me a liar and saying things like, "I can't give away great rates to everyone that calls up and said they were promised one!". I felt completely beat up. I actually cried to him and begged him to stop treating me the way he was...I would have paid more, not a problem and had actually planned on it. The phone call ended with him telling me he would call back several days later after he "investigated". Flash forward and he called back and told me the story was verified and he would issue me 40 dollars back via a gift card. By the end of the phone call, he gave me an 85. gift card but said it was because it was easier for that dept. to have a rounded number. In truth, it was what I was "out" from what Connor had orignally told me my rate would be.

I wrote a letter to CS and on Superbowl Sunday, was called back! I simply asked that they review the tapes of what happened because I felt the call was very un-Disney like. Tapes had already been reviewed. The CS agent said that gifts would be waiting for my Princess and Prince after we checked in. You guessed it, I bawled again. (Emotional week so I'll take some slack.)

Connor didn't have to work as hard as he did to help us, no one had to respond to my letter and they certainly didn't have to plan on sending things to my kids. But it certainly helped to me feel better about our upcoming trip than the sour experience from that one CM.

I grew up going to Disney almost every year...this is why I will keep bringing my family back too.

 

[leebee]

SO many memories... the time we were at WDW with cousins, when DD was about 7. Cousins each had about $250 in spending money, which is far more than we ever spend on souvenirs. DD was good about it, but the others were buying tons of stuff and DD had none- and she really was good about it, recognizing that this was her 2nd trip to WDW this year but this was the cousins ONLY trip EVER. A kind CM in AK noticed and brought DD a small safari-hunter Pooh and a certificate for creating a magical moment (this was about 10 years ago, before they really did this kind of thing). DD's certificate was more popular than anything anyone had purchased!

When DD was about 6, we were watching the "Time to Remember the Magic" parade in MK. Dopey took a shine to DD's hat, playing with her, trying to steal it, etc. He took it out into the parade with him, then remembered it wasn't his and came back to DD, took her by the hand, and let her dance in the parade with him, from the corner near the stocks all the way down to the bridge by the castle. We weren't worried, DD was with Dopey, after all, but she still remembers this. Talk about a happy little girl... happy little mom and dad!

This past October, DH, DD18, and I were browsing through the store in the China pavilion. I asked her if she wanted to meet Mulan, a gentle reminder of the days when Mulan was her very favorite princess and oh, so hard to find. DD joked about not being a kid anymore or something like that. Shortly thereafter, a Hun confronted DD and took her to the back of the pavilion, for a private meeting with Mulan! We were shocked! DD and Mulan talked for about 15 minutes about how life in China and the US compare. It was really nice, and it made DD feel so grateful to realize that maybe childhood isn't ever completely over!

 

[mom2rtk]

I have to say....... this is my favorite thread ever. No arguments, no judgments, nothing but pure Disney magic.

Thanks to everyone who keeps sharing.

 

[sanderela]

Trips to Disney are magical


My son who was 5 at the time, wanted to swim sooo bad. He waited and waited at our pool for the waterslide to open. All the other kids were running around while waiting and M just stood by the rope. the let him be king of the pool and open the waterslide and ride down 3 times by himself, and gave him a mm certificate. He still remembers this!

It was DH bday and we were in a shop in DTD and the guy behind the desk tells him...Theres a phone call for you. DH was like, who would know we are here?!? It was Goofy wishing him a happy birthday! DH loved it...he still talks about it!

We were stopping at the kidcot stops and we thought we were in the line for the charm thing and found out we were in line for Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore. Oh my, this was the MOST fun we had with characters! One DS was not quite 2 and we had his stroller. After we did the photo shoot Tigger grabbed youngest DS and wouldnt let him go out the door. He finally put him down and proceeded to jump into our stroller himself. It was super funny and they spent a lot of time with us.

We were waiting in line for Soarin' I think, and my 5 yo just started pin trading and these 2 teen girls were talking to him and gave him a pin to keep with his collection or trade. That was super nice of them. This trip, DS remembers the nice people, and he bought a bunch of stickers...little glittery mickey ones...to pass out to nice people (or crying kids he says). LOL!

 

[1153rsmith]

Trips to Disney are magical

We were waiting in line for Soarin' I think, and my 5 yo just started pin trading and these 2 teen girls were talking to him and gave him a pin to keep with his collection or trade. That was super nice of them. This trip, DS remembers the nice people, and he bought a bunch of stickers...little glittery mickey ones...to pass out to nice people (or crying kids he says). LOL!

Just goes to show.... kindness is contagious. That is one of the things I love about Disney. I try never to let the folks that are "less than kind" ruin our trip. We also have tried to bring small things to give to extra special CM's and others who go out of their way to be kind to us and others.

 

[gometros]

The thing I love about this thread is how many of these stories debunk the myth that Disney is a money-sucking company.

 

[princess124]

We had a first this past trip. We were at WDW for our 1st anniversary and we had on our celebration pins. When we boarded a bus to DHS, the bus driver played a recording that said something to the effect of "please help us celebrate a special couple celebrating their anniversary" and the whole bus applauded. So cool! I love Disney magic!

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

I posted this story on another thread and was asked to include it here. This was when I was a cast member myself, but Snow White absolutely blew me away with how well she takes care of her fans, that I felt the need to share it here, as well.

Back when I was in the college program, I had a friend who had the same job as me. The man was absolutely smitten with Snow White. All he had to do was see her and he would blush and smile and get so tongue-tied. It was adorable. Plus, Snow White knew it. Now, being a huge fan of the characters myself, my coworker and I always seemed to have a break right at parade time. No clue how this always seemed to happen . In any case, When he would be backstage, she would be so sweet to him. She would tell him how sweet he was and how he reminded him of her prince. She would even give him a little kiss on the cheek. This was all backstage where no guests could even see.

Also, about Snow White. At the Studios, every Sunday and Wednesday (I believe), there would be a sign language interpreter for the Disney Stars and Motor Cars parade that would stand outside of ABC Theater. If someone was deaf, they could sit here and he/she would sign what Stone Granite and Gabrielle Huntington were saying. Snow White wanted to be able to communicate with these people, as well, so she went and took a sign language class. Every Sunday and Wednesday, she would ride past these guests and compliment a girl on her dress, tell a guest she loved their hat, says she wished she could get some Minnie Mouse ears like a child had, etc. The children's faces would light up when they saw that Snow White was able to communicate with them. I would tear up every time I saw this.

 

[dressthechild]

A few years ago my family and I were having breakfast at the castle. My DD9 asked our waitress (an older lady) if she could trade a pin with her. The busy waitress waited patiently as my dd made her selection. After the trade she disappeared into the back and return with a baggie full of "pixie dust." She told DD that Cinderella's fairy godmother wanted her to have the pixie dust so she could sprinkle it where she wanted and make a wish because "dreams really do come true." Wouldn't you know it, we went on Big Thunder Mountain directly after breakfast and DD brought the pixie dust. As we were leaving, the Million Dreams CM handed our group those special fastpass cards! Our dreams came true!

 

[Akrobby]

Took me a couple days, but finally read through this whole thread. Wow, I'm so ready to go.

 

[Vickyrowe]

We had a couple of cast members make our honeymoon special
I stopped for a drink in DHS and the CM gave me my large soda for free and said congratulation


But most amazing of all was the CM from Soarin' , my hubby is in a wheelchair and has no muscle strength in his back and we actually have to lift him on and off rides so we wanted to be sure the seats would be suitable ( we've queued for ages in UK only to be turned away) so i asked if my hubbys carer, who came with us, could go to see the seats as the next group got off , about 5 mins later a CM from England came running up and said follow me , he took us to the exit doors and said he would get us on the next ride, this was amazing as we were not looking to skip the queue and were more than happy to wait 90 mins. He said it's because you are celebrating here with us. It made our day

 

[Leslieloody]

We happened upon a rapper CM one day. He asked my daughter her name and then made up a great rap song right there on the spot!! That happened in 2009 and we still remember it like ti was yesterday.

 

[toklotursa]

Bump

 

[cybrkitn]

Back in 2006 when DS was 4, he was too short to ride EE. One of the CM's gave us a behind the scenes look of the track. We were even shown where the track switch is done It made him feel a little better. Now he's going to be 10 this month and he can't wait to get back to go on the rides since he is finally tall enough!

 

[athenagwis]

 

[GrahamOrlando]

I'll be the first to admit that Cast Members do not earn big bucks. We simply love Disney, and a huge part of that experience is meeting guests. I know this isn't really on topic, but I'd just like to say a big "thank you" to every guest who makes each and every day even more special

 

[Missus Toad]

The CM who held the launch leaving the Poly for us gets my vote this trip. Too often we're left within a hair's breadth of making it on the boat/bus/monorail, but this guy had loaded everyone, closed the rope line, got back on the boat to start the journey, then saw us coming from way down the dock and actually waited and let us on. It's the little things...

 

[hisgrl]

our family went to WDW with Make-A-Wish. It was a wonderful trip. However there was one really cool thing that happened. We were walking past the PotC ride and Peter Pan and Wendy came out from one of the back gates. They saw us, grabbed the hands of both of my children and started to skip through the park. I yelled at my DH, "get the camera" and ran after them. They found a quiet corner and spent about 10 minutes talking with my kids. It was awesome.

And, by the way.... my daughter has been in remission for 5 years!