Hands-On Happy: Disney Cast Member Lovin'

After griping about the lines and the prices and the weather, the first thing most people talk about when they return from Disney World is the magic they experienced from a cast member.

Even if they didn't experience any real magic, they'll usually stretch a cast member's errant smile or passive nod into a heart-warming story that primes others to do the same upon their return.

The folks at GrowingUpDisney have no need to embellish because they've each experienced real magic, and in a post published today they share their memories. Chris Ridgeway, for example, once had a long talk with a park security manager about how Disney secures its parks, keeps unwanted folks out, works with local police, etc. All this possibly in preparation for his parachute jump onto the turrets of Cinderella Castle.

Amy Eastman, meanwhile, can't pick a single cast member and so thanks them all, pointing out that she used to be a cast member herself. If GrowingUpDisney were a metaphysical Disney blog, she could have written about her own magical experience delivered to herself by herself. It's a good thing there are no metaphysical Disney blogs. (No, that's not a challenge to create one.)

My children have often been the recipient of cast member kindness. When my son was much younger, he started collecting pins but lost his favorite (Pirate Mickey) in the park. He saw one just like it on the lanyard of a lady working the register at the Pirates of the Caribbean store. He stared at it for a moment, then said to me: "Dad, that looks like the pin I lost". The lady paused, smiled, and gave it to him: "I wondered who lost this pin", she said. To this day, he believes she really did find his pin. That's magic!