4. Meeting someone from your home town

Image: Disney

This is one of those magical moments that is just so cool when it happens, especially if you are not from a large city (or Florida). Disney cast members all proudly wear the name of their hometown on their name badges. We have had some seriously fun moments with cast members from our hometown (who inevitably test us to see if we know the city’s most famous taco stop). One of these encounters earned us an exclusive DVC trading pin when the cast member saw we were pin collectors. We have also had encounters with cast members in Epcot who struck up conversation in their native language with our German family. If you see someone from your home area, say hello!

5. Unexpected VIP treatment

Image: Disney

Room upgrades, VIP seating, and Fastpasses are never guaranteed—but wow, is it cool when Disney magical moments result in upgrades! We’ve experienced a number of magical moments over the years at Disney resorts, but most recently, we had some unexpected pixie dust at the Walt Disney World Swan after mentioning in our reservation that we were celebrating a birthday. Not only did the insanely friendly front desk clerk give us a number of vouchers for free ice cream and a free drink. They also upgraded our room—and this wasn’t even technically a Disney cast member!

Sometimes magical moments even emerge when Disney misses the mark. In an incident described in a past article, we had a less than magical experience at Epcot’s Garden Grill after years of that restaurant being one of our favorites. Despite the issues with food quality we ran into on that visit, one thing remained constant—the cast members did everything they could to make things right. At the end of that very awkward meal, in a gesture I have never seen before at Walt Disney World, the manager came out of the restaurant to greet us and comped our meal. She also offered to get us any meal we wanted from Sunshine Seasons, and she gave our whole family Fastpasses to Soarin’. This is an extremely rare occurrence, but it meant the world to our family and really made us feel the love as lifelong repeat guests.

Have you ever experienced a Disney magical moment?