(I Saw This All from a Distance)

Every Disney cast member looks back fondly on all the “magical moments” they’ve made for our guests, but in a role like mine, our days are saturated in magic. We leave our jobs dripping with magical moments (and sweat- so much sweat), and each holds a special place in my memory. But like all memories, there are some you move on from, and some that get sent to long term…

*The following stories were all seen from a distance. I was definitely not a part of these stories. At all. In any way. Nope, not me. Only the characters.*

To begin, let’s start with one of my favorite places- Headquarters! That’s right, with Joy and Sadness! These two are very emotional, and the clashing of their personalities make for some great stories…

On my first night with Joy, we met a guest who rounded the corner in her wheelchair and stood up to greet us. As she stood up, Joy ran over to her and realized that she and the guest were twins! Yep, the guest was wearing a lovely yellow dress and had striking blue hair like Joy. Upon this discovery, Joy bounced around in excitement, while Sadness sulked in the corner. “It’s okay Sadness, we both have blue hair, see?” Sadness looked and shrugged. Poor Sadness.

One day at Headquarters (which is how all of my good stories start now), Joy and Sadness were signing autographs for a family. Sadness walked over to the memories and pointed to a blue one- a sad memory- to which the character attendant responds “Yeah Sadness, that’s one of your memories. Oh, that’s one of your favorites?” Sadness nods. “Oh…oh my gosh that’s so sad.” Joy and the attendant were bent over in laughter. Poor Sadness.

On a very special day at Headquarters, we had some VIP guests- the Sisk family! Joy ran up and excitedly greeted them all, giving them huge hugs and walking them into Headquarters. She went to Mom and lead her over to the console to show her around, to which Mom responded “Oh hi Joy, I’m gonna go talk to Sadness for a while,” to which Joy shook her head and bounded off to Dad and Mitch and showed them the most important Island on the wall- Family Island!

And sometimes I like to monkey around a bit in Animal Kingdom…

When Rafiki and I first met, I learned that guests go BANANAS (ha. ha.) when they see him. So many guests wear their favorite Lion King shirts and come up to him singing, while small children start screaming and run away. It’s wonderful. My favorite family Rafiki was able to meet that day all had on customized Lion King shirts, and the mom’s shirt had Rafiki meditating on it. They all came up for autographs and when it came time for the picture, they looked to Rafiki for guidance (he is a very wise monkey, after all). Rafiki pointed to all of them, paused for a moment, and plopped down onto the floor- legs crossed and hands up in the same meditation pose on the mom’s shirt. The family went BANANAS (I’m so sorry) and joined him for what I assume was the best picture from their vacation.

However, the best moment I have ever had with Rafiki was when a mother carrying her son walked up to Rafiki. In her other arm was a Simba plush. Rafiki pointed to the plush, and the mother nodded in understanding. Rafiki took the plush, paused for a moment to make sure everyone was watching, and dramatically lifted Simba up into the air. The entire line erupted into cheers. It was the single greatest moment of my life.

And why not add a quick puppy story? He’s just too cute.

One night I was hanging out with everyone’s favorite puppy, Pluto, at a restaurant. Pluto came across a family who seemed to have a very interesting toy (it was a lightsaber) that Pluto wanted to play with. He picked it up and tried to swing it open, to no avail. Head hung in shame, he handed it back to the mother, who took it and said, “Pluto, watch, I’ll open it for you!” She threw it open and it glowed a bright blue and handed it to Pluto, who immediately grabbed it and swung it around in pure bliss. Then he stuck it in his mouth and walked away. He is a puppy after all…he just thought it was a cool light-up bone to go bury.

But sometimes you just gotta save the day with Elastigirl, Frozone, and Mr. Incredible…

At one of the Dance Parties (RIP), Mrs. Incredible and I saw the sweetest little boy who seemed quite nervous to start dancing with everyone, but Mrs. Incredible walked over to him, grabbed his hands, and started dancing with just him. From then on, he followed us around, always tugging on us to dance with him some more and hold his hand. Before the Incredibles had to go and “Save the Day,” they went and hid behind the stage while the attendants brought the boy and his family back to see them- a very special moment hardly anyone is lucky enough to have! He rounded the corner and his face lit up– he dashed over to see the Incredibles and hug them and take lots of super pictures, before leaving them with some super strong high-fives.

And now for a couple of memories from Under the Sea…

One day, Ariel was in her grotto (she hears that humans love getting to meet mermaids!), and this little boy, Henry, ran up to sit on the rock with Ariel. “This is for you!” he said excitedly, handing Ariel a dinglehopper. “Ariel,” his mom said, “Henry came to see you earlier with his sisters, but he found a dinglehopper earlier and wanted to come back and bring it to you!”

Ariel was sitting with a sweet little guppy one night who was all dressed up and barely old enough to walk on her little human feet. She grinned up at Ariel as the mermaid signed her treasures, and her dad asked Ariel if he could record a video on his gizmo. “Would you mind making a video for her? We want her to remember this moment when she’s older.” So with the little guppy sitting next to her, Ariel made a message for her to remember forever!

Since my friend is a mermaid, she gets VERY excited to see humans- she just wishes she could walk on those, oh, what’s that word again? Oh, feet! So whenever she sees little humans with GLOWING feet (light-up sneakers), she gets VERY excited. “Oh I just love your glowing human feet! I wonder if Daddy could give me glowing human feet next time I want to be on land!” Ariel continued on, they took portraits, and while the little fishies were leaving, Ariel leaned over and said “Well, have lots fun on your glowing human feet today!”

And without even looking back, the kid says “They’re just lights.”

Another sassy little group of fishies all had on such wonderful thingamabobs (Mickey ears) that Ariel wanted to have for her collection too! “What’s a thingamabob?” one of the girls said. “Your thingamabob! On your head with all of the flowers on it!” Ariel answered while signing their treasures. The girl leaned over to her friend and loudly whispered, thinking Ariel couldn’t hear, “She thinks it’s a thingamabob.” They all giggled. So did Ariel.

Well, I guess I’ll send these memories to long term for now…but if I’ve learned anything from my friends, it’s that new magical moments are made every day here.

*And don’t forget, I saw this all from a distance…*