Magic.

I feel like I start every post I write with "Well it's been a long time..." soooo SORRY about that but it's always super busy in this fantasy life I am living! 

I am currently importing pictures from when Grace and Co. came to visit me last month. And I cannot believe it's been that long already. Time really really flies here. I've been here for 4 months already! That's insane. It feels like so much shorter and so much longer than that at the same time. Shorter because time is so fast, but longer because of all the knowledge I have gained about Disney, my work location, the place I live, Florida, hurricanes, friendship, love, life, magic, everything. 

When I was younger people would ask me if I believed in magic and I would tell them "No, I believe in things I can see or prove." That all changed when I started working here. I see real magic happen for ordinary people every day. I MAKE that magic happen for people. Yesterday, we had an unusual amount of magic made at Pop Century. For those of you who don't know, that's the resort I work at down here.

Magical Moment One:

Terry (who is a college program Cast Member as well) was working with a family. She was trading pins, talking etc. This family had come to see her every day of their visit and they kept having a great time with her. They were checking out that day and came back to say goodbye. Terry was on break so they wrote her a cute note letting her know how much they will miss her and appreciated all of her effort and conversations. Knowing that the family will forever remember her and that part of their vacation is so wonderful! Hopefully they will be back. We have a lot of repeat guests at Pop that come back just to see the Cast Member that helped them out one time. This goes to show that one small gesture can really make an impact on people.

Magical Moment Two: 

We had a table set up for Father's Day for the kids to make cards, color pictures, etc. Once we took the table down we had a couple bunches of balloons and gave them to little kids. I found a little girl who was visiting us for the first time. I told her Mickey let me know she was coming and to have a present ready for her. I gave her the balloons and her and her parents were so happy! I told her to be careful to not let them go or they would float away (looking back, this was not my best option hahaha). So needless to say a few minutes later I see the balloons floating up to the ceiling. She has a MELTDOWN in the store and I told her parents not to go anywhere. Run run run to the front desk to get more balloons. And this time I found a little weight that makes them float at whatever height you let them go. So I gave these ones to her and she was so excited! I told he about the magical Mickey weight and she tried it out and was so excited that they wouldn't float away again. Her parents were glad too that she stopped crying. It was wonderful :)

(I am remembering even more things to write about as I am typing this, so it may get a little bit long...)

Carry on!

Magical Moment Three:

A little boy with a smeared SNAKE painted on his face wanted to trade pins with me. He was looking for Stitch and I didn't have any. He was the sweetest little thing and his parents were so nice. I asked them if they just started pin trading and they said yes, but he was on his last trading pin. After we traded, I had them wait for a minute and I went to get a box of pins. (Side note: was have hundreds of little boxes that have whole sets of old pin in them. They have Mickey, Minnie, Donald, everyone. We made them for moments just like this.) I handed him the box and told him there was a surprise in there for him. He opened and got so excited because there were more pins but even MORE excited that there was a Stitch one! He hugged me and said thank you and I listened to him and his parents talk about it all the way out of the store. 

Almost there, guys!

Magical Moment Four:

I was in charge of the pin board yesterday. I had also forgotten my lanyard in my car. So that's cool. I had a college-aged boy and his sister come up to me and ask to trade on the board. He was looking for the last pin in a set, and it was one I knew I had on my lanyard. I told him to come back around 8pm and that I would have it for him. He was excited and came back promptly at 8, but not after he hung around the store all night. Which was fun because we talked a lot. He was SO excited to finish the set (people go crazy for this stuff!) He said he would come see me later. Sooo kind of awkward, but it happens all the time so it's fine. We were closing the store at midnight and he came up to me and hands me a little stuffed penguin. (Side note again: We aren't allowed to accept any tips or anything). He said he won it for me in the arcade and that I had to accept it even after I refused. I told him thank you and that it was adorable and he ran away. So funny! I told my manager about it since it can be considered a tip, and she let me keep it. So now I have a cute little penguin, and an LSU student with a crush on me. Win win situation?

Magic happens at Disney parks and resorts all the time, and I am so proud to work for this company. 

I never want to leave, and I don't think I will. :) 

*fingers crossed*

XO

K