Former Disney Cast Members of Reddit, what are some of your craziest/creepiest/best stories?

1. Part creepy but mostly crazy story here. We had a rich guest come in to Club 33 (super secret yet not so secret restaurant in New Orleans Square) for the first time I believe and he wanted a private room and some Disney princesses to "have fun with" and wondered if any of the hostesses or waitresses were interested when we told him we could not accommodate him.
   — Sarkuvaria


2. This was a while ago now but it still makes me smiley and nostalgic. Character performers, such as myself, are only out during specific timeslots during the day for pictures. When those times end, usually guests aren't allowed to enter the queue anymore, and we finish up taking photos with those remaining. Unfortunately, this day was particularly hot and fur characters had been experiencing issues (i.e. fainting) due to the heat, so they were packing us up rather quickly at the end of shifts. Dale and I (Chip) were waving our goodbyes to the guests when we heard this child absolutely WAILING her lungs out over not being able to meet us--she wasn't being bratty, she sounded genuinely upset. My attendant is the best. The crowd dispersed a bit and she was able to catch up with the parents. She found out they would be returning tomorrow, and since we all had shifts the following day, we pulled some strings to set up a small meeting. Here's how it went down: The parents, as instructed to, brought her to Critter Country a while before the first meet and greet of the day. I crept up behind her and gently put my paws over her eyes, and pulled them back to reveal Dale striking this wonderfully heroic pose in front of her. I still remember how she screamed in excitement when she realized her favorite Disney characters had come out just to spend some time her. We gave her autographs and did photos, then spent the rest of the time playing tag. :)
   — simplybenny


3. There weren't many of the creepy internet rumor type stories for me. I feel like a lot of those come from people who like the idea of a "corrupted Disneyland." I will say though, some of the areas were really unsettling when they were empty and dark. Toontown was one, especially since it always closes early. The twisted proportions are cartoony during the day, but when you're alone at night, it just feels really...wrong. Like you might see a mascot running at you out of the dark
   — ImMissBrightside






4. Creepiest: Got deployed (they needed people, so they moved me there) to Animal Kingdom for a week. I was at The Dinosaur ride as merchandise and was leaving at night when everything was stocked and clean. Forgot where I was for a second when I heard screeching noises. They still haven't turned off the Dinosaur noises and it was pitch black outside Craziest -Worked at Club Cool at Epcot. Had a Brazilian father, pull down his daughter pants and let her pee on our floor -Another Club Cool one. People would try Beverley (Italys "Soda") and instead of puking in the trash, they would puke on the soda machine and we would have to shut it down and clean it -got asked about putting the dome up when it was raining -When working at the Mission Space gift shop, I had a 3 hour stand off with a guest who was stealing Vinylmayions from us -my last official day working at Animal kingdom before getting transferred to the Grand Floridian Resort was the opening day of Pandora at Animal Kingdom. I worked 17 hours that day. The wait time to get into Pandora from the Discovery Island Bridge was 5 hours and another 5 hours wait time to ride the Banshee ride -lots and lots of drunk people when I worked at Epcot
   — Bkbee


5. I used to work at the box office, I once had a woman come up and ask for a ticket into Disneyland, she then placed a box on the counter while looking for her wallet. Idk how she managed to get that box past security. I see a picture on it and then I see dates I realize that they are the ashes of assuming her little girl. I had to keep her at my window while I waited for security. It broke my heart but a lot of people like to dump ashes on rides and it literally just gets vacuumed up at the end of the night.
   — stephyduh28


6. I worked at Hollywood Studios for more than a year while I went to UCF. The dumbest story I have is about a woman who exited the ride where I worked and discovered wet stuff coming from the sky. I was standing near Stroller parking helping people organize strollers. The woman came up to me and told me that she didn’t like the wet stuff coming from the sky and that I should tell my boss to turn it off. At first, I laughed because I thought she was kidding, which only pissed her off more. “Don’t they know that this stuff ruins people’s vacations?” She said. “We have no way of controlling the rain, ma’am. This is Florida and we get quick storms like this in the summer, but it might go away after a while,” I said. “What about the bubble?” She said. I was thoroughly confused by what she meant by bubble so I had to ask that she was saying “bubble.” Apparently she thought that all of Disney was under a big bubble and we controlled the weather, like Risa on Star Trek. I confirmed that there was no bubble, that this was the real deal. She walked away insisting that something should be done about it. But that’s just one of the many, many stupid things that happened during my time as a CM. It was just one of the dumbest conversations I had.
   — unicornCornUnique






7. Not creepy in the traditional sense, just personally scary. I worked night shift at DAK, and was working out on the safari at like 3AM. As I was struggling to get something working near the hippo river, I heard one of the hippos do their [crazy loud noise](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0l2YSHgi1o0) out of the pitch blackness like 5 feet away from me. I then had the terrifying realization that if I fell in, I would most likely be killed within a minute and wouldn't be discovered until the morning when they would find my truck on the ride path... I was much more careful in that area after that thought.
   — cduff77


8. I worked at a restaurant in Downtown Disney in California as a host. James Spader came in once, tried to get a table with his dog. Who was obviously not a service dog (and even if it was an emotional support dog, they don’t have to be legally allowed inside a restaurant.) I told him I would be happy to seat him if he left his dog at the Kennel, right across the esplanade, but I could not seat his dog inside - what if a health inspector came in? He yelled at me so much, his face turned red. He told my manager to fire me. Luckily, the restaurant had a patio, and the manager sat Spader at a table on the patio closest to the exit so we wouldn’t get in trouble. My manager actually stood up for me, told Spader I was right. Spader still tried to get me fired. This was 10 years ago, I still hate James Spader with a red hot passion. Such an entitled ass. And since he always plays assholes, I know he’s not even a good actor. However, Christian Slater was very polite when he came in.
   — MeleMallory


9. I'm surprised no one has mentioned Towel Baby. Most people who worked at WDW-MK in the early 2000s heard of or met Towel Baby. It's a rather sad story so i'll try to tell it respectfully. Several times a week a couple with annual passes came to the Magic Kingdom with what appeared to be a swaddled infant. However, if you looked closely, the woman was carrying a rolled up towel wrapped in a hospital newborn blanket. The man was always very gentle, leading his wife through security and into the park. I'm not certain if they went on rides but I know for sure that they always asked for a table for three at restaurants. They came through my turnstile a few times and while the woman rarely made eye contact, they were always soft spoken and respectful. The story / legend was that the couple had lost an infant years prior and the woman fell into a deep depression and became delusional. The only thing that kept her somewhat functional was fussing over this towel and coming to the Magic Kingdom. Observing them navigate the park was a masterclass in compassion, not only watching the husband care for his wife, but seeing every single cast member treat them both with respect and kindness. I remember managers telling us not to make fun of them (obviously) but also not to fuss over them - they're just another family enjoying the park.
   — bibbityboppityburner






10. Whenever a disney story thread comes up, this one from u/Ihaveanotheridentity is always the best: >I have one moment that stands out above all the rest. I was waiting for someone to ask me this question. It's the reason I left a good job as a VIP Tourguide and moved to the Character Department. > >I was working City Hall one day when two guests came in with two little girls. One was in a wheel chair and the other one looked like she had just seen death. Both were cut and bruised and the one in the wheelchair had her arm in a cast. The two women were actually nurses from a hospital and were asking for a refund on the girl's tickets, something we avoided doing at all costs. When I asked why they told me the story. The two girls were with their mom and dad at Epcot and on the way home they got into a horrible car accident. The mother was beheaded right in front of them. The father eventually died too but the two girls didn't know that yet. They were from overseas and had no money and no contact information for anyone they knew. They were bringing the tickets back to get the girls some much needed money to help get them back home. My heart absolutely sunk. If you had seen these girls you'd know why. They were truly traumatized. I refunded their tickets and got permission to be their private tour guide for the rest of the day (which they were not expecting). I walked them to the VIP viewing area for the parade which was as far as I could walk them in the costume we used to wear at City Hall. I had to leave them there while I put on my VIP costume. On the way down I pulled out every kid joke I could think of. I was a REALLY good tour guide (I helped write part of it) and I knew how to make kids smile. Nothing worked. These girls were too far gone for that. I left them at the bridge to go change, walked backstage and bawled my eyes out. I just had never seen something so horrible. I was truly affected and it was a terrible feeling of powerlessness not being able to fix the situation. When I came back I brought them to get ice-cream, take them on rides and stuff but they never smiled, not once. The nurses were loving it and were trying to get them into it but it just wasn't working. We went back to the bridge to watch the parade. It was there that I honestly saw true magic. Real magic, not bullshit. I had called the parade department to let them know what was going on and set up a private meet and greet after the parade. As the parade was coming around Liberty Square I told the girls that I had called Mickey and told him all about them. I told them that Mickey asked to meet them after the parade. > >The little girl in the wheelchair smiled. > >"Really?" she asked. My heart skipped. "Yes, really! He told me to tell you to look out for him in the parade and to follow the float back to City Hall." > >The other girl smiled. > >"You mean right now?" she asked. > >It had worked. They were talking. Not laughing, but talking. It was the first time I had heard them speak. Every single parade performer came up to them on the bridge and told them to look out for Mickey. Every one of them told them that. When Mickey's float came up Mickey (who was attached to a pole at the top of the float) managed to turn her body sideways, look down at the girls and point towards Main Street. That was all it took. The girls were excited now. They had forgotten about death. They were lost in a magical world and I couldn't believe I was watching it unfold in front of my eyes. We followed that float all the way back to City Hall, singing "Mickey Mania" the whole way. Back then, City Hall used to have a VIP lounge behind the desk that was for privacy during difficult situations or to host celebrities. I took them in and showed them the book where all of the autographs were. They were eating it up. > >The girl who was Mickey that day got down off her float and without even taking her head off walked up to me backstage and said "Let's go." I walked in with Mickey behind me so I got to see the exact moment the girls met their new friend. They got shy but Mikey was in control now. Those girls met the REAL Mickey Mouse that day. Every single parade character stayed dressed to meet those girls. One by one they'd come in and play a bit then leave. We were in that lounge for over an hour. Mickey stayed in costume the entire time (which is hard to do after a parade). When Mickey finally said goodbye I had two excited girls on my hands that couldn't stop smiling. They talked and talked and talked. We had a wonderful day after that but what I remember most is when we walked by the rose garden, the older one said "Oh, my mommy loves roses! I mean..." and she stopped. I held out my hand and walked her to the gate, picked her up and put her on the other side and said "Pick one!" She looked happy as she picked out her favorite rose. She didn't say anything more and she didn't need to. I said goodbye to the wonderful nurses and the wonderful girls then walked backstage behind the train station. This time I didn't cry. It felt so good to be a part of that. I realized that as much as I liked helping guests at City Hall, the true magic of Disney was in the character department. I auditioned, transferred and never looked back. Thanks for letting me relive this. It was a special day for me.
    — ThePoetPrinceofWass