What was your best magical moment a cast member did for you?

[iamgroot61]

All of the memories shared so far have been CMs going above and beyond to make magic for guests. While I have never been disappointed by any CMs, my story is more about a "normal" interaction with a character CM.

Years ago, in DCA, the Lamplight Lounge was known as Ariel's Grotto. It was a character dining venue and sat (sits) on the edge of Paradise Lagoon. The character experience evolved from a mix of characters to a princess experience. Back when it was mixed (Donald, Goofy, Max, etc.), we were sitting outside having dinner in the evening. We were sitting near the exterior wall of the building and the patio extended quite some distance away out into the lagoon. My son (then age 10) looks up and sees Goofy practically running towards the entrance and yells "HEY GOOFY! SLOW DOWN!" Goofy immediately breaks into slow-mo and continues doing that all the way to the door. It was hilarious.

Additionally, my daughter has had many wonderful interactions with princesses. When she was very young, I loved how the princess characters came down to her level and really talked with her. For me, that is where the real magic is.

 

[John park hopper]

I was waiting in line at one of the vendor carts to get a soda. the line was long so the family had ample time to decide what they wanted but oh no. It was Florida hot and all I wanted was a drink I must have waited 10 minutes for these people to make up their minds. The CM saw I was getting frustrated (had my Vietnam vet hat on) final got to order one coke please CM said no charge ---that made my day

 

[Calmdownnow]

First Disney trip from the UK back in 2000. Was meant to be my family and my sister's family travelling together. Her middle son, who had learning disabilities after being struck by a car, was "making up the numbers", ie the 2nd adult in the room with me (widow) and 2 kids under 9. Sister's eldest had a cancer diagnosed a few months before we were scheduled to travel (he survived and has taken his own kid to WDW since). The travel insurance refunded her costs but said our party couldn't cancel and get a refund. So, as a single parent, I travelled from the UK to the Caribbean Beach Resort with my disabled nephew, a toddler in a stroller and a 6 year old. I was (to use a UK expression) "bricking it". Panic-stricken, worried about being so far from home in a strange environment, and much more. The car service we had booked dropped us off at the resort entrance, a cast member appeared and helped us collect our luggage. He read the situation. He spoke to the 3 kids in Donald Duck's voice as he helped us to check-in and they responded with glee despite the long transatlantic flight. I physically felt my shoulders drop and my whole body relax as I realized that if the staff were so nice, I might actually make this holiday work.

It was probably "all in a day's work" for him, but it set the tone for the whole holiday. Every cast member we met was as welcoming, helpful and supportive as that first guy. None of them probably realized the difference that they made to our family.

We returned regularly for 20 years, and brought others with us or sold the experience to friends and extended family. Great cast members can really make a difference to company fortunes.

 

[larryz]

Sorry, I've had too many to single any one out.

The "manager's" free upgrade to water view at Yatch Club.
The chef's free sandwich at Beach Club.
The CM who kept comping us at the Frontierland Shootin' Arcade.
Recovery from the missing birthday cake at San Angel Inn.
The replacement Mickey doll after the first one went missing in the bedding.
The unscheduled bus ride back to our resort.
and others I've forgotten...

 

[mergatroid]

My wife and I were walking towards Spaceship Earth one day when I was struck with cramp. I was sat on a bench trying to not look stupid despite being in agony and stretch my leg in a way to relieve the pain. A CM noticed and came over to check I was ok. After explaining that I was and then laughing about it with them a minute later when it had passed, she then asked if we were riding on Spaceship Earth that day. We said yes and she said that she worked that attraction and was on her way over and would be like to go through the 'V.I.P. entrance' with her. We said that would be fantastic if not too much trouble and she took us to the CM entrance at the side.

She opened the door, stuck her head in and shouted "Guys, I'm bringing some friends through" which I assumed meant "don't swear or stop mucking around inappropriately if you are" and lead us through the CM entrance and into a backstage area with various rosters on the wall and comfy chairs and tables. The CM's there smiled and greeted us and a door was opened literally leading into the loading area bypassing the queue completely. We were wished well and put on the ride vehicle with no wait whatsoever.

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

My experience was not just CM's but management too.
My husband and I had a horrendous experience with one of the employees at the resort. I mean it was nasty and uncalled for. No, I won't say who it was or what it was, but it ruined our day.
When we got home, I wrote to the resort and told them what had happened in detail. Then I thought nothing of it.
The next year when we went to the same resort, which we loved, upon signing in the CM looked at our names, and said, OH, I will take you to your room. She came out from behind the counter and walked with us and made sure the lock worked. We thought that was unusual but nice. We went to the parks, and when we came back we were very surprised at what we found in our room!!!! There was a beautiful bouquet in a crystal vase, there was a suede box with 2 crystal engraved champagne flutes, and several cards welcoming us from Goofy, Mickey, etc, and the staff. It was unbelievable. We did not expect anything like that and were very impressed that they went out of their way to acknowledge our problem the last visit, and to do something very nice for us. I still can't believe what they did. I have looked up the crystal flutes online at Disney and there are none like it.

 

[SteamboatStitch]

There are a few little things that just jump out in my memory over my many visits, not all of them personal but very memorable

The folks driving the tram back to parking after a long day making jokes to raise our spirits after delays.
Riding the bus solo back to the resort in the middle of the day, had a wonderful conversation with the driver.
The Haunted Mansion cast member that scared the crap out of me to wish me a happy birthday.
Back when paper fastpasses were still a thing, a cast member surprised us after exiting Space Mountain with a lanyard that had a bunch of one-time-use any-time fastpasses for the day.

The most personal experience was during a particularly long trip. It was near the final leg of the trip, I was much heavier than I am now, and due to not wanting to disappoint those I was with during the trip, I pushed myself harder than I should have. By the time the day was nearly over (It was the end of nearly a week of this) my feet were just shot, extraordinarily painful. I don't remember the circumstances behind it, but the party split up during the Electrical Parade on a very crowded Main Street. I wound up sitting on a mini-staircase that led to a cast members only spot as I was struggling to move with the crowds and just couldn't take it anymore. Obviously it was a spot that I wasn't allowed to sit because it could block important traffic, so I was told I have to move, but this same cast member could see I was struggling and told me I could stay put, bringing over a wheelchair just a few minutes later. In hindsight, while it was a moment of kindness for me, I also realize that I was likely inconveniencing them quite badly during one of the most crowded moments of the day, so I feel very guilty about this even over a decade later.

 

[cbarry26]

Here are my favorite 3:

1 - My 5 year old daughter at Cinderella's for breakfast. For some strange reason, she told Mary Poppins that she was her favorite - in a room full of the big princesses. Pretty sure she had never even seen the movie before. Mary then proceeded to "Turn up the Mary" to 11 (Spinal Tap reference) She stayed with her for like 10 minutes, much longer than any of the others jibber jabbering with that British accent. I still have no idea what they were even talking about. My daughter was beaming! After breakfast we went outside and got on the line for Snow White's Scary Adventures. We were still in the outside queue and who comes walking by but Mary Poppins and a penguin. They were going to the carousel to ride. Mary spotted our little girl and rushed over, "Oh look!! It's Samantha!! We just had a lovely breakfast together!" Gave her another minute or so. Daughter BEAMING once again!

2 - Same trip. Same daughter. She had never been on Pirates before and was intimidated as we got into the queue. A cast member spotted her and could tell she had trepidation. She came over and asked her if she likes animals. Sam said yes. She told her that this ride was filled with animals and asked her to spot all of the animals and at the end of the ride come and tell her what animals she spotted on the ride. Needless to say that was her focus on the entire ride and Sam spotted all of the animals. As we got to the top of the "escalator" thing at the ride exit, that wonderful cast member was waiting there - not by her post at the entrance - just to check in on Sam and hear what animals she spotted. She waited there for her the whole time. So awesome.

3 - First time back to WDW after the pandemic. It had been 2 years!! We were at French Quarter. We got up early for our first morning and my son had just broken his favorite magic band. I went to ask at the front desk if they still had any free magic bands left to replace this one (It was one of the older free ones, not a fancier one with characters on it, but it was his fave) The cast member told me that they no longer gave out free bands so they had none to give but if I waited for the shop to open, we could buy him another. The shop didn't open for 2 hours and we had a Pooh breakfast reservation to get to. She apologized and said she could give him a room card in place of his band to use as his key and park tickets. I said OK, but I'm sure I looked disappointed.
About five minutes goes by, I was over in the food court area filling up our mugs and buying a few things for the day to stash in my backpack and I felt a tap on my shoulder. The cast member from the front desk had come to look for me and she had a voucher for the resort gift shop good towards the purchase of any Magic Band free of charge! She told me to come back after our day at the parks and get a new band for my son. Amazing.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

I have a few from Universal. In recent years the staff there have gone above and beyond a number of times.

Last year, as we got on the boat back to our hotel, YMCA was playing. Several folks on the boat started doing the YMCA thing. From there the music went to Sweet Caroline, and the captain joined in the fun. After that, I forget what the 3rd song was, but the captain kept the whole boat laughing and singing for the whole trip.

A few weeks ago, we were coming out of Epic, and a security guard coming off her shift saw us, and took time to ask how our day had gone, noting that we looked tired. Was everything okay? Most the day was great, but at the end of the day we'd just gotten some bad news. She was super nice and sympathetic when we explained what had just happened. It was a kindness that went above and beyond.

An employee took some time to talk to us. We thanked him. About an hour later a gift basket was delivered to our room with a card from him. That was well above and beyond1

I could go on, but some of the experiences are very personal. Just repeatedly in the last few years Universal staff have gone above and beyond. It has been a little while since I felt any WDW employees reached that level of service.

A memorable WDW one occurred some 20 years ago. Someone in my extended family group dropped a toy, just as we were boarding the monorail. It fell into the small opening between the car and the track. I never thought we'd get it back, but thought we should let staff know, in case it was going to cause a problem. Much to my surprise, the CM suggested we visit Lost and Found in a day or two. Sure enough, the toy was there 2 days later with our name on it!

Oh, as it happens, recently as we were boarding Curse of the Werewolf, someone near us dropped a wand onto the track. The ride was only delayed a moment, because the staff had a grab pole handy, and they were quickly able to retrieve it. They thanked him for letting him know, because it would have been a safety issue to run the ride with a wand on the track. So if you ever do drop something on a ride track, please speak up! Everyone cheered with how quickly they were able to retrieve it. It was impressive.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I have been a yearly (at least) for 36 years starting in 1983 to 2019 (48 trips). One visit to Disneyland Resort and one day at Disneyland Paris. Not once did I ever receive anything from a CM that wasn't either the answer to a question I asked or a problem that needed to be sorted out at my request. Do I care? No, not really because I never went there expecting anything except to enjoy the entertainment and create memories with my family.

I'm glad the others have, but I always wondered why some did and some didn't. Not important though since I always got my moneys worth and had no complaints. I never was on an attraction the broke down causing evacuation or had any issues with anything else. I consider myself very lucky or maybe to laid back to recognize an issue when it presented itself.

And, as usual, Sam did nothing!

 

[The Mom]

My family and I had many magical moments at WDW in the past, but they do not exist today due to multiple changes over the years since 1982 (first visit) and now. My daughter and I once had breakfast with Mickey by ourselves. It was wonderful for the first couple of minutes, but then became uncomfortable. I have multiple photos of my daughter alone with almost every character - frequently sitting together on a bench.

This was in the days when all of Epcot opened at the same time, so most of the characters were in costumes for specific countries.

 

[Ayla]

My most memorable is my mother's first visit to WDW. I was so honored to be able to treat her to her very first trip. Our first park was MK, of course, and as we came through the train tunnel, around Town Square and to the edge of Main Street, she got teary seeing the castle for the first time. A Main Street CM noticed and approached us to chat. My Mom was a little excited and gushed to her about how this was her very first time there and how her daughter brought her there, and she was so excited to see the castle, etc.

The CM asked us if we wouldn't mind waiting where we were for a couple minutes, after asking my mother's name. She came back with a My First Visit pin for Mom and then asked if we'd like to be the parade marshals for the 3pm parade that day. Of course, we said yes! We arrived back by Splash Mountain at the appointed time, to find 2 embroidered Mickey ears hats with our names, a lanyard with a VIP placard and a certificate for each of us. We rode in the beautiful car in front of the parade and got to stand in front of the firehouse, in the VIP viewing area, to watch the parade. We also received a 5x7 photo of us in the VIP parade viewing area and you can tell we are both excited in the picture. LOL

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

My most memorable is my mother's first visit to WDW. I was so honored to be able to treat her to her very first trip. Our first park was MK, of course, and as we came through the train tunnel, around Town Square and to the edge of Main Street, she got teary seeing the castle for the first time. A Main Street CM noticed and approached us to chat. My Mom was a little excited and gushed to her about how this was her very first time there and how her daughter brought her there, and she was so excited to see the castle, etc.

The CM asked us if we wouldn't mind waiting where we were for a couple minutes, after asking my mother's name. She came back with a My First Visit pin for Mom and then asked if we'd like to be the parade marshals for the 3pm parade that day. Of course, we said yes! We arrived back by Splash Mountain at the appointed time, to find 2 embroidered Mickey ears hats with our names, a lanyard with a VIP placard and a certificate for each of us. We rode in the beautiful car in front of the parade and got to stand in front of the firehouse, in the VIP viewing area, to watch the parade. We also received a 5x7 photo of us in the VIP parade viewing area and you can tell we are both excited in the picture. LOL

That is such a fantastic story about your Mother's first visit! I can't imagine how excited she was to be in the parade and be treated like a VIP. Disney used to do really nice things, but I don't know if they still do those things. What a nice memory.

 

[HoustonHorn]

My daughter was finally tall enough to ride Rock N Rollercoaster. We get in line, and the CM at the back of the line had to check her height - she just barely brushed the bar, so we were in. Fast forward to us getting to the front of the line, and the CM who had checked her height had moved up and was assigning lanes. She told us to go to the front car, but as we did, another group moved into it, so we had to go to a different one, which is fine, but my daughter was pumped about being in the front row.

We get off the ride and the same CM saw how much she loved it. She told my daughter that she had a special exit. She walked us through and put us right back on the ride, but that time in the front row. Awesome pixie dust. Made my daughter so happy, which made me happy!