Celebrating Each Other "The Disney Way"

Posting early because Friday was very exciting and made for a long post.

My journal is ultimately for me and my memories, so don't feel obligated to like, READ.
There are some pretty pictures for you to scroll past. Enjoy.

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Friday May 16, 2025.
A day that will live in our hearts.
It was a "karma wave"...and boy did we ride it. You'll see what I mean.

We got up early, excited for our celebratory day at Hollywood Studios!
We got to the park around 9:10am, thinking that it had opened at 8, but it was actually 9, so we got better-than-usual parking! Didn't even have to ride the tram.

Walked right through the gates because we are fancy-schmancy Cast Members.
The first thing we did was to go to Guest Services to ask for Celebration Buttons.
Jameson has worked for Disney for YEARS and has never worn one, and of course I haven't either. But today was special. He got one that said, "Music Producer DEG!" and mine said "BNB National Tour!"

(BNB is the acronym for Beauty and the Beast used in the theme parks. On tour it's BATB. I went with theme park version today.)

We paused to take photos of the pins, and Jameson used the photo to finally announce to friends and colleagues that he's accepted the Producer role.


I am so proud of him!!!
And we were both just in awe, all day today, that we were getting to celebrate these life-wins TOGETHER.
We know how rare and special that is.

Next, we walked to Galaxy's Edge to try and queue for Rise of the Resistance. It was down, so we rode Mickey's Runaway Railway instead. I've ridden it before but Jameson hadn't, and I really wanted him to experience it. The tech used in the ride is very cool, and the 2-D aesthetic is fun and cute. We enjoyed it very much!

We used our Cast Member snack coupons to each get a free Mickey pretzel and bottled drink, then decided to see what wait times for Smuggler's Run were like. On the way there we had to pass the queue for Rise of the Resistance again, and we saw some people start to run toward it ahead of us and wondered why. They entered the queue...the ride had JUST opened back up! We rushed over and were able to walk the whole queue and board the ride with only a 10 minute wait!! On a Friday in May! A miracle!! (The average wait time for this ride is 1 hour!)

Neither of us had ridden it before, and once again we were blown away by the tech and visuals and overall ride experience. In fact we would have been willing to ride it again if the queue hadn't filled up!

From there we wandered a bit and window shopped. As we passed Oga's Cantina, Jameson noticed that the queue was lower than usual (it's a very popular bar and can be difficult to get in without a reservation.) We asked the hostess about the wait and were told 15 minutes, so we decided to go for it.

We had waited a grand total of just 60 seconds before our names were called and we were ushered inside!


I can see why this bar is so popular. It's incredibly, intensively themed, the bartenders are extremely in-character, and drinking there is really an experience. Each drink that we saw looked unique and exotic; there were some that bubbled with dry ice, others with black ooze dripping down the lip or strange foams frothing over the top.

Jameson got the Fuzzy TaunTaun: Ketel One Botanical Peach & Orange Vodka, Bols Peach Schnapps Liqueur, Orange Juice with Tangerine, Pure Cane Sugar, and ‘Buzz Button Tingling Foam.
I got the Nysillin and Bubbles with Brub Berry Essence: Empress 1908 Gin, St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur, Blueberry-Lime Juice topped with Tonic Water and garnished with an Edible Hibiscus Flower.


Both drinks were amazing, with Jameson's having some very strange foam that caused one's lips to tingle and then go a bit numb! He let me try it and it was a very fun sensation. We wrapped the experience up with a Rodian Ration jell-O shot: Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Dekuyper Pucker Sour Apple, Green Apple, Sprite, and Boba Balls with a Pop! This was really cool and a lot bigger than we expected, it was supposed to be a petri dish and had pop rocks and red chocolate "gravel" sprinkled on top. The boba balls inside were juicy and refreshing. Texturally this was fun to eat.


A bit more wandering, then we went to see the Beauty and the Beast stage show.
Jameson has a good friend who plays Belle, and she got us VIP seats!! We were front and center!


It was a lovely show, and of course made me think of the tour adventure awaiting me in June :)

We also had to go see Muppet Vision 3D, which is going to be closing permanently in early June. This was essentially the last time we'd ever see this show in person. It's a great show, funny and cute, but it's dated and I can see why it's being closed/replaced. It was a privilege to get to see it one last time.

For an afternoon snack we went to a random bar where Jameson got a beer and we shared a charcuterie.


Next we rode Toy Story Mania, which is a shooting game. Jameson won, of course, as usual, and I sulked good-naturedly :p

We decided to try queuing for Smuggler's Run again as the wait time was only 45 minutes. But 45 soon turned into an hour, and longer, and by the time we were nearing the end of queue we both badly needed a restroom! Daunted by the thought of working our way aaaaaall the way back through the line (it is QUITE long), I volunteered to find a Cast Member to ask for help finding a restroom. The woman I found, Elaney, was so gracious; she immediately led us backstage to an employee restroom, without even knowing that we were Cast Members ourselves! When I saw that she was nervous to be taking us "backstage" I quickly told her that we work here too, and she was VERY relieved. Still, the fact that she would go out of her way like this for non-employees is exceptional, and we both took note of it.

Elaney let us rejoin the queue about where we'd left off, which we were very grateful for. Smuggler's Run was fun as usual (we've been on it three times) and this time we had two kids piloting our ship so we crashed A LOT haha. Jameson was laughing his head off, and I have to admit doing a bad job smuggling was a lot more fun than successfully delivering our cargo!

By the time that was finished we only had a little time before our dinner reservations. We just window shopped and enjoyed the vibes, then went to the most exclusive restaurant in Hollywood Studios: The Brown Derby.

You may remember that a few days ago when Jameson called me at the car dealership to tell me he'd gotten the Producer job, after hanging up with him I "got him something special." It was this reservation for this very fancy restaurant! Jameson has only eaten there once before, when he was too young to remember or appreciate the experience. And I've never been inside at all. I figured there was no better way to celebrate our achievements...and I was right :)

The first thing that went amazingly right was we met Dana.
Dana is a longtime Disney employee, possibly a manager at The Brown Derby. He noticed our Celebration Buttons and asked what we were celebrating. We told him, and he congratulated us and then engaged Jameson in a discussion about the "good old days" of Hollywood Studios since they'd both worked there around the same time period. He was just lovely, and when it was time for us to be seated our server started to take us to a standard table but Dana said, "No, let's celebrate properly!" and ushered us to a comfortable booth.


From there we were treated to an incredible meal!
Jameson had a refreshing gin-and-lemon drink, I had a French rose wine.

We shared these escargot with Roasted Garlic Béchamel, Crispy Prosciutto, and Puff Pastry.


Jameson's entree was the Pan-Roasted Halibut: Braised Bok Choy, Roasted Cashew-Jasmine Rice, Olive Oil-macerated Heirloom Tomato, Thai Coconut Sauce.


I had the Root Beer Brined Pork: Creamy Polenta, Pickled Corn, Herb Chimichurri, Barq's Root Beer Lacquer.


It was absolutely incredible. I don't think I've ever had pork like that. Sweet but also a slight bit of heat, and the veggies there on the side are pickled which gave a great hit of acidity against the sweet pork and rich polenta. I was very surprised when those mini corn ears turned out to have been smoked by themselves, they had amazing flavor!

For dessert Jameson got a poached pear with vanilla panna cotta, and I did the Derby's famous grapefruit cake.
Both were incredible, but I have to admit that the poached pears were better than the cake. The flavor was so complex, fall spices and smooth clean panna cotta...it was just WOW.


With dessert, Dana brought us each a celebratory mini-flute of champagne!
We made a very grateful toast to our career successes.
Throughout the day we had been talkng on and off about how we felt, what these recent life-events mean for us, what our hopes and dreams are for the future. This whole day was absolutely perfect, and this exquisite dinner was the perfect way to wrap up a celebration of each other. We have both worked extremely hard. Life is unpredictable and things may still not go as we hope or plan. But we had today. We had this moment where both of us had something amazing to celebrate, and the means to make this memory, which will live with us for many years to come.

Probably the most memorable of all was getting the check for this extravagant dinner!
Here was the crest of the "karma wave" we'd been riding all day :)
We were Cast Members, so we knew we'd get a discount.
But I had also brought our Cast Member Dining Discount coupons, which range from 20% off up to 50% off of a meal in the parks. I asked our server if The Brown Derby accepted Dining Discount coupons, fully expecting that they wouldn't (they usually can't be used in the upscale restaurants.) She asked me to give her a coupon and she'd see if she could apply it. I handed her the 50% off coupon, because why not? If there was a time to use that one, it was now. Again, fully expecting her to come back and regretfully inform us that she couldn't apply it, and perfectly happy to pay with our regular discount.

To both of our amazement, she came back with the check and no coupon.
WE GOT 50% off our meal!!!
I couldn't stop smiling like an idiot. We quickly paid (I gave her a MASSIVE tip) and got out of there, joking that they'd probably chase us down for the rest of the bill!

We considered sticking around for the Fantasmic show, but it had been a scorching day and we'd been outside in 90-degree heat nearly the entire time. We were wiped. We drove home, happy and full and exclaiming over how exceptionally WELL this day had gone. I seriously felt that the universe was celebrating with us.

Tally of Awesome Things:

     - Excellent parking
     - A mere 10-minute wait for Rise of the Resistance
     - Getting to see Muppet Vision 3D one last time before it closed
     - Getting into the most exclusive bar in Galaxy's Edge with essentially no wait time
     - Getting "rescued" by an amazing Cast Member in the Smuggler's Run queue
     - VIP seating at the Beauty and the Beast stage show
     - Special seating, complementary champagne, exceptional service, and 50% off our meal at The Brown Derby!!!
     - Getting to spend an entire uninterrupted day with each other, and both of us in a good place in our lives.

To try and pay back some of the "karma wave," or "pay it forward," as soon as we got home I went to the Guest Services website and filled out a Cast Compliments form for both Elaney (the woman who helped us in the Smuggler's Run queue) and Dana (who went out of his way to make our evening exceptional.) When Cast Members receive kudos, they don't necessarily "get" anything other than a pat on the back and a certificate. But I used all of my skills with words and did everything in my power to show that these two really deserved recognition. So who knows...at minimum I hope they are touched by these words and proud to be who they are :)

Here is what I wrote:

"I have TWO cast Members to recognize!

"First was Elaney working on May 16 around 4pm at Smugglers Run. My partner and I had been waiting in queue, and he suddenly needed a restroom. But we were almost to the ride, and weren’t sure if we’d make it all the way back through the queue in time for him. I went looking for assistance and found Elaney, who guided us to a nearby restroom and waited with us to ensure our safety and comfort. We were then able to rejoin the queue and still ride the attraction. Elaney was empathetic, kind, and most of all she put our safety and health first. We appreciated her so much today, and really wanted her to know that and to recognize her for that.

"And next we have Dana at the Brown Derby. We made dinner reservations at this special restaurant to celebrate both of us recently getting amazing career advancements. We were wearing celebration pins, and Dana noticed and took time to inquire what we were celebrating. We told him, and he not only congratulated us and engaged us in a lovely conversation, he also seated us at a comfortable booth and arranged for us to each receive a flute of celebratory champagne to toast our success! The evening was already so special, but Dana went out of his way to make it EXCEPTIONAL. We will remember our fantastic meal at the Brown Derby for years to come.

"Both of these Cast Members showed us what it means to actively apply The Disney Way, and how that seemingly small extra effort can turn a guest’s experience into not just a day at Disney, but a treasured lifetime memory. As Cast Members ourselves, my partner and I were touched and inspired by the service we received from these two individuals today. We would appreciate if you could pass on our gratitude and thanks."

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If you've made it this far, congrats, you've probably met your reading quota for the entire day.

What can I say, today was incredible. We are both grateful beyond anything in words.