Spreading A Little Pixie Dust: Making Magic For Others

I had fun putting little care packages together before our trip. In each one, I placed a small Virginia memento (since that is where I live), a heart lollipop, and a "Virginia is for Lovers" postcard on which I wrote a message stating, "Thank you for making our day a little bit more magical!" Then I put Disney character stickers on the outside of each package.

Each day during our vacation I placed three or four packages inside our backpack. When we met someone who did make our day more magical, we gave them one of our little gifts. Some we gave to cast members, others to fellow vacationers. In each instance, the person receiving the gift seemed genuinely surprised and pleased. I'd like to share the experience my husband and I had with two of the cast members.

The first person to whom we gave a package was Ame, the woman who checked us in at the Registration Desk at Port Orleans Riverside. She was so nice to me and my husband Mark, making us feel welcome and giving us big "Happy Anniversary" buttons when she saw that we were there for a special occasion. As we were leaving the desk, we thanked her and gave her the package. When we got to our hotel room later that day, we found that it was rather smoky. When we called Guest Services to see if we could switch rooms, we learned that the resort was completely sold out. A mousekeeper was sent to spray our room with air freshener, but it really didn't help. After a rough night's sleep, we woke up in the morning, determined to find another room, even if it meant changing resorts. Imagine our surprise when the cast member at the Registration Desk was Ame, the woman to whom we had given the package the previous day! Ame went out of her way, placing several phone calls in order to find us a more acceptable room. We hadn't given her a gift the day before in order to gain anything, but we decided that the adage, "You reap what you sow," really did apply to us in this case.

The other cast member we gave a package to was one of the food court workers at Port Orleans Riverside. Mark and I had been relaxing after breakfast, just enjoying a few quiet moments together before we hopped onto a bus to one of the parks. We had been watching this woman cleaning tables, and thought that she is probably one of many behind-the-scenes cast members who don't receive enough recognition for all that they do. After we thanked her for all that she does to make guests' visits more enjoyable, we gave her one of our thank-you packages. She was so surprised, and got a little teary-eyed while thanking us for doing something nice for her. She said to us, "Stay here - I'll be right back." She rejoined us a few minutes later, laden with Mickey stickers and Mardi-Gras coins and necklaces. Again, we hadn't asked for anything - she just wanted to repay a kindness. We found that just a little thank-you goes a long way, and that people truly do appreciate being acknowledged.

Something else that I did for the first time was to sign up on the PassPorter boards to be a Fairy Godmailer. Several people messaged me asking me to send postcards to their loved ones. I was really tickled when one of my requests was from a woman who wanted to do something special for her 27-year-old sister who would not only be visiting Walt Disney World for the first time, but who also would be taking her first airplane ride!