The Happy Hat: A Story of Disney Magic

When we are in Walt Disney World we tend to forget about the outside world.  I’m usually fairly oblivious to what’s happening off property when I’m enjoying my time in the vacation kingdom.  However, sometimes real life bursts our Disney bubble.  This was the case during my December trip when my close friend Tom got a call from back home in the UK.  We had just exited Splash Mountain in the Magic Kingdom when he noticed had a voicemail from his dad.  Our group hung out and discussed where to go next while he called home, but we noticed he was upset while he was on the phone.  Unfortunately, he had just learned his grandmother had passed away.

Our group’s collective heart sank when we heard the news and we offered to do anything he wanted including going back to the resort or trying to book him an earlier flight back to the UK.  However, he decided he wanted to keep touring and have a good time to distract himself from his bad news.  So at Tom’s request our band of Disney lovers went on.  We stuck around Magic Kingdom for a while before some folks departed for the airport and some headed out of the park for various obligations.  I was among the bunch who headed to the Animal Kingdom Lodge to show support for some friends who were holding a fan meet.  We agreed to meet up with Tom at Epcot later on for dinner since he preferred to stay in the park for the afternoon.

After the event had wrapped up, my friends Kelly and Jill and I took the opportunity to visit their shop called Zawadi Marketplace.  This store is one of the most unique in all of the resorts and I always enjoy browsing it when I’m at this resort. We roamed around the the Marketplace for a few minutes when the girls had a great idea to get a gift for Tom since he had had a rough day.  He is a big Chip and Dale fan so we settled on getting him one of the hats featuring these pesky chipmunks.  We thought this would be a great way to make him smile and let him know we were thinking of him.  Little did we know how very special this gift would become.

When we went to the register to pay for his present the cast member (CM) who rang us up started to chat with us about our selection.  Her name was Carolyn and she seemed like she was just making pleasant conversation when she asked us who the hat was for.  We explained the hat was a a present for our friend who had just found out his grandmother had passed away.  We told her that this was a “happy hat,” and so the term happy hat was born.  She was so thrilled we were committing this act of kindness that she also wanted to do something for Tom.

She offered us one of her trading pins, but we declined since Tom does not participate in this Disney ritual.  We appreciated the sentiment, but didn’t want her to give up her pin for someone who isn’t a pin person.  When we told her to keep it, she insisted on doing something for our friend in mourning.  Carolyn asked us to wait at the register while she disappeared for a moment.  She returned with a special gift for him that blew us away.  When we were talking to this special cast member about the happy hat we told her about Tom’s love of Chip and Dale.  Her gift to him was a pair Chip and Dale plush figures who were dressed for Christmas.

All three of us burst into tears and thanked her profusely.  We were amazed at her sweetness and generosity for someone she had never even met.  We made her come out from behind the register to give us hugs. She squeezed us tightly while we cried and shared in a moment none of us will ever forget.  Carolyn made our day with a simple gesture for which we will always be grateful.

When we arrived at Epcot we headed straight to the Germany Pavilion since we had a reservation to eat at Biergarten that night.  We met Tom there and told him we had a present for him.  I think he was a bit concerned about what it might be since our trio can be pretty silly.  He was delighted when we pulled out his chipmunk hat!  He immediately put it on with a big grin on his face.  Next came the pair of Chip and Dale plushes and we told him all about Carolyn and how wonderful she was.  I don’t think we got through the story without more tears!  Tom, of course, was very touched by this cast member’s thoughtfulness.  It set the tone for a wonderful evening among friends including a fun dinner at Biergarten, the Candlelight Processional, and the holiday edition of Illuminations.

I wanted to share this story with readers because it was so special to me and it should serve as a reminder of what makes Walt Disney World such a special place.  It is events like these when a complete stranger changed the way I looked at a sad day that keep me coming back to Walt Disney World.  There is no other way to describe our experience than to simply call it Disney magic.  Cast members like Carolyn who can render three very chatty girls speechless can’t be taken for granted.  The way these folks go above and beyond the typical customer service experience is incredible.

If you have an experience like this one please be sure to let Disney know about it.  Once we dried our tears and composed ourselves, we headed for the front desk of the Animal Kingdom Lodge.  There we asked to speak with a manager so we could tell her all about how wonderful Carolyn had been to us.  Since we had gone to the desk the manager we spoke to was not directly above the Zawadi Marketplace employee, but she assured us she would pass the message along to the appropriate people.  We hoped to brighten Carolyn’s day as much as she has brightened ours’ with being praised by her bosses.  You see, cast members will be recognized for their exceptional service when management knows about it.  Give back to those folks who make your trip special.

Have you had an extraordinary cast member interaction?  I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

A special thanks goes to Jay Griffith for supplying the photos of Tom, his happy hat, and his Chip and Dale plushes!

Next week I’ll discuss an often overlooked restaurant in Disney’s table service dining line up!