gettin there

 Well its gettin close to the time. in just 30+ days the whole Zombee clan will be heading to Florida for a week of theme park madness. I gotta admit I am looking forward to it and I am not. The "not" is because it is like Christmas. So much anticipation then the big downer once it is over. Plus a week with my mother and sister and wife? 

Yeah I have big plans on trying to kill my liver.

The "forward" is rather obvious.

I am a sucker for the DW. My favorite part is how every "cast member" treats you like the first person they talked to that day. 

With that are are some stories I found on a cool site and blatantly stole.  www.wdwinsiders.com

Cast Member Recognition

2000-08-15:     - Hollywood Studios & MK Many moons ago when my daughter was 9 (21 this year and we are finally returning!) she had her picture taken with Meg & Herc. Meg asked her what her name was. "Paris" she replied and Meg stood & chatted outside of Mann's Chinese Theatre for some time with her. The very next day we visted MK and went into the Princessess' tent. When 'Cinderella' asked my daughters name she said "Oh yes my friend Meg told me all about you!!!" My daughter was amazed that the characters had been talking about her and it thoroughly made her day. Note to parents, it was the same girl but it was touching nevertheless. Submitted by: Maria Lowcock from Darlington; United Kingdom

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2009-09-27:     - Photopass, Hollywood Studios In 2009 DH and I were treated to an impromptu private photopass session with the best photopass photographer ever in Hollywood Studios. We asked her to take our picture in front of the hat. When I told her we were buying the CD and love taking strange pictures she went nuts! She spent an hour with us taking us all around Hollywood Studios having us pose in fun ways and interact with all the sets and props. She had us do magic shots, brought us into shops for silly hat/costumed pictures, told us stories about the park and was generally just wonderful. When we were done I made sure to ask another person to take a picture of the 3 of us so I would always remember her. DH and I then went to the Guest Services so we could tell Disney what an asset they had in her. She was just wonderful and I'll never forget our time with her and how she brightened our trip. __________________ Submitted by: Sierra from Boston

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2011-09-03: Stephen     - Pirates of the Carribean We were taking my 5 year old on Pirates of the Carribean yesterday. He had already ridden Everest at Animal Kingdom earlier and loved it, so I knew Pirates would be nothing. However, the line is a bit spooky and he was increasingly becoming more afraid. About 3/4 through he began to cry, so we turned around and left through an exit door. As we exit, Stephen the cast member pirate looks to us all and asks who was afraid of the line? He then starts talking to my son, calling him mate, showing him his sword and telling him he's a good pirate. My son is very shy and mumbled at him. At first he was clearly scared of the guy. But Stephen persisted and spent a VERY long time talking to my son. In the end, my son warmed right up to him. Stephen then took us straight through the entire line and put him right in the boat. My son LOVED the ride. I would really like to let Disney know what Stephen did and I will forever be grateful. Just to add to this....when we got off the ride, my son fell pretty hard inside the store. He was just about to cry when a girl pirate came up, took him by the hand and got him a bag of ice for his knee. Very nice girl too though I couldn't see a name tag. We began to joke that he was a pirate magnet and bought him some pirate gear. Prior to yesterday, my son did not like pirates. He thought they were scary and mean. Now he LOVES them! Submitted by: Bonnie from Palm Bay, FL

2005-02-05: ? from ?     - Toon Town Judges Tent I have T shirts with all the pooh characters on it and the year. One year I couldn't find Rabbit for nothing and asked a CM in the store if there was anyway they could go out to "rabbit's garden" and get him to sign my shirt, not only did the shirt come back with Rabbit's signature but Gopher, Kanga and Roo. Submitted by: Juli from Ashley

2011-03-01: Matt from dunno     - World Showcase Outpost Matt at the Outpost (or whatever it is called, the non-country in the WS) was so supremely nice to the person in front of us who was so wickedly condescending and rude. He was also so nice that the kids wanted to go back later in the week and visit him. I don't know the exact date, but it was last March. The guy is nice. Submitted by: Michele from Lakewood, Oh

2010-01-25: April     - Zawadi Marketplace (Animal Kingdom Lodge gift shop) This was my son's first trip to Disney World (he was two at the time). We decided to let him try pin trading, as the rest of the family has always enjoyed it. My son loved looking at the pins, and quickly took to the idea of trading. However, he was extremely shy, so trading was a challenge for him. One evening, we were in the Zawadi Marketplace (we were staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge), and he asked to see April's pins. She knelt down and let him look, and he saw one that he loved. However, he could not make up his mind as to which pin he wanted to give away. After giving him a long time to decide, April gave him the pin and told him that he could simply have it - no trade required. For the rest of the tip, she would make it a point to talk to him every time that we came through the store, and she would ask to see his pins. Her interactions really helped him to come out of his shell. In short, she made him feel very special, and I very much appreciate it.