What is your favorite magical Disney memory?

[Grim Grinning Marathon Runner]

Some things are often brought up about the rude guests or bad experiences that we may forget just how magical Disney really is. In fact, part of the training that castmembers get is on how to "seek out opportunities to interact with guests", spreading a little of that pixie dust around and making magical memories.

I guess that's why we keep going back! :mickey:

So, what are some of your most magical Disney memories? They can be interactions with castmembers, interactions with other guests, something you observed, or anything special to you about Disney parks. Here are a couple of mine:

On a trip in the summer of 2005, I saw a Disney bus driver who, in the middle of the Florida heat, did a fantastic job of distracting guests from the hot bus ride by leading sing alongs, telling interactive jokes, and getting riders to introduce themselves. He also got off the bus and "bowed" to little girls in princess dresses as they left, and wished us a magical day. The neat thing is that he remembered our names from when we introduced ourselves, and he called each one of us by name.

One thing my wife and I love to do is find a great and fun place to eat, and the 50s Prime Time Diner at the Disney (MGM) Studios is one of our favorites. The food is great, and, if you can save room for dessert, the s'mores or the malts are fantastic! One of the things that makes the 50s Prime Time Diner such a fun place to go is the atmosphere. Even if you were born twenty years after the 50s like I was, you can sense the nostalgia just by being amid all those 50s era surroundings. BUT, even the great setting is not what makes the 50s Prime Time Diner so fun - it's the castmembers! Anyone who has been here knows about the wait staff who magically become "cousins", "aunts", and "uncles", and the cooks who magically become "mom". And you also may know of the antics that those "cousins" do, involving many families in the fun.

One particularly funny episode was on a recent trip when one man, the dad of the family, wasn't going to eat his green beans. After being told to stand in the corner and have a green bean fed to him "choo-choo" style, he still wasn't going to eat all his beans. Trying to be sneaky, he folded up the remainder of his green beans in a napkin, and put the napkin in his wife's purse. But he wasn't sneaky enough to fool the "cousin" in our room! As soon as she came back to the table, our "cousin" the waitress spotted the hidden green beans, and called it to everyone's attention. Then, she said she had a special dessert for our misbehaving dad. She brought out a bowl of ice cream, with green beans lining the bowl and stuck in the ice cream!

[handmaidenofprincesses]

That's so funny! The same thing happened to my friend Matt, only it was peas he was refusing to eat.. being 17, he got a bit ticked off, but I guess it's funny in retrospect....

My favorite memory was when I was twelve... My aunt and cousins had come with me and my family to disney, and it was late at night (later than I was allowed to stay up normally..) I just remember sitting on the curb in Main Street with my cousin Todd (who was wearing glow-in-the-dark ears :) ) and watching the fireworks over Cinderella Castle.. there's something so unique and awe-inspiring about those fireworks... that's definitely my favorite memory!

[LoriMistress]

I guess one that sticks out to me was when I was little (probably around 7 or 8.) It was when DLR was celebrating a Mardi Grad Parade. I got pulled in and was a part of the parade. That was pretty cool.

[LibertyTreeGal]

Oh my goodness, there are too many magical memories to number (which is why the bad ones stick out as so strange!) --

Guess my most favorite memory was when my boys were four and they saw Woody and Jessie for the first time. It was our first day in the parks, and I was the only one out of our party of 6 who had ever been there and I had done a lot of planning around Steve Soare's site. I knew W&J would be appearing in Fronteirland at 10am sharp, so I had been navigating us around in a fashion that was a bit puzzling to everyone else. Then BAM, just where we "happened" to be standing ended up being the front of the line for Woody and Jessie so the boys got to be first in line and had lots of time before anyone else even showed up. It was totally magical, to see their faces as their big heroes became their very first character meet and greet. I still get all teary-eyed thinking about it! After that, no one questioned my navigational abilities :thumbsup:

[Marilyn Michetti]

When we took DD and DFSIL to the World before their 2004 wedding, I spotted Rosie at MGM just putting around a store, and asked her if she would mind having some fun with Jeff. She got distracted by another guest, and Jeff went into hiding. She starts screaming his name right in the middle of the street, but he wouldn't "show". Rosie then grabs DD's hand and announced, loudly, "Jeff is hiding in the can, and pulled Beth by the hand right to the door of the mens room, just screaming. She finally found him, and dressed him down properly, then planted a huge kiss on his cheek. We've got the whole thing on video, and, it's priceless.

The following Dec, after the wedding, I took Rosie a picture of them, and she remembered the incident. She waved the picture all down the parade route yelling, "This is Beth and Jeff - they got married"!

She's the best attraction down there, IMHO.:thumbsup:

[LudwigVonDrake]

Seeing my 4 year old Nephew meet Mickey Mouse for the first time. It doesn't get any better than that! :smickey:

[very_excited]

Mine is when I took my mom last year. She was 67 yrs old - it was her first trip and my second.

Me and my mom have had a hard time - she is a deeply religious woman and I am a gay woman. We have spent lots of time being apart and hurt and disappointed with each other. In the last couple years we have started to become closer and are learning how to be together and love each other in spite of our differences. This trip was part of our healing process.

It was raining the day we planned to go to MK. We discuss whether we should go somewhere else for the day and wait for sun..... but mom wanted to go regardless. So off we went.

When we went through the main gates, I deliberatly steered her toward the right so she could not see the castle til we got closer. We went in a few of the shops and I noticed the rain had stopped. We stepped outside on the corner of Main and honest to god, the sun came out at that moment and gleamed off the gold on the castle. I pointed down Main St. and said "Look Mom". She turned, and looked and started to cry. She just stared and cried - like a little girl - and then looked at me. I will never forget the look on her face nor the feeling in my heart.

Me and my mom. :mickey:

[LoriMistress]

I'll post another one. One of my favorite Magical Moments at WDW was when DH and I went there on our honeymoon in November 2003. Seeing the front enterance and walking down MS:USA and seeing Cinderella's Castle for the first time...it brought tears in my eyes. It felt like home.:cloud9:

[DisneyorBust]

My favorite WDW memory is from our first family trip in Jan. 2001.
The entire family was excited,to say the least!
When we entered the Magic Kingdom, started up Main Street and saw Cinderella Castle, I looked at the faces of my DW, DS and DD's. The look of joy was something special, magical really. Each trip I take the time to watch their expressions and keep those memories close in my heart.

[joonyer]

in 2002, the first trip to WDW and MK with my wife and sons, then ages 9 and 6. We had arrived late in the day but MK was open late and the boys were so excited they could not wait until the next day. We got to the park about 7pm and of course everything was magical to the boys, but later that evening we were riding Splash Mountain; there was a full moon overhead, and as we went around the outside part of the ride, the fireworks began going off overhead. It was a truly magical moment, in that we had not planned it and did not know it would happen. Combined with the magic of the ride the music and lighting in the park, it made us feel as if WDW was celebrating our arrival. We have since managed to repeat this experience (on purpose)every trip and it is one of our treasured WDW family traditions and memories.

[Soul_Power]

My boyfriend and I had breakfast at Ohana on our last day of the trip, June 6. Pluto, Lilo, Stitch and Mickey were making their way to the different tables and when Mickey came to our table, he pointed at my "1st Visit" button. My boyfriend then told him that it was our last day and Mickey put his hands over his eyes as if it was crying! The whole rest of the day when we were being sad that we were leaving we kept saying, "Even MICKEY was sad for us!"

Siiigh.. I want to go back already. It's been less than a week since I came back but I need another trip!

[RAIDER]

Going there for the first time .....nothing will ever beat that feeling of setting eyes on the entrance to WDW or Epcot for the first ever time :cloud9::D:mickey:

[beksy]

I have a couple of really outstanding memories so it was hard to chose. Probably one of the ones at the top was during a trip in the early '90's. I am basically a quiet, shy person, but somehow Disney makes me forget that! Anyway, in Morocco, they were doing a street dance and wanted volunteers. We happened to be right up front and I watched one of the dancers keep going around and being refused by women to join him. I felt bad for him and the next thing I know, much to my family's surprise, I'm out there dancing with him! Of course I had the camera so they have no proof, but we still talk about it. :blush: Nobody can believe that I would do something like that--guess it was just the Disney magic! :mickey:

[DisneyFreak23]

Well it was during my last trip (2005) and decided it was officialy 'spoil my self in Disney' Day:mickey:. So i put on my stitch :stitch: santa hat , got my face painted and got a hair wrap. then i went and got on the bed in the Poly :lei: and i took out a blue stitch :stitch: lollipop and I remember just sitting in my favorite resort, eating my fave disney candy, and just being in disney, for me, it couldn't possibly get any better.:mickey3:




:stitch:

[offero]

My best memory is from this past Nov. Not one moment in particular, but the entire trip. It was my honeymoon and everything fell into place, the food, the people, the CM, the parks. The trip could not have been better. Even the little things went right. Both my family and my wife's family have made multiple trips throughout growing up. This was the culmination of our childhoods being brought together.

I left there with so many good memories and a Pal Mickey so I can guarantee that I will keep coming in the future.

[AdventurerKim]

My favorite and most unforgettable memory is on my first trip in 1980. We were leaving on the ferry going to the TTC to go back to our hotel off-site, and the fireworks were going as we drifted away from the dock. My grandfather was holding me so I could see the fireworks. :cloud9:

All subsequent trips to WDW have been memorable. :mickey:

[KAJUNKING]

last sept was our first trip with our kids and the whole trip was great but when we were going on figment, right when we first walked into the building a cm in a white lab coat came out of one of the doors and asked my kids if they wanted to be jumior proffesors, so we got to go behind the ropes and take pictures right there when you walk in, she rode the ride with us and we got a car to ourselves and she had my kids help her count the figments on the ride, it made for a special memory, you can see the photos at my home page under the tab dis 06

[elmjimmlm]

3 years ago my daughter was crazy about The Lion King. When we went to the Lion King show at AK, she was in heaven...When Simba came out she just about lost it. She sang every song as loud as she could...when the show was over Simba was still out when everyone was leaving...she went up to him and talked to him and he shook his head when she asked him if he was happy to see her...we could have went home right then and she would have totally been satisfied.

[MPLSguy]

When I was 8 yrs old and he was sitting in a chair on the steps of Carnation Corner in Disneyland. He wanted me to call him Uncle Walt and I got to have my photograph taken with him. He was a REALLY nice man! :mickey:

[Rica]

The most magical memory I have thus far was when I took my DS for the first time in 2003. He was 3yrs old and just labeled Autistic. He wasn't saying much those days. It was our first day, and we were watching the parade in MGM. During the parade he was so excited he chatted the whole time and kept saying "Mom, look! Mom, look!" It was truly magical and brought me tears of joy. We hope for more magical memories like this when we attend in Dec. 07. :smickey:

[andreallybadeggs]

Love reading these special memories from people like you who "get it." A lot of skeptics think we're a little off to enjoy Disney as much as we do but even a few of them understand when I tell them how we got hooked.
14 years ago, our 4 yr. old Disney princess was in the castle for the first time, wearing her simple Cinderella t-shirt dress and soaking it all in.
Fairy Godmother came over and told her that she should go eat her lunch and Cinderella would be there soon to visit. As our little girl started up the winding staircase, DH and I noticed that Cinderella was just coming down. Our DD was looking down at her feet and didn't see Cinderella until they met at just about the halfway point. In slow motion, our DD looked up-- totally amazed at who was there before her. Cinderella smiled, knelt down right there
with our DD, spoke to her for a for a long time, kissed the boo boo on her finger and promised that she would look for her at the afternoon parade and blow her a kiss (which she did).
Many magic moments later, fast forward to 2007, and guess where our DD will be attending college next year!

[MushuGrl]

Alot of you have mentioned seeing the Castle for the first time. I gotta say out of all my memories, that has to be my favorite.

The first time I went to WDW was in 2003 with my sister and my best friends. They had all been before - this was my first time. Standing at the train station and looking down at Main St and the Castle...it hit me right between the eyes. "Oh my God I'm HERE!"

We made sure when, two years later, we took my mom and niece for their first trip, it was their first vision of WDW. My friend timed it just right so that when we got there, the Share the Dream parade started. So their first memory of WDW was not only of Main Street and the Castle...but Mickey Mouse coming down Main Street! My eighteen year old neice burst into tears.

We get the priviledge of being with another friend this September on his first trip. Time for round three!

[katzctkpt]

I would say my favorite moment was in June 2004 the first time my family went to Disney. Our then 4 yr old dd was in love with Cinderella walking through main gate into main st looking straight at the castle her eyes was so in awe of what she was seeing I started to cry. It was a moment I'll never forget.