There are so many extraordinary Cast Members that I have met, worked with, and enjoyed as a guest, it is impossible to discuss all of the wonderful experiences that I have witnessed Cast Members experience for Disneyland guests. Myself, as a Cast Member, I helped a man propose to his girlfriend by getting Mickey to come to Town Square during his “break.” It was pure magic. I once was a VIP hostess for a terminally ill boy and his mother on a tour set up my Michael Jackson. It was a day that I will never forget for the rest of my life and I’m sure his mother won’t either.  Make A Wish had asked him what he wanted and he said that he had wanted nothing.  Because of that, they sent him a very large amount of toys from Toys R Us.  He donated all of the toys to charity because he said he just didn’t need them.  Michael Jackson heard about this and invited him to Neverland Ranch for the day and then set up the tour.  He died shortly after our day together and I cannot even think about this beautiful child without my eyes filling with tears. Just before I escorted him and his mother to the exit, he asked me for a kiss in front of the Mickey floral portrait. I would give anything for a picture of that moment because I can still hear his soft voice in my head all these years later. What a beautiful angel.

During a recent trip to Disneyland I was able to receive a VIP tour of Disneyland because of my involvement with Disneyland through my website and this blog. As a former VIP tour guide, this was a dream come true. I had always told myself that I would have “made it” in life if I was able to get a VIP tour and it happened.

I was nervous and excited before the VIP day. I didn’t know what to expect. I was a tour guide in a different time. Back in a time when we were a bunch of very young ladies prancing around Disneyland with slightly-too-short skirts, flirting with the boys on the westside of the park (or any cute boys for that matter). We were hand-selected and were frankly chosen because we were between the sizes of 2 and 10. It was back in the day (I’m sounding old, I know) when they could pull you into the office to tell you to “drop a few” because your vest was looking a bit tight. Thing is, none of us cared because we were all totally and completely committed to being amazing tour guides–in Walt Disney and Cicely Rigdon’s collective vision of poise and Disneyland authority.

Back to the matter at hand. My son and I arrived at the park and were greeted by a lovely guide who took us to our group. And to say that we had marvelous guides that day would be an understatement. It was wonderful and just how I had always dreamed and hoped it would be. They were lovely, professional and poised. They were knowledgeable and kind. They took a keen interest in my son who was so terribly frightened to go on Haunted Mansion Holiday. Aidan and I spent a great deal of our day with Karen who held his hand and talked him through the entire attraction. The guides and I swapped tour horror stories (which I LOVED) and for me it was like going home for a sorority reunion. I honestly cannot say enough about them. I am so proud of all of them for keeping up with Walt and Cicely’s vision of professionalism and grace under fire. Back in the ’90s we worked so hard to keep true to their ideals and I’m happy to report (to fellow former TGs), they are working just as hard to be great guides.

And on that fantastic day, we had great experiences with Cast Members whom I had never met and one that I had. If you worked at Disneyland from the mid ’90s on or have even been an annual passholder during that time, you know him and you love him for his true devotion to his job and Disneyland’s guests. Maynard. One name is all it takes and if you’ve encountered him, you are certainly smiling right now and have memories of him dancing through your head. Maynard is probably most notoriously known (for me anyway) for all of his shifts at Haunted Mansion. Trust me, you’ve never experienced any Cast Member play the role of Haunted Mansion caretaker so well. Amazing. Back when I worked at Disneyland and sometimes worked in City Hall, it was quite conceivable that at least an hour or two of one’s shift would be spent fielding compliments about Maynard from guests. When I moved to Guest Communications the last eight months of my tenure at Disneyland, the same was true there too. Guests from across the country would write, call, and email about their fantastic interactions with Maynard. By them time I left Guest Communications in August of 1998 he had somewhere around 150 documented compliments in our system.

As a guest back in October, I was able to have my own Maynard experience at the Tiki Room. Although I immediately recognized his great big grin, I’m sure he did not recognize me, although he kindly said he did when I went over to talk to him. The Tiki Room is my children’s favorite attraction and Maynard, made our millionth (ok, maybe not millionth but I can say we do “run” to it first whenever we go to the park) a memorable one.

I had to take a picture of my son with Maynard before entering the attraction.  He’s a Disneyland celebrity!  Once inside, Maynard gave a great spiel about cameras, trash, etc.;  I honestly wish I had recorded it with my video camera.  He then made us Tiki Room protective hats because we were “sitting under some birds that had eaten soft peaches for lunch.” Aidan and I giggled as we put on our “hats.” Maynard even pointed us out to the rest of the folks in the Tiki Room and we wore our hats very proudly and smiled. About five minutes into the show, Aidan turned to me and said, “Mom, do you know these are actually napkins?”. I smiled and nodded as my napkin slid down the front of my face. (At least it wasn’t soft peaches!) Aidan loved his special Tiki Room moment. I am proud to have finally had my own “Maynard Moment.” And now I have documented it for myself, as I did for countless others.

Have you had an amazing Cast Member experience?  Share it by leaving a comment below.

P.S.  Want to know more about Cicely Rigdon mentioned above? Click here to read about this extraordinary, legendary Disneyland Cast Member.  You can also learn more about Maynard on his website by clicking here.