Ideas for spreading the magic

After reading the post by @JuliaMc and hearing about her finding ways to spread magic while in the parks, I’d love to incorporate this into our trip this November. I have teens and I think it would make the trip really special for all of us to feel like we have spent some time making other people’s day.

Can you guys share ways that you have found to spread the magic to CM’s and other guests while in the parks? We will try to be creative and come up with ways on our own too, of course, but I’d like to have some ideas to get us started.

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Oh I am really interested in that too !

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Okay, so I was having a rough morning (moving STINKS), and I see this post this morning?

Instant smile. :heart_eyes:

My advice is always to let things happen organically. I usually tweet a TON of cast compliments on Twitter (it goes into the CMs file), but most of all? I just try to smile and be polite to everyone I run into. One time I had this man just start flipping OUT. Like he was LIVID over wait times and he just started going off on his family. I think they had not planned very well and he was hot and stressed. Well, we had some paper FPs, and so I inserted myself into their very heated argument, and offered my FPs (there were 4 of them and I happened to have 12.), and offered trading pins to the two kids. (We were leaving the next day and my whole crew was pretty much done with riding. We got the paper FPs from a CM after my kids got “caught” picking up trash. They gave us two per person, and there was 6 of us)

Like that little moment probably changed their entire vacation. The dad looked horrified at his behavior (and rightly so!), the kids were thrilled with pins, and the wife looked like someone had just rescued her from a sinking ship.

Another time DH and I were in the MK on our last day in May. It was time for the “end of trip” ice cream breakfast. :joy: And this couple with FOUR kids bought ONE ice cream for them all to share, while the dad was complaining about the $5 rip off ice cream. The kids were terrified and almost crying, and upset about sharing. The dad said “I already spent a fortune to be here, I’m not buying everyone an ice cream! This is INSANE” He said they could each have one bite and the rest was for him. It made me really sad. It was early and there wasn’t a line at the sunshine terrace, so we grabbed a CM and I paid for 4 more ice creams, and the CM came out and told the family this cute story about how they were chosen for a “magical moment”, and said each kid got a free ice cream. If I remember correctly, they gave the mom and grandparents one as well. And after the CM left, the whole demeanor of this family changed, and the dad was smiling. They looked at DH and I and wanted to share this moment with someone, so we smiled and congratulated them! I then pulled out my little bag of trading pins and offered one to each of the kids to commemorate the moment. (And even gave the dad one, because he wanted one. :roll_eyes:)

Please know, I don’t share these stories to brag…just to inspire. I am always hesitant to share some of the shenanigans I get into, as I never ever want to come across as a braggart. I just find that observing guests around you, it’s what opens up the possibilities to do little magical things. But you really can’t force it, it’s just has to organically happen.

Oh and I don’t just do stuff like this at Disney. we really try to have an “attitude of gratitude” in our house, and are always on the lookout for moments we can do things. It’s really amazing when you observe people what you notice. :wink:

But you have to come back and share your stories after your trip!! Seriously the BEST thing for CMs is a cast compliment. Those go in their file, and they actually get presented with a printed and laminated copy if you send it on Twitter (and wdwtoday will usualky tweet you a photo with the CM holding your cast compliment!!). I actually have one CM, she works at BOG, and I manage to see her EVERY trip now! She’s such a treasure. Jaquetta is her name. If you see her there, just know she is a truly amazing CM. She gives up her days off to work for other CMs who need the time or have kids. I mean, I ADORE HER.

That’s why I always tell people going to WDW, stop and take it all in. You’re in a place of magic, where dreams come true and happily ever after seems possible, no matter what trouble you left at those gates. :grin:

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@JuliaMc - Can you give me the details on tweeting the compliments? How do you identify the cast member? By first name? By location? And just tweet it to WDWtoday?

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I am SO stealing this concept !!! :grin::grin::grin:

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Well…not sure what to write…you brought tears to my eyes…

You must be such a good person. It actually makes me feel better just knowing you exist and it makes me hope there are still a lot of good people in this world. Thank you. :smiley:

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Yeah, I use #castcompliment and I @ wdwtoday. Here’s a sample cast compliment that I sent last week:

Now at Disneyland they often message you back and ask for more details. And they NEVER tweet you back with a photo. Lol.

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Awesome info! Definitely going to do this. Thanks!

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You are way too kind. No, I’m just as terrible as others at times! I too have my moments where I scream at my kids, snap at my husband and grumble about my mother. :joy: It’s been a work in progress to not be so selfish! My husband has been after me for years to chose a family motto, and we just settled on it in the last year, “Seek the Joy”. It’s a daily struggle for everyone in my house, I get short tempered, my DH works an INSANE schedule, we live in two places, and I homeschool the kids. I finally had to quit a job I had because it was making me not so nice when at home, because I was so stressed from being at the office.

Disney has always been an escape and I try to NOT be fussy there. There’s enough fussy guests around me. But transferring that to daily life, it’s a little harder when you have to cook dinner, clean dishes, and keep two households running. My husband sometimes works 16-20 days straight, on a 16/16/8 revolving schedule. Eeks!! So our house can be VERY chaotic!!

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I’m seeing a pattern here. Dad’s behaving badly.

Actually, while your sample is small, I wouldn’t be surprised if this isn’t uncommon with dads. I mean, I remember before I started doing thorough budgeting, how those moments meant to be magical with treats, etc., were times for dad (uh, me) to become Grumpy. This all changed after we started having a completely financed budget for our trips.

So, I think it is just INCREDIBLE of you to spot such moments and turn it around into joy. I also love that you did it behind the scenes in the second case. Love it. I’m going to try to be on the lookout for grumpy dads (and other such moments) in my future trips. Thanks for sharing.

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We have taken glow necklaces/glasses and other glow toys and given them out to the preschool-age kids while waiting for the fireworks.

We debated using our extra quick service meals on dining plan for take-home snacks but then decided to just gift them to a family. So, I hung out at PVH b/c we were nearby and found a family of 4 in line debating the menu. I asked if they would let me pay for their meal with my dining credits. They were a little skeptical but it turns out that was their only restaurant meal in the park their whole three-day trip. They had been bringing lunch/snacks into the park. The kids (around ages 4 and 6) were so excited to get to order a dessert and not have “just water” to drink. Of course, this cost me nothing but was a little magic for them–I’m sure this is pretty common but really I just got lucky in my choice of families to find someone who it actually seemed to matter to (I mean besides just having a random stranger do a nice thing which is awesome anyway).

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Yeah, DH and I notice it too. Hey, I get it, it’s EXPENSIVE! And traveling with small children is not for the faint of heart! It’s hot, they get tired, and you see many family’s staying all day to “maximize” their tickets. Mid-day breaks are vital with kids and grandparents. Or anyone really, especially in Florida! But all liners know this :joy:

I always tell friends “let your husband do stuff on his own or go to the parks without him” if he’s not a Disney nut. It will make your trip so much easier.

There’s a reason why we didn’t go to WDW until this year with the kids! I don’t think DH and I would have survived. :joy: Having one tween and the rest teenagers, we send them off and everyone is happy. We toured with friends in July, with 3 little girls. That was exhausting. Fun, but exhausting. And yes, we saw when dad needed a break, and luckily we were able to make it happen. (And got to give the girls back at the end of the day! LOL)

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I love “pressed penny starter kits”. Small baggies that include $0.51.

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What not to do—do not try to gift people in line for F! (even if the line is a million hours long on a CL8 day) dining package vouchers for the show. They will stare at you like you are handing them hepatitis. True story. We had 6 paper vouchers but only 2 of us were up for returning to the park that night. NO ONE would take them. I started at the back of the line and approached several groups of 2-4. No takers! So, I took all 6 of my passes, walked right past the SB line, up to the entrance, went in, sat down, and watched F! from an uncrowded area with 4 extra passes in my pocket. :slight_smile:

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I guess I can see that. You are in a long line, and someone offers you the passes, it becomes a risk…get out of line and then find out they weren’t ACTUALLY valid (it was a joke or something) and then you lose your place in line.

You probably would do better if you caught people who were not yet in line.

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I had exactly that experience, we weren’t in line and were trying to give them to people walking down Sunset Boulevard towards the theatre, but even the ones who would speak to us wouldn’t take them.

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It seems like people are suspicious when something seems too good to be true. Our church congregation has in the past set aside a day where we all split up and go throughout our town randomly doing nice things for people…buying their groceries or gas, giving out gift cards, paying for meals, etc. Often it took a conversation to get the person to accept the kindness because they were suspicious. I guess, sadly, most people just aren’t accustomed to others doing nice things for them.

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We have the deluxe dining plan and we don’t like puddings so I would like to give these credits away, but I am worried about offending people. Is it possible to do it invisibly with the help of a CM? Are the CMs happy to do this?

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Those are some lovely stories and you sound like such sweet and caring woman. I’m glad to know that there are still really good individuals out there! Your stories brightened up my day!

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This is wonderful! I hope I can find some little ways to work some magic into other guests’ days! I’ve gotten all these little toys and things for my kids, way more than we need (and things we might not even use, like swimmies for the pool)…and now you have me thinking those would make a cute little gift for some unsuspecting boy or girl!

And I think I’m going to have to sign up for Twitter just to send compliments! Unless there is a way to do it through Facebook or Instagram? Same sort of methods? Or can you leave a little thank you card with someone, like a manager?

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