Have you seen those posts and pictures on Facebook of people experiencing “That special moment” at Walt Disney World? Well, I had the privilege of organizing one of those special moments.
I was planning the extended family vacation for the Juneau family. Aimee, her husband Paul, their son, her brother, mother and stepfather. This was a first visit for Paul and their son as well as her brother and stepfather. Aimee was so excited for this trip when she learned, several months into planning, that she was pregnant. This was a miracle baby for Aimee and Paul. Their travel dates were in Oct and she would have been too far along to do a pregnancy reveal and she told me she wanted to do a gender reveal on their trip.
This was such an exciting idea that I immediately wanted to be the one to plan it. I asked for that honor and was granted permission. No one in the family was going to know. I was going to be given the envelope from the ultra sound. As a planner, having the opportunity to plan something like this really gets your creative juices flowing. I am fortunate to have some colleagues who live in Florida who could help us.
Aimee and her family were not even going to know what day the reveal would be. There is no way I could make them wait so, of course, it would take place on their first day in the parks and it was Magic Kingdom. My colleagues met them at rope drop and led them on a scavenger hunt throughout Magic Kingdom. They would get a clue to arrive at a location in a specific time frame where they met my colleagues and they got a little gift and another clue. They wound their way around Fantasyland and even over to the Haunted Mansion. Their stops were scheduled around their Fastpass reservations.
For the final reveal, all of my colleagues and the Juneau family met at the location to go and meet Mickey Mouse. They were having a boy so, of course, it had to be Mickey who presented the actual reveal. Even now, remembering their reaction at the reveal brings special tears to my eyes. This event created a Mickey Mouse fan of a little boy who is so excited to be a big brother. There was not a dry eye in the house.
This experience was one that family will never forget and I feel blessed to have had an opportunity to do this for them. This is a big part of what is special about being a Vacation Specialist. When you can create a fan for life or make a memory that will last a lifetime then you have done your job well. For us Disney fans, spreading the magic of Disney is what motivates us.
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