A Magical Moment

A Magical Moment

Stories of my time at Disney World

Written by Cassia Sherrill

Once again coming at you with another magical tale from my days at the Happiest Place on Earth!

This particular memory is an extremely fond one as it is probably the moment I can say I felt most proud of being a part of the cast member family at Disney World. I certainly had a lot of those moments, but this one was just so beautiful and affected me deeply.

I was stationed with Donald Duck, the best duck in the world. Fight me on that! I seriously did not really think anything of Donald Duck until I worked with him as a photographer, and now I think he is one of the coolest characters at the Disney parks. Such a sass. I love him.

Wow, that was a sidetrack. Anyway, I was photographing Donald Duck, and an elderly couple came up next to take photos with him. The husband asked that his wife get solo pictures with Donald first, and we happily agreed. This was pretty normal as lots of people liked taking both individual and group shots with the characters. The lady and Donald had a sweet moment and took their pictures, and the husband quickly followed for their group shot. Everything was pretty normal about this interaction.

At the end of the interaction, Donald gave his goodbye hugs to the couple and then they came over to me to scan their band (this is the way we get their PhotoPass pictures to them). I asked the lady, “Do you have a band or card I could scan?”

“Yes!” She began grabbing her card from her bag as she said, “This has been the absolute best vacation!”

I smiled and said, “I am so glad to hear that, ma’am!”

“Today is my birthday!”

“Oh, happy birthday! Glad you could come visit us on your birthday.”

She grabbed my hand and looked me directly in the eyes. “Last year, I didn’t think I was going to make it here. Coming to vacation at Disney World has been a dream of mine, and last year I was really sick with cancer.” She started to tear up, and I, of course, started tearing as well. “I didn’t think I was going to make it!”

At this point, I was shedding tears. I had cried tears of laughter at work before, but this was the first and only time I was brought to real tears during a shift. I pulled her into a hug and said, “I am so glad you are here, and I am so glad that you got your dream vacation here! Thanks for spending it with us!”

She smiled at me through her tears as she made her way back to her husband. I quickly had to start photographing the next family in line as Donald had already started greeting and interacting with them. However, I watched as the woman hugged her husband and continued to cry tears of joy to my left.

My heart soared with happiness for this woman who I was so proud to have the chance at that brief but powerful moment with. Typically, when photographing a character, it was normal to watch people have those moments with the characters, but I was so touched that she picked me to confide in. It was a moment of tenderness, joy, and celebration that I will never forget. I do not know that lady’s name, and I will probably never see her again. But I will be forever grateful that her and I had such a beautiful connection. I think it shows the power and importance of connecting with our fellow humans. Life is short, and humans are truly amazing. Do not waste the time that we have around people on your phones or other devices. Make eye contact. Show yourself willing to be open to hearing another’s story. Be gentle and empathic to their needs. I could have easily bypassed this moment because I needed to hurry to take the next family’s picture, but I did not. And I will be forever impacted because of it!