Random, Unexpected Moments that You Just Can't Forget

[IrishMickey]

One rainy day at Disneyland, my friends and I wandered around in our bright yellow mickey ponchos, having a great time. We rode the Jungle Cruise and as we were exiting the boat one of the CM's would not let go of my arm, and of course the Captian of the boat on his mic kept saying, "miss, you have to let him go, he needs to work, miss, miss" needless to say my friends were crying from laughter, as were many guests, as I was "held" up by the CM"s. Great times, and even funnier pictures.

[kimommy63]

In 2008 we took our son who had just turned three to Disney for the first time. Toward the end of the week he started to not feel too good and he insisted on taking his favorite stuffed dog "Eddie" to the parks with him that day so that Eddie could go on rides with him and meet Mickey. Sadly by the time that we were returning from a very busy day we realized that his dog was gone. He was so upset! We checked with cast members and bus drivers and they advised us to fill out a form back at POP where we were staying so that if he was found they could notify us. So at 11:00 at night we filled out a form as I tearfully explained what had happened as he had Eddie since he was born. The cast members were wonderful they let us know that they would check everywhere that we had been since we had last seen Eddie. We had been at Magic Kingdom, Downtown Disney and at Poly so we figured it was a lost cause. After getting back to our room and placing our sleeping son in bed my husband and I got ready for bed. About an hour later we heard a knocking on our door and it was two of the castmembers that we had talked to. In one of there hands they had my sons stuffed dog. It turned out he was over at Poly! He was so happy when he woke up in the morning. To this day he still talks about the time that Eddie wandered off!

Thats the best one I've heard so far! I love WDW! Thanks for the great story!

[finaldynasty]

Two years ago, my DS ran up to the sword in the stone and unexpectedly pulled it out. He was 6 at the time. It was announced that he was offically prince for the day and he was given a sticker, certificate and spoken proclamation! It was awesome!!

[Renfairwedding]

We have in the past bought batches of Disney pins on E-Bay to trade in the parks. We end up giving away what seems like half of them to kids that are going to the parks for the first time. We tell them its for trading with a CM and we explain the concept to their parents. The one little girl that stands out is one who was very shy and did not say a word. After having her mom put the pin on her shirt the little girl took my wife hand and held it as we traveled on the monorail and held it we arrived at their stop. She did not have to say anything as her action said millions.

My DW fav was at Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. We all were in our costumes from wizards and princess to pyrites. (Adults and Kids) As soon as we entered the tunnel at the start the whole boat broke out in song…. Yo Ho Yo Ho a pirates life for me.

[hotmouselove]

But, I had to jump in...

2 years ago we took our son and 4 daughters to WDW at Christmas time. This was the first time our 4 youngest had been. Our ds has Autism. He's in no way severe but his difficulties lie in the communication area. He was 5 at the time. The only character he mentioned wanting to see was Mickey. We were leaving Epcot on our last day and saw the characters inside (the name escapes me) and thought we'll pop in and let E see Mickey!

Well we got inside and realized the line was long, so we asked the CM what her estimate was. She said about an hour. Dh and I had a quick conference and decided he wouldn't be able to hang. As we were heading out the door the CM asked why we were leaving. We explained E had Autism and we didn't think he could wait. She said "do you have a GAC?" We said no--we didn't really think we needed it.

She opened the rope and motioned us thru an told us to wait. Mickey was with a family and I turned to say something to my dh. Before I could say a word Mickey had left his post and was kneeling in front of E. Poor E--he got so excited he jumped up and down and ran the length of the greeting area. I wrangled him back and Mickey kneeled on the floor with him forever...he let E pull on his ears and touch his face, at one point he even held E down and tickled him. It was absolutely a dream come true for our little guy and for us to see him have such a wonderful and magical time--there are no words.

To this day I don't know how the CM communicated to Mickey it was E that had the special needs. He was at E's side before she could even speak to him or motion him over. Disney magic at it's best.

[eeyorepoohfan]

So this experience was at Disneyland, not WDW. My sister and I took a trip (just the 2 of us) and we were back in the area to meet Pooh and friends. Well the characters we're out yet, except for Eeyore. But since the other characters weren't there yet, he didn't go to his spot. There were only a few guests roaming around. I kept an eye on Eeyore. He went over to the little bridge that crosses a very tiny creek. He looked around on the ground and found a stick and dropped it off the bridge into the water. Then he turned to face the other way on the bridge and watched the water. He started pointing and the water when he saw his stick emerge! He was playing "Pooh Sticks" to pass the time!!!! It was so neat to watch! As you can see by my screen name, I like the Pooh characters! My sister couldn't figure out what Eeyore was doing until I explained it to her! It was such a special little moment that only a few people got to see that day!

[DisneyBunch]

I can't see the humor in this.

I'm surprised, being from the northeast and all, that the first thing to go through your mind wasn't "did that guy just steal my wallet...?"

I'm originally from the deep South, but have lived in Pennsylvania for the past five years. Unfortunately, I can attest that BigThunderFan's comment is not too far off the mark.

[tinka]

I took my kids 11 & 14 to Disney by myself 2 years ago...hubbby had a new job and couldn't join us. The trip was wonderful and the kids were better than I could have ever imagined. On our last night there, we were shopping in the Emoporium and they asked if they could shop by themselves for a few minutes. I said yes and stayed where I could keep an eye on them. We had our last night dinner right after that at GF. Once dinner was over and we were enjoying Cinderella and Prince Charming's dance, they pulled out a box with Mickey earrings that I had looked at earlier in the day but not purchased. They had used their souvenir money and bought the earrings for me as a thank you for taking them on the trip. This is absolutely my most favorite memory and one that I will treasure forever! I knew I had great kids, but that night showed me how great they are!!

[plutosnana]

So my little sister (little like 7) was walking to our car in the HS parking lot. She looked at license plates and we'd see who lived where. So we got off of muppets then went to our van. She saw the lincense plate Mississippi. She said, "Look! It says Miss Piggy!" That was a laugh.

[JENGABE]

When I was a kid my parents took us to Disney. On our last night in the Magic Kingdom we never got to see Mickey Mouse and a cast member overheard us talking. She told my parents to wait here and a few minutes later she came back and took us down a long hallway to Mickey's dressing room and we got our own private pictures with him!

[Jared]

I am always torn reading these stories. They are all wonderful and magical. Each one explains perfectly what makes Disney such a special place for all of us.

Unfortunately, I am convinced these moments happen less nowadays, and we are partially to blame. Too many people read forums like this one and begin to expect this kind of treatment. When it doesn't happen, they make a beeline for the Internet and angrily post that nothing happened for them.

Disney brass read these sites. They follow the pulse of their guests. I wholeheartedly believe Disney is apprehensive about making magic because they fear offending everybody else.

Of course, it isn't "magical" if it happens to everybody, but I'm not sure everybody internalizes that in the moment.

[BellesRose]

I remember one time when I was little, my family and I had just finished a day at the Magic Kingdom and my parents didn't feel like driving back home. We live about 2 hours away, which isn't such a big deal to us now because my brother and I are in our 20's, but we were young and tired then. We didn't have a lot of money, and it was late, but we went to the All Star Resorts to give it a try. The CM told us he was all booked, so we asked him about another All Star Resort because that's all we could afford. They must have all been filled for whatever reason, and we were sad to leave, but thanked him for trying. He looked at me and my younger brother, who must have been visibly exhausted by that point, and excused himself to make a phone call. He came back and sent us to the Grand Floridian with a view of the Magic Kingdom for the price of the All Star for the night. We were so grateful. When we got to our room, I went out on the balcony with my dad. The Magic Kingdom castle was lit up, and the Haunted Mansion music was up WAY loud. I asked my dad why we could hear it, and he said the Cast Members must be playing around in there. I think I was hoping it was the ghosts. To this day, it is now my favorite ride, and I'll always remember that night.

[BellesRose]

Also, I just wanted to say thank you for everyone who contributed to this thread. I was having a really bad day, and I just spent the last hour reading this. I almost cried a few times, and I laughed a lot. It just really made my day, so thank you

[MickeyChick]

My boyfriend and I were walking through the jungle trek in AK and were lamenting that this was our second trip to WDW and we weren't going to be able to ride EE again because we had to leave the park. We were going to the luau that night and there were no fastpasses left and the line for EE was 2 hours long.

This was during the Year of a Million Dreams and a CM overheard us. The dreammaker guy took us to the front of the line of Everest and bought us the photo of us on the ride.

It was absolutely amazing and I'll ever forget it.

[AdventurerKim]

I've had so many random, unexpected moments at WDW over the years that it's hard to pick, but this is my favorite!

When I was in high school, I got my pic with Mickey at MGM/DHS, and he kept pointing to my shirt and giving me a thumbs up. My shirt was from The Cure's "Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me" album, and I looked up and said to Mickey, "The Cure"? and he nodded yes with a thumbs up. I loved that moment!

[whitney37354]

We had a few on our first trip a few weeks ago:

1. Our server, Kip, at Crystal Palace got down on DD's eye level and sang 'Happy Birthday" to her.

2. At 1900 PF, DD was able to dance with both Cinderella & Prince Charming because of where our table was.

3. One night we were in MK for the fireworks. I knew that Tinkerbell flew down from the castle, but I hadn't told DD or DH. We ended up standing right below Tinkerbell as she flew down. DH is on our video camera saying, "Wow..." and taping the sky instead of Tink because he was too busy watching her to pay attention to what he way taping...

[Disney Day Dreamer]

1. Being the first family in Mickey's Garden Grill: We went for an wearly dinner. Unbeknownest to us, the first family seated gets all the characters at their table at once. My parents didn't know anything about it when they made reservations but... I got pictures and individual attention from Pluto, Mickey, Chip, Dale and Goofy all at once. Chip and Dale even stole my "mouse ears" to wear. Later, either Chip or Dale (can't remember which at the moment) came over to the table, took my hand and danced with me in the middle of the restaurant - with no music or anything, just out of the blue. That one dinner made my entire trip!

2. I was on the monorail once while it was stopped as another had broken down. The Bay Lake Towers were currently being built. We happenned to be sitting up front wih the pilot and, although he said he didn't know what they were at first, he actually told us what they were and why it was a secret - even before word was released to DVC members.

3. When I was staying at PO:FQ I brought my American Girl doll with me. I had heard stories of cast members doing special things, like posing them etc. When I returned, my doll was laying in a towel "hammock" between the bedposts, with towel origami animals surrounding her. On one of the last days of our visit, we came back to find a Dinsey Princess Balloon waiting for us in the room. Pure Disney Magic. Simple as that.

4. Riding Splash Mt. during Wishes. Enough said.

[Disney Day Dreamer]

Ah... one more I forgot.
At the time I did not find this amusing, but...
I was waiting in line at HM in MK, standing right by the door. I turned around to say something to my dad and when I turned back, the CM was right there. The door had opened and he had come to usher everyone in without me hearing him. I jumped slightly and he screamed... literally, screamed... in reaction to me jumping, of course, prompting me to nearly have a heart attack. But at the same time - he never broke character and never smiled, even at my panicky reaction.
I was scared half to death but, still... it was pretty cool.

[Jordan0301]

Well, as a 7 year old, I had a wonderful woman named Barbara wait on my family during dinner at the Plaza. She was so wonderful, we ended up going back to eat there 3 more times on the trip. She always gave me an entire bag of the gold after dinner coins and treated me like an adult.

We came back the following year, and low and behold she was our waitress again...amazing. We made it a point to make sure we sat in her section every trip after that point.

So...as I look through my photo album now, I have pictures of me with her at age 7, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 18, and after college (if you read my signature and catch my drift) I have quite a few pictures of her with Prince Charming/Jack Sparrow/etc. etc.

She made the magic for me at 7 and inspired my career with the company.