Walt Disney World Ex-Character Stories

[Corbisblue]

I'm not sure how many of you read reddit, but there is a subreddit where people post things such as "IAmA something something AMA". Which stands for "I am a 'something something', ask me anything".

A Disney employee was answering questions about being an ex-character performer. Now whether this is true or not, who knows. But there was one story they posted that made me ball my eyes out. It's so heart warming and this shows the power of Disney.

Ok well I've been trying to decide between a few but I'll go with this one.

At the end of my last day of training we were told to stay in costume and that we had a VIP to come and do a meet and greet. Me and the rest of my training group (probably around 11 people) begrudgingly hung around drenched in sweat and exhausted wondering who we'd be seeing.

A cute and shy 7 year old brunette girl came in with a 50 something older woman. She didn't say anything but went around and gave us all hugs and high fives and the like, occasionally flashing a small timid smile. after a couple pictures she just turned to us and said "Thank you for playing with me." Immediately after she said this the older woman began bawling and they were escorted out of the room. We were all pretty perplexed and a little freaked out by the whole thing.

When out trainer came back she said "Ok, so heres the deal" and explained to us what just happened. Apparently the little girl was in a car accident 3 years earlier. Her father was driving and her younger sister and brother were in the back seat. Her younger siblings were killed but her and her father survived. A year later her father killed himself because of the grief and guilt from feeling responsible for killing his children. Shortly after her mother was committed to a mental institution. The little girl had been given to her grandmother and was undergoing counseling. "Thank you for playing with me." were the first words she said in the 2 years since her father killed himself.

so yeah... I'm typing through tears right now. Telling the story always gets me. In that moment I realized my ****ty menial and low paying job could really be of some consequence, if only to a few people.

Source.

And if you want to read other threads similar to this there's one about a Disneyland Cast Member.

Just as a fair warning this may ruin some of the magic for you, they don't give away any trade secrets but things that may take the magic away for you. So read at your own risk.

I absolutely love these threads.

 

[Corbisblue]

Here's another reply from a girl that played Alice. It made me bawl.

yes lots of children really believe it and thats what made it special. the best cute kid story is a make a wish girl i met. she was 6 years old and almost blind from her condition, but she could see if you were close enough. i spent hours with her on 3 different days that she was there, the last day the mother was sobbing and telling me how i was her daughters angel and how they were so happy she got to see me before she lost all sight. she asked if alice could join them at the character dinner. in wonderful disney fashion my managers said NO, alice could not extend her hours into character dining. so i said **** it, got out of costume, went and bought her an alice doll and went to the dinner as myself to give her the doll. i figured she was almost blind and would have no clue i was alice without all the blue. i approached the mother at dinner who instantly started bawling and hugging me, i gave the little girl the alice doll and told her i was alices friend. i gave the mother my contact info and kept in touch with the family. the little girl passed away shortly after but the mother sent me a beautiful photo of her daughter and i walking down a path holding hands. she also sent me a silver angel that hangs on my wall. i was told they buried her with the alice doll. i cry thinking about it, but im glad i have those memories. there are SO many more amazing stories but that is my favorite.

EDIT: figured i could show this since my face is not in it http://imgur.com/rGN4E.jpg (FIXED) it stays on my fridge. :]

EDIT: i thought id toss this story up here for those who dont feel like scrolling down to find another nice story. its down there but this will make it easier. perhaps someday i'll write all my experiences like these but for now, heres one more

--its a beautiful thought but one that makes me cry if i think about it too much. there are a few children i met over the years that have that effect. there was a boy too i met who was 7 and was autistic. so i just sat with him and sang him a song from alice in wonderland since his mom told me it was his favorite movie and he watched it 20 times a day (most autistic children latch onto a movie like that) well when i was done singing the song he yelled "ALICE" and hugged me. then his mom started screaming and crying and i had to ask her what was wrong and it was at that point she had told me he had never said a word in his life and that was his first. i had to leave shortly after because of how powerful it was. i probably cried backstage for about 20 min. ive worked with autistic children in my past and i just knew that one word meant SO much to that mother, to hear her sons voice. like i said there are SO many stories like this. its one of the reasons i may go back, i know i changed some lives.

Source

 

[glenpreece]

wow thanks for sharing those, they are wonderful stories

 

[wallyb]

 

[Frenchmickey]

I agree with you glen, they are wonderful stories !! When I read them I was about to cry !!!

 

[YukiPhnx]

Oh my gosh....I'm so close to tears but I just can't cry at work. Thank you so much for sharing

 

[Corbisblue]

Reading these stories made me want to watch Alice in Wonderland (original cartoon), so that's what I did. I forgot how messed up it is. I still love it!

 

[OKW Lover]

We all know that Disney is a magical place, but sometimes its nice to hear these stories to keep us from becoming jaded.

 

[safetymom]

Those are wonderful stories. Magic does happen at the parks. Thank you CM's.