Sometimes it is about what you give...Stories anyone?

[Tinkerbellie16]

I've read a lot of tips on how to 'get' things in Disney and someone always starts talking about what they have given. I am interested in hearing stories about what you have given away and how you handled it.

I have done things like give away extra fastpasses and the most memorable is letting my kids give away the glow or light-up items I bring in bulk to the parks. I let them choose who they would like to give it to. They love giving away the light up glow cubes to other children that they see doing something nice for others (like one girl who gave up her bus seat for an elderly person). Sometimes we end up walking and talking for a bit and sometimes they disappear into the crowds, but it gives us all a good feeling!

 

[P&L@WDW]

I always buy lots of glow bracelets at the 1$ store prior to my trips. I get the fun of wearing them during the evenings in the park, and throughout the night (and on the bus trip back to the resort), I give them out to children who are behaving really well.

Or, on the bus, I give them to children who are tired and/or cranky. The look of sheer relief and appreciation on their parents faces when they stop screaming and start playing with the glow bracelets are so worth it!

 

[Tinkerbellie16]

When our family was waiting for dinner reservations on a very busy night at the Poly, there was another family there waiting to be seated that had a bored child and he was trying to find some excitement! The parents were obviously frustrated and trying so hard to contain their child. Of course, we understood their feelings completely!

We had glow cubes (I just love those things!) and plenty of extras so we got one out and started playing with it and mesmerizing this child. After we all got a good chuckle out of our magic trick and talked to the other parents, we gave the child the glow cube. He was fascinated and played with it and sat there so good that you could feel the parents sigh of relief. Such a small thing but it made this family's night and ours as well!

 

[reservations4five]

When we checked out last summer we passed on to a family checking in a double stroller that we had decided we didn't want to haul back to Ohio. That and a cooler full of beer and wine It was nice just to see the reaction and give a little magic.

 

[michele2042]

I always buy lots of glow bracelets at the 1$ store prior to my trips. I get the fun of wearing them during the evenings in the park, and throughout the night (and on the bus trip back to the resort), I give them out to children who are behaving really well.

Or, on the bus, I give them to children who are tired and/or cranky. The look of sheer relief and appreciation on their parents faces when they stop screaming and start playing with the glow bracelets are so worth it!

I love this idea! We will be going to Disney for the first time in years, meeting our adult son and his girlfried (who we have NEVER met!). I read somewhere about someone handing out Dum Dum lollipops and had considered that because I always have bagfuls of Dum Dums, but I wondered how parents would react because it is "candy from a stanger", but the glow bracelets, that sounds perfect! I love doing random acts of kindness and this is a great idea!! Perfect Disney Magic!

 

[missfigment]

On the last day of our trip...we had some disney balloons as a surprise from some CMs....and we passed them on to a little girl and her little sister. She was so happy. I dont know if dad was all that happy though...thinking "crap now we have to lug around balloons all day!"

 

[Tosie]

We've given away lots of fastpasses - the best was when we gave them to 2 young guys who hadn't ridden Everest yet and the standby line was loooooong. They were so appreciative!

This good will came back to us on our next trip - a family gave US fastpasses for Kali!

Another time we starting talking with a family who had never been to AK and we took them the sneaky way to Everest after rope drop. We all walked right on and they were thrilled!

Last May ds and I went to ride Splash before the 11 pm Spectro and dh and dd gave out glow bracelets to some young kids waiting for the parade to start.

Ds once gave a pin each to two little girls who had pretty naked lanyards - they had just started their collections.

We used some extra CS credits at Earl of Sandwich and bought lunch for a man and his mom. That one stands out because the guy was flabbergasted and couldn't stop smiling!

Another thing we ALWAYS do is visit Guest Relations with the names of CMs who have made our day particularly special.

Spreading pixie dust is always a highlight of our trips!

 

[DisTwix]

Through fluke luck I happened to have one of those teeny eyeglass repair kits when the toddler behind us wrecked his Mom's prescription glasses. He's apparently been pulling them off her face over and over and the screw had gotten loose, and he yanked and the stem came right off!

I actually had a screw that was the right size and fixed them right there in line. It was their first day in the parks, on their very first trip and I'll tell you, it made my trip to just happen to have the right thing to fix the situation!

I also give away whatever fast passes we don't use.... and been on the receiving end too.... LOVE that.

 

[brekin67]

We have given our left over QS on check out day and walked up to people standing in line to pay. We have given a case of beer, water, and coolers to people DH has met at the bar, on check out day. Seems like we always have a FP to give away. We have also given airline vouchers away. Oh, and we give Disney some of our money every year.

 

[Tinkerbellie16]

I always buy lots of glow bracelets at the 1$ store prior to my trips. I get the fun of wearing them during the evenings in the park, and throughout the night (and on the bus trip back to the resort), I give them out to children who are behaving really well.

Or, on the bus, I give them to children who are tired and/or cranky. The look of sheer relief and appreciation on their parents faces when they stop screaming and start playing with the glow bracelets are so worth it!

The kids and I just checked all of our glow & light up stuff and we've got so much that we will do this too!

When we checked out last summer we passed on to a family checking in a double stroller that we had decided we didn't want to haul back to Ohio. That and a cooler full of beer and wine It was nice just to see the reaction and give a little magic.

Excellent! We are bringing a stroller this time 'just in case' but there is no way I'll need one after this trip so I'll hand mine off. I'm not sure if we'll have any leftover beer but I'll let my husband give that bit of magic to another dad!

 

[rcortese711]

We were at Cindy's castle for dinner with a reservations for two. We were waiting to check in when we saw an older couple, who didn't have ADRs, trying to get in. The host told them no, that there was no room. They were celebrating their 50th anniversary. My fiance and I told the host to give them our ADR's. They were sooooo happy. We ended up going to T-Rex that night.

This is such a nice thread to have!

 

[TotalSnowWhite]

Of course, we've given away the FPs and the glow bracelets, but what seems to really get parents is stickers. I have no idea why!

DS3 carries around a Nemo ziploc full of shimmery stickers of Disney characters. Princesses, Cars, Fab 5, etc. When he sees someone that looks like they need a sticker (even grown-ups), he looks through his bag, pulls out the one that fits that person (girl in Snow White dress gets Snow White, guy with Goofy hat gets Goofy, etc.) and hands it to them. The looks on their faces are priceless!! It makes him so happy, too. Sometimes when he's starting to get icky himself, I'll ask him if he wants to share his stickers, and that pulls him right out of it. Who'd have thought a few bags of dollar stickers would have so much power? :

 

[HGD24]

We were at Cindy's castle for dinner with a reservations for two. We were waiting to check in when we saw an older couple, who didn't have ADRs, trying to get in. The host told them no, that there was no room. They were celebrating their 50th anniversary. My fiance and I told the host to give them our ADR's. They were sooooo happy. We ended up going to T-Rex that night.

This is such a nice thread to have!

Ok - you just made me cry! What a wonderful thing to do!

DH and I have given away FP's and last Oct, DH helped a family find their 14 yr old DD who got separated from her family in AK.

 

[RMAMom]

Last year it was our last night of our trip and EMH at MK. This also was the middle of Jersey Week so it was starting to get really crowded. There seemed to be a lot of families all telling their kids "No I am not buying any glowing things!" of course the carts are everywhere and with two or three or more kids these things really add up. My girls had all of the glow necklaces and bracelets that we had left. They had the bracelets from their wrists to their elbows and had several necklaces. Whenever they walked past a kid having a meltdown they would hand him a bracelet or a necklace, this usually prompted several siblings to ask for one also. The smile of the kids and the relief of the parents added so much pixie dust to our trip! It was great.
I am going to order them in bulk this year so we will take them just for the girls to hand out.

 

[Ronni]

I haven't given anything away yet (besides candies at MNSSHP), but I plan to when I go back this summer. I can't wait!

One night when I was there last, I was in the Everything Pop gift shop. A lady walked up to random children with stuff she'd just bought and started giving it away. It made me smile.

I got so much last year when I was there for my honeymoon; stuff from guests and from cast members. It was amazing. I can't wait to do the same for others. I think my little Aidan will enjoy giving stuff away, too.

 

[Tinkerbellie16]

We were at Cindy's castle for dinner with a reservations for two. We were waiting to check in when we saw an older couple, who didn't have ADRs, trying to get in. The host told them no, that there was no room. They were celebrating their 50th anniversary. My fiance and I told the host to give them our ADR's. They were sooooo happy. We ended up going to T-Rex that night.

This is such a nice thread to have!

That is such a kind gesture!!! It's going to make me cry too!

Of course, we've given away the FPs and the glow bracelets, but what seems to really get parents is stickers. I have no idea why!

DS3 carries around a Nemo ziploc full of shimmery stickers of Disney characters. Princesses, Cars, Fab 5, etc. When he sees someone that looks like they need a sticker (even grown-ups), he looks through his bag, pulls out the one that fits that person (girl in Snow White dress gets Snow White, guy with Goofy hat gets Goofy, etc.) and hands it to them. The looks on their faces are priceless!! It makes him so happy, too. Sometimes when he's starting to get icky himself, I'll ask him if he wants to share his stickers, and that pulls him right out of it. Who'd have thought a few bags of dollar stickers would have so much power? :

I've never even thought of stickers. That's great and I'm going to try that this next trip. What a cheap, easy, and fun way to spread the magic!

 

[Ashton7]

The last time we went to Animal Kingdom a couple of months ago, I was wearing a lanyard with a bunch of pins on it for trading. I'm fairly new to trading pins but have been learning quickly. We were waiting to be seated for an ADR when I noticed a little boy looking at me and specifically my lanyard. He had on a lanyard and one Mickey Mouse pin. I gestured him over and invited him to look at my pins. He came over with his mom and he told me that he had just gotten his first pin. He was so excited and so interested in seeing mine. I had several earmarked for trading so I took off a Mickey Mouse pin and told him "Now you have TWO pins." He lit up like a light bulb, thanked me, put it on his lanyard and ran to find his father to show him. Within a moment or two, he came back dragging his dad and his father asked if they could have a photo of me with their son. I thought that was just the sweetest thing.

 

[nooneshome]

I am a firm believer of fastpass karma so I go out of my way to give away spare fastpasses. The looks you get are priceless. Some people are so happy to get them while others think you are trying to rob them.

During our Mardi Gras trips we load up each morning with beads and hand them out as soon as possible. Who wants to walk around with heavy beads on all day? Once we were sitting at the French Bakery when a little kid fell and started to cry. My son gave him a couple of nice beads and the little kid quit crying. The parents were so appreciative. After several Mardi Gras trips to WDW I still haven't gotten one Disney princess to "earn" her beads the "Nawlins" way!!!

 

[DearDaisyinDurham]

On the last day of our trip...we had some disney balloons as a surprise from some CMs....and we passed them on to a little girl and her little sister. She was so happy. I dont know if dad was all that happy though...thinking "crap now we have to lug around balloons all day!"

We did this too w/ the Tink punch ball balloons we had decorated the room w/ as well as a pink Mickey balloon, they were big hits w/ the little girls we gave them to. as PP's mentioned, it's funny how something you picked up @ the dollar store (purple & pink Tink balloons) seem to make

 

[tinkerlisa]

I have stocked up on glowing things and stickers for my next trip as I wanted to "pay it forward".

Last time we were there, A CM gave my son a Buzz Lightyear Sippy cup!