Walt Disney World – The People You Meet

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Me With Nick in the Studios

When I’m at Walt Disney World, I love meeting new people!  Cast Members, other vacationers, fellow bloggers, people on the monorail, bus, in ride queues – I don’t care where I am, I’m going to try to make new friends.  Most of the time my efforts reap excellent rewards!  This last trip to Disney World was no exception.  In fact, I’d say this was the most successful friend-making vacation we’ve ever had!

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In Epcot with Barbie

First and most importantly, we finally got to meet two people we’ve known for more than a year – but had never met face to face.  Nick and Barbie!  Nick is a fellow writer for Tips from the Disney Divas and Devos and Nick and Barbie have their own excellent blog, Disney Musings.  We had a few minutes with Nick and Barbie in the Studios (at Starring Rolls) before they left on their Disney cruise then met up with them again in Epcot (to enjoy a craft beer together) when they got back.  I only wish the four of us could have had more time to visit!

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With Melda in Monsieur Paul

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Gary in Via Napoli

We met a wonderful couple, Melda and Gary (from Florida) at our Italian Food & Wine pairing then saw them again the next day at our French Regional Lunch (and had a beer at Rose and Crown with them afterwards).What a great time we had! Everyone at our table in Via Napoli was so much fun.  Two ladies from Michigan, Cheryl and Patti, were as friendly as could be.  We loved hearing their travel adventure stories and how they became travel buddies.  I only wish it hadn’t been so loud in there – made it really hard to hear each other.  At our French Regional Lunch we sat next to Marta and Bruce, who, as it turns out, will also be on the same Disney cruise with us next summer!

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Food & Wine Festival Buddies

Hanging out at the Food & Wine Festival, we had the opportunity to meet some great folks as we shared tables near the different food booths.  Near Brazil, we met Lauren, Tom, Anna & Chris and had a lengthy and very interesting conversation about genealogy.  Their group was so cute and fun!  In the Rose and Crown Pub, we bellied up to the bar with some Texans clearly having the time of their lives – not really sure if they’ll remember all the fun they were having, but they sure were talkative!  The sweet young couple on our other side were friendly and adorable – the young lady and I having discovered a mutual love for shopping at Anthropologie.

We met an adorable couple with the cutest little baby boy on the bus one evening and discussed DVC for a while – then ran into them again in Pecos Bill’s and got to visit for a few minutes more.  It’s a small world after all!

We were very popular with the Disney research people and found ourselves approached about taking surveys on multiple occasions,  (We figured we fit a certain “mature couple” demographic.)  One of the survey takers, a Cast Member named Alison, was an absolute JOY!  We were very appreciative of Alison’s time – she took a few minutes to chat with us after we completed the survey questions.  Alison is one of those Cast Members who genuinely enjoys her job – you know the ones I mean!  They make all the difference in your vacation happiness.  There were many of those Cast Members on our trip and it just warmed our hearts to interact with them.

We can’t be the only ones who enjoy meeting people at Walt Disney World – what’s the most fun you’ve had making new friends?