The Magic Is Real!

[miss1180]

How cool! I thought they weren't doing that anymore. Did he get anything special (besides the photos)? We have cute pics of our 3 boys trying to pull out the sword.

apparently they used to a do a little "show" with it... but they don't do that anymore. We had just ridden the carousel and i was just having DS try it for fun... i think we just happened to be there at the right time when the photo pass girl was walking by ( i'm pretty sure they have some kind of control for it...not 100% sure how it works! LOL ) he didn't get anything special-- but it was just fun little thing that trip he got also got to be The Beast in Enchanted Tales with Belle, and the "Rebel Spy" on Star Tours HAHA

 

[kapstar]

During our visit in Feb. 2013, DD (7) had an appointment at the BBB in Cinderella's Castle. She'd had a wonderful experience with a Cinderella makeover a few years before (being greeted by multiple cast members as "Princess" throughout the day, having Cinderella refer to her as "my little twin", so she was excited to repeat the experience. Rather than have my DS (4) get antsy waiting during the makeover, I made an appointment for him at The Pirates League. To my surprise he went full-bore, choosing the Ghost Pirate makeup (where the blackout your whole face and then make a skull) and full costume with dreadlocks coming out of his hat. Skip ahead to meeting back up and DD is just getting to the front of the line to meet Merida. When I arrived with my little "Pirate" in tow, the cast members playing Merida guards screamed and ran for cover as though Blackbeard himself had arrived on stage, sparking a 2 minute impromptu sword fight between my 4 year old and the guards while DD got her photo and autograph. We left to applause for the guards and the pirate from those still waiting to meet Merida.

This spontaneous moment of play was the highlight of our trip and is DS's favorite memory of Disney. We are returning next month and BOTH DD now (10) and DS now (7) have appointments at the Pirates League the morning before we plan to visit Merida. Lord help those guards....

 

[J'Adore Disney]

Thanks for sharing! It is so refreshing to read something positive about Disney on these boards for a change! Lately, most of the boards are rants and whiney complaints!

The magic is VERY real! I feel it every time I go to Disney and shed a tear upon leaving.

 

[farrellbarrel]

These stories are all so beautiful!! Thank you for sharing everyone!

 

[nyrebecca]

The first year we went to Disney as a family was 2005. My son, Jared, was 6 at the time, has Autism, and was non verbal. We weren't sure how it would all go, but boy did he like Winnie the Pooh so we figured even if he just go to meet the big guy we would be great. Our first day there...we walked in, casually strolling down Main Street just soaking it all in. Then he saw it...and stopped....and spoke his first word "Castle...." It was the smallest, softest whisper of a word but if I close my eyes I can still hear it. I still get choked up when I think of it. The magic is most definitely real! I have proof.

 

[DisneyDreamer64]

I took my DD to WDW for the first time when she was 9. Before the trip I was trying to explain about "the magic of Disney" but at her age she wasn't really believing it, even though she was excited about the trip. I brought a big set of Princess jewelry to surprise her at the hotel one morning. She was really excited about that and decided to wear all the rings and necklaces to the park that day. She went to DHS proudly wearing every piece of the jewelry. At one point she noticed a little girl crying about something, and said to me, "Mom, she shouldn't be crying at Disney!" and went straight over to her, took off a ring and gave it to her to cheer her up. It made my girl so happy to see the little child smile that the rest of the day she was looking for unhappy little kids to share her treasured jewelry with. By late afternoon she had given away every single piece of her treasure. I could see she felt so good about creating these magic moments for others and when we stopped for a snack we had a nice talk about how kind she had been and how proud of her I was. She told me that she was too old to believe in magic but she knew little kids still did and she wanted them to be happy. For me to see this type of unselfish, giving behavior from my child was a precious gift. Then, we experienced real Disney magic. We wanted to go on Toy Story Mania before heading back to the hotel but the wait was over 2 hours and we were pretty tired. As we stood outside debating whether to enter the long line or not, a woman walked through the crowd straight over to us, handed us 2 Fast Passes for the ride (when they still were paper), winked and walked away without a word. I will never forget the look on her face at that moment when she realized that Disney Magic IS real!

 

[michelleiada]

And this is why I love Disney so much! Sometimes we have to believe in the magic and make it for ourselves and for others. Some people get it, and some people don't! I'm so glad to be one of those people that gets it and loves it! People often ask why I choose to go to Disney so frequently. I tell them because we love it! They ask "is it the rides?" "Is it the shows?" "Is it the restaurants?". I always say. "No, it's the magic". It's believing that dreams and wishes really do come true.

 

[mdsouth]

My family and were there in January of this year ,it was a rainy day and we were at Disney Springs my wife and I have had Disney Quest passes that were non-expiring.. and we had 4 of them my wife saw a family of 4 in line and they looked a little over whelmed at the prices so we gave them to that family ,, with a great big thank you from them we went along on our way,,

How sweet of you to spread the magic and make that family's day!

(Be warned & accept my apologies for the length) We're a blended family (and rather new at that, only 4yrs). I have no bio children, my DH has a 13yr old DD; (who I'm blessed to feel like my own). Even though she's only been in my life since she was 8, (sappy alert but since true, can't help) I feel like I've loved her all my life. DH divorced when she was a baby (joint custody, but he's the primary parent). On his cop's salary, he never had the $ to takes her. I've always loved Disney but hadn't been in yrs. When we got married, I was determined we were going. With DH's hatred of crowds, he was only going to "endure" it for us. DD didn't seem as into it as I expected. So, I was really the only one excited. Two weeks, blow it out of the water; we had a deal of "one and done". From the moment we started our 1st park day, til the last; it was honestly non stop family magic for ALL 3 of us (not to say perfect, but you roll w/it). By the end of the trip, DH (my crabby no smiling crusty cop) was the one making us stop for more PP pics; smiling ear to ear. AND, he mastered MDE and took charge of our touring! DD and I had both morphed into giggly excited 6yr olds. Our last night, as we stood there watching Wishes together; ALL 3 of us started tearing up. DH put his arms around us, & we ended up in a group hug crying (only 2nd time I've seen him cry). Him telling her he always wanted to bring her, telling me he always wanted a wife to enjoy it with them, her saying she wanted it so long & it finally happened, me saying I have my family now. Then she looks up and says "yes, it's complete now". So, more tears lol. We then had another group hug moment standing in a deserted Main Street watching the last Kiss Goodnight...I started masterminding our 2nd trip on the drive home. Flash forward to a 13 yr old who's now so Disney obsessed, even the boy bands came off the wall for Mickey and Minnie. It's our special "thing" together now. DH even chimes in concerning the planning. AND an AP upgrade with 3 trips on our horizon this year (one being a surprise Bday trip for DD, who won't know til we wake her up in the middle of the night!). That's our family 's Disney Magic....and it's certainly very real to us.

I just had to shed a small tear when I read about your step daughter looking at you and talking about your blended family, "yes, it's complete now"
It is also heartwarming to read about how a guy that dedicates his life to helping and protecting others, who has to be tough to do it -- gave in to the magic and was able to just kick back and enjoy himself at Disney! Please thank you hubby for his work for me!

The first year we went to Disney as a family was 2005. My son, Jared, was 6 at the time, has Autism, and was non verbal. We weren't sure how it would all go, but boy did he like Winnie the Pooh so we figured even if he just go to meet the big guy we would be great. Our first day there...we walked in, casually strolling down Main Street just soaking it all in. Then he saw it...and stopped....and spoke his first word "Castle...." It was the smallest, softest whisper of a word but if I close my eyes I can still hear it. I still get choked up when I think of it. The magic is most definitely real! I have proof.

Oh! This is absolutely magically! And wonderful! My dear nephew has autism and is nonverbal as well. Now, that he is ten, he will from time to time speak one or two words here or there. I would love to take him and my brother's family to Disney. I just know he would love lots of it. Unfortunately, I am unable to do so now. I have only been three times with my own family and the trips have been four years apart, with my last one due to my son's high school band marching in the Magic Kingdom. I am dreaming right now of my next trip that I anticipate in 2017 when my daughter will be going on a band trip. Until then, I am constantly entering sweepstakes in the hopes I can win a trip for my brother's family. He is a minister and so limited money.

I just love to read about all the magic there is.

 

[BobWerner]

My turn:
I was on the bus heading back from MK to POP. It was me a mother and her child (about 7 or 8?). The mother saw my hat and said to her son "do you see his hat? Ask him if Mickey is real." Well I knew where this was going. So I took off my hat showed the boy the signature from Mickey that said "your pal Mickey Mouse." I asked him "who told you Mickey wasn't real?" He said "my friends." I said, "well let me tell you he's definitely real because a long time ago I was a member of the Mickey Mouse club. Mickey knew that and knows I'm his pal. I never have to tell him. That's why he signed my hat this way." The boys eyes lit up and I could see the magic come back. He told his mom "he is real isn't he." Mom says "of course."
As I'm leaving the bus driver stopped me and said, "a little magic from me" and handed me some of the bus collector cards. Yes, I still have them. Yes I spread pixie dust whenever I get the chance.
My hat being signed by Lilo. You can see the Mickey signature.

 

[JJZMgailey]

My turn:
I was on the bus heading back from MK to POP. It was me a mother and her child (about 7 or 8?). The mother saw my hat and said to her son "do you see his hat? Ask him if Mickey is real." Well I knew where this was going. So I took off my hat showed the boy the signature from Mickey that said "your pal Mickey Mouse." I asked him "who told you Mickey wasn't real?" He said "my friends." I said, "well let me tell you he's definitely real because a long time ago I was a member of the Mickey Mouse club. Mickey knew that and knows I'm his pal. I never have to tell him. That's why he signed my hat this way." The boys eyes lit up and I could see the magic come back. He told his mom "he is real isn't he." Mom says "of course."
As I'm leaving the bus driver stopped me and said, "a little magic from me" and handed me some of the bus collector cards. Yes, I still have them. Yes I spread pixie dust whenever I get the chance.

Aww, Bob, I absolutely LOVE this!!! The part with the little boy's eyes lighting up gives me the chills!! That's my favorite!

 

[BobWerner]

Thanks Jackie I heard about this thread on the podcast and had to add that story. It's just one of many that I have. I really do love Walt Disney World. Everytime I walk under the train tracks or hear the whistle I get chills. On the behind our steam engine tour I got to blow the train whistle. You never saw someone turn 8 again so quickly in your life. Even a big kid needs their magic recharged every so often.

 

[JJZMgailey]

You're SO right about us big kids needing their magic too! I love that they let you blow that train whistle!!

I feel like I turn 5 again whenever I walk into the Magic Kingdom. One time we stayed at the Grand Floridian and we could hear the whistle blow from our room. Waking up to that sound was magic!

 

[verleniahall]

Ours is Wishes last year. I have had 13 miscarriages, and I just broke down during Wishes. (Becuase I was wishign on EVERY star that I would keep the last one) - and then someone next to us asked if everything was ok. I told them about my babies - and they understood. They had a balloon that they were just carrying around and handed it to me and told me to send it to heaven to my babies. I have never cried so hard in my life at their kindness.

If you are on here - Thank You again from the bottom of my (still fragile and slightly broken) heart

 

[thedonduck]

I'm bumping this with our story just simply because I think we all need a minute to see some brightness and happiness. This came up on my time hop on FB.

People ask me all the time about why we go to Disney so often (we are locals and try to take the kids at least twice a month, but we usually end up there about once a week). The picture below may not seem like a huge deal to some, but what most don't understand was that when this picture was taken, my son was practically non verbal due to some severe speech disabilities. He had very few words (under 20 at this point which were still VERY hard to understand and some signs/hand gestures).

My son has always had an obsession with trains, planes, rockets, etc. I decided to take the kids on my own to AK while my husband headed to work. The only thing he kept signing was train. So our last attraction for the day was a trip around the Wildlife Express Trail. We had no desire to get off and walk around, but Casen was having so much fun that we stayed on for 3 full circles around. Conductor Ed came up at the Rafaki's stop to make sure we weren't confused or lost. I explained to him that we were fine, my son loves trains and we were just enjoying riding around the track. He said, well this is the last trip back to Africa before closing, so when we got back, just hang tight and he wanted to talk more. Upon our arrival, he took Casen by hand and walked him to the front of the train and let him sit in the conductor seat and blow the whistle a few times. Casen was pretty stoic really not showing any emotion at all (I think he was just so overwhelmed and since he couldn't process and express himself). I'm sure Conductor Ed thought he wasn't that impressed with the whole situation, since he sat up in the chair completely silent, but little did he know he was about to change our world and the very silent world of my son. We took a couple pictures and then said thank you and goodbye to Conductor Ed.

After I stopped at guest relations to fill out a comment card for CM Ed for going above and beyond to try and make my son's day, we headed to the car to drive home. All of a sudden, Casen started saying Momma, momma momma. The rest of the way home, for the first time ever he started making sentences, Momma, me choo choo. Momma me choo-choo, over and over and over for the 35 min drive back to our house. He then asked for Dada, who was at work. I gave him the phone and we called Dada. No joke, my non-verbal kid told his daddy "dada me go on choo-choo; me choo-choo horn at Mickey's" I was absolutely bawling my eyes out listening to that little voice who I had barely heard in the past.

After this day, my husband and I decided that we would continue to go to Disney to see what other kind of "magic" it could work on Casen's speech. Today, this little man is 5.5 and is on target with his vocabulary and we are now using Disney to help work on his fluency and clarity (he goes to talk to a lot of CM's for pin trading, etc.)

It is true what they say, Disney changes lives and has all sorts of magic and pixie dust just waiting to happen. It may be expensive, the crowds may be crazy, people may be rude, your plans may be foiled, but if you take a step back and find the small things, like a ride around the train track, your trip could change your entire outlook on life.

 

[JJZMgailey]

I'm bumping this with our story just simply because I think we all need a minute to see some brightness and happiness. This came up on my time hop on FB.

People ask me all the time about why we go to Disney so often (we are locals and try to take the kids at least twice a month, but we usually end up there about once a week). The picture below may not seem like a huge deal to some, but what most don't understand was that when this picture was taken, my son was practically non verbal due to some severe speech disabilities. He had very few words (under 20 at this point which were still VERY hard to understand and some signs/hand gestures).

My son has always had an obsession with trains, planes, rockets, etc. I decided to take the kids on my own to AK while my husband headed to work. The only thing he kept signing was train. So our last attraction for the day was a trip around the Wildlife Express Trail. We had no desire to get off and walk around, but Casen was having so much fun that we stayed on for 3 full circles around. Conductor Ed came up at the Rafaki's stop to make sure we weren't confused or lost. I explained to him that we were fine, my son loves trains and we were just enjoying riding around the track. He said, well this is the last trip back to Africa before closing, so when we got back, just hang tight and he wanted to talk more. Upon our arrival, he took Casen by hand and walked him to the front of the train and let him sit in the conductor seat and blow the whistle a few times. Casen was pretty stoic really not showing any emotion at all (I think he was just so overwhelmed and since he couldn't process and express himself); I'm sure Conductor Ed thought he wasn't that impressed with the whole situation, since he sat up in the chair completely silent, but little did he know he was about to change our world and the very silent world of my son. We took a couple pictures and then said thank you and goodbye to Conductor Ed.

After I stopped at guest relations to fill out a comment card for CM Ed for go above and beyond to try and make my son's day, we headed to the car to drive home. All of a sudden, Casen started saying Momma, momma momma. The rest of the way home, for the first time every he started making sentences, Momma, me choo choo. Momma me choo-choo, over and over and over for the 35 min drive back to our house. He then asked for Dada, who was at work. I gave him the phone and we called Dada. No joke, my non-verbal kid told his daddy "dada me go on choo-choo; me choo-choo horn at Mickey's" I was absolutely bawling my eyes out listening to that little voice who i had barely heard in the past.

After this day, my husband and I decided that we would continue to go to Disney to see what other kind of "magic" it could work on Casen's speech. Today, this little man is 5.5 and is on target with his vocabulary and we are now using Disney to help work on his fluency and clarity (he goes to talk to a lot of CM's for pin trading, etc.)

It is true what they say, Disney changes lives and has all sorts of magic and pixie dust just waiting to happen. It may be expensive, the crowds may be crazy, people may be rude, your plans may be foiled, but if you take a step back and find the small things, like a ride around the train track, your trip could change your entire outlook on life.

View attachment 175367

Awww! I wish there was a *love* button on here! This is a beautiful story. Thank you so much for coming to share it!

 

[thedonduck]

Awww! I wish there was a *love* button on here! This is a beautiful story. Thank you so much for coming to share it!

I was just going through watching a few podcast that I had missed and thought it was appropriate to post after seeing my FB time hop! Thanks for starting it.

 

[lennyd]

thats a GREAT story

 

[TeresaWen]

When my friend's daughter was four we were in the MK waiting for the fireworks. She looked over to a tree that had some lights in it. She said "that is the tree where the fairies live. See the big one? That is tinker bell". Then she got a bit frustrated. "why does tinker bell not come over here. I want to meet her"

my husband told her that tink was very busy getting ready and that she should make sure she looks up when the show starts.

Amazement when tinker bell flew over us!! Then after the fireworks my husband reached in his pocket and pulled our some confetti he found earlier. Gave it to my friends daughter telling her tinker bell dropped some pixie dust when she was over us!

I still remember her priceless smile!

 

[TeresaWen]

I'm bumping this with our story just simply because I think we all need a minute to see some brightness and happiness. This came up on my time hop on FB.

People ask me all the time about why we go to Disney so often (we are locals and try to take the kids at least twice a month, but we usually end up there about once a week). The picture below may not seem like a huge deal to some, but what most don't understand was that when this picture was taken, my son was practically non verbal due to some severe speech disabilities. He had very few words (under 20 at this point which were still VERY hard to understand and some signs/hand gestures).

My son has always had an obsession with trains, planes, rockets, etc. I decided to take the kids on my own to AK while my husband headed to work. The only thing he kept signing was train. So our last attraction for the day was a trip around the Wildlife Express Trail. We had no desire to get off and walk around, but Casen was having so much fun that we stayed on for 3 full circles around. Conductor Ed came up at the Rafaki's stop to make sure we weren't confused or lost. I explained to him that we were fine, my son loves trains and we were just enjoying riding around the track. He said, well this is the last trip back to Africa before closing, so when we got back, just hang tight and he wanted to talk more. Upon our arrival, he took Casen by hand and walked him to the front of the train and let him sit in the conductor seat and blow the whistle a few times. Casen was pretty stoic really not showing any emotion at all (I think he was just so overwhelmed and since he couldn't process and express himself). I'm sure Conductor Ed thought he wasn't that impressed with the whole situation, since he sat up in the chair completely silent, but little did he know he was about to change our world and the very silent world of my son. We took a couple pictures and then said thank you and goodbye to Conductor Ed.

After I stopped at guest relations to fill out a comment card for CM Ed for going above and beyond to try and make my son's day, we headed to the car to drive home. All of a sudden, Casen started saying Momma, momma momma. The rest of the way home, for the first time ever he started making sentences, Momma, me choo choo. Momma me choo-choo, over and over and over for the 35 min drive back to our house. He then asked for Dada, who was at work. I gave him the phone and we called Dada. No joke, my non-verbal kid told his daddy "dada me go on choo-choo; me choo-choo horn at Mickey's" I was absolutely bawling my eyes out listening to that little voice who I had barely heard in the past.

After this day, my husband and I decided that we would continue to go to Disney to see what other kind of "magic" it could work on Casen's speech. Today, this little man is 5.5 and is on target with his vocabulary and we are now using Disney to help work on his fluency and clarity (he goes to talk to a lot of CM's for pin trading, etc.)

It is true what they say, Disney changes lives and has all sorts of magic and pixie dust just waiting to happen. It may be expensive, the crowds may be crazy, people may be rude, your plans may be foiled, but if you take a step back and find the small things, like a ride around the train track, your trip could change your entire outlook on life.

View attachment 175367

What a beautiful story! Making magic for little ones is an amazing thing. And proof that a little kindness can change the world,

 

[Chrystmasangel]

My story is a little long... but here it is...
I try to teach my kids that there is no room in their lives for Cruelty!Our last trip really let me see how much they are learning.

We went in December 2014. I had them decorate stockings to hang in the windows and had coupons and stocking stuffers for them every morning they woke up. They were just simple little things like glow sticks or journals. Stickers and activity books. (yes, my kids still like those kind of things) The coupons were for things like a free ice cream sundae, or a free snow globe, a Disney shaped snack, or a candy from main street are some examples. Then they could cash them in with me or dad when they found something they really wanted and we could not tell them "no" because they wanted to use their coupon for it. So every morning, when they woke up, they would have all these small little things in their stockings along with their coupons for the day (they got 2 coupons every day).

Now, our first day there, they had decided to get into pin trading. So we got each one of them a lanyard and a starter pack of pins and then told them they could trade with the pins they didn't want. Fast forward to later in the afternoon that same day, my daughter had decided that she was going to collect the steampunk pins and had found a cast member that had the stitch steam punk pin. She was over the moon about this and just couldn't believe she had found it to trade as Stitch was her favorite. We had gone to Grand Floridian to see the ginger bread house and while there, we learned that the M. Mouse Mercantile shop had a pin board and according to the "source" on the monorail we met, they had some rather unique pins, so we promptly headed there and asked if we could see their pin trading boards and the CM asked if there was anything specific that we were looking for, so my daughter reaches down and pulls up her lanyard and finds that her Stitch pin is missing. She immediately gets upset and starts saying we need to go look for it and starts crying. It could have been any where. We had been to Disney Springs, Contemporary, Polly, and then GF...I tried to console her but she was just so upset about this it was her first traded pin... While she was crying, The CM was walking around and then comes up beside her and say's "is this the pin you lost?" and in his hand is the steam punk Stitch pin and the back clasp is off of it. My daughter just looked at him and couldn't believe it... she started crying even more. After she calmed down, she finally started looking at the pin boards and of coarse we have a great conversation with the CM, but while she and my son were browsing the boards, My son silently hits me on the side and points to a small pile of trash on the other side of the register that had the backing of a pin and the pin card in it with no pin inside...My son just looks at me and gets this huge smile on his face, but does not say a word.

The next day, both kids wake up and find their stockings billowing with small little happy goodness. They get their coupons and they ask me to hold on to them so they don't lose them. Today was MK day. First park day. We walk into the park and are meandering down main street in and out of shops and my son say's "Mom...my coupons today, they are for what again?" So I pull them out and 1 was for a free pretzel and the other was for a free mickey bar. So he say's "how much is a mickey bar or a pretzel?" I said well, it depends, but probably about 5-6 bucks depending on what you want. He thinks about it and hands me 2 gift cards and say's "ok, so for my coupons can you just put $5 on each of these gift cards for me?" I said "I can, but why? You have your magic bands if we aren't with you so you can just charge to the room." He said "I thought you couldn't refuse the coupons?" So I did as he asked and put $5 each 2 different girt cards and then gave them to him thinking he had something big in mind that he wanted and was just going to save up the value of the cards to purchase it with his saved money. He asked if he could have his coupons and he put both the coupons and the gift cards in his pocket. Fast forward to later that day. We are sitting on the curb watching people as we are waiting for the Electrical parade. Both the kids have snacks they are eating and then they ask for their glow stuff.(bracelet's, necklaces, earrings, rings, wands) I give it to them and they start asking other adults around them if it is ok for their kids to have some and they start sharing their glow stuff. Proud mom sits and just watches. Then, about 4 people down from us, we hear this little boy start crying. He was maybe 3 or 4. He had tripped and his knees were all scraped up and the palms of his hands were all red. My son got up, walked up to the little boys parents, said something really quiet and then knelt down by the little boy and said "hey, I just came from meeting Mickey. He heard you were hurt and wanted to help but couldn't leave all the other guests, so he asked me if I could give you this!" My son handed this little boy his Mickey Bar coupon and one of the gift cards I had loaded for him and then came and sat back down. That little boy just stopped crying on the spot and just the look he gave my son.... I just sat there.... I was so proud of my son when I figured out what it was he wanted to do with his coupons and gift cards. My daughter then did the same thing. There were some they couldn't do that with... but all their little snacks and trinkets...they would figure out the average cost, have me load it to a gift card and then present it to a child to spread their own magic. When I asked my son about this later... he said " I wanted to do for other people what that CM did for Savannah (his sister) when she lost her pin. "