My Magic Moment at Walt Disney World

By Road Trip Diva

“Excuse me folks, how many in your party?” In a trip to Disney you will be asked this question roughly 4.6 billion times and the response becomes as second nature as the answer to what is your name. But, for some reason standing in the hot sun trying to be first in line for a prime seat to Fantasmic the question felt rather odd. Who knew the question I had already heard a million times that day alone would lead to my most magical moment?

A Little Cast Member Magic

“Four,” I answered to the overly friendly gent, feeling a little confused as we were plenty early enough that no real resemblance of a line had formed and they were nowhere near letting people enter.

“Great! And where are you all from?”

Hmmmm let me think for a second…Um yes! Duh! At that point all I was thinking was, sweet mission accomplished, time to cross that off the Disney bucket list. But it turned out to be so much cooler that simply being first in line.

“Massachusetts,” I responded as he knelt down to chat with our princesses and have a pin trade. I thought he just really loves his job, and took a moment to relish in the joy of just being where I was. The shocker was when he stood and turned to my husband and I, and explained how at each showing of Fantasmic there is a VIP family that is in charge of leading every one into the show and getting the crowd pumped up. He then asked if we would be interested in being that family?

Our VIP Moment

The cast member took our info, name and home town, and then led us away. We went through back alleys and secret “Cast Members Only” doors (totally wicked awesome by the way) that felt like we were on a mini tour until we reached the inside entrance of Fantasmic. It was empty and I mean empty with a capital EMPTY, just us and a few cast members. We got to enjoy about a half an hour of private one on one time with all of them. We traded pins, chatted about the foliage in New England and how beautiful it is, how our trip thus far had been, and got insider opinions on must sees. It was truly a VIP moment for us, away from the hustle and bustle of cramming in every possible second of excellence imaginable and really stripping cast members down to real people who care about us and our experience.

Then it was time, time to welcome all of our fellow park guests. One of the cast members quickly grabbed my camera to snap pictures of me and my family as we threw caution to the wind and made utter fools of ourselves hooting and hollering, waiving our arms over our heads and clapping to get the crowd pumped up, while our names were blaring from the loud speakers over head. Then we were turned around and led on what felt like a royal procession down an aisle of cast members on either side of us with their light up swords held high over our heads, welcoming and congratulating us as we passed.

The VIP treatment continued when we were given the option of any seat in the roped off VIP area, and as we were seated we were presented with a certificate from Mickey naming us sorcerers apprentices, and a box of the most magical popcorn ever for each member of our family.

As we settled into our seats and let the excitement come over us we took a look around and saw something that (for nerds like me was epic) few have seen…the entire arena was empty except for us, not a soul in
sight. It was so mind blowing we took pictures to remember that moment. We got to watch as all the other guests came in and found a suitable seat. And with each person that entered we got appreciate just a little more how truly magic the experience was. When the show started I sat back and watched the joy on my girls faces as they watched Mickey battle the forces of evil. I held my husband’s hand and knew that no matter what happened before or after, in that moment Disney helped those who matter most to me have a moment that they will never forget. That my friends, is what Disney World is all about, and what keeps us coming back year after year, a little bit of magic.