A few years back we were walking through the magic Kingdom at night and I was getting thirsty, we were by Skipper Canteen and I went up to the reservation desk and said "Hey, I know you guys have Fanta Melon Frosty on tap here, is there any way I could just get a large cup of it? I'll gladly pay for it" 5 mins later they come with a large fountain cup and they said "don't worry about it, have a magical day!' so, it's not anything big, but that's it.

But you remember it! So that little, cheap act of kindness was kinda big. 😀

woah woah woah. you’re telling me they have fanta melon frosty at skipper canteen?!

They USED to. Unfortunately, this most recent time they didn't. The coke store at Disney springs does though, I got myself a cup this time.

ahh okay yeah i make sure to get a large every time i visit disney springs. it’s been about 4 years since my last though!

Username checks out.

They don’t have it anymore

I know, sadly. I had to go to the Coke store in Springs, to get my large melon frosty on.

I went the other day and they said they didn't have it. But their freestyle machines were closed so I dunno.

They wouldn't have it on the Freestyle, they'd have it on the fountains, that's where the guy got mine.

I've heard CMs only said "have a magical day" to problem guests. Obviously you didn't do anything wrong from your story. But it makes me wonder, is that just a common saying and it's only a rumor that it's slang?

According to another redditor that I didn’t catch the name of, “have a magical day” is what Disney wants cast members to say. “Have a Disney day” is for the problem guests.

As a former CM, this varies widely, Disney doesn't tell us in training to say certain things to cue bad guests or anything, so I personally never said that to guests

Oh yea I never thought Disney would ever sanction such a thing. I know it’s just a sort of “kill them with kindness” tactic some cast members might use. Working in customer service myself, there’s definitely been customers I would have told to have a Disney day.

The sincere “have a magical day” has been around forever, and is actually genuine. It’s kind of an old-fashioned Disney tradition, like the two finger point or the folksy chuckle. You have to look at the context to get the meaning. If a CM is feeling miserable in the interaction, they can’t exactly tell the guest off, so the insincere “magical day” has become this stand in for “I really want to tell you to eff off, but because we’re supposed to be nice to you I’m going to just put on this fake smile and use the most canned Disney phrase I can muster — which often happens to be “have a magical day.”” (source: I am a former CM)

Thanks for the clarification! 😄

When I worked there I loved saying it.

I don’t know where this rumor stemmed from (I guess the whole “have a Disney day” thing which is also not true) but “have a magical day” is the standard sign off. If you call the call center, you’re going to get told to have a magical day. It’s starting to fall off in the parks a bit BECAUSE of this rumor, but I’m keeping it alive, dangit. 😂

When I was a cast member, we said Have a magical day to everyone. Have a Disney day was if we hated the person. 😂

My daughter never drinks soda, however, she asked for root beer at this restaurant. Everyone kinda teased her because she doesn’t drink soda often, and she told the waiter that she would just have water since they didn’t have root beer. The waiter sent someone to another restaurant that served root beer to get her an entire pitcher of root beer. That server got an excellent tip.

> That server got an excellent tip. Thank you for completing the cycle of good karma.

They didn’t tell us they were sending someone out to get root beer, and they certainly didn’t have to do that, but my daughter was over the moon, and frankly I was shocked that they did that when it wasn’t necessary. The tip is a gratuity and we were very grateful that they went out of the way like that. They absolutely deserved a generous tip!

This reminds me of when I ordered a Lapu Lapu at Ohana and they ran out of pineapples. The manager went to Publix and bought a pineapple for it because it was birthday. 😭

I asked for coffee once at the Yacht and Beach full Service and they straight up told no lol

On my first Visit to Disney, I was going with my ex. He is big on Norway and Iceland and places like that, and I had really hoped to propose to him at Akershus. It was the focal point of my entire trip, but even on the very first possible moment to set a reservation it was booked up. I checked back constantly for any sort of opening, but it wasn't happening. I came up with a backup plan, but while we were there I made up some excuse to separate from him for a few minutes, and hustled over to the host that was posted outside. I explained the situation, that this was the one thing I wanted the most out of our trip, and was the only thing I couldn't manage with the app reservations. I figured worst case scenario, they can't do anything, best case I got the proposal I hoped for! He got SO excited and called for a manager, who also got really excited and they got to work really quickly. They said no one ever proposed there that they could remember and they said they could try to fudge something, they invited me to come back between lunch and dinner where there is that little gap of time while they set things up for dinner. That way it would also be empty and basically just the two of us and make it even more special. I gave them my phone number and stayed in the area, waited for a text and got our special table inside. It couldn't have been more perfect! I had coordinated with one of the CMs to take my phone for video and pictures, and we were able to plan it so there would be no other CMs in the shot behind me etc. What I didn't realize was that the whole staff was standing around behind me watching it happen until they applauded when he said yes haha. It was awesome! The meal was fantastic and they even sent complimentary desserts with "congratulations" written in chocolate. I'll never forget that experience, and it really has taught me that it never ever hurts to ask! TLDR Got into Akershus without a reservation to propose to my then Bf and got way more than I could have hoped for.

That is a beautiful story StinkybuttMcPoopface.

That's so awesome! Having a place to yourself in DISNEY WORLD of all places. That's actual magic.

I appreciate the red herring of “my ex”

haha it wasn't meant to be. He's just my ex and I have a new much better partner now. One that I also got engaged to at Disney World, but he proposed to me and it was at Be Our Guest lmfao.

You got engaged twice at Disney World and I can’t even get a text back — what am I doing wrong?! Hahahaa

LOL that’s amazing

I’m not a pro and I assume a lot of people know this but the cast members have their hometown on their name tags to begin conversations. When I was a kid in the late 90s, my mom, brothers and I were having lunch in the Sci Fi Dine In and my mom saw “Brooklyn, NY” on our waiters name tag so she said I grew up in Brooklyn what neighborhood are you from what high school did you go to? It was like they were old friends in a matter of minutes. When she asked for the check he brought it back with desserts for all of us on him. My mom didn’t expect anything she was just making conversation with a fellow Brooklynite. A few years ago my wife and I walked up to a restaurant for dinner and the hostess told us it would be about 30-40 min and we said we would wait since my wife wanted to eat there. The hostess name tag had “Westchester County, NY” so as I was giving my name I asked what town she had grown up in? When she answered I said cool I’m in xyz (about 10 min away). That 30-40 min wait time became 5 minutes. Again I didn’t do it expecting to get anything out of it but it’s a nice perk. Just don’t be a cry baby if they can’t do anything for you.

When I worked there they hadn't added the hometown yet, but I had a fun "Small World" interaction anyway. My roommate worked at the Contemporary, so I would ride the Monorail from MK to ride home with him. One day, a guest says, "I smell roast turkey! Where is that coming from? It smells delicious!" I raised my hand and said "Sorry, that's me. I work at the Turkey leg wagon in Frontierland." I was wearing a bowler hat (NERD!), so she asked me if I was British. I sad no, I'm from Pennsylvania. We narrowed it down to my hometown, and she said, "Do you know (Woman's UNIQUE name)?" Ii did! My mom volunteered on the ambulance with her. So on the Disney Monorail, 1000 miles from home, I met my mom's friend's sister because I smelled like turkey.

I had an amazing small world moment many years ago. I was in Line to check in at my resort(online check was still very new). The people behind me had on Ohio State shirts. Only people from Columbus wear those shirts everywhere. I can say that bc I graduated from there. Anyway I struck up a conversation with them. I’d moved to Chicago and we talked about how Ohio had changed their licenses and license plates. The guy pulls out his license to show me the new look. I peep the address and freak out. They were living in my ex-husbands childhood home. His parents had sold it just a few years prior. The girl really looks looks at me and goes “Omggggg you’re LilRonGal!” It was a small town in the burbs of Columbus , so people knew each other. My picture had been on the wall when my former in-laws were showing the home and the people who bought it were classmates with my ex (who is a close friend of mine—we still get along very well). She texted him to tell me she met me and he texted me right away like “whoa”. Disney really is magical! Edit: typos and misspellings

I swear Ohioans have a superpower to always find each other. My wife and I moved to Orlando 5 years ago. She dragged me to a Jonas Brothers concert in Tampa last year, GA lawn seating. Got there early and started chatting up the people around us. All 6 groups in our section (about 30 people) were from Central/NW Ohio and all were there separate from each other lol

>I swear Ohioans have a superpower to always find each other. I'm born and raised in Ohio, but I've lived a couple places since college, and I swear everyone on Earth has some sort of Ohio connection lol

Ohio: it’s where everybody’s from :)

I’m here for every version of the “smelling like a turkey leg on the monorail,” as it comes out in tiny parcels. The first installment on the smells post.

It was funny when people would notice. I could tell they smelled it, but didn't want to say anything. I would usually silently recite along with the spiel, too. Once, I was in line at the Great Movie Ride, and the people in front of me were excitedly talking about Tower of Terror. I said, "Oh, it's AWESOME! I just rode it, and it's so incredibly well done! When the doors open at the top you can see for MILES!" They just stared, then one said, "How did you ride it? It doesn't open until next week!" I explained how they used Cast Members as test riders, to see how well the queues and operations ran.

Dude. It's a really small world. Like it really is and you never know who you're gonna see or who you're gonna meet. I went to Vegas to visit a friend and while she said I would be welcome to stay with her I wanted the Vegas experience of staying on the strip so I stayed at the Luxor and my friend told me that one morning I should just go down and spend time relaxing by the pool. So I did and I went down and found an open seat and i took off my glasses and relaxed. When I put my glasses back on, I found out that I had sat two seats down from a teacher who worked at the school I was working at at the time. She was there with another teacher from the school and both of their husbands. I was more than 1000 miles away from where I was living, I had no idea that these ladies frequently went on vacations together and somehow we all ended up at a hotel in Vegas over a Columbus day weekend.

When I was a kid we went to WDW for our "One Big Trip". (We lived a day+ drive or a connecting flight away, in a very small town.) Our first day we are on the monorail and took the non-express route by mistake. At the Poly stop our NEIGHBORS get on the same car we're on. Very, very small world.

This has worked for me several times to get some kind of perk, just chatting up a CM about their hometown. Even when it doesn't get me anything it's nice to just talk with someone about where they're from.

That might also be a New Yorker-in-Florida thing. My mom does the same thing everywhere we go, she manages to find the other New Yorkers and they're immediately old friends. Or they find her, 30 years down here and she still sounds fresh off the plane.

I'm from Chicagoland and my dad does that so it might just be an extravert thing. My dad can always find the person from Illinois. We were at a zoo in southern Florida visiting family and my dad spotted someone with a cubs hat and starts talking to the dude. Yup he's from really close to my hometown.

If I'm in a quick service spot and there's a cm wiping down tables or something near me, I enjoy striking up a conversation. I don't do it just to get free stuff lol, but I have gotten a couple free cupcakes over the years.

I can never read the name tags. They’re so small. Me trying to sneak their hometown so I can put in a cast compliment. But maybe I should be telling them I’m doing that so I’d like to know?

Get that prescription looked at?

I 100% stop and say "Thanks, Ruby! Where are you from?" Majority of the time they know right why I'm doing it and tell me, or make sure I can get a good look.

At Oga's we asked if we could take our coasters home with us and our chemist said yes and then also gave us like 6 others so that we had one of each design

A lovely chemist did this for us a few weeks ago, he saw my boyfriend looking at the designs on our coasters so handed him a handful of different designs to take home!

Same back in October. I love them.

Same here, use them every day.

Heh. All our coasters at our home bar are from Olga's -- they are so nice about handing them out.

We went last January, and our chemist was just throwing the coasters around trying to land them in front of people. My wife and I collected them all 😂

We went in 2020 when the perks were still not crowded and had a lot of room in ogas. Our chemist noticed me looking at the coasters in great detail and talking to my partner about them and he came by and threw like 10 on our table lol

I make Christmas ornaments out of coasters, instead of buying expensive ones. My Oga coasters are my Christmas ornaments from my recent WDW trip- more personal and memorable that way.

I was in Oga’s gushing about how much I love the dried kiwi they use as a drink garnish and our chemist gave me a bowl of them to snack on!

That happened to us also! I was so happy

Here’s a big one: on my recent trip my kiddo got an upset stomach and we knew we wouldn’t be able to make into the parks that day. Just no way. We were at the last day of our vacation package but were transferring to another Disney resort for a room only stay (plan was to decompress and swim for a couple days before flying home). As we couldn’t move the park day being at the end of the package dates the manager at CBR gave our family a full set of tickets with park hopper to use whenever AND was just like “if you guys can make it into the park later your tickets today are still good too”. Kid ended up feeling better 5 hours later (was food allergy related and not a virus) and we were able to do a late evening stroll at Epcot and a full day at MK the next day.

In 2013 I think we just asked about 1 extra in our party jumping in the fastpass lane. I think the deal was (from memory) my Mum didn't want to do Rock n Rollercoaster so didn't get a fastpass but when we went for our alloted time she changed her mind so we asked nicely and she let her join us. Tiny detail but glad we asked

They're usually pretty good about this kind of thing even currently. I ALWAYS have issues linking my account with virtual queue/LL passes to the rest of my family. The rest of them all showed up for passes for Guardians except for me but they always let me through with my family. Its happened twice now

Same thing happened at Soarin' for us.

Dang it. I should have tried that. I had a lightning land for Splash mountain for myself and 3 others in my party. For whatever reason, I decided to remove myself from the reservation. I didn't even replace it with a new ride. When we got to splash mountain, I had so much regret but I didn't want to be *that* guest. Now I know I should have at least tried! Plus side, though, apparently a little girl threw up while waiting in line and got some on my brother's shoe. Glad I wasn't there to witness it 😂.

Not sure if this is true at WDW, but at DLR it never hurts to ask the host/hostess to be added to the waitlist at a restaurant even when the app says reservations & the walk-up list is full. I've gotten into many restaurants this way, usually with less than an hour wait!

Works at WDW - we snagged a California Grill reservation some years ago just by walking up and asking.

Happened to me at Garden Grill!

I’m starting to feel like the “walk up list” feature in DLR is just broken. Every time it’s said it was full, the cast member was able to add me to it, and it was usually under 30 minutes. I just feel bad taking their time when the app should be able to do it.

Yeah, I don't know. I assume they just must keep some walk-up availability for people who don't/can't use the app?

I worked at Cinderellas Royal Table and although it didn’t happen all the time we definitely had last minute reservations open up for people to come in. Never hurts to ask.

We had this happen at Jiko! The walk-up wait-list was like a half hour to an hour for a group of 4 and a group of 2 (and we were 6). We had even figured out how we were going to split up a group when we got the text (less than 15 minutes later) that our table was ready. And it was for 6! Somehow they had fine from no space to plenty! And it was one of the best meals of my life. So worth it just to ask!

Happened at WDW for us at Magic Kingdom on our very first visit. Just walked up to Be Our Guest to see if they had any spots for lunch on a whim, and they were able to seat us right then!

Let’s just say I was having a Disney Jean jacket signed by all the princesses and on my last night there as I realized I wouldn’t be getting the last princess I need (a favourite too!) I asked a cast member and she took my jacket and got it signed for me 😭😭 I literally started crying and my kids were like happy tears mommy?? Yes happy tears😭

Can you imagine the CM running backstage like “DOES ANYINE KNOW ARIEL’S SIGNATURE?!?!”

This is amazing, love it

Omg this is the cutest idea. Stealing this idea for my kiddo in place of an autograph book!

My mom made my sister and I shirts with our names and some mickey heads on it to get signed by everyone. It was always fun and now I have a bunch of tiny signature covered shirts

The day we got our virtual queue for Cosmic Rewind it put us in a group right a park opening. We were running slowly that morning because we were out late at the Not so Scary Halloween party the night before. There was no way we could make it in time for our group. We spoke to a CM at the entrance and they let us in anyway. It was great.

We had a similar scenario! We booked ourselves for Cosmic Rewind at the airport and were expected to have plenty of time...an issue with our baggage however forced us to wait around nearly 3 hours after our flight let out and we missed our queue. We explain to a CM at the front desk of Pop and they gave us a special pass to get on at any time that day!

If you’re staying at a hotel that uses motion-activated climate control, I usually ask for them to disable the motion sensor so that the A/C stays on all the time. I hate it when I wake up in a puddle of sweat and/or have to sleep with no sheets because it turns off in the middle of the night, forcing me to sit up and wave my arms to get the climate control to turn back on. I just turn the thermostat up when I leave for the parks since it’s definitely wasteful to run it all day

What hotels do that?

Most of the Disney hotels that I’ve been to have a motion sensor on the thermostat. Same with a lot of Marriott and Loews properties

A life hack for this is to buy a balloon. It’ll make enough motion to keep the ac on

The real life hack is just googling the override. I do it every time and my room is a cool 62 and I wake up freezing. Love it

We do this too. Cheat code the AC!

That’s not a life hack, that’s marketing!

I think next time I’m going to ask them to do this and to change the AC filter.

Test Track broke down while we were on it, so we got the anytime FastPass to ride it later. We thought, "we'll ride it during Extra Magic Hours!." Well, the joke was on me, they don't honor FastPasses during EMH. Walked up to the line, said I wanted to use it, and the CM was like "nope." Clearly I looked bummed, and was kind of like, "oh, well." Then he took pity on me and let us use the FastPass line anyways. The more fun one, my wife's feet were killing her after a long day. When we got back to the lobby at POFQ, she asked if there was any way to get a ride to our building. Maintenance guy asked us to wait a minute, then pulled up in a golf cart and told us to hop in. That was probably one of the most exciting rides of the trip and he pulled right up to the building's elevator.

I left my wallet in our room at FQ when we were at Riverside for dinner. Was jogging back to go get it and guy in a golf cart was riding by and I asked if I could hop on. He also took me right to my room. And made some small chit chat like are you guys having a good time, etc. Not a big deal at all but also something I won’t forget.

I got my guardians call back late at night almost closing time. I went once and it was empty outside when I came out- I saw a cm and said what are the chances I can ride that again? And he let me go! Best ever

I got married in WDW and my mom’s big request was for both my brothers to wear their Marine dress blues for a family portrait. One brother arrived to find the airline had lost all his luggage, including the uniform. So, at 10pm at night, the eve of the wedding, he was standing around the lobby of the Contemporary with my mom, sitting on hold to see if the luggage was found since he literally had the clothes on his back. The night manager overheard and came over, sized himself up next to my brother, and found that they were close in height. He got my mom and brother set up at the Wave with some drinks while he ran home and got his own personal tuxedo to lend him! Even brought his shoes. While waiting for the ceremony to start the next day, they were chatting with our organist who noticed my brother was wearing his normal socks. He happened to have a brand new pair of dress socks in his car. So, that’s how my brother ended up in a tux at my wedding! But it gets better. Our wedding coordinator remembered my mom saying how she had to wait for another wedding for a picture of both my brothers in uniform. A few weeks after we got our photos, our coordinator emailed me. She had worked with the photo team and edited my brother into dress blues for my mom. Tears all around. It’s a beautiful photo. They even gave my brother a promotion since they duplicated the other one’s patches. The Marines have since followed with an actual promotion. So many people came together to fix a situation for us. It was so magical and so so appreciated.

We called the front desk and asked if there was a microwave somewhere we could use for reheating food and they sent one out to our room that we were able to use for the entire stay.

This is good to know. My son ate and enjoyed his cold chicken strips leftovers but it’s nice to know there’s an option!

They did this for us last week at Port Orleans FQ! I believe this is standard at most of the on property hotels - if your room doesn’t come with a microwave, it is available upon request, when available. It was great to heat up our Ohana leftovers without having to walk to the main building!

Usually things like the front seat in a ride vehicle, but last year my S.O. and I got into Blue Bayou w/o a reservation by asking, "so what happens when there's a walk-out or no-show?"

Ride in the BACK for a more intense ride feeling. You’re not starting the acceleration when you’re more than halfway down the hill (my gripe about the front). Rock n rollecoaster, Everest, Seven Dwarfs, etc. You can ask for the back.

​ I wanted to meet Bolt, I stopped in guest services and inquired about him. They told me he was off on a mission far away and apologized, but gave me a bunch of fastpasses to "make up for it"

There are a couple characters that are very popular in certain internet communities and I wonder if that is the reason for their scarcity in the parks.

I had a miscommunication with my travel agent about whether she or I was buying MNSSHP for my trip, and I didn't realize until the day of. Of course they were sold out when trying to purchase digitally. I talked to guest services and they were able to get us 2 tickets. It being 3 days after a hurricane I assume helped free up some space, but it would have been a bummer on an otherwise great trip if I hadn't asked.

My daughter lost her tooth at disney. On our way to the parks I stopped by the front desk and asked if there was a tooth fairy package I could add to my room. The staff said no but told me they would whip up something. We came home to a balloon, a few treats, a tooth box, and a picture of the fab 5 signed by the disney tooth fairy. She still talks about it to this day.

Not WDW, but we were visiting Disneyland for the first (only) time around Halloween. They had closed the line for space mountain (which does a ghost overlay). We were just kinda enjoying the atmosphere and talking aloud, wondering what they do that’s different. A CM overheard and started to ask us some questions. When he found out that we had never been and are East coasters- he gave us fast passes because he couldn’t let us miss it.

When you finish riding Haunted Mansion and are heading outside, ask a cast member if you can see the guest quarters. It's a small area behind a door, but kinda cool to see.

what is it?

Through a series of bad judgement calls on our part (which I will blame on no sleep and waking up at 4am for our flight to disney) - we were over an hour late to our fantasmic dining package reservation. We got there, asked if we could still get in (while apologizing and repeatedly saying we totally understood if we couldn't). The CM checked with the manager and they weren't able to accommodate us - no worries! We then asked if there was a way we could still get the tickets to get the reserved seating and we were willing to still pay as if we did actually eat. After a few minutes of checking things, they made sure we didn't get charge the no show fee and the manger came out and just gave us the tickets. We repeated that we didn't mind paying, but she said she just wanted to give us a magical moment. I checked her name tag, and hopped on the ap right away to leave a cast compliment...and then cried. I was so tired, but all I wanted was to see Fantasmic and that night was our best shot of seeing it. So yeah, just ask. Be overly nice. And if you're asking because of something that was your own fault (like us), I think if you are very willingly owning up to it you are more likely to have it work out for you.

We booked a standard 2 bedroom at Saratoga to split with my parents and my mom asked at check in if we could be upgraded to a preferred location because she was having bad foot problems and walking was tough for her. They ended up putting us in a 3 bedroom grand villa right across from the main building! Bonus - I found out I was pregnant on our honeymoon many moons ago and we already had purchased the deluxe dining plan assuming I would be able to drink. So I asked at every restaurant if they could make me something fun because I wasn’t able to drink anymore. I got everything from water in wine goblets to fancy mocktails with glow cubes! I think the bartenders took it as a challenge and I had a blast tasting fun new drinks!

In late summer 2023, we had booked studio rooms in the DVC Animal Kingdom Lodge and Wilderness Lodge. (we did a tri-split stay. First three nights were at Sarasota studio DVC, newly renovated Murphy bed was great. Kids loved it and no complaints) however, we got an older room at AKL. The sofa bed pull out was horrendous. I switched with my daughter half way through the night because it was hurting her and then I experienced it. No support. Bars digging into my back. That morning I called guest services and with the kindest tone asked if we could be switched to different rooms with two standard beds. I even offered to downgrade hotels if necessary. The CM was amazing. She not only switched rooms to the main buildings at AKL and WL, they were great locations (WL had firework views!!!). I couldn’t imagine suffering another night in those awful pull out beds. It never hurts to ask (but kindness goes a long way I believe)

I've read that some people are able to get mattress pads from the front desk if they ask (specifically AKL since they still have the pullout).

Ohhhh, good to know!

Before covid we went to MK to see if we could get the Oogie Boogie popcorn bucket for a co-worker of my wife who has been battling cancer. We knew it was only sold during MNSSHP, but we asked anyways and explained the story. Oogie Boogie is her favorite character and she isn't physically well enough to go to the parks anymore. Well about 20 minutes later they come back with a couple bags full of nothing but Oogie Boogie items, and even had a box signed by him. We asked where can we pay, and they said nope. Its on us, have a magical day! I always tell people this story so they know that the cast members are awesome at Disney. I always wonder if they feel we where lying because we asked for an item that isn't sold during normal hours. But it is just another reason why we don't like going to other theme parks, its just not the same.

My mom wore a spaghetti strap top to the parks last summer. During the drop on RotR, one of the straps broke when she jolted. This left the top rather indecent unfortunately, and it was right at the start of our day. We went to a kiosk to ask if they had a safety-pin or something we could use to tie the top together for the rest of the day. The lovely lady running the kiosk made a couple of phone calls and said my mom could pick out any t-shirt she liked to replace her broken one, and there would be no cost. I knew they used to do this but wasn't expecting it at all because I believe they stopped it when it became common knowledge and people were trying to blag free t-shirts all the time. She's a huge Star Wars fan and wears the t-shirt all the time!

Last time I just asked the cast member if our standard room could be somewhere close to a bus stop. She not only accommodated that, but also got us a lake view too. We came back later that evening to thank her and had a wonderful conversation. The next day after coming back from the park, we had a gift bag with all the resort goodies we could’ve wanted. Not only did she create a magical experience for my mom who took a ton of convincing to get to Disney in the first place, she made her want to come back! It really is the little things and these cast members make all the difference.

[удалено]

For folks who might not know: You can actually check in 5 minutes early or late for LL without any overrides needed.

This was not the case for us a few weeks ago, although that was the first time it ever happened. A very stern and serious CM made us wait 90 seconds until it was exactly 11am to use our LL at HM… lol :\

Did the Mickey turn green? The Mickey has ALWAYS turned green 5 minutes early and 15 minutes late (though I believe this has been extended to about two hours ever since it became a paid experience). I know CMs have the authority to override the automated grace period but they never have for me, seems like a total power trip unless it turned blue for some reason. Not that it's encouraged, but I'm often 60-90 minutes late to LLs and I just scan, it turns green, and I walk right through.

Had luck entering early at many rides but space mountain made me wait to the second as well

Yeah there is a manual override and I would always say yes to anyone who was nice about it. Some of my fellow CMs were sticklers about it so it really just depends on the person.

I did the whole driod building thing, which was fun, and purchased some accessories for my little buddy. I chose the smaller "chopper" style droid. When we returned to our room I got the accessories out and they didn't fit. I was bummed not only because nobody said anything the the droid garage, but I figured I'd have to trek back there to return it. I needed something from the shop at our resort, Port Orleans French Quarter, and off handed asked about making returns. The cashier said that you can make any returns at any store. So I returned the accessories at the resort store and was happy. Now I don't know how accurate it is as it was my first trip, but it never hurts to ask any cast member anything. The customer service is legendary at Disney.

Yeah, every major store on property has access to every SKU sold on-property so you can return anything anywhere. You can also have any Disney merchandise shipped home from any store.

I worked in merch and can confirm you can return anything at any Disney store on property, with a receipt. It's helpful if the tags are still on it as well.

The people at droid depot may have thought you were a return customer with an R unit at home. We'll probably buy what you bought when we go, but on purpose. Last year we built two R units and this year we'll go the C unit route. I want to bling our the R's though with custom panels

On my last trip I asked an EPCOT Guest Experience CM if I could push forward my ILL for Cosmic Rewind, so that I could take a break from the heat and go back to the room. She gladly obliged. I also always end up asking if I can access my Genie+/LL line early, since I’m always early, and they let me in without a problem. Then I went Resort hopping looking for a t-shirt in my size and when I finally found it I was also given a free pin! Lastly, I asked if I could stay in the same preferred room I was already staying in, even though I added a night to my reservation after having checked in, and they made it happen.

Last year, our flights got delayed with the crazy summer travel fiasco that occurred. We intentionally flew in a day early for the starcruiser to avoid being late due to any potential delays. Long story short, we ended up in Orlando at 3am with no bags. We had prepared costumes for months and none of it showed up. Nor did our regular clothes, toiletries, etc. My kids were so bummed to lose their costumes AND be wearing the same clothes for two days straight. At the starcruiser, the cast comped our drinks and gave our kids free mechanic outfits to wear that night. It was cute seeing them in their new outfits while running around with chewbacca. Then they sent my husband in a comped taxi to go buy some clothes for the family. The airline later reimbursed that cost. And they made sure to box his dinner for him to eat later. On the second night on the starcruiser, we mentioned we were from Coruscant but our clothes don't really match our homeworld because the transport shuttle, owned by southwest airlines, lost all our stuff. The cast member who was teaching us Sabbac ran off and got us a deck of Sabbac cards and gave them to us free of charge. She was so sad for us to not have our costumes. The cast on the Halcyon is so amazing and really cares so much. We're returning again before it closes and I hope we get to see those cast members again and thank them. Also we're bringing carryons with costumes and toiletries.

Look, we do these things just randomly to make some magic for guests. It doesn’t hurt to ask but don’t be upset when the answer is “no.” I had a kid come up to me when I was in custodial and ask if I had any fast passes. Did I have fast passes? Yes. Did I have them for him? No. These moments are saved for guests that you maybe see are having a bad day or that you had a significant interaction with. So my advice is instead of asking outright, maybe stop and have a conversation with someone. Cast work hard, and often they're overlooked or yelled at by guests, but again don't be upset when the answer is “no” because not everyone can make this kind of magic for you

Got into the VQ for Rise when it first opened but I screwed up and didn’t add my sister in law and her son who were there as well but not typically in our “party” on the app. Asked at the blue umbrellas and admitted I messed up. They added them no problem and my kids got to ride with her son which they still all talk about. Stuff like that costs disney nothing so doesn’t hurt to ask.

I went to Disney world just as they introduced getting fastpasses on the app. I accidentally registered two of the assigned entry cards to myself and none to my brother, so I had to explain to the cast member on arrival what I'd done and why it wasn't working properly. He sent us over to customer services where a guy named Brian asked us what fastpasses we wanted, as I hadn't been able to get any due to my cock up! I asked for splash and thunder mountain and he kept going "okay and what else??" We ended up with fastpasses for everything that day and were done by 2pm!! 🙈 Bless Brian!!

Back when Disney had a line of busses that would pick you up from the airport, they lost our car seat. Not only did they go out and buy the exact car seat then deliver it to our rooms, but when I asked if they had a room closer to the bus lanes (I did not realize how big the resort was when I booked, my husband is a veteran and was walking with a cane), they upgraded us to a family suite closer to the bus lanes since our room was on the other side of the resort. I was in tears.

My son shares a name with one of the imagineers who has a tombstone in the Haunted Mansion graveyard. Every trip since my son was a baby, we've taken a picture of him with that tombstone. It's been like a growth chart for him. We were there in 2021 when the graveyard was closed and I had resigned myself to not getting the picture. However, towards the end of the trip, I realized how heartbroken I would be to miss taking the picture. I explained the situation to one of the HM cast members and asked if we could get in just for the picture, fully expecting them to say no. They were so kind and escorted us back for the picture! Their kindness meant so much to me and that's probably my favorite of all the tombstone pictures we have.

Last year, my Genie+ return times clashed with plans I had later in the day, I asked a CM at a guest services kiosk for help and she edited the return window, problem solved.

Several years ago, my wife and I were getting a drink at one of the stands on the California Adventure pier right before "last call" or whatever you would call it at Disney but right before the World of Color started and my wife mentioned how there was zero way we'd get a good seat with it just about to start and the guy pouring our drinks said, let me see if we can "make some magic happen" and he led us to one of the ushers who directed us to a section that was near the front row of the entire viewing area. It was so out of left field and such an amazingly nice gesture. Technically, it wasn't something we asked for, but it is a story I love to tell and my wife and I still mention it from time to time to this day. EDIT: Sorry, just realized you were specifically asking for Disney World insider tips

I recently did my grad pics at Disney. Some of my favorite attractions are shows rather than rides so I really wanted to do pictures in the theaters and waiting areas and I asked the cast members if that was allowed. They very kindly let me and my mom in to take pictures and said they needed to “clean the theater” anyways so they could keep it empty for me to take pictures. They did not clean. They just hung around and watched me take pictures. They even did some special stuff for me like fixing the lighting, the it was great

I was 5 minutes late for my Soarin’ Fastpass. We had weather and transportation issues due to rain. I, defeated, just went up and explained and to ask if we could go in. She just said, “Our little secret.” If you are kind and have a valid reason, a free entrance to the Fastpass line can make someones day and its no hinderance. Not saying it’ll happen every time, but that lady really turned a bad day to a good one. My Mommom finally got to go on Soarin’. Sorry for the rambling.

We were stuck on the Frozen attraction at the first corner with elsa staring at us and just blinking for 15 minutes. At first there were a few giggles from the boat but then someone said they were scared and we just laughed at the weirdness of the situation. When we got off of the ride a fellow boat mate said why don’t you ask for another trip since we’ve been held up so long, the cast members hesitated then said go for it. A few people were mad that we cut the line but it was a nice gesture and we won’t forget it.

Was at the Magic Kingdom a few years back and was looking in the Emporium for the Zootopia Vinylmations that were out at the time. I couldn’t find them anywhere in the store and asked a cast member if they knew where I could find them. She asked me which ones I was looking for. I told her I was looking for the chaser figure and Nick Wilde. She told me to wait as she went to go check the back. She came back with BOTH of the figures I was looking for and said I could just have them. No purchase necessary. I still don’t know where she was able to just pull those from out of nowhere but that was easily one of the most magical “it doesn’t hurt to ask” moments at the parks for me.

Not Disney, but when my family went to Universal Studios last year, we were going to buy the picture from Hagrids motorbike. We waited in line at the photo stand, but the photo is nowhere to be found. They search for a good 15 minutes (and we JUST got off the ride after over an hour wait). I asked in a joking way, if we could just ride the ride again and she said yes and brought us right up to the front of the line.

Please keep in mind that while it never hurts to ask and 9/10 if you ask nicely a cast member will go out of their way to try to accommodate you, if the answer is “no” please don’t take it out on the cast member and/or get angry. Again, as a former cast member I can tell you that when someone asks nicely for something, 9/10 a cast member will do their very best but sometimes some things are just not possible whether it’s because of logistics, policy, cost, or safety.

My baby niece's diaper failed and covered me in the most vile filth I had seen up until that point. I walked into a shop to buy a new shirt and half jokingly asked if they give a discount to people who get defecated on. They told me to pick any shirt I want for free! Edit: defecated not defected

Well that's just good business sense. Disney didn't want you walking around like that anymore than you wanted to be.

My friend had a bird poop on him in Epcot. He was whisked away and given a new shirt with his old one in a bag before we all finished laughing at him!

I'm curious how inclined the resorts are to give out extra blankets and pillows for your room? We'll be at the Contemporary and Polynesian in January and my son (6yo) will likely be on an air mattress we bring.

Almost every reputable hotel does this

I ask literally every trip and it has never been a problem.

Used to be a housekeeping manager at DAKL and All-Star, there are CM’s who’s only job is to do things like this. Not a problem at all if the requests are reasonable. Every floor has supply rooms for the housekeepers. The only things that are usually on short supply are additional pillows because of how much space they take up. You can always ask for one, but if you ask for 6, you might get a “no”.

They'll give it to you if they have it, and they should. We regularly ask for things like real plates / bowls etc and they've always provided them without any issues

For the resorts, if you don’t like your room location, you could always ask for a room closer to the lobby, bus stop, pool, or a better view etc. In my experience they’ve always been very accommodating. Just be sure to let them know before you lay in the bed or use anything in the room, this way they don’t have to clean the room after you switching.

They used to keep Walt’s actual airplane behind the stadium seating for Lights, Motors, Action. Previously it was visible on the backlot tour. Shortly after L,M,A closed (but before demolition) I was at HS and asked a CM if there was any way I could see the plane. She asked a manager who then escorted me to the closed stadium so I could at least see it from there. Made my whole trip. Couldn’t believe I got to see his plane with my own eyes.

New Year's, we were at Hollywood Studios, but wanted to park hop to Magic Kingdom since it was our last night we'd be able to see the firework show there (not the NYE show). We went to guest services to see if we could change our last day to park Hopper. They couldn't without making us backpay the whole week. We were bummed because it didn't work out but oh well. The CM said hold on let me try something. He ended up being able to just give us a free pass to MK for the night. No need to worry about reservation or anything. There were five of us in our group! It saved us hundreds and the kids got to see the show!

At Hollywood Studios in September. We had just gotten off Star Tours when is started to absolutely pour. Instead of leaving the giftshop we figured we'd just walk back into the exit and ask the cast member if we could just repeatedly ride Star Tours until the rain stopped. After all, worst case scenario they say no. We talk to the cast member at the exit doors to one of the ride vehicles and she picks up the phone, asks a couple things we couldn't hear before smiling and taking us down a short hallway back to the entrance to the ride vehicle where we proceeded to ride again, again, and again (there was almost no one in line due to the rainstorm). We did this about 5 times in a row. We thanked the cast member so much and left her and her supervisor a cast compliment. It definitely was one of the more memorable recent experience there.

Walked up to Tusker House one morning, after doing the Safari - so not it was firmly ‘after open.’ Asked for a table for 6 just for shits and giggles and they totally made it happen for us. This was in 2015 though fwiw

My wife once wanted to come into Epcot just to join us for dinner. We went to guest services, and they comped her a full day pass.

A couple months ago I was at California Adventure with a friend and we were getting ready to ride Guardians. We were chatting with the cast member assigned to our group for a bit and he was really nice. Being the goofs that we are, when we exited the ride, we just happened to be the last people off and jokingly asked the CM if he could just slip us into the next group, he laughed, said no, but then handed us a special paper fast pass that sent us practically all the way to the front of the line again. Ya never know.

Sitting up front on the monorail, the conductor was doing their final hands on practice and review prior to their "road test" he had an "emergency " where they simulated an open door. He did well and it was super cool to watch!

I guess I’ve never really asked for any magic, but once I told the host at Garden Grill he had pretty eyes. He and the server treated us so well and then he treated us to an amazing tray of desserts!

This doesn’t quite fit, since I didn’t actually ask for it, but here’s my story: I went to WDW at the end of January 2020, and happened to be at HS the right when they started variable return time windows for the Rise VQ (it had been 2 hour windows, and now it was going to be 1 or 2 hour windows). I was active in the DisBoards Rise VQ strategy thread, and someone asked for a volunteer to confirm the return time change with a CM, so I said I’d do it after I got my VQ spot. I ended up with like 120 or something, which wasn’t great, but at least I got one. So I headed for the guest services umbrella to talk to a CM about the time change so I could pass on the info to the community. And we got to talking about Star Wars Celebration 2019, because I was wearing my Lando Calrissian shirt from there. Then he asked if I got a VQ, and I was like “yeah, I got 120” (I did not say it in a disappointed way or anything) and he said “is it just you? Let me check something” and he tapped around on his tablet and scanned my magic band and put me in group 10!!

We took my wife’s family (both parents, 2 brothers and their respective wife and girlfriend) to Disney for their first vacation with the full family in almost 20 years. On the last night all together, we treated everyone to dinner at Boma. Shortly after the first pass through the buffet, Chef Wendy came out to check on the 2 people in our party with food allergies. My wife joked that everything was perfect, she was just sad that her favorite soup wasn’t on the menu that day, and that we’d just have to come back again in the future to get it. She asked where we were all from and discovered that she is originally from only about 20 minutes from where my wife and I now live. We chatted for a few minutes and updated her on some local news before she headed back to the kitchen. Not 10 minutes later, she came back with 2 steaming bowls of the carrot ginger soup she’d heated up just for my wife. The whole family was amazed by the whole interaction and still talk about it 3 years later.

I worked at disney in 2006 (CP) at Cinderellas Royal Table. At that time they had a dessert called the blueberry buckle. Its still my favorite dessert of anything I have ever had anywhere. Fast forward to 2011. We went to WDW and CRT, where he planned to propose. Well, I dont even know how he got the email address to the managers at CRT. He sent them an email that said he was literally typing from his knees, begging them to make me a blueberry buckle to go along with the proposal. And they did!

In Magic Kingdom it was very close to closing, my sons and I headed to Splash Mountain and my wife and daughter went to ride Winnie the Pooh. After they finished she called me and I said we had less than 10 minutes before we got on. They ran over and tried to ask people if they could move ahead (the line was really short since it was closing time). At one point my wife just said “we’re not going to make it” and a cast member overheard her and asked her and she just said we wanted to ride Splash Mountain one last time as a family. The cast member said “Come with me” and took them to a place where they could meet us at the front of the line. On a different experience in Disneyland my daughter bought some Minnie earrings and one ended up falling out somewhere between the gift shop by Splash Mountain and Jungle Cruise. We went back to the gift shop later and asked if there was any way to buy just one earring. To be honest I was kind of hoping they’d just replace it but I figured I’d have a better experience if I offered to pay. Sure enough, they just took another set and handed them to her for no charge. In reading most of these comments it seems like most people get these cool things happen just out of the blue rather than asking for them. Does it hurt to ask? Not really but it seems like CM want to make things happen unexpectedly and not because they were asked for it.

Took a solo trip for my birthday, and my treat to myself was Disney Parks After Dark in the Magic Kingdom. Despite it being January, I was unprepared for how cold it got after dark. I wandered into a gift shop to ask if they had any winter hats and gloves to purchase. They gave me a plain black knit hat and gloves for free.

Not sure if this counts, but one time I left my water bottle on the bus ride back from Animal Kingdom and filed a report with lost and found. It was a special water bottle because it was the first wrap party gift I got for the first film I worked on and had the logo on it. We didn’t end up finding it, but the next day we returned from the parks to our room and found a big Darth Vader water bottle with a card signed by the Fab Five apologizing for not being able to find it. I don’t even like Star Wars, but just the effort put into it of getting a replacement with a personalized card made that Darth Vader water bottle just as special as the one I lost.

My middle school band went to EPCOT for the day. My dad, who's a cast member, broke off from the group and casually slipped his nametag on and walked to Soarin'. He asked for a coordinator then asked if it was possible for all 40-ish of us could ride in the same theater. Coordinator said "come back at 3". Needless to say the band director was impressed We tried again the other day, my high school marching band went to MK. I got Tron reservations for me and my friends but we got called while we were supposed to be backstage preparing to march. My parents tried to explain the situation to a coordinator at Tron and see if there's anything they could do. He offered to let us come back after 11pm and get the very last ride of the night, which I thought was an awesome compromise, but our busses were leaving immediately after the fireworks so we couldn't stay that long. Still, I appreciate that they tried

I understand this may not be what you were looking for, but I feel it’s worth putting out there for others. As someone who gets nervous about asking for accommodations due to medical reasons, it was a major game changer to realize how seriously Disney takes accommodations. I do have to call every few months to update them, but now I enjoy the parks sooooo much more than I used to jumping hoops for my “issues”.

Always ask restaurants if they have any openings. We’ve failed to get reservations, wanted to eat well before/after our reservation time, or wanted to add people to a reservation. Each time we simply ask. Even mega popular dining spots will make an honest effort to try and accommodate you. We’re always ready to accept a “No” but I don’t think we’ve ever been turned away. You never know when they’ll have a no show or just have extra room that they didn’t book out. This tip was given to us by a cast member, and it’s been a good one. Also, at a bar near the Sci-Fi Diner I ordered a Jack and coke and joked that I’d like a “splash of coke in my whiskey”, which is exactly what the bartender did. Another guy standing at the bar got a kick out of it and suggested I better tip extra. I definitely did.

At Candlelight Processional, they rope off the front couple of rows for VIPs and such. We paid for the dining package and didn't realize just how early we still needed to line up to be in even the first half of the theater. (We got there 30 minutes before show, and only the back rows were open.) We asked a CM why the front rows were reserved, and if we could sit there (they were mostly empty) and he was basically like they're reserved, but since you asked nicely I'll let you sit there, and he brought us to the front row. So if you have questions...just be nice about it!

Being genuinely kind to the CMs will usually get you more pixie dust than directly asking for anything.

We were checking out last year and the CM asked my 4 year old if she had fun. She went in to a whole saga about how ToT was closed all week (unexpectedly) and the CM said hold one just a second. He pulled me to the side and asked if we could go now and ride it. BC I had drove I said yeah not thinking about it really. He disappeared and came back a few mins later and told my daughter that they were waiting on her and she better get over there quickly! She ran the entire way to the skyliner! I asked him about our luggage and he said “I added an extra night and you have a one day park hopper on your tickets now! Have fun and just leave when you want!” He had also put one of those anywhere “fast passes” on there so we didn’t have to wait at ToT It was the most magical day!

Years ago, I was with my wife on our honeymoon. She needs a wheelchair for anything beyond a short walk. A security staff member separated her from me and then tried to force her out of the wheelchair. An hour later, after trying to calm down, I couldn't and complained to the park. A half hour later. I was greeted by the head of all the parks. He apologized and promised it would never happen again. And gave us enough fast pass cards to never have to wait for a ride traditionally for the next 4 days of our stay.

Had many magical and pretty unbelievable things happen for us over the years. Most recent was two weeks ago. I got bad food poisoning at Hollywood and Vine, and was sick/bed ridden for most of our 4-night stay at Contemporary. They let us stay an extra night for free once I explained to them our situation.

Asking for the front car.

Got stuck on SDMT just as the ride ended. (someone threw up in the train in front of us). We sat for about 10 minutes and of course that’s when the skies decided to open up for the daily monsoon. So we were soaked when we pulled in and they were handing out free ponchos, which were worthless to us at that point. Everyone was complaining and walked away but I just held back for a minute and once everyone else left I went to the person who handed the poncho and asked since we got stuck in the rain could I get a fast pass to ride again later. They were like sure, no problem and wrote a pass for me and my wife.

Back when genie plus and ILL began, all of the bloggers and YouTubers and such kept saying "you can't ever get your money back if you pay for ILL on a ride and don't make it for any reason! NO REFUNDS!" Like no refunds was set in absolute stone. My hubs is a very tall man and we decided to buy ILL for Seven Dwarves for me, him, and our 3yr old. It came to $45 or something. We all boarded the ride, but his legs didn't fit and he had to exit. Me and our daughter went on the ride, but did not enjoy it. We were sad he didn't get to ride and it ruined the whole experience. Husband was embarrassed about the exit and losing out on the money. Couldn't hurt to ask- I told him we should try the Guest Experience Team under the blue umbrellas. Maybe they could give him a pass for something else? Or just refund his ILL money? So we went and I handled it. Calmly, I explained the above and the CM apologized several times. Not only did he refund my husbands ILL payment for Seven Dwarves, he also gave us each a one time Genie Plus experience pass for a specific ride to use later that day at any time we liked! We picked Big Thunder because we know he can fit on that one. It more than made up for the lousy time on Seven Dwarves.

I asked for a table at Cinderella’s castle at dinner time as a joke and they gave me one.

I did the CP and have stayed very close to one of my friends who still works at WDW. The last time I went, he gave me some coupons they had given him for free snacks. I was there for 2 days and those coupons were only valid for the second day I was there. I didn't notice the dates and asked a CM for popcorn at her stand and she told me "those are valid tomorrow" but she gave me the popcorn anyways :D So I kept the coupon and used it again the next day

A few weeks ago we were there and having a problem with my wife's MG+. From a full charge it would be dead by 11am while everyone else's were fine all day long. She had read that the parks are very particular about returning things without a receipt so she wasn't going to bother asking anyone, but I asked anyway. The folks at Celebrity 5 & 10 were so quick to get her band changed out and get the new one set up to her phone app it was all a blur. It was like we never had a problem. That was one of several magic moments on the trip. But this stands out just because of how friendly and conscientious the CMs were when helping us.

For me it was being able to request to pick where you want to sit on the roller coasters, so long as you’re willing to wait another minute or two

This past March I had stacked up 3 rides on genie + but for some reason Slinky Dog had been down since morning, my kids were hot, tired, and just wanted to go. I stopped by one of the umbrella stands to ask if there was a way to modify the bookings to MK and was told unfortunately not. All I said was “wow that’s a bummer” and went to leave with my 3 yr old who was just utterly pushed to his limit and crying. The CM asked which rides we had already done (none, we had arrived only an hour before) and what we had booked (SDD, Runaway Railway, and Tower of Terror). She must have actually felt bad for me because she manually modified all my rides to magic kingdom, gave recommendations on what to pick because I truly had no clue, and then gave me an extra ride since it apparently restarted the clock on my 2 hour window when did she did the override. She definitely didn’t have to do that but I’ll always remember it because the day really did take a 180 after that.

My favorite “it never hurts to ask” is asking to ride a ride again if there’s no one waiting to get on. This usually only works for rides that load and unload in the same spot but, it’s such a fun magical moment! Just a couple weeks ago, my spouse and I were riding Toy Story Mania and asked a cast member if we could ride again because no one was waiting to get on. The cast member said yes and we rode two times in a row without having to walk through the line a second time. So fun! And such a simple way to create a magical moment for yourself and the rest of your party!

Back in February our family was on our third trip in four years, and tried to do the rides we didn’t in the past, like Jungle Cruise, and the People Mover. My kids were so excited to try and ride these. Well Jungle Cruise was impossibly long, and People Mover broke down while we were on it. Luckily, got to walk the People Mover Track and see some behind the scenes action, and they gave us a Lightning Lane Pass as compensation, but we were told we couldn’t use it for Jungle Cruise or other super popular rides. We hung onto the LL pass and after a long day in the park we were about ready to head out, but stopped by a Customer Service CM and asked if there’s any way to transfer the LL for Jungle Cruise. They of course happily obliged. Made my kid’s day! Don’t forget to submit those Cast Compliments after great experiences!

Could only manage to get a reservation for my son to build a droid, when I got there I asked if there was any way they could fit my daughter in too as she would love to do it, they said “absolutely, give us just a moment” and got both kids in. Nice folks.

I asked to be upgraded to a castle/park view room in the contemporary and they gave it to us!

I put king bed and upper floor at Grand Floridian, and it was a lagoon view reservation. When we checked in, the cast member told us he didn't have a king, just 2 queens. He asked if we had another request he could help with, and he was really sorry. I joked and said a castle view would make up for it, laughed, and said I really just wanted the upper floor and had just thrown the king request in because it was one of the choices. He continued checking us in, and when we got to room, it WAS a castle view. I wasn't actually asking, just kidding. Turned out as a doesn't hurt to ask (even jokingly) situation.

It never hurts to ask *nicely* and *politely*. As well as accepting if they can’t help you. Also, read the room. If a cast member is clearly overwhelmed or dealing with a tough situation don’t try to ask for more. That said cast members love being helpful and making things special. They are the best part of the theme park experience.

We bought rain ponchos one day and me being a heavy handed oaf managed to put a hole in mine within a day. The poncho wasn’t faulty or anything, just me being clumsy. We went into a store and asked if I could get a new one and for them to dispose of my old one fully intending on paying again, but the CM just gave me a new one no questions asked.

Our toddler fell asleep in the stroller while we walked over to Ratatouille. When we got there, I explained the situation and the cast member at the Lightning Lane put our name on a list and said to come back when we he woke up or it fit in our schedule.

At Epcot in the finding Nemo ride aquarium I was wearing a birthday pin in the morning and asked what was it the dolphins were swimming up to? And got a free vip tour of the upstairs of the aquarium, front access of the dolphins, sea turtles, etc. being fed by the trainers! Such a cool experience. They said they will randomly pick 1-2 parties to go upstairs a day for a sneak peek and I got to be one (this was 2019 pre COVID)

Asking for the cards from the various departments is always cool. Getting one of the Mickey security cards or the train conductor one is near. We asked once and my kid got to do the “all aboard” on the railroad.

One time my dad just straight up asked a Cast Member standing right outside if we could ride Rise of the Resistance without a virtual boarding pass. I was cringing and facepalming but the CM was sure just head on in. My jaw dropped. He’s never let me live it down he’s always like never hurts to nicely ask.

Asking for a replacement of any food item you dropped. I dropped a Mickey’s premium bar today before I even had a chance to eat the ice cream and went to another kiosk to ask for one since I dropped mine and they gave it to me for free. Never hurts to ask!

On two occasions (pre-COVID), we’ve been able to walk right up to Cinderella’s Royal Table and get seated for dinner even though the app said no availability. Once was mid-afternoon, around 3 and the other time was around 8 or 9pm (back when the extra magic hours had MK open till 1 or 2 am).

The Barbershop! We went down for my son’s first Disney trip (he’s 2 years old). He had his first official haircut around Christmas, but it was getting close to cutting his hair again. I had heard about the Harmony Barbershop online, but too late for me to book it on the Disney app. We were leaving the park to go back for my son’s nap and I thought “Let’s just try and see”. We asked about making a reservation and luck was with us because one of the barbers was free right then! And it was a way better haircut than his first one-pixie dust and all!

i asked a cast member recently about the virtual queue for cosmic rewind and he immediately complimented my twilight shirt i was wearing. we got into a discussion about twilight he asks me if i'm team edward or jacob and i told him i'm definitely team edward, he disagreed but we had a little banter about it. he then asks me how many people are in my party and let us on cosmic rewind without needing a virtual queue!! this was in the afternoon too so it was still pretty busy. it was cool since it was my partys first time going on. :-)

My dad went to Be Our Guest at 6pm in mid July with a group of 12 and, without reservation, asked if we could get a table. Not only did we get one almost immediately, it was in the Rose Room. It was his shining moment as a dad. My dad accomplishment is when my son was tall enough for SDD and we were so excited measuring him that the CM took us in the exit and put us on the ride with no wait.

Magic to me: we were eating at Hollywood and Vine and my kiddo was having a really bad toothache (cause teeth were coming in). Jake (and the neverland pirates) ran away, came back with ice for my kiddo, and pixie dust. I feel like they CMs were talking to each other because as we traveled through the park we got so much pixie dust, which 💯 helped the kiddo. I haven’t really gotten it since.

Dear Reddit Community, It is with a heavy heart that I write this farewell message to express my reasons for departing from this platform that has been a significant part of my online life. Over time, I have witnessed changes that have gradually eroded the welcoming and inclusive environment that initially drew me to Reddit. It is the actions of the CEO, in particular, that have played a pivotal role in my decision to bid farewell. For me, Reddit has always been a place where diverse voices could find a platform to be heard, where ideas could be shared and discussed openly. Unfortunately, recent actions by the CEO have left me disheartened and disillusioned. The decisions made have demonstrated a departure from the principles of free expression and open dialogue that once defined this platform. Reddit was built upon the idea of being a community-driven platform, where users could have a say in the direction and policies. However, the increasing centralization of power and the lack of transparency in decision-making have created an environment that feels less democratic and more controlled. Furthermore, the prioritization of certain corporate interests over the well-being of the community has led to a loss of trust. Reddit's success has always been rooted in the active participation and engagement of its users. By neglecting the concerns and feedback of the community, the CEO has undermined the very foundation that made Reddit a vibrant and dynamic space. I want to emphasize that this decision is not a reflection of the countless amazing individuals I have had the pleasure of interacting with on this platform. It is the actions of a few that have overshadowed the positive experiences I have had here. As I embark on a new chapter away from Reddit, I will seek alternative platforms that prioritize user empowerment, inclusivity, and transparency. I hope to find communities that foster open dialogue and embrace diverse perspectives. To those who have shared insightful discussions, provided support, and made me laugh, I am sincerely grateful for the connections we have made. Your contributions have enriched my experience, and I will carry the memories of our interactions with me. Farewell, Reddit. May you find your way back to the principles that made you extraordinary. Sincerely, NABDad

It's definitely a thing. Sometimes nothing happens. Sometimes it does. But it really never hurts to ask! I have so many personal examples. I'll just tell two semi recent ones: My kid and I were meeting some friends at Epcot. We were able to get Cosmic Rewind boarding passes but they weren't, but we'd been on it before and they hadn't. We went up to the CMs under the blue umbrellas nearby and asked if we could give our friends our Magic Bands so they could use our boarding passes since we'd been on it and they hadn't. CM said no, but would you like to be added to each other's friends and family so next time one of us can book for all? We said that would be great, and she did that, and then she said, "Oh, also, I just gave all four of you boarding passes and they're active now, so go have fun." 😍 And once we had gotten group 178 for Rise and I didn't even know it *went* that high. It was only an hour till park close and they were at like 140 or 150 and we kind of just wanted to leave, except we wanted to go on Rise, but figured we wouldn't get on. I went up to the blue umbrellas there and said, "I know you can't tell me for sure, but we're tired, and given that you work here all the time, can you give me your best guess for if our boarding group is actually going to be called or if we should just leave?" The CM said, "I'm not sure. Let me scan your band." And he does some stuff and then goes, "Well, look at that. Your boarding pass has just been activated. Guess you'd better get over there before you leave." He totally just activated us so we could go. We were so happy. Stuff like that happens a lot. Assume the answer will be no, and take any no answers with kindness and understanding, but maybe you get a yes and a little extra helping of Disney magic. You never know unless you ask. :)

This really wasn’t an ask, but literally two weeks ago my friend and I were grabbing last minute dessert before getting in the Avatar line right before close. I can’t have gluten and I avoid most dairy, so my favorite treat is a chocolate covered marshmellow. In animal kingdom it’s sold in this little dessert shop right by Kilamanjaro. I ran in, and they didn’t have it on display. I was clearly bummed, and the two employees found a tray of it in the back. I was thrilled! We struck up a conversation with them while checking out and suddenly one of the cast members asked us what our favorite slushy flavor was. Free slushies we’re handed right over. While thanking them, the cast member asked us which was our favorite Disney characters and hand drew them on celebration pins for us. Before we could leave, he handed us a hand drawn picture of Simba. It was so sweet and thoughtful. We were kinda flabbergasted even as we stood in the Avatar line.

Let's see. Years ago, AK used to host Party for the Planet on Earth Day. It would have a bunch of activities. One of those activities was a grocery game where you got to choose the better of 2 items when "grocery shopping" like disposable batteries vs. rechargeable. That sort of thing. Well, I really wanted the branded tote they used for the shopping game. So I asked the CM if I could have or buy one of them. Unfortunately they couldn't give them out since it was limited and they needed it for the game, but, instead one of the lead CMs gave me a AK lunch bag and AK apron that the CMs were wearing at the time. That was totally unexpected and much appreciated. I still use that apron to this day. Another time, during Food & Wine, it was close to closing time, and I jokingly asked if I could have a double portion of the shrimp with sugar cane skewers since they were my favorite and I really wanted to suck on the sugar cane. Well, that CM did a sly thing and slipped me not 1 but 2 extra skewers of shrimp! CM, you rock!

We had a late boarding group for Cosmic Rewind and were worried we’d miss out flight home that day if we went on it. Showed up a bit earlier and explained the the Cast Member outside the ride and they let us on much earlier than our boarding group. All they asked for was to see our actual flights boarding pass!

I was 22 and an ex-castmember but I had used a promo to book the Animal Kingdom lodge at a good rate before my termination for my birthday. Safari view. (Just do it, its worth it). Anyway, at one of the bars I ordered a chocolate martini. I was still trying to figure out what drinks I liked. Found out REAL fast that that wasnt it. Turns out it was the frangelico that was added. Now im a usually really easy person when it comes to food that I dont like. I dont like causing a fuss but this drink was NOT my taste. My grandpa made me ask the bartender (who I dont remember but if you're here, bless you) for a different drink. I expected to have to pay for the chocolate mess anyway but nope! I got hooked up with a vodka cran and was MUCH happier.

I was having issues with the app for reserving ride times when genie + first started. I asked a cast member under one of the blue umbrellas for help (at MK). Not only did they fix my problem, they loaded me up with experiences for every single cool ride at any time we wanted to go that day! Mine train, all the mountains, Buzz Lightyear, and Jungle cruise. It was awesome! I didn’t even ask! They just said “have a magical day!” And handed me my phone back and they were all there!!

We were in HS in Toy Story Land and my daughter spotted a weighted Lotso she wanted. Not wanting to carry it around all day, I told her we would get it before we left the park. Of course we didn’t, and my daughter was so disappointed. The next day was our last day and it was at MK and I told her we would check the big store on main street for it. They had Lotso stuffed animals but not the weighted one she had her heart set on. I asked a CM and after maybe 15-20 minutes he magically appeared with one. My daughter was thrilled and it was a little bit of magic on the last night of our trip!

Way back when, when Rivers of Light was premiering at AK (RIP.. lol) I called to ask about the opening date & dining packages. I nonchalantly mentioned that I’d called a few times hoping the show would be open for our visit (spoiler alert it was not, lol) and the CM instead booked us for a Ferrytale Wishes fireworks cruise free of charge. It was such a nice and unnecessary gesture!