Whats the NICEST thing that has happened to you at WDW???

[colleen costello]

AllyGirl, that story is a classic... I guess you'll have that hat forever, huh?

 

[lucillemcg]

We had lots of fun stuff happen to us because we were wearing our disney wedding hats--lots of little things like free coke at a stand, lots of cm handed us fast passes, free champagne at the resort and on the cruise, cake at almost every restaurant we ate at and on the cruise, etc. They really go out of their way when they see you coming with the veil and top hat

 

[KathyFP]

We have only been to Disney three times, I am have dozens of wonderful special experiences. I think the the highlights were:

1. On our first trip, I was recovering from three recent surgeries. DD was at Alice's tea Party. It was a cold rainy day. I got very ill. Running a temp. I layed on a couch and slept. When it was time to go, I asked a CM what was the quickest way to get back to AKL. He asked if I was OK and I told him no that I was really sick. He called a driver and they drove us back to AKL. I was sooo grateful.

2. We had purchased DD a momogramed sweatshirt at Downtown Disney and had it shipped to the hotel. I asked if they would deliver it to the room and tell DD (who was 3 at the time) that Eyeore dropped it off for her. Not only did the grant my request, they brought her an autographed picture of all of the Pooh characters with a special message written to her. (Same trip).

 

[DEH3rd]

I like this thread...so bump, bump, bump it up!

 

[ElaineMarch]

We were at the last seating at Crystal Palace so the park was almost empty when we left. As we walked to the bus stop we asked a man how to get to Downtown Disney and he said to take a bus to any resort and then transfer buses. As we were walking to a bus, he called us back and said that it was kind of slow now so he called over an empty bus and we got a private direct bus ride to Downtown Disney.

 

[OhMari]

Originally posted by lucillemcg
We had lots of fun stuff happen to us because we were wearing our disney wedding hats--lots of little things like free coke at a stand, lots of cm handed us fast passes, free champagne at the resort and on the cruise, cake at almost every restaurant we ate at and on the cruise, etc. They really go out of their way when they see you coming with the veil and top hat

When where you there, I saw a couple at Epcot on Easter Thursday, I thought that was the coolest thing.

 

[RickinNYC]

I had posted my experiences on another thread under "The coolest thing that's happened..." about how I had been so personally effected by the events of 9/11. If you read that post and then the following, it might make a bit more sense (it's a long one, so I'm reluctant to quote myself. Don't wanna be too piggish about the posts!).

In any case, my parter, friends and I had gone to WDW a few short months after 9/11 to let off some steam and to gather our wits. We're NYC residents so it was extremely difficult to do so but we quickly managed. We had such a wonderful time due to fellow guests and cast members that my partner and I decided to return later in the year.

For a bit of a twist, however, we wanted to share our own feelings and magic in a Disney way. So we went to the massive Disney Store on 5th Avenue in midtown Manhattan and purchased dozens and dozens of the exclusive FDNY and NYPD Mickey pins. We had absolutely NO intention of trading them though!

When we arrive at WDW, we took between 5 and 10 of those pins with us when we left our resort each day to go to the parks. As we walked about, we would see a family, a child, a spectacular cast member, or a solo traveling guest. We zoomed in, introduced ourselves, and would hand over one of the pins. Sometimes one of each.

More often than not, we'd get a puzzled look and "But why...?" And we'd say that everyone across the country and throughout the world sent so many beautiful thoughts and prayers to New York City, where we were from, that this was our very small way of saying "Thank you."

It really made our trip all that much more meaningful! I remember one woman in particular who was sitting with her family just outside the Haunted Mansion. We were sitting next to her when on a whim, we decided to give her a pin. She accepted it and when we offered our explanation when she inquired, she got teary eyed and held our hands for a brief moment. It was difficult not crying and trying to smile with all our might.

She swore that that pin would never get traded ever.

We gave away 45 pins on that trip! We enjoyed it so much, we plan on doing the same this October!

 

[colleen costello]

RickinNYC, what a great story! You've got me sitting here bawling. I grew up in Bayonne NJ and I can remember when I was a kid in the 1970's, seeing those towers go up. I can remember the cranes on top as they built higher and higher. I have lived in Indiana for 18 years now, but September 11th hit me so hard because I felt like "my neighborhood" had been hit. I have tons of relatives in NJ and all of them know a fireman, a security officer, a coworker who never came home that day.

I think you are right about all the feelings Americans had for NYC. My Dad has an NYFD hat my Mom bought him in the City at Christmastime and when he flew out here for Xmas, quite a few folks in the Indianapolis Airport wanted to buy it from him! I think people who don't live "right there" wanted to show their support for the people who do... I bet your pins meant a lot to the recipients .

Peace,

Colleen

 

[DisneyCP2002]

I think the nicest thing I ever had happen to me was on my graduation day from the college program. I had decided that I wanted to have my picture taken with as many characters as I could with my graduation ears on. My first stop was Minnie Mouse. Minnie noticed my ears right away but motioned for me to stoop down which was interesting since we are the same height <g> Well she proceeds to fix my tassel to the correct position of one who has graduated. I hadn't even thought of that and here is Minnie Mouse fixing my ears for me. That made my day. Here is a pic of us once the ears were fixed.

 

[DAKTOLCMM]

Man you guys...these stories are simply amazing...It is stories like these that make me yearn to be back in the World. I was a CP in 2001...over 9/11 and all. That was THE BEST time of my life. Like someone said down on one of these pages, the guests do make so much magic for CMs as well. I cannot count the number of pictures I was in, or homemovies...or the hugs that little kids gave me because I chose them to "start" the Pocanhontas show, or because I had 427 people sing happy birthday to them in the Tree of Life. I am hopefully headed down to WDW in about a month to work and live in whatever fashion I can. It is tought to explain to people that have never been there why you would want to work for a low wage in hot/humid weather...but it really is you guys and the opportunity to make your time away from home so very memorable...I need to get my mom to read these posts i think...then maybe she can understand why I want to give up everything I have here, possibly work 3 jobs down there in order to have just two or so days a week making magic! Thank you all for your heart felt stories...tears were in my eyes on numerous occasions.
Remember all is takes is faith, trust and a little pixie dust...
Blessings...Tony

 

[goofygreb]

It took me 12 years to convince my DH that we needed to take to Disney World. Our first trip was a driving trip from Wisconsin to Florida, we went to the gulf side first and enjoyed the beach for several days and then on to Orlando.
I could only convince DH to go to MK for 1 Day!! I have been to Disney before and he had not, he keep telling me all amusement parks were the same, and he just wasen't interested. Well the day started out good, every one was enjoying themselves and I could tell DH was really starting to feel the magic. We were trying to fit everything in that the girls really wanted to do, at the time of trip they were 6 & 9 years old. We decided we were going to try space mountain, (Just made height requirements).
Well after the ride,our younger daughter loved it and wanted to go again, our 9 year old was freaked out, we could not get her to stop crying and shaking! DH decided that we should be done for the day, but we should buy tickets and come back the next day instead of trying to rush around with a child that was not going to enjoy anything anymore at this point. We went to City Hall to purchase the tickets and the CM who was waiting on us was very concerned about our daughter, (she was still crying).
We explained to CM that DD had really freaked out on Space Mountain, but she'd be okay and that we were buying the tickets so we could take her back to hotel and we would finish seeing the park tomorrow. The CM smiled and said she was sorry DD did not enjoy herself and then handed us the tickets.
She then told us the tickets were complimentary 1 day park hopper tickets and that she hoped that we would be able to have time to visit the other parks!! She smiled and said "children are not suppose to be unhappy at Disney world" and then she said" have a great time tomorrow".
We were absolutley stuned, we thanked her and then went to guest sevices and asked if there was any way to let management know about a CM who deserved recognition for great service, they had us fill out a form that would go to management and then be placed in CM's file (I hope she was rewarded for her efforts)!
On the monorail ride back to the car, my DH turns to me and says " why haven't we been to Disney World before? Next year were comming back and staying a whole week and were staying on property this time too! I can't believe we haven't been here before!"
Well, we've been back every year since, and my DH says that when our girls graduate from High school were moving to Orlando so he can work at Disney World, doing anything!! So, I have created another Disney freak thanks to the help of a wonderful CM.

 

[PrincessAli]

Any more???

 

[melanie18]

DH & I wanted to get married at the Grand Floridian back in 1992 (this was before they had the wedding pavilion). At that time, they didn't do weddings at GF. They were apologetic and steered us towards Sunset Point at the Poly. About an hour before the ceremony it starts to downpour. Within minutes, our wedding coordinator shows up at our room and informs us that they will grant our wish and let us get married at the GF due to the rain! We ended up getting married on a balcony at the top of the stairs in the main lobby -- just what we wanted!

 

[sters]

People on the buses are 99% of the time very accommodating to you when pregnant and/or having young children in tow .. as in giving up their seats. ONly once did someone NOT give a seat for me,c arring a baby AND my son, then 2. Naturally, this was on the only bus that had a problem and my son went FLYING across the bus. My husband had my 4 year old, but the 2 year old fell down. But, that was the exception.

 

[bagheeramom]

Well, this is just a little one...

2 trips ago when my 9yo was 4... we were sitting on a curb waiting for the parade to start. My daughter was eating a Mickey Ears ice cream and dropped it. It had just happened, and my dh was just getting up to go get her another, and here comes a CM with a replacement and handed it to my daughter. I thought that was sweet - and very thoughtful.

 

[bagheeramom]

On that same trip, almost 5 years ago...

We were leaving MGM, we didn't know you were supposed to arrive early to get seating for Fantasmic. Soooo, a little disappointed we started heading toward the front gates. Just as we were leaving, all these characters were coming out as well. We were in front of the gates, alone with Alice, Jasmine & Aladdin, Cruella, Mary Poppins, and Captain John Smith. We probably had about 20 minutes alone with all these characters as they were waiting for the crowds to start leaving. My 9month olds first steps were walking to Captain John Smith...John Smith held out his arms to her and she walked to him. He then picked her up and walked around with her for a good 15 minutes, showing her to the other characters and to other guests who were trickling out of the park. We have great pictures of that. Alice in Wonderland sat down on the sidewalk with my other girls (ages 7 & 5 at the time) and just talked and talked and talked. It was our last nite at WDW ...and was truly magical.

 

[reeddi]

I had to go back three pages but I fould you all again.

It took 4 different times to read everyone's stories.

We went in April 2002. We bought a Magical Moments pin (? lights up at some of the rides and things). Well, my daughter had it for 3 days and ran the batteries down. So while we were at Epcot I went to the store in England to see if they had a screwdriver so I could replace the batteries. Well, they didn't have one and suggested I try a pin cart. They didn't have one either but the guy there gave me a replacement pin for free.

 

[Otto's Doll]

These were all so great. Maybe I will have some to add in a few weeks....

Otto's Doll

 

[jjarman]

Originally posted by WDWguru
Prospector Gus stops right by us and engages nephew #2 (the 5- year-old) in conversation.

We also met Prospector Gus on our trip last year. DS, age 11, DH and I were in a gift shop near BTMR and Gus starts talking with DS and getting him laughing and all of us laughing. He gave DS some "fools gold" and then gets DS a certificate which he personalized for DS and then signed. Another parent there asked for one for their child but Gus said that was the only one he had. We still have that certificate and it was one of the best memories of the trip.

 

[propchick]

I have a few:

* We took my older nephew (now 6) to WDW for the first time for his third birthday. (I was three the first time I went, and we all thought it would be a cool new tradition.) As it turned out, we all arrived the same day as the only hurricane to ever hit WDW. That evening at DL my brother-in-law, nephew, and I were walking back to the rooms when two CM's in a golf cart stopped us to ask if we had seen a little girl who was missing, and to very nicely ask us to return to our rooms, since the weather was getting bad. As they drove away, nephew yelled, "TOMORROW'S MY BIRTHDAY!!" They smiled, waved, and kept going. When we returned to the rooms the next day from AK, there was a birthday card waiting on the table inside. (To this day we can't figure out how on earth they knew what room we were in, since we were still 3 buildings away from where we were staying!)

* My first date with my current SO was at WDW. Our quick lunch date at DTD Rainforest ended nine hours later on the beach of the WL. We were out there in the dark and quiet, all by ourselves, snuggling and talking, when suddenly an astoundingly loud fanfare rang out through the night, making us jump right out of our skins. We looked up, and there, directly in front of us, and all of 100 ft away was the Electrical Water Pagent! It was so magical and romantic (and just a little bit goofy because it was so over-the-top), and we just laughed and laughed. After it was over, we snuggled up again, and suddenly there was a huge BOOM! It was the MK fireworks, and there were nearly directly over our heads! We spent the rest of the night saying things like, "Wow! When I kiss you, I see fireworks!"


* GmaChick took me down to WDW to do an independent study back when I was in college. We were down in October, and the Earful Tower had the big ghost sheet on. GmaChick tried for two days to get a clear picture of it from every angle possible in MGM, but never could find a clear shot of the whole thing. On our third day she stopped at the desk of the then brand-spankin' new All Star Sports, and asked one of the CM's if they knew of any postcards or things that would have a picture of the Ghost Tower on it. He asked several other CM's, and none of them could think of anything. He popped into the back to ask the manager, and came out a few minutes later carrying car keys. He told us that there wasn't anything with a pic of the GT on it, and that the MGM people confirmed that there wasn't anywhere in the guest areas of the parks to take a pic of it, so he was going to take care of it. He took us out to a Disney town car, had us hop in and started driving. We asked where we were headed, but he said it was a surprise, and wouldn't tell us. Imagine our faces a few minutes later when he pulled the car off the road, into the median right next to the moving TOT billboard, where there was a perfectly clear shot of the Ghost Tower! GmaChick started to take a picture out the window, but he told us that we were allowed to get out and wander around the median until we found the perfect angle, and had taken all the pics we wanted! GmaChick STILL talks about that every Halloween, lol!



And finally, the story I share with everyone to explain where Walt got the idea for "Disney service" from:

Back when I was still living in St. Louis, MomChick and I decided to check out Marceline. The city is so small that even as St. Louis natives, neither one of us knew where it was, and it took us six maps before we finally found one that listed it. When we got there (it's about a two hour drive), nothing was marked. We parked, and walked up and down the main street, giggling and taking pics because it's so exactly Main Street USA. We decided to pop into City Hall (in one of the storefronts on the main street), and ask if they had some kind of pamphlet, so we could find the Disney landmarks. We walked in, and the two ladies working there came sailing out from behind the counter, practically singing, "You must be the visitors everybody's talking about!" They handed us maps, and papers with bios and things, and even an outdated Marceline license tag (it's got Mickey on it!), then asked if we knew where anything was. When we said no, they leaped over to the phone, talked for all of one minute, leaped back, and told us that the head of the school board was on his way over to personally show us around!

Bob pulled up, loaded us into his own car, and drove us all over town, pointing everything out, and telling us stories about his "old classmate" Walt. When we got to the Walt Disney Elementary school, there was a teacher conference going on in the gym. Bob walked right in, and made all 50+ teachers go take a coffee break for 20 minutes so he could show us all the murals the Disney animators had painted on the walls! We got to see (and touch!) Walt's old desk, too.

When we got back to the main street, all the shop owners were standing outside, waving and greeting us. (We ended up with a cute brass Mickey letter holder, and my coveted "Marceline" Mickey tee.)

It was truly the most amazing experience I've ever had!! Once you've been to Marceline, it's so easy to understand why DL and WDW are so different from every other theme/amusement park!!