How have you added to the Magic?

[JPL]

We often talk about special CMs who have gone out of their way to make your trip more magical. As a guest how have you added some to Magic to someone's elses vacation?

A few ways I have helped others are offering to take pictures if I see a group with one person left out of the picture. I have given away Fast passes I wasn't going to use to people about to enter a line. I have given a few of my trader pins away so kids could trade with CMs. Let's hear some of your stories:thumbsup:

[JMTStone]

My favorite turned out to be a gift to my family too. A little girl my DD's age was behind a very tall person for the parade. I offered her a seat next to me and my DD sat on my lap. They turned out to be fast friends and spent lots of "line time" together that vacation. I got to know her Mom and we keep in touch to this day!

[PrincessEmmasMommy]

I know this seems small, but I've shared baby wipes while seeing mothers with children with sticky hands. Also, we once were standing in line for a character greeting and my DD (2 at the time) was eating some fruit snacks when the child in front of us starting whining about wanting some too. We gave her an extra pack of ours.

This is a great topic! Random Acts of Kindness..Keep them coming!
Jen

[DizneyFreak2002]

I have offered to take pictures for people so they can have the whole family in the picture.... I have also helped people who didn't know where they were going while in the parks.. Then, when they asked for my opinion about certain rides and shows, I told them....

[debandbub]

Like, JPL, I like to offer to take pictures, especially at holiday time, in case a family wants to use one as thier holiday photo, and this past December, I gave away our two FP's for EE to a man we were chatting with in the bar at AK. He was on his quest to ride it 1000 times, and he was so pleased that we were able to help him out.
Also this past Dec, we were on our way back after a night at DD when I tried miserably to win my GF a stuffed animal at the basketball toss. The CM working the booth felt sorry for me, and basically let me shoot until we got one. (It was a slow cold night!). On the bus back to the hotel there was a dad and his son, about 5 years old. It was after midnight, he must have been exhausted, but he was being so friendly, asking us where we were from, etc, and if we liked frogs, because he did. (We had won a stuffed frog). Well of course we wanted to give him the frog, and he was so thrilled. The first thing he did was ask his dad if we could visit him at his house ( a mere three states away) so that he could give us something of his. It was so sweet, and the memory of that child was worth more than any stuffed toy we won.

[Jeremy]

I have taken pictures of newly weds on there
honeymoon.
and a group of people on mainstreet.
So they can be in the photos.

[rsumrall]

We often have extra FPs because some of my kids are too small to ride some of the thrill rides. I always get them FPs anyway, in hopes that my wife might ride twice. Most of the time, she doesn't and I give away the FPs. People feel like they've won the lottery when the line is 1 hr. long and you give them a FP with the window open.

[thejens]

This is a wonderful post. It makes me want to do lots of things to add to the magic on my upcoming trip! I don't think I did anything very special (except beam with happiness at everyone I saw) last time. It was fun giving away extra fast passes though! I think beginning my trip with the goal to BE part of the magic, for other guests and also the cast member can only increase the magic for my family too. In fact, maybe I'll start today!

[disney100%]

I love this thread!

Like several other people, I have taken pictures of lots of people. My family finds it very funny because random people tend to ask me. It happened so many times on out last trip that my DH took a picture of me taking pictures of other people!

My DH and I always make it a point to give up our seats on the bus (well, whichever one of us is not holding our son). We feel there are a lot people who need the seat more than us.

[TikiGoddess]

I like to give away pins to kids wearing lanyards. Fellow pin traders were so generous to me when I started pin trading that I feel the need to pass it on.

I also try to stock up on mini-bubbles, stickers, and light sticks to pass on to other kids in the parks.

TikiG

[Sylvia]

As so many others have already mentioned, I, too, offer to take a group picture when I see someone taking a picture of his/her family.

I must give the impression that I know where everything is located, because people are always asking me for directions. One really funny experience happened a number of years ago. I was wearing a tee shirt from our 4th of July celebration in Philadelphia, which read "Welcome America - Event Staff". I happened to be standing by the American Adventure, several guests saw my shirt, thought I was a CM, and proceeded to ask me many questions. That experience was the beginning of many. I've met some great people and had some great times, especially during my solo trips.

[WDWfanatic742]

Like others have said, the group pictures we do alot. Also, we sometimes have to leave the parks for other things so we will just randomly give our fastpasses away.

[alicia524luvstw]

I had an experience where someone made my day. We just walked into Epcot and a man gave us his fast passes for Soarin' ! Great way to start our first day

[snowflakegirl]

DH and I both like to offer to take pictures for groups when we see someone being left out of the picture. We're especially conscious of couples taking pictures where one person can't be in the picture because we were so greatful on our honeymoon to everyone who stopped to take pictures of us together.

When I see parents who are worn out and at their last nerve with kids who are equally worn out, with the parent's permission I try to distract the kids with something more fun/interesting to think about, giving both the parent and the children some time to calm down. I'm a school psychologist and I work with elementary aged children, so I'm used to working with kids who aren't necessarilly always in the best of moods.

When I was at Disneyland last year at the end of one long, cold, rainy day I was waiting for the shuttle to my hotel to pick me up with one of my friends. Also waiting were two mothers with three or four small children between them between the ages of maybe 1 and 6. On the bench next to them was an 8 year old girl, wrapped in a poncho with an umbrella, shivering and crying because she needed a bathroom break, and the moms didn't want to take the chance of missing the shuttle back to their hotel... you know the story. Mom was trying to keep the two kids with her dry and entertained while trying to calm her other child. My friend ended up sitting with the moms and talking with them to take their minds off the cold and rain and I sat with the 8 year old, making a game of using both our umbrellas to cover us from the wind and rain, talking about our favorite characters/rides/foods/etc. She calmed down, stopped crying and even laughed a few times, and my friend was able to get the moms laughing, too. It turned out to be one of the best memories for me of the whole trip, and I'm glad that I got to help them out with what otherwise would have been a rather unhappy last moment of their trip.

[Crow]

I was in line to get a Fiesta:marg: and had a few pins on lanyard. talked for a sec w a woman who saw a pin i had on, think it was 1 w TInk and she said that was her fav character...so i gave it to her.
and i married a CM one time...but im trying to forget about that

[Mickey 101]

These posts are great! We've benefitted from the generosity of other guests when it comes to offering to take our photo. Now we try to look for opps to do the same. We've also had fun sharing fps we aren't able to use.

My personal favorite was when we were sitting on the boardwalk eating pizza from the take-out window at Spoodles in Jan 2006. We had several slices of our pizza left and there was a table of girls next to us, so we asked if any of them would like it. They politely declined when one who was very bubbly said, "We're cms from Brazil and we don't cook. I'd love to take it back to my room." We started talking and in appreciation for our small deed, she ended up offering to get us into the cm event for EE since she had no family to invite!! It was even more amazing because we were missing the AP event by only two days. It made our trip and was immediately one of our favorite attractions.

[KAJUNKING]

for some reason i am the guy everyone asks to take a picture for them and i really enjoy it any chance to pay it forward, i have had a guy walk up to me and my wife and give me fast passes and it was a very nice gift :mickey:

[Figgyluv03]

I must have had CM written on my forehead when I was in the parks on my days off because people would come up to me when they were lost and would ask me where attractions were. I absolutely loved it! I felt like a little tour guide and would give them information like the best time to ride and where to sit and the best way to get there! I also recommended other rides that they might like.

[Tynkerbelle]

We'll give away any unused counter service or snack credits we have on our last day - if there's someone in line not on the dining plan they get a meal on us!

During our Sept trip we rented a car to go to that other Orlando park and decided to keep it an extra day. After having a late dinner at the Concourse Steakhouse, we came out to get our car from the valet and overheard a couple of guys with their very sleepy kids asking how they can get back to the WL. They had separated from their wives and ended up at the CR after a fireworks cruise and had no way to get back (the boats had stopped running) so we offered them a ride. They were so happy not to have to take the bus to DTD and then take another bus back to WL and we got to hear about their Wishes cruise!

[Tinkerfreak]

We also give away unused FP's and take pictures for people. We always offer our seats on the bus to someone with a small child or elderly or preggers. I was so proud of my 2 daughters age 9 and 12 and my neice age 19 on our last trip. Our bus had stopped at another resort to pick up more people while we were on our way back to our resort. A young couple got on with 3 or four small children and the bus was full. Before I even had a chance to get up all of my girls jumped up and offered them their seats. I was very proud. The people thanked us all and told me that I was raising girls that were beautiful inside and out.

[disneydrmr]

When I was there in Dec we attended the Christmas party one evening. We saw a line with Snow White and her Prince and decided to meet them. Well, before we got up there they went on break and Beast and Belle came out. The CM said that Snow and Prince would be back, so we stayed in line, hoping that they would be back before our turn. Alas, we got up to the front with just minutes before Snow's return. We didn't want to step out and lose our place, but we really wanted to meet Snow instead of Belle. So we passed the word back that we would let anyone wanting to meet Belle go ahead of us. Little girls started coming forward, their mother's thanking us.. but one really stood out - she was maybe 6, and was dressed like Belle. Her mother told us that she had been talking about meeting Belle all day and it was making her whole day to finally get to meet her. If we had not been allowing people ahead of us she never would've made it to meet her Belle.

[MissMaryPoppins]

We had reservations for the Fantasmic dining package but decided during dinner to skip the fireworks and head to the Magic Kingdom for the rest of the night. We left the Brown Derby and started to look around for a family we could give the passes to. My brother noticed a boy around 12 with his mother. He was in a wheelchair and they were in a hurry so they could get a seat for Fantasmic. We ran over and explained to them that we had these passes but decided not to use them that night and asked if they'd like to use them. The boy's mother began to cry and told us they had been trying for a couple of days to get there in time for Fantasmic and that they were afraid his wheelchair would cause a problem getting into the theater. We told them where to take the passes and they would help them find seats. They thanked us like 50 times before they took off.

Joy

[disneymom2000]

Every couple of years or so I try to take someone to Disney who could never afford it otherwise. The reason I only do it every 2-3 years is that it takes me that long to save up for the best experience. I let my kids each take a classmate when they were in jr high and they both chose (not their closest friends) but someone who really appreciated the act. I have taken a 60 year old woman and her daughter who had never been on a vacation in their life and stayed at the Yacht Club with them for a week. Let me tell you, to see people enjoy themselves is too awesome for words. I make a scrapbook for each person I take so the memories will last a lifetime. &
JMTStone - I loved your story. :grouphug:

[disneymom2000]

Also - I wanted to say to all you who post on this board - I appreciate you all. In posting, you help more people than you would know in a lifetime just sharing information and your experiences. I love being a part of this Intercot family.:rocks: You have made my life easier and the lives of people checking Disney out for the first time. I have brown bag seminars each quarter with my job and take all my books for people planning on visiting and have now made little cards with the website address to help them get as much info as they can.

[pogo]

While standing in line one day to get an ice cream cone at MGM, two kids had just gotten theirs, when one of them started to cry. She had dropped the ice cream off the cone onto the pavement. I was next in line and purchased an extra and gave it to her. Her face lit up and made me feel so good ! Later that day her family found me waiting for Fantasmic and her father came over and thanked me and tried to repay me. When I told him that my reward was her smile, he was blown away. He explained that she was there as part of "make a wish" and that her cancer was in remission. She told her father that her "Angel" saved her day. I still have tears in my eyes when I tell this story. We have stayed in contact over the past three years. She has beaten cancer to this point and is doing well.:D

[cvzdesign]

When we went a few years back, I made a lanyard for my daughter out of pink jean material. We sewed colorful buttons all over it, and attached a luggage tag to the end of it with her details in case it got lost.

She's a lot bigger now, and this lanyard that reached the ground then, is much too small for her.
I'm going to make a new one for her, and one for my son as well. Hers will be sparkly and his has turtles on it (like Crush).

I got enough material to make several of them, and we are going to take them and hand out a few a day to kids who don't have them.
Just for fun!

[figment]

While standing in line one day to get an ice cream cone at MGM, two kids had just gotten theirs, when one of them started to cry. She had dropped the ice cream off the cone onto the pavement. I was next in line and purchased an extra and gave it to her. Her face lit up and made me feel so good ! Later that day her family found me waiting for Fantasmic and her father came over and thanked me and tried to repay me. When I told him that my reward was her smile, he was blown away. He explained that she was there as part of "make a wish" and that her cancer was in remission. She told her father that her "Angel" saved her day. I still have tears in my eyes when I tell this story. We have stayed in contact over the past three years. She has beaten cancer to this point and is doing well.:D


awesome story pogo. have to admit... i got a tear in my eye just reading it.

as for me(us)... we cannot do much given the fact that we had our two lovely daughers with us (5 and 1 at the time)... but i did take a couple of pictures for families... and i did make sure to give up my bus seat... even though i was holding/carrying the stroller and diaper bag (those things get heavy when you're tired!)

anyways... great thread... and great stories. i can only hope that we meet this type of people on our trips... instead of the lady pushing her way through the crowd with an open umbrella. oops... sorry for the tangent.

[jokat]

Our trips thus far were before we were blessed with a child, so it was just my DH and me. We would always carry a small first aid kit in case something happened. We actually had lots of opportunities to offer small kids or their parents band-aids and antibacterial cream for skinned knees or blisters or what have you. We always tried to keep it stocked with character band-aids too, to keep it fun.

We've carried extra $0.99 ponchos too so we could give them to the unprepared.

Now that we will have our DD with us on our next trip (hopefully Sept. '08) I just loved the idea above of taking extra bubbles and stickers and glow sticks for other kids. That is awesome!

Great thread! :mickey:

[Natazu]

I drove a bunch of drunken INTERCOTees to Adventurer's Club once (you know who you are).

We give away CS desserts all the time. We hardly ever eat dessert at lunch. We make a little game of finding a family with no desserts and offer them ours. It always makes somebody's kids really happy. One more reason to get the Dining Plan, feeding sugar to other people's children.

[GiltterDisneyGirl]

Taking pictures for people, or if there is a family that wants to go on a ride, but doesn't want to wait long, we would take them in the fast pass line with our medical pass. :D

[Here we go again...]

We always take pictures for people. On our first trip a man offered to take a photo for us and it came out so good that we used it as our Christmas photo. I always try to take a good one for anyone I see.

We also give away our fast passes and my DH and DD always give up their seats. (I need mine unfortunately)

One year we went at Christmas time and we had purchased lots of Disney books to give away at the local hospital before the trip. These were the really nice, hard cover books that had the musical push buttons on the side to play sounds while you read. Anyway, we had about a dozen left over and my DD wanted to give them away in Disney World. She wrapped the girls books in princess paper and the boys books in Incredibles paper so she would know the difference. Every morning when we left the resort she would bring a couple of books and give them to kids that were being extra good or kids that looked upset. She made some kids very, very happy and surprised quite a few parents when she walked up to their kids and said "Merry Christmas"

This is a great thread. I hope it keeps going for a while. I love that so many people go out of their way to make another person's day.

[MrPeetrie]

My wife and I have, too, offered to take pictures for strangers so the entire family can be in the picture. I think that's almost a given with those of us in the Disney community that truly "get it."

But on one trip, the couple in front of me left their wallet on the ice cream stand. After I finished paying and was about to leave, I noticed it. I asked the CM to whom did it belong and he thought it might be the previous customer. Sure enough, I tracked them down and they thanked my repeatedly. The she turned to her friend and said, "See, the people here are just different. Everyone's nicer." That made our day.

On a different note, one night when they had E-nights at the Magic Kingdom, my wife and I were at Pecos Bills for burgers late in the evening. After waiting in line for several minutes, the manager informed us the grill was down for the remainder of the night and there'd be no more burgers that evening. Cosmic Rays was still open, he said, and he had called ahead to let them know of the problem.

Well, one customer EXPLODED on this poor, young manager. He screamed in his face at the top of his lungs, ordering him to get him his hamburgers. He repeatedly yelled, "You have not met my expectations!!!" The young man maintained his composure during this vitriolic diatribe, never once raising his voice in return.

The next day, my wife and I went to the town hall to speak with some sort of manager and to give a formal notice as witnesses to the event, stating how well the young man handled the situation. I know that's not the same as the topic's heading, but we still feel that we helped preserve a little of the Pixie Dust that day, because he was an excellent cast member.

Can't wait to go back....

:cloud9: :cloud9:

[thejens]

I think commending the cast member is wonderful. I work in a service/health care industry and it is so motivating when a customer commends a staff member. I love this thread because it really is up to us to keep the magic alive. I am sure every time one of us is thoughtful of a cast member, that individual is better able to sprinkle that pixie dust herself!