Witnessing the Magic For Others Is Just As. . . Magical!

As guests at the Walt Disney World Resort, even as guests on Disney ships, we have had our fair share of magical moments.  And, while no big-extra special-magical moments happened during our Summer 2013 trip, there was more than one occasion when we were right next to the magic happening for other guests. 

We had made reservations at Rose & Crown in the United Kingdom Pavilion at EPCOT one evening.  The plan was to ask for an outside table so that we could watch Illuminations.  It had been raining earlier in the day and the patio had been closed.  Well, imagine our surprise when we were the second family to be seated on the patio when we were shown our table.  How wonderful!

The other table was occupied by a Make-A-Wish family.  As the evening progressed, Cast Members came to the table with the story that Mickey was stuck on the monorail and would not make it to EPCOT in time to start Illuminations.  The child is the family was being asked to start Illuminations in Mickey’s place.  A while later, the Cast Members appeared again; this time with magic wands.  As the start of Illuminations approached, the Cast Members reappeared and counted down to the initial blast for Illuminations which appeared to be created by the magic wands.  After Illuminations, a special dessert arrived along with a certificate commemorating the magic moment. 

Sitting at the next table gave us a great vantage point in which to see and hear all of the happenings.  And, they were just as magical for us. . . being able to witness their family’s magical moment.

Another came during our wet, last morning at Magic Kingdom.  We were wondering how the park opens in the rain—opening ceremony that is.  It was just a few minutes prior to opening and a Cast Member appeared from the tunnel asking for a family with a real camera.  The family covered in orange ponchos right in front of us spoke up and they were whisked away and appeared as the family of the day opening the park.  We were excited for them!

Had we had our noses in a menu or park map, we might have missed all that magic happening right around us.  That is how Disney does it; magic all around and you just never know when and how it will appear.  And when you are nearby and get to witness magical moments for others, the Pixie Dust can land on you too.

My Mom Is My Favorite Princess

There could be multiple titles for this particular post:  “Thank Goodness for Park Hopper” or “The Magic Inside the Magic” or “A Mother’s Day Tribute” as each of them could properly capture part of this story. . .

We headed to ‘Ohana’s for dinner after spending the day touring Animal Kingdom—click here to read about how we got to be the First Family at Animal Kingdom.  We had had a great day and were ready for a great dinner.  ‘Ohana’s, of course, is one of our favorites and a trip wouldn’t quite be complete without a meal here.

When dinner was over, we decided to take the monorail back to the Magic Kingdom and stop in and see the Princesses.  We hadn’t met the Princesses at the Town Square Theater yet, so we decided to give it a try.  Thank goodness for the Park Hopper option on our tickets!

The wait was minimal—20 minutes or so.  Once we traversed the main room with the queue, there was another room with an unfinished ceiling—so not like Disney, and then we filed into the last room where we could see the Princesses from our line.

Soon it was our turn.  Aurora, or Sleeping Beauty was first.  I handed our Photopass card to the first photographer and then proceeded to make sure the pillow case for autographs was ready for each subsequent Princess.  I knew, from watching, that the Photopass photographers and character handlers would pass our card down the line to each Photographer.

I’m so grateful that the boy enjoys meeting all of the Disney characters, including the Princesses.  I think it helps that he has been meeting them since he was a preschooler and that his Dad has a favorite Princess that he doesn’t mind meeting.  I hear about some families with boys who skip the Princesses altogether.  That would make me sad.

Next came Belle.  Belle asked the boy who his favorite Princess was and his response, “My mom is my favorite Princess.”  Well, I didn’t hear him, as I was prepping materials to meet Cinderella, but the Photopass photographer did and she made sure I knew what he had said.  It warmed my heart. . . both what the boy said and that the Photopass photographer made sure I knew it.  I thanked her for telling me.

I thought, what a great response from the boy.  Not only did it give my “mom” ego a boost, but it was very politically correct for the setting.  I mean, he was in the middle of a room full of Disney Princesses and didn’t want to hurt their feelings by picking one over another.  Hence the potential title for the post—A Mother’s Day Tribute.

Cinderella was the final Princess in the house.  The greeting had the right amount of royal regard.  We left the Town Square Theater, exited the park, and made our way back to our resort.

It wasn’t until the next day, that the boy’s answer to Belle made even more magic.  You see, the next day, we returned to the Magic Kingdom and instead of watching the rope drop at the park, we were IN the rope drop show and opened the Magic Kingdom—click here to read more.

To capture all the happenings of the event, a Photopass photographer was on hand, and his name was John.  Somewhere during the photo session before opening the park, there was talk of the Disney Princesses.  I then mentioned that we had met the Princesses the night before at the Town Square Theater and that the boy had told Belle that I was his favorite Princess.

John looked at us and said, “So you were the family.”  Huh?  Turns out that John’s wife was the Photopass photographer who had overheard the boy telling Belle that I was his favorite Princess and had in turn told me.  Then, she told her husband that night when she got home from work and then we end up being picked to open the park and John is photographing us.  What a small world!!!

The whole story gives me goose bumps.  John’s wife must have photographed hundreds of children and families the night before.  For her to tell her husband our story is mindboggling and then for us to be joined with John the next day in such a magical way is beyond coincidental;  it’s magical. 

And, people wonder why we keep going back to Disney.  This story exemplifies one of the many reasons!  It’s not that we expect the same magical things to happen each trip—far from it.  It’s that we know magical things can and do happen.  Are we disappointed if something doesn’t happen?  No way!  We have incredible experiences and make our own magic.

I’m still shaking my head by the serendipity of all of it.  But that’s what Disney magic will do!

We Opened Magic Kingdom--The Conclusion

Magical, memorable, and incredible are the only words that can describe our experience opening Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. 

 Click on the following to catch up on our story:  Part 1,  Part 2,  and Part 3.

You would think that after opening the park that we would move on with our day at the Magic Kingdom with an inflated feeling of “what could be better than this?”  But we were wrong. 

Upon exiting the Train Station, we were greeted by Barbara and a double deck bus!

More photos ensued.

Barbara had us sit in the front of the bus on the top level.  We were driven down Main Street, U.S.A. with the horn honking.

Barbara was announcing, “The Williams Family from Iowa” over the speaker.  Guests and Cast Members were waving from below.

We were driven to the Hub in front of Cinderella’s Castle,

More photos were taken by John, our Photopass photographer, to commemorate the event.

By 9:20 am, we had had the time of our lives.  We said good-bye to Barbara and John and thanked them so much for the incredible experience.  Can you imagine having their job?  Bringing such joy to people every day!

When it was time for us to part, the husband turned to me and said,” Well, we might as well go back to the resort, because the day isn’t going to get any better than this.”  We had definitely hit a “high.”  But that didn’t mean that the magic and spirit of Disney couldn’t continue throughout the rest of our day.  And, indeed it did.

We didn’t return to the resort.  We stayed at the Magic Kingdom for the majority of the day and then took the monorail to EPCOT for dinner.  We used our special Fastpasses given to us earlier that morning for an extra spin on Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin in the middle of the afternoon.  We were recognized throughout the day by people pointing.  The husband was the one who noticed it the most.  He would say, “We just got recognized” as if we had celebrity status of some sort.  I guess we did.

These immersive and special experiences that Disney magically dispenses on guests are truly incredible.  Part of that is their elusive nature.  These experiences cannot be bought or planned for.  They just happen . . . magically.  Our goal is to be open to the magic—no stress, no fretting over park maps and Times Guides, no frustrating decisions about parking or dining, no disagreements about where to go first during park touring, just fun.  Family fun!

We Opened Magic Kingdom--Part 3

Greetings!  If you are just joining our story of opening the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort it may be beneficial to catch up by reading Part 1 and Part 2 of our adventure.

Let’s continue!  After waiting in the Train Station for a few moments the dancing and singing commenced on the platform in front of the station.  It was hard not to dance and sing along!  The train pulled into the station and we waited for our cue.  There was a Cast Member dedicated to helping us.

Then, it happened.  We were told to go.  We heard “The Williams Family from Iowa” being announced to the clamoring crowd below.  We emerged to see them waiting for the Magic Kingdom to open.  We could feel the excitement!

Here's the husband with the Mouse himself!  I love these pictures.  It just shows that there is a kid inside each of us and that we all are young at heart.

We waved, smiled, and counted down until the big moment when the park would open!  There were fireworks, too!

All the time, John, our Photopass photographer was snapping photos of the event.

It was magical!  Magical and memorable!

Then, it was over.  We mad our way back into the Train Station and waved good-bye as the characters and their handlers were positioning themselves throughout Town Square. 

Somehow, we were directed down the ramp and photographed again with the Mayor. 

We continued our walk to exit the Train Station ready to take on the rest of our day at the Magic Kingdom.  But the surprises were not over.  There was more adventure waiting for us!

Click here to read more!  The Conclusion

We Opened Magic Kingdom--Part 2

If you are just joining our story about opening the Magic Kingdom during our most recent Walt Disney World vacation, then please read Part 1.

Okay, you’re back.  After our ride down Main Street, U.S.A. in the red fire truck, we stopped at the Train Station.  Barbara had us exit the truck and head into the Train Station.  She was a bundle of energy the whole time.

Oh, and here’s John our Photopass photographer who still had our Photopass card!

We made our way up the ramp of the Train Station.

This is when we were joined by several other Cast Members and the Mayor.  Soon, they had us gather round for a group photo.

Then we were given directions.  The train would pull in with the characters on board.  The train would stop and when the Mayor introduced us with “The Williams Family from Iowa” we were to go through the train and exit on the platform on the other side.  We were to wave and help countdown until the opening of the park.

Got it.  Now, we just had to wait for a bit in the Train Station.  How exciting!

Here's the rest of the story:  Part 3, and The Conclusion.

We Opened Magic Kingdom--Part 1

On our most recent trip to Walt Disney World we were picked to be the family that opened Magic Kingdom.  Yep, we got to be on the train station platform as we had seen other families times before, wave to the crowd, and countdown the opening of the park.

It was an honor, a privilege, something so incredibly magical that the memory will be emblazoned on us forever.  Here’s how it happened…

The day started with an armadillo sighting.  As we were walking to the bus stop that Tuesday morning, a gray mound shape creature was moving on the ground.  I thought it was a bunny, but as we got closer, the mound had a scale pattern and it scurried under a bush.  This was a sign that the rest of the day was going to be unusual.

Tuesday was our only day to be at Magic Kingdom for the opening.  We had already been to Magic Kingdom on Saturday evening and Monday evening with a possibility of coming back for a portion of the day later in the week, but this was going to be our only day to be at the park for rope drop.

We left the resort room a little ahead of schedule.  I was up before the wake-up call and rousted the boys out of bed when I got out of the shower.  Soon, we were dressed and out the door around 7:30ish for a 9:00 am opening.  The armadillo sighting happened on the way to the bus stop.

When we got to the Magic Kingdom, we headed left once past the bag search, found a spot near the gate and began visiting with a Cast Member.  Soon, she asked us to come with her.  We did.  We were escorted through the gates as our tickets went through the machine.  We were then seated on a bench near the left entrance tunnel.  At this point, I had an inkling of what was up and so did the boy.  But he kept himself in check.  The Cast Member stayed with us and told us stories about some of the other Cast Members working in the area and that soon we would be taken by another Cast Member—Barbara. 

In the meantime, we were given three Fastpasses—one for each of us—that could be used on any Fastpass attraction at the Magic Kingdom over the course of the next few days.  We snapped a picture.

And, had our picture taken in front of the emblem as other guests looked on, as the gates weren't open yet.

Soon Barbara joined us and we were whisked through the tunnel under the train station into Town Square and were asked to be seated on the red Fire Truck. Barbara was our driver and she was full of energy.  We rode down Main Street, U.S.A. horn honking until we met up with the Mayor.

Now, somewhere along the way, John, a Photopass Photographer joined us.  Maybe it was about the same time as we met the Mayor.  John asked us if we had a Photopass card—you bet I did and he asked if he could hold onto it for a while.  What’s our rule at Walt Disney World about what to say anytime a Cast Member asks you a question?  That’s right!  We say, “Yes.”  So, of course I gave John our Photopass card to hold on to. 

Barbara stopped the fire truck in the Hub in front of the Castle and we were told we had a few moments to take pictures in various locations.

We hammed it up in front of the Castle, in and out of the fire truck, and in the Rose Garden next to the Castle.  John was taking photos with his camera and Barbara had our camera to capture the memories for us.  We were smiling ear to ear!

Barbara told us we had to get back in the fire truck so we wouldn’t be late.  Horn honking, we rode back down Main Street, U.S.A. to the Train Station on Town Square. 

This whole time, Barbara was using an analogy of baking a cake and she said, “It was now time to take the cake out of the oven.”  We were ready!

Click here for the rest of the story:  Part 2,  Part 3,  and The Conclusion.