Magical Moment of the Day

[joanna71985]

Well, this one was magical to me. I was working at the Camera Center at Downtown Disney and I felt a tug on my vest. I turned and a girl of about 10 calmly said "do you know where my mom is?" and then she started to fall apart and cry. I reassured her and had just started to ask her some questions when her mom came right over. For the first time since I've been at Disney, a parent did not start yelling at their child as if it were their fault. Mom said: You did such a good job sweetie. You did just what we talked about. Good for you. The girl was beside herself in tears but mom kept praising her for finding a cast member. Well, then I was in tears.

I understand why parents start yelling at their kids. They have been freaking out for a few minutes and are angry at themselves for not watching closer so they take it out on the child. But for goodness sake, think how the child felt all this time and then you yell at them. Now I know there are some snotty little kids who take off and never listen to directions, but if your child is freaking out, you should be calm.

That is so sweet. I have had a lot of lost kids on my CPs. The youngest one was about 2-3. I was working in Fantasyland when the little girl was pointed out to me. She had no shoes on and was hanging on the rails of the Snow White ride. So I kept her with me until I ran into a Fantasyland ops cordinator, who had found the parents. Apparently her family had gone to Ariel's Grotto and she had escaped (hence the no shoes). I could see why she had escaped when I saw her family. There was about 4 more siblings there. The mom was so upset she was crying. I felt bad for her.

 

[Gagesmom314]

On our last trip my son, Gage, was 3. He LOVED Buzz Lightyear more than anything else. The first day we went to MK and of course rode Buzz Lightyear's Spaceranger Spin 3 times. We pushed him too hard in the park that day and he spent the next two days in our hotel throwing up and unbelieveably sick. We knew he was feeling better when he told us he was ready to meet Buzz. So we made our next stop MGM. When we finally got to the Buzz meet and greet area Buzz, Jesse and Woody walked away just as we walked up. Gage looked devistated. The CM working the line saw his look and came over to talk to him. He told her all about how he loved Buzz Lightyear and how he was his favorite and just went on and on as only a 3 year old can. She told him they would be back in about 20 minutes and that if he stuck around he could be the very first person to see Buzz.

We waited around and Gage never once said he was tired of waiting in line or he wanted to sit down or complain at all. Which was odd for him. Soon out came Buzz, Jesse and Woody and the CM led Gage up to the characters and Buzz got down on one knee and Gage latched on to him and hugged him for what felt like forever. The CM let him spend probably 3 or 4 minutes alone with them and he was in heaven. It is CM's who do things to help a child's dream come true that are what Disney is all about.

 

[LeeSeeBabe]

These stories are wonderful! Please keep them coming if you can!!

 

[bluefaery]

I have 2 stories and pictures to go along w/ them.

The first one I’ve told before, but I don’t mind telling it again.

Back in 2004 during my first trip (he’s taken me 3 times) to WDW with my boyfriend, we had PS at The Liberty Tree Tavern. I had never been to a character dinner before and was a little nervous. During dinner I started to get a headache and Adam, my boyfriend, offered to go get me some medication. So as I was sitting there at the table alone, Chip came by to say hi. He saw that I was alone and starting motioning to me as if to say “where’s your date?” I told Chip that my boyfriend was out getting me headache medication. Chip then proceeded to rub my head to try and make me feel better (it actually worked a little). When I said thank you, Chip sat down grabbed my left hand and held it as to act like a “stand in boyfriend”. By this time Adam had come back and saw Chip sitting at the table. Adam came up to the table and started playfully yelling at Chip. Chip got up and started to playfully fight Adam. I couldn’t stop laughing.

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m126/chrissies_pix/Disney Pics/onadatewithchip.jpg

During the same trip I went to see Chip and Dale at the judge’s tent. Mind you this was a few days before the previous story. I was alone as Adam is not one for characters. When I finally got to see C&D (I was the last one in line) the CM there noticed I had a ring on wedding finger (it’s a promise ring) and asked why I was alone. I told him that my boyfriend was out in the store shopping. Well it turns out that the CM that was taking the pictures for Chip also took the pictures for Dale. So after I got my normal pictures done the CM asked me if I wanted to take a “special” picture for my boyfriend to see what he missed. I said sure and the CM whispered in my ear to go and kiss each chipmunk on the nose. I did and got some cute pictures.

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m126/chrissies_pix/Disney Pics/KissingCD.jpg

 

[camshron55]

CMs at Finding Nemo

I'm not sure if this constitutes a magical moment, but I just wanted to share a story from late January 2007. My DS (he's 21 and such a sweetie for accompanying his mom to WDW!) and I were at the Finding Nemo show, sitting up in the wheelchair area with my scooter (bad knees and too much pain for walking WDW!).

Anyway, behind me I heard a conversation between a distraught mom and a couple of CMs. A child was missing! And wow, how could you ever find a child in that huge theatre when it's full! The next thing I heard was the CM putting the information out over her little microphone.

I tell you - I've never seen CMs snap to attention so quickly, but so unobtrusively (I'm not sure if that's the word I'm looking for, but it will have to do for now). If you didn't know what was going on, you would have just thought the CMs were checking out the crowd in their section. But - they found the child within 3 minutes!!!

Every time I think about what it must be like to lose a child among so many people; and to have the CMs work so quickly and quietly to resolve the situation, it just brings me to tears . .. in a good way!

So, Kudos to cast members at Finding Nemo for making a magical moment - both for the mom and for me. It's one of my favorite CM memories.

 

[bluefaery]

I'm not sure if this constitutes a magical moment, but I just wanted to share a story from late January 2007. My DS (he's 21 and such a sweetie for accompanying his mom to WDW!) and I were at the Finding Nemo show, sitting up in the wheelchair area with my scooter (bad knees and too much pain for walking WDW!).

Anyway, behind me I heard a conversation between a distraught mom and a couple of CMs. A child was missing! And wow, how could you ever find a child in that huge theatre when it's full! The next thing I heard was the CM putting the information out over her little microphone.

I tell you - I've never seen CMs snap to attention so quickly, but so unobtrusively (I'm not sure if that's the word I'm looking for, but it will have to do for now). If you didn't know what was going on, you would have just thought the CMs were checking out the crowd in their section. But - they found the child within 3 minutes!!!

Every time I think about what it must be like to lose a child among so many people; and to have the CMs work so quickly and quietly to resolve the situation, it just brings me to tears . .. in a good way!

So, Kudos to cast members at Finding Nemo for making a magical moment - both for the mom and for me. It's one of my favorite CM memories.

That story kinda reminds me of the time when Adm my boyfriend lost his cell phone (YES I KNOW IT'S DIFFERENT THEN A CHILD {not yelling, i'm just trying to get a point accross}) during the Tree of life show. The CM's stopped the next group of audience members coming in so they could help locate it. we found it in 1 minute.

 

[Gorjus]

I was headed to the Fantasy Bridge (the one that leads from the Hub to the Teacups) to give a photographer a break. As I'm walking up, who do I see walking towards me? Well, it was none other than the BOSS himself, Mickey Mouse, all dressed in his Year Of A Million Dreams tuxedo. He is just walking down the bridge by himself with no character attendant and more than a few fans trying to get him to stop. But he was very good, walking briskly, waving at kids, touching them on the head, but not pausing an instant. As he walked by me, I said, Hi Boss! He patted me on the shoulder and kept walking. I was concerned because he didn't have a character attendant with him, but, God Bless that Mouse, he didn't need one. He headed into that grassy area in front of the Rose Garden. There was media there so it was some kind of winner of something. I want to say it was for the UK because Mickey and then a woman took turns holding up a sign that said 10,000 pounds as in money.

But as Mickey was walking by, I thought, wouldn't it be nice if all the characters could just roam? It would cause too much chaos though.

So, while not a Magical Moment for a guest, it was for me.

 

[Giavonna98]

One day on my family's first disney trip, we went on stitch's great ecape. As we were coming out, we got stuck in a big croud that seemed to come out of thin air.Minutes later, it began to rain and the croud started to clear.My baby sis started to cry. We ran for cover at the cosmic rays restraunt . my dad took out an umbrella and said "why are we in here? we can still go out and have disney fun.". My little sis stoped crying and we began continue our disney trip. AWWWWWW!!!!!

 

[joanna71985]

I just remembered one. This was back towards the begining of the YOAMD celebration. A Dream Squad member picked a family to ride th Buzz Lightyear ride...with Buzz Lightyear himself. The family he picked was so cute. It was the little boy's birthday, and he was a huge Buzz fan. The mom was so happy she started crying. Then when they got off the ride, they took a photo together.

 

[Bug715]

Where to start. The three that come to mind right now that happened when my family, my mom's brother's family, and my mom's sister's family all went a few years ago. Background: My little cousin sarah was 4 and she has down syndrome. My other cousin matthew was 13 months and as a side note loved tigger.

One evening my aunt, uncle, and little cousins were in the Magic Kingdom. They were in line to meet the white rabbit and maybe some other characters. Sarah was getting out of her umbrella stroller and caught her foot on the foot rest and feel. She skinned her knees, hit her head, and messed up her glasses. The white rabbit saw and came back to where they were standing in line and picked sarah up and hugged her. All my aunt could think was "Don't get your fur bloody."

One night there we all went to EPCOT for the fireworks. My cousins were asleep in their strollers until the fireworks started. My mom was going to take matthew farther away but i took him cause EPCOT fireworks are her favorite. He and I went to the international gateway entrance and watched a few from a bench there. When they started getting bigger and louder we went into the shop to muffle the noise some. The CMS knew when the finale was so they made sure that we were in the very back of the store and were rolling a ball back and fourth with him. He didn't even notice the fireworks.

Last one. Our last day of the vacation my aunt and I were shoping at downtown disney and she needed to go into WOD. As she was checking out the CM asked Sarah if she'd seen everyone she had wanted to see. Sarah said no. She hadn't seen Snow White who she had dressed up as that halloween. Aunt Lora explained that everytime the map said SW was suppose to be out she wasn't. The CM asked where we were staying and our room number. I knew that something was going to happen. Later that afternoon there was a knock on the door. A CM was standing outside with balloons and a signed picture of SW for Sarah. She was so excited. It was so cute.

I can't wait till I become a CM and get to make magical moments happen.

 

[Gorjus]

I was in the Princess Room today for 11 or so hours. Oh the magical moments that happened today.

Mom's crying while trying to take photos because there is their little princess beaming while visiting with her favorite princess.

One little Down's Syndrome girl whose birthday it was. When you asked how old she was, she said 2 but she was 5. She just took some of the best photos. In the end, all 3 princess had enjoyed her so much they took a picture of the three of them with her.

A little boy who talked and talked and talked. He kept saying he was there for his sister and only to help her. He told each princess that he took real good care of his sister. I'm telling you, he was more excited than sister to see the princesses. And the rest of us were literally LOL.

Then there was the girl that actually did a running leap into each princess' arms.

Ah, the magic of the princess room.

 

[joanna71985]

I was in the Princess Room today for 11 or so hours. Oh the magical moments that happened today.

Mom's crying while trying to take photos because there is their little princess beaming while visiting with her favorite princess.

One little Down's Syndrome girl whose birthday it was. When you asked how old she was, she said 2 but she was 5. She just took some of the best photos. In the end, all 3 princess had enjoyed her so much they took a picture of the three of them with her.

A little boy who talked and talked and talked. He kept saying he was there for his sister and only to help her. He told each princess that he took real good care of his sister. I'm telling you, he was more excited than sister to see the princesses. And the rest of us were literally LOL.

Then there was the girl that actually did a running leap into each princess' arms.

Ah, the magic of the princess room.

Awww, how cute. I loved the Princess room. It was such a fun place to work.

 

[Gorjus]

I was working at Typhoon Lagoon, in the surf pool and a family came up to have their photo taken. I explained that I would take one of them as the wave started and then I would take one of them as the wave hit. Well the daughter in the family, approximately age 8, was very concerned that she wouldn't be able to run away when the wave was coming. She was going to have to stay put with the family and get hit by the wave. And she had a good 60 seconds of worrying before the "whoosh" sound that signals a wave is coming. She then had another 30 seconds of worrying once the wave started. But God Bless her, she stayed her ground. Her face was precious though...very concerned. After the wave hit, she had the biggest smile on her face. She came up to me beaming and said "I did it, I did it. I didn't move, just like you said." Then she turned to her father and said: "Daddy, I did it."

I realized the the water parks are where some of the best family moments happen. Daddys and toddlers frolicking together in the surf; just laying around and holding hands while in the lazy river; the joy on people's faces right after exiting the tube on Crush & Gusher. It is a time where you don't have to be pushed in a stroller, wait in long lines and be sweating all day. You can just run and play or sit and relax. It is a place where Disney creates atmosphere, but doesn't necessarily create the magic, families do.

 

[Turcicus]

I've posted this before in another thread, but it's still a great story. My wife and I went to WDW for our honeymoon in May of '05, and had reservations at Boma the night of our arrival. We hadn't been to WDW for quite some time, so we didn't realize that buses didn't go from one resort to another. We happily hopped on the bus to Animal Kingdom thinking it would go to the lodge, and ended up being the only people on the bus. In chatting with the bus driver we told her we were on our honeymoon and that we were heading to Boma. She informed us that she was only going to the park, not the resort, but that if no one else got on the bus she would drop us off at AKL. And sure enough, nobody else boarded and she took us right to the front door!! It was a great way to start off and was only the first of many more great interactions with CMs.

 

[Space Mountain]

That happenned to us one night at Magic Kingdom. We missed our bus one night so another driver took us back, since nobody else was waiting.

 

[Kristamouse]

Last October we drove all night from KY to WDW with a 1 & 2 year old. We arrived too early to check in (like 6:30 AM) so we decided to go to MGM. BAD MOVE! MGM is a 1/2 day park for us anyway and we "though" we could go early and get everthing covered. We did get right in at opening and by 12:00 we were all DONE. I called and room at ASMu was not ready. I was so stressed and upset with myself for thinking we could be up all night and then go to MGM with 2 under 2, I started to cry on the phone (I was REALLY tired and stressed). The CM (Paul) quickly realized my "dire" situation and got us a room. I was on hold for ever and when Paul was back on the line and told me we could now check in I was so thankful, I pleged my unconditional love for him! I am sure he had to pull some strings b/c when we checked in other were still waiting for thier room in the lobby and by the pool. We got to our room and had a good long nap. Our Magical Moment was a nap!:snore: :lol: Thanks to our FAV CM Paul!

 

[kymie]

A few years ago we had been through alot as a family. My husband had left me, my mum (who we were extremely close to) had died we had had to move, I had given birth to my third child with only my other two children for support (midwife didn't make it in time!), we had to move again, and then we had a car crash. My son had to go on life support and my daughter was traumatised and became mute. Thankfully my son survived and i had a very small amount of money from the divorce. My sensible side said save it for when things go wrong, the other side said go on trip of a lifetime to WDW! Of course WDW won! Anyway,I didn't realise how difficult it would be on my own with little kids. My son was 7, DD 4 and DD 1, the difficulty being my son couldn't go on any of the bigger rides as I was unable to go with him. We went to MGM and to Star Tours. He was big enough to go on his own, but was scared as he didn't know what to expect. A few times he got in the queue only to come back a couple of minutes later in tears as he was scared. In the end I asked a CM if there was anyone that could ride with him. There sure was and off they went. My son came off with the bigest smile! Not only that, but they had taken him in on the ride with just him and the CM in the simulator! We will be forever thankful to that guy for making my sons holiday!

 

[joanna71985]

A few years ago we had been through alot as a family. My husband had left me, my mum (who we were extremely close to) had died we had had to move, I had given birth to my third child with only my other two children for support (midwife didn't make it in time!), we had to move again, and then we had a car crash. My son had to go on life support and my daughter was traumatised and became mute. Thankfully my son survived and i had a very small amount of money from the divorce. My sensible side said save it for when things go wrong, the other side said go on trip of a lifetime to WDW! Of course WDW won! Anyway,I didn't realise how difficult it would be on my own with little kids. My son was 7, DD 4 and DD 1, the difficulty being my son couldn't go on any of the bigger rides as I was unable to go with him. We went to MGM and to Star Tours. He was big enough to go on his own, but was scared as he didn't know what to expect. A few times he got in the queue only to come back a couple of minutes later in tears as he was scared. In the end I asked a CM if there was anyone that could ride with him. There sure was and off they went. My son came off with the bigest smile! Not only that, but they had taken him in on the ride with just him and the CM in the simulator! We will be forever thankful to that guy for making my sons holiday!

Wow. I'm sorry you had to go through all that, but I'm glad you had a good trip.

 

[Gorjus]

Tircucus, Kristamouse, and Kymie;

Those are exactly the type of stories that get printed in "The Main Street Diary". Meg Crofton puts out a cheerleader/newsletter of sorts for all of WDW. Much of it is dedicated to letters from guests that she uses to highlight certain "Disney Qualities". The stories you told would easily have gone into the "Diary". Next time, if you remember, jot down the cast member's name and write a note to Meg. Actually, it turns out there are a lot of stories that are written that don't even make it into the Main Street Diary. But they are forwarded to the cast member along with a pin that says something like "you are a super star".

 

[Gorjus]

A couple of days ago, Stitch escorted me on stage. We were on our way to the gate at the same time, so I took his arm. Then, the other day I was eating my lunch and in walked Lilo and Stitch. They were on their way to their next set and stopped by where the cast were eating. They were joking with each other. Lilo would pick up an empty water bottle and pretend to swing it at Stitch's head. Stitch would pretend to be hit and slam himself against a window/wall. After that game, Stitch came over to where I was eating, grabbed my fork and started feeding me my lunch. It was just a fun moment with characters back stage where there wasn't a line of kids and parents wanting to take photos and get autographs. We were able to enjoy Lilo and Stitch as characters.