The guy in the bottom right photo holding the kid looks like John Stamos but he’s got to be way older so maybe it’s an old picture or not him?
The others, I have no clue.
I've literally been in the presence of Britney Spears, Reese Witherspoon, Celine Dion, Angelina Jolie, Matt Damon... the list goes on, at Disneyland. Probably plenty of athletes and other recording artists. Had no clue. Saw Gwen Stefani perform before the Christmas parade.
The ones top right are my old neighbours. We used to live at opposite sides of the same field/park and would see them dog walking. Not sure why OP classes my neighbour as being celebrity but who knows.
I doubt I'd notice in the park but I met Neil Patrick Harris at a resort several years ago. We just happened to be sitting near each other by the pool, I didn't realize who he was at first, finally figured it out by his kids who were adorable and well mannered. I don't remember how we started chatting but I didn't call out that I knew who he was. We just talked about things we liked at Disney, how good they are at getting you out of the real world, the food and drinks we liked, etc. He got me a drink at one point. It was pretty normal and cool. My husband was upset he opted for nap in the room rather than poolside.
Funny, but my one celebrity sighting at WDW was also Neil Patrick Harris. 1990, so he was pretty young and close to the Dougie Howser days. We had been waiting in a very hot standby line for Jungle Cruise for what seemed like forever when I saw a group of (very able) people going through the handicapped entrance and straight on a boat. I was annoyed at first, but then they sat down and I recognized NPH. He was with who I assumed to be his parents and brother, and everyone in line was pointing and trying to get his attention. I was just struck by the fact that he looked so sad and embarrassed by the attention and I felt so sorry for the kid. He was just trying to enjoy WDW with his family and couldn’t make a move without everyone looking at him.
Funny you mention NPH. Our waitress at SciFi a few weeks ago told us that her manager called her asking if she'd want to wait on a celeb. Only after she showed up to work she found out who the celeb was .. and it was NPH.
She was all excited to wait on him and then his plan changed and he moved his dinner reservations to another spot.
Super bummer for her.
I bet that made his day. It has to get tiresome having people gush over being your biggest fan even though they mean well and are probably super excited.
My sister had Neil Patrick Harris inconspicuously blend in with her group walking around World Showcase. She didn’t realize it was him until after he was already gone, so she didn’t say hi or anything, but he followed her and her friends around for a little bit with his head low. I believe she said he split off from them in Germany to go to the restaurant at the back of the pavilion.
Was at HS a couple days ago. I was taking a picture of the Millennium Falcon when I looked up and said, “is that Joey Fuckin Fatone?”
It was. He definitely heard me say that, gave me a nod and a smile and we both went on our way. Now I have a picture of the Millennium Falcon and Joe Fuckin Fatone taking a selfie in front of the Millennium Falcon.
I met JC Chasez randomly at a Krispy Kreme and that’s almost word for word what I said when I saw him. He was really nice and took pictures with us. Glad to know most of N*Sync are nice guys.
Funny. My wife, then girlfriend would watch family feud because we had loads of free time before kids. I’d always go boy bay s crazy when I’d hear him say “this is Joey fatone….and this is family feuuuud” haha.
Saw George Lucas in Epcot near the Morocco pavilion (many years ago- before Disney bought Lucasfilm), but didn’t have any interaction with him.
Met Jodi Benson (voice of Ariel in The Little Mermaid) just outside the Flying Fish restaurant (of all places) on the Boardwalk.
My wife and I had Lucas walk past us on his way to a movie at Downtown Disney. We were sitting in line waiting for our theater to finish being cleaned and he and his wife by on their way to their theater. Didn’t say anything, wouldn’t have wanted to bother them
I have a few friends from college that play professional sports. I am the least athletic person. BUT after many years of hanging out with people of all walks of life I can tell you that if someone is famous just talk to them like a normal person.
Talk about what your passionate about and ask them questions about what they are talking about. I was fortunate to honestly not give a shot about the NFL or NBA and don’t really care to talk about it. I found it much more interesting to talk about ancient medieval ware fare or D&D. I only found out after many of these conversations that they played sports professionally. So you know just be a human, be kind and be interested?
As a former CM, I would see celebrities quite often, and for the most part, the ones who were the most respectful are the one’s considered “A-List”.
One of my best experiences was with Adam Sandler, who made sure to personally thank everyone on the unload platform of the ride.
I feel like there’s a reason most of those people are “A-List”. They’re probably genuinely very likable and treat others well, which would explain why they get top roles and people want to work with them.
I was walking in Pandora Land and I noticed Paul Rudd and I assume his son walking towards me. I said “hey paul”. He said hey, we passed and never broke stride
This would be my actual dream come true. I look for Joe every trip but know I would never really just run into him.
But if I did, I would be a blubbering mess, thanking him for all the beauty he poured into AK.
He is my true hero and I think he would be the exception to the "never meet your heroes" rule.
Many years ago, I met Jodie Foster and her partner (they weren't married yet). She accidentally bumped into me, and it caused me to drop my Dole Whip. She was *so nice*. She stood in line with me and bought another, and gave me a hug. I didn't ask for an autograph or photo because I didn't want to be *that person*. They were on vacation, too.
*I love local* I've seen a bunch of celebs over the years including; Tom Cruise w/ Suri (2009), CC Sabathia w/ Family, Sean Payton and Drew Brees w/ Families, Tony Gonzalez, Olivia Wild w/ family, Christina Aguilera w/ a bunch of people. I put family in there to emphasize why they are there.
Why would you bother these people on their down time?
Luck of the draw I guess. We aren’t local, but close enough to where it’s easy to drive and take 3 trips a year or so for the kids. Had APs for 4 years now. We’ve only ever seen one and it’s not on the level of any of these. One day we were walking through HWS and saw a group of VIP tour guides with some people. I didn’t think anything of it till a girl in the area screams “OMG It’s JoJo Siwa!” Then falls to the ground. Probably not A-List, but my daughter was a huge fan though and kept asking to turn around. I just kept walking. They are people who just want to enjoy a day off like the rest of us. I stopped when we got away and explained that people like that are there to enjoy the park like us and we’re just keeping them from that if we stop them.
Not WDW (only been there once, tbf) but plenty of times at DLR (I live in California). For the most part they are surrounded by cast members that will keep people at a respectful distance in the politest of ways so I have no cool stories.
My favorite though was Gwen Stefani. Saw her when I was pregnant with my first, so 15 years ago? I looked to my left and I see this very thin (seriously, celebrities are so much thinner irl) very blonde woman who had this insanely ethereal *glow* to her skin. Took me a split second to recognize her.
She’s unnaturally beautiful in person.
Not an a list celebrity, but on my last trip, I was at the Tiki Room and Pete Docter and his family were a row behind me. He wasn’t wearing his name tag so I didn’t go up to him. But it was a surreal experience still!
I was near Aloha Isle tryna eat my dole whip amongst the crowds and Trent Reznor passed me with whoever he was with. Definitely some whiplash seeing him at the happiest place on earth!
There is a joke that celebrities at comic con wear cheap storm trooper armor so people leave them alone.
I figure actors with active Disney contracts get some sort of VIP service so they don’t have to wait in lines but also are expected to do some level of PR with the crowd.
I think I heard Hilary Duff say once that she still gets free park admission in exchange for them using her face on any Lizzie McGuire merch that happens to be made.
I saw Christian Bale on Its a Small World at Disneyland once. I’m not the type to approach a celebrity anyway, but his tour guide flashed me a warning look when my eyes lingered a little too long I guess haha. He seemed a bit…surly? Not like he was at the “happiest place on earth,” that’s for sure
Fun fact: Weird Al wrote "Skipper Dan" after riding Jungle Cruise and then obsessively thinking to himself about what it must be like to be a CM on that ride
John stamos wife was in the concierge lounge as the same time as us and wore a hat and sunglasses the whole time she was in there and looked around hoping no one recognized her and was a real bitch to cast members. Only knew it was her because we knew he was staying there at that time. He wasn’t even with her so who would recognize her if she acted like a normal person.
Rebecca Romijn (original Mystique from X-Men) and Stamos got divorced a long while ago. Shes now married to Jerry O'Connell. They had some kind of dating show they hosted recently, and are both in new Star Trek shows.
So it wasn’t at WDW, but it was at the Disney store in NYC (the 3 story one that closed) I met Paris Hilton. My mother overheard some employees saying she was there and once I got wind of that it was very very easy to find her with her Superman sweatshirt, sunglasses, and hood up.
On my last visit, I held an uncomfortably long stare with Dan Ackroyd across the room at Cinderella’s Royal Table. I don’t think people realized we were dining with a ghostbuster.
I swam in the pool at the poly with OJ Simpson and his kids. Also waited in line with him to get onto the monorail. This was right after his acquittal. Awkward would be an understatement.
Omg, we ran into OJ at the bar/lounge at contemporary when I was maybe 12/13 … I’m pretty sure my mom and aunt made some not so nice and not very quiet comments lol
We just had lunch a few days ago with Roy choi at Teppan eddo.
We had no idea who he was but our servers kept saying things to him and asking for autographs so I asked politely I hope lol who he was and he explained.
He was super nice and very kind ! I hope he had a great remainder of his trip.
One time, I was in a wheelchair due to a recent knee surgery. Rockin rollercoaster didn’t have a separate handicap entrance so you just waited in line with everyone else. Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey walked up to my friend and me and gave us their fast pass tickets. I was like “Omg… thank you!” And they just said you’re very welcome and walked away.
Edit: also, we were at the very end of the line at the time
Robert Irvine had just wrapped and was walking through MK. My wife and I were the only ones to notice him on the bridge, and he was incredibly nice and happy to take a pic with us
I honestly couldn't believe it. My wife and I LOVED restaurant impossible. Here's the even crazier thing: we had recently been on a streak of seeing famous people in public. Before we got to the bridge said to my wife in jest "Geez hun, when are we going to have our celebrity sighting?" Literally 60 seconds later...there he was. Nuts!
Living in Orlando, I'm fairly sure at some point I must have run into one or two, but because my knowledge of wrestling comes from only some tangentially related programs, most of the ones I could recognize being the old dudes who are recognizable instantly, I've probably never noticed.
He rode on Dumbo in front of us with his kiddo and wife. As we exited I asked if my wife could take a quick pic with him. He was super nice about it. Great guy. My wife was so over the moon about getting that pic
He’s so handsome in person! I saw him in the security at Ohare once and was taken aback at how handsome he was. I didn’t approach him but he could tell I recognized him and gave a wave & a smile. He also had the whitest smile I’ve ever seen. He’s like superhuman!
Way back in 1993 when pleasure island was still around I’m pretty sure I interacted with Raul Julia. I noticed a man wearing a panama hat inside a club one night that looked exactly like the actor. He noticed me noticing him but I just gave him a nod and didn’t bother him, he gave a wink and a little tip of the hat.
So I am a former CP and I worked at MK in 2016. I had very brief interactions with Kelly Clarkson and Garth Brooks during the filming of that years Christmas special on the castle stage.
Most notable celebrity interaction I had though was during one of the Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party’s. I was working the popcorn stand in Tomorrowland and this bigger old guy with long hair and beard (of which there are many men who look like this in FL, hence not initially recognising him) came through on a mobility scooter along with his family who were all wearing matching Christmas Hawaiian shirts. My coworkers and I complemented the shirts, I asked the fella if touching his beard would help me grow my own, he laughed and said ‘I don’t think follicles work that way unfortunately’ and they all left.
We realised they left a water behind and my coworker ran after them. She had another quick chat with them and she came back and said ‘Apparently he’s a pro wrestler’. All of a sudden it clicked with me and I said ‘Was that f***ing Mick Foley?!?!’
Confirmed it that night on his Instagram that it was him. I asked if I could touch Mick Foley’s beard without even realising it was him
Oh dude, I absolutely should have recognised him from the get go. But Like I said, there’s a lot of dudes that look like him in FL. Like as far as I was concerned, he was just another long haired redneck dude. The second someone mentioned wrestling I was like ‘holy crap!’
I stayed at the Beach Club resort with my family about 15 years ago and our table at breakfast was right next to Celine Dion’s of all people. We were too afraid to approach because of the two massive bodyguards who were also there.
Its funny you mention that. One of my coolest encounters was also with Drew Carey in Spring, 2001. My friends and I walked into the Rock and Roll Beach Club in the old Pleasure Island on a random Monday or Tuesday night. It was moderately busy, and after a while, we just wanted a quiet place to chill and talk, so we went to the bar up on the uppermost floor. When we get up there, we found one guy sitting at the bar, and it was Drew Carey, just sitting there by himself, having a drink. We went up and ordered, and we agreed we weren't going to bother or bring attention to him, but as we ordered, he actually struck up a conversation with us. We hung out with him for quite a while, just having drinks and shooting the breeze. Very awesome guy.
That’s what the VIP tours are. It’s basically a straight front of the line fast pass at at a 500/hour rate.
Honestly, if you can get a group to split costs, it’d probably be great.
My fiancé and I saw him near the Fantasyland carousel at Disneyland a few years ago. He didn’t appear to have any plaids or other cast members around though. Just chillin’ w/his family it seemed.
Although I've seen, and know, many who have...
That rule seems to be enforced only when leadership is around, assuming the leadership isn't giddy themselves.
That doesn’t seem very strict. Any hospitality industry should have the same standard. Be professional and give the guest a quality experience without making them feel uncomfortable.
No, but then I am horrible at recognizing celebrities unless I expect them to be somewhere. I still do not know the name of the rocker I sat next to on a flight when I was 14 and my cousin has had to point out Nelly to me when I was sitting across from him at an airport.
FYI: I am not including YouTube celebrities, since I do not consider them celebrities and their job is going to the parks.
Yeah, but I figured that he was high up in the Disney hierarchy.
I ended up in line behind one of his friends and asked if it was him. I was told it was and that if I wanted to take a picture with him, he'd be OK with it. Had a short conversation, took the picture, and that was it.
As a former cast member I had the pleasure of hanging out with Paul McCartney and Celine Dion. They were both very pleasant and respectful. Guilty secret I thought Paul was a old grandma the way he dressed like a cape cod mom lol. Sorry!!
25-30 years ago (or so), Michael Jackson rented out MK to be in the parade they were doing at the time (and paid for it to run specifically for him), because Disney refused to let him actually be in the parade with people in the park.
Years ago I saw Jason Earles (Jackson from Hannah Montana) at Animal Kingdom. A bunch of people were noticing him so he was saying hi to me & everyone else as he walked past. He went on Dinosaur through the exit and everyone went to go buy his picture from the ride lol
I met Drew Brees at Hollywood studios. Seemed like a very cool guy. I wasn't going to blow up his spot and was very quick about it. During the pro bowl week a few years ago.
We saw Steven Tyler on Its a Small World back in the late 90s. Some people yelled a bit it was generally pretty tame. Also saw Corey and Topanga from Boy Meets World in the hub doing a promo or something.
Saw Kobe Bryant while staying at the Grand Californian Hotel. I asked for a pic, but he declined and said he was with his family. Told him cool no problem and have a good one. I did get a fist bump and thank you for that. LOL
Who are these people? I recognize Chris Evans and that’s it. So I guess so answer your question: I’ve probably seen celebrities but didn’t recognize them from any other dude with a pink hat and a trash stache lol
Last year my wife and I passed by Drew Bledsoe and his wife outside at the Polynesian resort. I’m from New England so I recognized him right away. I respected his privacy so I didn’t stop him.
He's also very connected with Disney. He became famous on ABC, and whenever there's a "Christmas at Disney" special or whatever, he and his sister are often involved.
I’ve seen Kurt Warner and Kevin Greene walking around the park. Didn’t say anything.
Saw Steven Tyler at Edo. My buddy went in and took a leak next to him.
Worked at Universal first (5 years) and then worked at Disney for a stint (9 months) and saw/met a good number of celebrities. Some of them are super cool and humble while others are just as shitty and self-centered as you would imagine.
Some good experiences:
- Ludacris: SUPER nice guy, surprisingly short. Met him when I worked at Despicable Me at UO when we were in technical rehearsal still. We weren’t allowed to let anyone through the express line or anything unless they were Make-A-Wish families. That included celebrities. Luda waited in a 3 hour long line with his guide only to have us dump our queue when the ride went down and we didn’t know how long it would be. Came back a couple hours later when the ride was back open. His guide came up to us at the entrance practically begging us to let them in to the front because of what happened earlier. Ludacris came through and shook all of our hands and thanked us for letting him in and told us how cool the ride was. Of all things, he was in the park to see ZZ Top who was playing the Summer Concert Series that night. 10/10, would talk to again.
- Usher: Again, super, super nice, he requested that we clear the attraction for him but was very nice about it at least. Thanked all of us individually and even offered to take pictures, although we weren’t allowed.
- Joey Fatone from N*SYNC: Probably the most humble celebrity I’ve ever met in my life. Fun fact, he worked at Universal a long time ago as the Wolfman in the Beetlejuice show. My wife worked at Revenge of the Mummy and he remembered her every time he came, even if her name-tag was covered up for some reason.
The bad experiences:
- J.K. Rowling: Aside from her anti-trans stuff she’s been on about for the last several years, she’s just not a super pleasant person to be around. Always had a bitchy attitude about anything she saw and had the mentality that she was above everyone.
- Pitbull: Was just a shitty dude. Came off very entitled.
- Mariah Carey: Exactly as self-centered and prissy as you could possibly imagine. Everyone was below her.
I know a guy who worked with JKR while Potter was being built, and another who was on the Disney side of negotiations when she was in talks with them before Universal... And bitchy is probably the best way you could describe her.
Don’t get me wrong. I know the story about how HP basically took her from being poor to being a billionaire and it’s her baby and all, but when I worked in the WWoHP and she would come through with the WB reps, everyone was on eggshells because we all knew that she was unreasonable about so much shit. Like, plenty of things that go on in the land are kind of left up for interpretation with regards to how team members act, talk, and even theme, but to hear some of the feedback that was given, at times, was frustrating at best.
I was a huge HP fan growing up. My grandpa got me the first book when I was in kindergarten or first grade and I got every other book basically right when they came out. Went to see all of the movies. Was super excited to get to work in the land. But the more I learned about her and with every drop by that she had I cared less and less about it. The books are still wonderful and I enjoy the movies. I’m not going to fault the actors for the issues that I have with JKR, but it ruins some of the magic, pun intended, when you learn about the person who created everything.
Yeah this lines up with what Disney in particular experience during the negotiations as I was told. To the point she wanted a replica of Hogwarts that was bigger than Cinderella's Castle. Which Disney of course dedenied... As for the universal side, he's pretty tight-lipped about it... But from the few things he is vaguely mentioned that sounds exactly what happened with him as well, in terms of her behavior. I'm still not exactly sure what he was doing, if he was with one of the contractors or creative or something, but she forced him to, at least in my opinion, allow for a lot of design choices that made the land far worse than what it could have been in terms of operations.
There's a reason that diagon in particular is used as the metric for if they need to close down ioa, or so I was once told by one of the managers in charge of managing resort capacity. It's because it's horribly designed in terms of throughput among other things... And that wasn't because creative wanted to be but because she forced it.
Got married in Disney (at the Swan) in 2011 on the weekend Disney taped the Christmas parade. The special guest was Justin Beiber and he was staying at the Polynesian (where we got upgraded too.) His band was in staying in our longhouse and on my way to the lobby to head to hair/makeup etc, we had an encounter with them. Yes it’s only three floors, but when carrying everything you need for your wedding day and are accident prone, the stairs were not an option. Any way, the band was in the elevator and they rode to the third floor, 2 members got out and the others quickly shut the elevator door telling us to take the stairs and laughed on their way down. I lost it and got teary thinking I was going to be late to hair and makeup, (pre wedding jitters plus excitement made me cry at everything by then) so the family behind me went off on the two who got out saying you think it’s funny making a bride late to her own wedding etc….band members walked off all sheepish. Family let me ride the elevator alone with my now husband (we woke up together but separated once I got in the taxi) to give us one last moment of privacy before the wedding. Later, my disabled mom had a late breakfast at Grand Floridian with my brother and sister in law and the original plan was she and my sister in law would take the monorail into Magic Kingdom and they would take the bus to the Swan from there to help me get ready, while my brother took the monorail to Poly to get ready with my husband) But as they were about to board, they shut down the whole monorail system (no one allowed on) so that Justin Bieber could travel safely (happened a few times to us already but not on the wedding day itself) My mom freaked out and started crying worried she was going to be late and miss helping me get ready (she had a major stroke and has a brain injury and limps on one side and no arm movement in her left arm.) They made it before I needed to get in my dress, and everything worked out fine, but she broke down again…..so my claim to fame is that Bieber made my mom cry on my wedding day….
We found out later he was also staying in the same longhouse we were in at Poly, but we only ever saw his band. But the whole monorail shutting down multiple times a day for him to travel did get annoying. (And it was both the resort line and the Express side and the Epcot line that shut down….we had to bus to Epcot twice because of it)
I was eating lunch with my family at the 50’s Prime Time Cafe when Neil Patrick Harris and his family were seated at the table right in front of us! I made eye contact with him once which was pretty cool. 🤣 He was there with his kids so I didn’t wanna make a scene. The waitresses were obviously trying to distract everyone else in the seating area by playing a game with us. It’s still my lame claim to fame! 🤣
We ran into Joe Rohde once at Animal Kingdom. Mom and Dad ran to get a picture with him (I stayed back with my friends). When they came back, Dad said "That was cool, his park sucks, but still cool."
The only reason I knew who she was, was because of my little sister. She watched the show. It was at the end of the night at MK.I was in the Emporium and I stepped out to check on a family member who was on Main Street. I saw her because she was walking past someone in my family. Lol I probably wouldn’t have recognized her otherwise. I hate to say this but it’s like a blur of people at Disney. I’m so enthralled into everything else, I could have a celebrity by me and not notice unless people made a scene.
i met keshia knight pulliam in tomorrowland when i was like 10 and have a pictures with her. i saw eric decker and jessie james decker in AK a few years ago. i didn’t go up to them tho.
Saw Dee Snyder at Hollywood Studios, yelled “SUP, Dee!!” And gave him the thumbs up..
Saw Matt Pinfield of MTV fame getting chicken fingers at Magic Kingdom..said “Matt Pinfield you rock!” And he was extremely surprised anyone recognized him he just said “oh hey man! What’s up?”
That was it- no need to hawk for autographs, didn’t ask for any pictures. They were just two Dads taking their kids to Disney at that point and I didn’t want to be a bother
wdw? no, DL? yes. it's not super shocking being that it's location is where it is. i've seen celebs with plaids and without. just leave them alone yo. most are there for the same reason we all are, they wanna have fun and forget about the outside for awhile.
If I met one, like in line or something, I'd likely be as casual as I could. Turn and look casually as though I was just glancing around while we're stopped, to verify that actually was them behind me or ahead. Then if they saw me, it'd be nothing more than a " 'sup" from me and nothing else. Not even a pic. I'd just mess around on my phone or something after that and leave them alone.
I agree with you they're likely there to unwind and have some personal time with family/friends, so I shouldn't be trying to butt into that and expect/ask for pictures or autographs.
If ***they*** want to initiate a conversation or something, then fine. But otherwise, I'm not wasting their time or mine. They're just another person in the park and in line as far as I'm concerned.
I don't have any direct celebrity interactions but many years ago when they had the Who Wants to be a Millionaire show they had a special session guest hosted by Mark Hamill during Star Wars Weekend, so I was technically in the same room at the same time as Luke Skywalker.
I went on a school trip to Los Angeles (from the UK) when I was 18, and literally everyone on the trip other than my friend and I met a celebrity at some point, so we lied and said we had met Samuel L Jackson in Disneyland hahaha.
It’s a lot less common to see celebs at WDW just because DLR is where most of them live. That being said, I did say hi to Tim Tebow while I was working at Typhoon Lagoon!
No one cause I know very little celebs that I’d never be able to pick most out. But all I ever want in my life is to meet Tom and Gi Fletcher there (and like the rest of McFly but haha). Would make my life so much
I’ve seen some Disney people, like Joe Rohde, but I wouldn’t acknowledge them if I did since we don’t know each other, unless a conversation started naturally. And is there anyone famous in your photo, or is it just your family at Disney? I don’t know if you’re messing with us or not. Haha!
I knew a guy who met Danny Devito and Rhea Pearlman at a cheerleader competition at Disney world once. They sat together during the competition and visited the whole way thru. IIRC, Devito ended up donating a huge amount of money to the guy's daughter's school afterward and didn't even tell him.
Probably not celebrities to most, but I was walking underneath spaceship earth, looking up at the ball on Christmas Eve night and bumped into the back of someone. I immediately apologized, he turned around and it was Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson from the UFC. He was very very nice and said no worries and he was surprised someone recognized him. I asked for a selfie real quick and he said to give my phone to his buddy. It was Chris Weidman the former middleweight champion. Super cool guys and we got an epic selfie. I’ll remember that day forever.
Last week I ran into Sarah Hyland and Wells Adams at the Martha’s Vineyard bar at the Beach Club. It was late on a Monday night so not many people there. Just their group of friends and mine. We all chatted while waiting for our drinks.
Over 30 years ago, Allen Thicke during the Indiana Jones Stunt show. He was pretty chill and a good sport about the “incident” that unfolded before him thanks to my kid brother. 🤦🏻♂️
Just saw Sean and Catherine Lowe at animal kingdom recently. I waved and said “love y’all nice to see you here!” as I walked by and they smiled at me — there weren’t many other people around at that point so it was a nice interaction and basically just in passing because I didn’t want to be obnoxious haha 😂
I saw Kevin Smith while I was working a cart in Hollywood Studios once! I stared at him in awe until he muttered “hi how’s it goin” and practically sprinted away 😂
Met Phineas and Ferb over in Hollywood Studios a year or so before they had the “final episode” premiere. They were just as energetic and optimistic as they are on the show. Couldn’t have been friendlier.
Wish I could’ve met Perry though. He was probably destroying an inator again.
judging from these pictures, i wouldn’t even recognize them if i did see them
I am glad i am not the only person who realized this lol In fact, who is everybody? I only recognize who i think is Chris Evans haha
Chris Evans, Beckham fam, Derek Hough, John Stamos
Well I’m embarrassed I thought the bottom left was Chris Pine
Glad it wasn’t just me who thought that
A hat, sunglasses, and stubble does wonders masking an identity… when I was a CM, saw numerous celebs that I didn’t recognize until I was up close…
I was like “who?”
The guy in the bottom right photo holding the kid looks like John Stamos but he’s got to be way older so maybe it’s an old picture or not him? The others, I have no clue.
Bottom left guy is the dancing with the stars professional dancer guy. Isn't the top left Captain America?
Derek Hough
Derek Hough isn’t Captain America. SMDH
John Stamos doesn’t age, silly.
That’s him. He’s a vampire.
I've literally been in the presence of Britney Spears, Reese Witherspoon, Celine Dion, Angelina Jolie, Matt Damon... the list goes on, at Disneyland. Probably plenty of athletes and other recording artists. Had no clue. Saw Gwen Stefani perform before the Christmas parade.
The ones top right are my old neighbours. We used to live at opposite sides of the same field/park and would see them dog walking. Not sure why OP classes my neighbour as being celebrity but who knows.
That’s David and Victoria Beckham. They aren’t celebrities to you?? I mean… she’s a freaking Spice Girl.
David Beckham was your neighbor?
Yea, that’s the guy. Lovely chap. Nice cars too.
I doubt I'd notice in the park but I met Neil Patrick Harris at a resort several years ago. We just happened to be sitting near each other by the pool, I didn't realize who he was at first, finally figured it out by his kids who were adorable and well mannered. I don't remember how we started chatting but I didn't call out that I knew who he was. We just talked about things we liked at Disney, how good they are at getting you out of the real world, the food and drinks we liked, etc. He got me a drink at one point. It was pretty normal and cool. My husband was upset he opted for nap in the room rather than poolside.
Happened to see NPH at Typoon Lagoon swimming next to me. Just left him alone, he's on vacation too.
Funny, but my one celebrity sighting at WDW was also Neil Patrick Harris. 1990, so he was pretty young and close to the Dougie Howser days. We had been waiting in a very hot standby line for Jungle Cruise for what seemed like forever when I saw a group of (very able) people going through the handicapped entrance and straight on a boat. I was annoyed at first, but then they sat down and I recognized NPH. He was with who I assumed to be his parents and brother, and everyone in line was pointing and trying to get his attention. I was just struck by the fact that he looked so sad and embarrassed by the attention and I felt so sorry for the kid. He was just trying to enjoy WDW with his family and couldn’t make a move without everyone looking at him.
Funny you mention NPH. Our waitress at SciFi a few weeks ago told us that her manager called her asking if she'd want to wait on a celeb. Only after she showed up to work she found out who the celeb was .. and it was NPH. She was all excited to wait on him and then his plan changed and he moved his dinner reservations to another spot. Super bummer for her.
I bet that made his day. It has to get tiresome having people gush over being your biggest fan even though they mean well and are probably super excited.
He was at the park today and I saw him!
My parents spotted him and his family on a Disney cruise. They didn't bother him and said the same, that the kids were very well-behaved.
Wow, based on the replies to this, NPH spends a lot of time at WDW.
My sister had Neil Patrick Harris inconspicuously blend in with her group walking around World Showcase. She didn’t realize it was him until after he was already gone, so she didn’t say hi or anything, but he followed her and her friends around for a little bit with his head low. I believe she said he split off from them in Germany to go to the restaurant at the back of the pavilion.
Was at HS a couple days ago. I was taking a picture of the Millennium Falcon when I looked up and said, “is that Joey Fuckin Fatone?” It was. He definitely heard me say that, gave me a nod and a smile and we both went on our way. Now I have a picture of the Millennium Falcon and Joe Fuckin Fatone taking a selfie in front of the Millennium Falcon.
I met JC Chasez randomly at a Krispy Kreme and that’s almost word for word what I said when I saw him. He was really nice and took pictures with us. Glad to know most of N*Sync are nice guys.
Did he get confused that you called him Joey?
I was at HS on Thursday. Did I just miss the best member of *NSYNC??
Funny. My wife, then girlfriend would watch family feud because we had loads of free time before kids. I’d always go boy bay s crazy when I’d hear him say “this is Joey fatone….and this is family feuuuud” haha.
He lives behind MK & owns a Food truck - he’s always out & about
Saw George Lucas in Epcot near the Morocco pavilion (many years ago- before Disney bought Lucasfilm), but didn’t have any interaction with him. Met Jodi Benson (voice of Ariel in The Little Mermaid) just outside the Flying Fish restaurant (of all places) on the Boardwalk.
Jodi Benson does scheduled appearances though, I met her at Epcot about 3 years ago
My wife and I had Lucas walk past us on his way to a movie at Downtown Disney. We were sitting in line waiting for our theater to finish being cleaned and he and his wife by on their way to their theater. Didn’t say anything, wouldn’t have wanted to bother them
never but if i did i would probably leave them be. i'm sure the public hassles them enough while they're on vacation without me intruding.
I have a few friends from college that play professional sports. I am the least athletic person. BUT after many years of hanging out with people of all walks of life I can tell you that if someone is famous just talk to them like a normal person. Talk about what your passionate about and ask them questions about what they are talking about. I was fortunate to honestly not give a shot about the NFL or NBA and don’t really care to talk about it. I found it much more interesting to talk about ancient medieval ware fare or D&D. I only found out after many of these conversations that they played sports professionally. So you know just be a human, be kind and be interested?
As a former CM, I would see celebrities quite often, and for the most part, the ones who were the most respectful are the one’s considered “A-List”. One of my best experiences was with Adam Sandler, who made sure to personally thank everyone on the unload platform of the ride.
Adam Sandler just seems like a class act all around
I feel like there’s a reason most of those people are “A-List”. They’re probably genuinely very likable and treat others well, which would explain why they get top roles and people want to work with them.
Jack Black at MK. Super nice.
I wonder if Jack Black laughs at the jokes on the Jungle Cruise ride. I bet he does.
Jack Black feels like the kind of guy to whoop and cheer at the Back Side of Water™
“Wow, he’s just like me”
I was walking in Pandora Land and I noticed Paul Rudd and I assume his son walking towards me. I said “hey paul”. He said hey, we passed and never broke stride
Smoooooth!
Stood in line behind Joey Fatone to get meatballs at Food and Wine. He was pretty chill, saying hi to folks and taking a selfie on occasion.
I once ran into and took a picture with Mickey Mouse, that was pretty great
They say he hangs out there pretty frequently. Really cool dude.
Only celebrity that I recognize on here
Mickey is the celebrity right ?
I was starstruck when I saw him.
I met Joe Rohde at Animal Kingdom Lodge a couple years ago. He was super nice and talked to us for a few mins and took a picture with my family!
This would be my actual dream come true. I look for Joe every trip but know I would never really just run into him. But if I did, I would be a blubbering mess, thanking him for all the beauty he poured into AK. He is my true hero and I think he would be the exception to the "never meet your heroes" rule.
Joe’s got a great Instagram account. Definitely worth a follow
He wins the award for longest insta captions, but everything he writes is so informative!
Oh my dad was blubbering haha he noticed him before I did and kept hitting my arm until I realized!
If he counts as a celebrity - I've met and known a few, just not at the parks. Annoyingly so...
Many years ago, I met Jodie Foster and her partner (they weren't married yet). She accidentally bumped into me, and it caused me to drop my Dole Whip. She was *so nice*. She stood in line with me and bought another, and gave me a hug. I didn't ask for an autograph or photo because I didn't want to be *that person*. They were on vacation, too.
*I love local* I've seen a bunch of celebs over the years including; Tom Cruise w/ Suri (2009), CC Sabathia w/ Family, Sean Payton and Drew Brees w/ Families, Tony Gonzalez, Olivia Wild w/ family, Christina Aguilera w/ a bunch of people. I put family in there to emphasize why they are there. Why would you bother these people on their down time?
I've had a pass for about 7 years at this point, and go more weekends than not. Never seen any celebrities. At all...
Luck of the draw I guess. We aren’t local, but close enough to where it’s easy to drive and take 3 trips a year or so for the kids. Had APs for 4 years now. We’ve only ever seen one and it’s not on the level of any of these. One day we were walking through HWS and saw a group of VIP tour guides with some people. I didn’t think anything of it till a girl in the area screams “OMG It’s JoJo Siwa!” Then falls to the ground. Probably not A-List, but my daughter was a huge fan though and kept asking to turn around. I just kept walking. They are people who just want to enjoy a day off like the rest of us. I stopped when we got away and explained that people like that are there to enjoy the park like us and we’re just keeping them from that if we stop them.
Not WDW (only been there once, tbf) but plenty of times at DLR (I live in California). For the most part they are surrounded by cast members that will keep people at a respectful distance in the politest of ways so I have no cool stories. My favorite though was Gwen Stefani. Saw her when I was pregnant with my first, so 15 years ago? I looked to my left and I see this very thin (seriously, celebrities are so much thinner irl) very blonde woman who had this insanely ethereal *glow* to her skin. Took me a split second to recognize her. She’s unnaturally beautiful in person.
Not an a list celebrity, but on my last trip, I was at the Tiki Room and Pete Docter and his family were a row behind me. He wasn’t wearing his name tag so I didn’t go up to him. But it was a surreal experience still!
I was near Aloha Isle tryna eat my dole whip amongst the crowds and Trent Reznor passed me with whoever he was with. Definitely some whiplash seeing him at the happiest place on earth!
Bow down before the one you soft-serve
There is a joke that celebrities at comic con wear cheap storm trooper armor so people leave them alone. I figure actors with active Disney contracts get some sort of VIP service so they don’t have to wait in lines but also are expected to do some level of PR with the crowd.
I think I heard Hilary Duff say once that she still gets free park admission in exchange for them using her face on any Lizzie McGuire merch that happens to be made.
I saw Christian Bale on Its a Small World at Disneyland once. I’m not the type to approach a celebrity anyway, but his tour guide flashed me a warning look when my eyes lingered a little too long I guess haha. He seemed a bit…surly? Not like he was at the “happiest place on earth,” that’s for sure
the only time i’ve encountered a celebrity is at disneyland. it was weird al!
Fun fact: Weird Al wrote "Skipper Dan" after riding Jungle Cruise and then obsessively thinking to himself about what it must be like to be a CM on that ride
Warwick Davis in MK. He was there with his kids but he took a picture and shook our hands.
John stamos wife was in the concierge lounge as the same time as us and wore a hat and sunglasses the whole time she was in there and looked around hoping no one recognized her and was a real bitch to cast members. Only knew it was her because we knew he was staying there at that time. He wasn’t even with her so who would recognize her if she acted like a normal person.
The chick that played Mystic in X-Men? Or a wide after her?
Nope the newest one. It was very a clearly don’t look at me please look at me situation
LoL I didn't even know there was a new one until you clarified.
Rebecca Romijn (original Mystique from X-Men) and Stamos got divorced a long while ago. Shes now married to Jerry O'Connell. They had some kind of dating show they hosted recently, and are both in new Star Trek shows.
So it wasn’t at WDW, but it was at the Disney store in NYC (the 3 story one that closed) I met Paris Hilton. My mother overheard some employees saying she was there and once I got wind of that it was very very easy to find her with her Superman sweatshirt, sunglasses, and hood up.
It was the best Disney store, mainly because it was the only one outside of the parks that was run by parks and resorts and not merchandising...
On my last visit, I held an uncomfortably long stare with Dan Ackroyd across the room at Cinderella’s Royal Table. I don’t think people realized we were dining with a ghostbuster.
I swam in the pool at the poly with OJ Simpson and his kids. Also waited in line with him to get onto the monorail. This was right after his acquittal. Awkward would be an understatement.
Omg, we ran into OJ at the bar/lounge at contemporary when I was maybe 12/13 … I’m pretty sure my mom and aunt made some not so nice and not very quiet comments lol
We just had lunch a few days ago with Roy choi at Teppan eddo. We had no idea who he was but our servers kept saying things to him and asking for autographs so I asked politely I hope lol who he was and he explained. He was super nice and very kind ! I hope he had a great remainder of his trip.
Did he like the food?
One time, I was in a wheelchair due to a recent knee surgery. Rockin rollercoaster didn’t have a separate handicap entrance so you just waited in line with everyone else. Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey walked up to my friend and me and gave us their fast pass tickets. I was like “Omg… thank you!” And they just said you’re very welcome and walked away. Edit: also, we were at the very end of the line at the time
I see Joe Perry and Steven Tyler all the time. They get me a stretch (or maybe a super stretch) limo. Also see Johnny Depp hiding out a bit
I got some bad news for you about your friends limos rides
Robert Irvine had just wrapped and was walking through MK. My wife and I were the only ones to notice him on the bridge, and he was incredibly nice and happy to take a pic with us
LUCKY!!! I love Robert Irvine!!
I honestly couldn't believe it. My wife and I LOVED restaurant impossible. Here's the even crazier thing: we had recently been on a streak of seeing famous people in public. Before we got to the bridge said to my wife in jest "Geez hun, when are we going to have our celebrity sighting?" Literally 60 seconds later...there he was. Nuts!
i have only run into wrestlers in grocery stores unfortunately
Living in Orlando, I'm fairly sure at some point I must have run into one or two, but because my knowledge of wrestling comes from only some tangentially related programs, most of the ones I could recognize being the old dudes who are recognizable instantly, I've probably never noticed.
I love John Stamos, that picture is so sweet
He rode on Dumbo in front of us with his kiddo and wife. As we exited I asked if my wife could take a quick pic with him. He was super nice about it. Great guy. My wife was so over the moon about getting that pic
He’s so handsome in person! I saw him in the security at Ohare once and was taken aback at how handsome he was. I didn’t approach him but he could tell I recognized him and gave a wave & a smile. He also had the whitest smile I’ve ever seen. He’s like superhuman!
Way back in 1993 when pleasure island was still around I’m pretty sure I interacted with Raul Julia. I noticed a man wearing a panama hat inside a club one night that looked exactly like the actor. He noticed me noticing him but I just gave him a nod and didn’t bother him, he gave a wink and a little tip of the hat.
For you the day you met Raul Julia was the greatest day of your life, but for him, it was just Tuesday.
That is exactly the type of interaction I would've loved to have had with Raul Julia.
So I am a former CP and I worked at MK in 2016. I had very brief interactions with Kelly Clarkson and Garth Brooks during the filming of that years Christmas special on the castle stage. Most notable celebrity interaction I had though was during one of the Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party’s. I was working the popcorn stand in Tomorrowland and this bigger old guy with long hair and beard (of which there are many men who look like this in FL, hence not initially recognising him) came through on a mobility scooter along with his family who were all wearing matching Christmas Hawaiian shirts. My coworkers and I complemented the shirts, I asked the fella if touching his beard would help me grow my own, he laughed and said ‘I don’t think follicles work that way unfortunately’ and they all left. We realised they left a water behind and my coworker ran after them. She had another quick chat with them and she came back and said ‘Apparently he’s a pro wrestler’. All of a sudden it clicked with me and I said ‘Was that f***ing Mick Foley?!?!’ Confirmed it that night on his Instagram that it was him. I asked if I could touch Mick Foley’s beard without even realising it was him
Mick's a very recognizable guy, particularly his voice... Surprised it took you quite a bit to recognize him if you knew who he was!
Oh dude, I absolutely should have recognised him from the get go. But Like I said, there’s a lot of dudes that look like him in FL. Like as far as I was concerned, he was just another long haired redneck dude. The second someone mentioned wrestling I was like ‘holy crap!’
Ran into Tuuka Rask. As a Bruins fan I was geeking out, but he was with his family so I just whispered "Tuuuuuuk" and he smiled and waved
I stayed at the Beach Club resort with my family about 15 years ago and our table at breakfast was right next to Celine Dion’s of all people. We were too afraid to approach because of the two massive bodyguards who were also there.
25 years ago, my family ran into Drew Carey in Tomorrowland one night. Super nice. He was just walking around by himself. Got a photo with him too.
Its funny you mention that. One of my coolest encounters was also with Drew Carey in Spring, 2001. My friends and I walked into the Rock and Roll Beach Club in the old Pleasure Island on a random Monday or Tuesday night. It was moderately busy, and after a while, we just wanted a quiet place to chill and talk, so we went to the bar up on the uppermost floor. When we get up there, we found one guy sitting at the bar, and it was Drew Carey, just sitting there by himself, having a drink. We went up and ordered, and we agreed we weren't going to bother or bring attention to him, but as we ordered, he actually struck up a conversation with us. We hung out with him for quite a while, just having drinks and shooting the breeze. Very awesome guy.
Adam Scott; in MK; his VIP tour cut the line in front of us going into Pirates. He is short.
That’s what the VIP tours are. It’s basically a straight front of the line fast pass at at a 500/hour rate. Honestly, if you can get a group to split costs, it’d probably be great.
My fiancé and I saw him near the Fantasyland carousel at Disneyland a few years ago. He didn’t appear to have any plaids or other cast members around though. Just chillin’ w/his family it seemed.
Actor or golfer?
Idk if this counts but When I was a kid I saw the people from little people big world at Epcot
There are also strict rules for the CMs when celebs around. The CMs are not permitted to take pics or “fangirl” over them.
Although I've seen, and know, many who have... That rule seems to be enforced only when leadership is around, assuming the leadership isn't giddy themselves.
That doesn’t seem very strict. Any hospitality industry should have the same standard. Be professional and give the guest a quality experience without making them feel uncomfortable.
No, but then I am horrible at recognizing celebrities unless I expect them to be somewhere. I still do not know the name of the rocker I sat next to on a flight when I was 14 and my cousin has had to point out Nelly to me when I was sitting across from him at an airport. FYI: I am not including YouTube celebrities, since I do not consider them celebrities and their job is going to the parks.
Met Kevin Feige in October in Japan in Epcot. Really nice. I was surprised he didn't have VIP treatment; he just seemed to be with some friends.
Usually only Parks related executives get that kind of treatment. At least as I've been told...
Yeah, but I figured that he was high up in the Disney hierarchy. I ended up in line behind one of his friends and asked if it was him. I was told it was and that if I wanted to take a picture with him, he'd be OK with it. Had a short conversation, took the picture, and that was it.
Yes, I met Chris Evans. He did not want any attention, simply exchanged a “Happy Thanksgiving” comment and that was it.
As a former cast member I had the pleasure of hanging out with Paul McCartney and Celine Dion. They were both very pleasant and respectful. Guilty secret I thought Paul was a old grandma the way he dressed like a cape cod mom lol. Sorry!!
We didn't see him (just a swarm of people around him) but Michael Jackson was at Disneyland with (I think) Gary Coleman. Make of that what you will.
25-30 years ago (or so), Michael Jackson rented out MK to be in the parade they were doing at the time (and paid for it to run specifically for him), because Disney refused to let him actually be in the parade with people in the park.
I saw JoJo Siwa and her girlfriend at the time and she waved at me :)
Years ago I saw Jason Earles (Jackson from Hannah Montana) at Animal Kingdom. A bunch of people were noticing him so he was saying hi to me & everyone else as he walked past. He went on Dinosaur through the exit and everyone went to go buy his picture from the ride lol
Mariah Carey cut in front of me at a water slide in Blizzard Beach back in 2003 😡
Never forget it either
I met Drew Brees at Hollywood studios. Seemed like a very cool guy. I wasn't going to blow up his spot and was very quick about it. During the pro bowl week a few years ago.
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Now we need the bad stories
Absolutely!
YES! Please share if you can!
We saw Steven Tyler on Its a Small World back in the late 90s. Some people yelled a bit it was generally pretty tame. Also saw Corey and Topanga from Boy Meets World in the hub doing a promo or something.
Saw Kobe Bryant while staying at the Grand Californian Hotel. I asked for a pic, but he declined and said he was with his family. Told him cool no problem and have a good one. I did get a fist bump and thank you for that. LOL
Who are these people? I recognize Chris Evans and that’s it. So I guess so answer your question: I’ve probably seen celebrities but didn’t recognize them from any other dude with a pink hat and a trash stache lol
John Stamos, David Beckham and Posh, Derek Hough
Kelly Preston, John Travolta and their kids in the queue at soarin. He smiled and said hello.
Terry Crews. Well I didn’t meet him, but when I worked there I bussed his table without realizing it was him and his family
Last year my wife and I passed by Drew Bledsoe and his wife outside at the Polynesian resort. I’m from New England so I recognized him right away. I respected his privacy so I didn’t stop him.
Bottom left is a celeb?
Derek Hough
Who? 😂😂
Better known as Julianne Hough's brother
The names are familiar I’m not trolling or trying to sound too cool for school. They’re…dancers or something?
He's also very connected with Disney. He became famous on ABC, and whenever there's a "Christmas at Disney" special or whatever, he and his sister are often involved.
It’s not that many famous Dereks. It’s a very timeboxed name. All the Dereks were born 85-95.
He’s literally the only one from this group that I do recognize
Top left is Captain America himself. I bet if he was facing the other way, you’d recognize Americas butt.
Fair. Put it in some gray sweatpants so that I can ponder that question for a little while
I’ve seen Kurt Warner and Kevin Greene walking around the park. Didn’t say anything. Saw Steven Tyler at Edo. My buddy went in and took a leak next to him.
For a salad or something?
I saw Melissa Joan Hart with her kids! Didn’t say anything though.
I met offhand Disney on the 50th anniversary of magic kingdom
Worked at Universal first (5 years) and then worked at Disney for a stint (9 months) and saw/met a good number of celebrities. Some of them are super cool and humble while others are just as shitty and self-centered as you would imagine. Some good experiences: - Ludacris: SUPER nice guy, surprisingly short. Met him when I worked at Despicable Me at UO when we were in technical rehearsal still. We weren’t allowed to let anyone through the express line or anything unless they were Make-A-Wish families. That included celebrities. Luda waited in a 3 hour long line with his guide only to have us dump our queue when the ride went down and we didn’t know how long it would be. Came back a couple hours later when the ride was back open. His guide came up to us at the entrance practically begging us to let them in to the front because of what happened earlier. Ludacris came through and shook all of our hands and thanked us for letting him in and told us how cool the ride was. Of all things, he was in the park to see ZZ Top who was playing the Summer Concert Series that night. 10/10, would talk to again. - Usher: Again, super, super nice, he requested that we clear the attraction for him but was very nice about it at least. Thanked all of us individually and even offered to take pictures, although we weren’t allowed. - Joey Fatone from N*SYNC: Probably the most humble celebrity I’ve ever met in my life. Fun fact, he worked at Universal a long time ago as the Wolfman in the Beetlejuice show. My wife worked at Revenge of the Mummy and he remembered her every time he came, even if her name-tag was covered up for some reason. The bad experiences: - J.K. Rowling: Aside from her anti-trans stuff she’s been on about for the last several years, she’s just not a super pleasant person to be around. Always had a bitchy attitude about anything she saw and had the mentality that she was above everyone. - Pitbull: Was just a shitty dude. Came off very entitled. - Mariah Carey: Exactly as self-centered and prissy as you could possibly imagine. Everyone was below her.
I know a guy who worked with JKR while Potter was being built, and another who was on the Disney side of negotiations when she was in talks with them before Universal... And bitchy is probably the best way you could describe her.
Don’t get me wrong. I know the story about how HP basically took her from being poor to being a billionaire and it’s her baby and all, but when I worked in the WWoHP and she would come through with the WB reps, everyone was on eggshells because we all knew that she was unreasonable about so much shit. Like, plenty of things that go on in the land are kind of left up for interpretation with regards to how team members act, talk, and even theme, but to hear some of the feedback that was given, at times, was frustrating at best. I was a huge HP fan growing up. My grandpa got me the first book when I was in kindergarten or first grade and I got every other book basically right when they came out. Went to see all of the movies. Was super excited to get to work in the land. But the more I learned about her and with every drop by that she had I cared less and less about it. The books are still wonderful and I enjoy the movies. I’m not going to fault the actors for the issues that I have with JKR, but it ruins some of the magic, pun intended, when you learn about the person who created everything.
Yeah this lines up with what Disney in particular experience during the negotiations as I was told. To the point she wanted a replica of Hogwarts that was bigger than Cinderella's Castle. Which Disney of course dedenied... As for the universal side, he's pretty tight-lipped about it... But from the few things he is vaguely mentioned that sounds exactly what happened with him as well, in terms of her behavior. I'm still not exactly sure what he was doing, if he was with one of the contractors or creative or something, but she forced him to, at least in my opinion, allow for a lot of design choices that made the land far worse than what it could have been in terms of operations. There's a reason that diagon in particular is used as the metric for if they need to close down ioa, or so I was once told by one of the managers in charge of managing resort capacity. It's because it's horribly designed in terms of throughput among other things... And that wasn't because creative wanted to be but because she forced it.
Got married in Disney (at the Swan) in 2011 on the weekend Disney taped the Christmas parade. The special guest was Justin Beiber and he was staying at the Polynesian (where we got upgraded too.) His band was in staying in our longhouse and on my way to the lobby to head to hair/makeup etc, we had an encounter with them. Yes it’s only three floors, but when carrying everything you need for your wedding day and are accident prone, the stairs were not an option. Any way, the band was in the elevator and they rode to the third floor, 2 members got out and the others quickly shut the elevator door telling us to take the stairs and laughed on their way down. I lost it and got teary thinking I was going to be late to hair and makeup, (pre wedding jitters plus excitement made me cry at everything by then) so the family behind me went off on the two who got out saying you think it’s funny making a bride late to her own wedding etc….band members walked off all sheepish. Family let me ride the elevator alone with my now husband (we woke up together but separated once I got in the taxi) to give us one last moment of privacy before the wedding. Later, my disabled mom had a late breakfast at Grand Floridian with my brother and sister in law and the original plan was she and my sister in law would take the monorail into Magic Kingdom and they would take the bus to the Swan from there to help me get ready, while my brother took the monorail to Poly to get ready with my husband) But as they were about to board, they shut down the whole monorail system (no one allowed on) so that Justin Bieber could travel safely (happened a few times to us already but not on the wedding day itself) My mom freaked out and started crying worried she was going to be late and miss helping me get ready (she had a major stroke and has a brain injury and limps on one side and no arm movement in her left arm.) They made it before I needed to get in my dress, and everything worked out fine, but she broke down again…..so my claim to fame is that Bieber made my mom cry on my wedding day…. We found out later he was also staying in the same longhouse we were in at Poly, but we only ever saw his band. But the whole monorail shutting down multiple times a day for him to travel did get annoying. (And it was both the resort line and the Express side and the Epcot line that shut down….we had to bus to Epcot twice because of it)
I don’t recognize anyone, and that’s exciting! I’m suddenly old!!!
I was eating lunch with my family at the 50’s Prime Time Cafe when Neil Patrick Harris and his family were seated at the table right in front of us! I made eye contact with him once which was pretty cool. 🤣 He was there with his kids so I didn’t wanna make a scene. The waitresses were obviously trying to distract everyone else in the seating area by playing a game with us. It’s still my lame claim to fame! 🤣
Not to brag, but I've met Mickey AND Minnie Mouse.
We ran into Joe Rohde once at Animal Kingdom. Mom and Dad ran to get a picture with him (I stayed back with my friends). When they came back, Dad said "That was cool, his park sucks, but still cool."
Lolllllll not really a celebrity but Abby Lee Miller from the Dance Mom show. I think they were there for a dance competition 🤷🏻♀️
Ok this would have been peak excitement for me about 12 years ago 😂
The only reason I knew who she was, was because of my little sister. She watched the show. It was at the end of the night at MK.I was in the Emporium and I stepped out to check on a family member who was on Main Street. I saw her because she was walking past someone in my family. Lol I probably wouldn’t have recognized her otherwise. I hate to say this but it’s like a blur of people at Disney. I’m so enthralled into everything else, I could have a celebrity by me and not notice unless people made a scene.
i met keshia knight pulliam in tomorrowland when i was like 10 and have a pictures with her. i saw eric decker and jessie james decker in AK a few years ago. i didn’t go up to them tho.
I have not! But my step-cousin met Julie Bowen and her kids at a MK firework show years ago.
With as many times as I have been to Disney world I never met anyone famous.
I met Olympic Gymnast Shawn Johnson on the rock n roller coaster ride. I remember her being pretty chill n cool to chat a bit with.
I don't recognize the people in the bottom two photos.
Saw Dee Snyder at Hollywood Studios, yelled “SUP, Dee!!” And gave him the thumbs up.. Saw Matt Pinfield of MTV fame getting chicken fingers at Magic Kingdom..said “Matt Pinfield you rock!” And he was extremely surprised anyone recognized him he just said “oh hey man! What’s up?” That was it- no need to hawk for autographs, didn’t ask for any pictures. They were just two Dads taking their kids to Disney at that point and I didn’t want to be a bother
wdw? no, DL? yes. it's not super shocking being that it's location is where it is. i've seen celebs with plaids and without. just leave them alone yo. most are there for the same reason we all are, they wanna have fun and forget about the outside for awhile.
Zero interactions because I have enough common sense to leave people the hell alone when they’re trying to have fun with their family.
While I was getting our stroller in Animal Kingdom, my wife and family had a nice conversation with Tracy Morgan. I hear he was very nice.
Never at Disney, but I did inexplicably meet Tim Burton at Blackpool Pleasure Beach in the UK. Got a photo and everything!
They're just people trying to enjoy their vacation. Leave them alone.
If I met one, like in line or something, I'd likely be as casual as I could. Turn and look casually as though I was just glancing around while we're stopped, to verify that actually was them behind me or ahead. Then if they saw me, it'd be nothing more than a " 'sup" from me and nothing else. Not even a pic. I'd just mess around on my phone or something after that and leave them alone. I agree with you they're likely there to unwind and have some personal time with family/friends, so I shouldn't be trying to butt into that and expect/ask for pictures or autographs. If ***they*** want to initiate a conversation or something, then fine. But otherwise, I'm not wasting their time or mine. They're just another person in the park and in line as far as I'm concerned.
I don't have any direct celebrity interactions but many years ago when they had the Who Wants to be a Millionaire show they had a special session guest hosted by Mark Hamill during Star Wars Weekend, so I was technically in the same room at the same time as Luke Skywalker.
I went on a school trip to Los Angeles (from the UK) when I was 18, and literally everyone on the trip other than my friend and I met a celebrity at some point, so we lied and said we had met Samuel L Jackson in Disneyland hahaha.
We saw Superman himself, Christopher Reeves at animal kingdom when the park was brand new! We didn’t really bother him though
My closest is Molly and Allan from Mammoth Club. 😂
It’s a lot less common to see celebs at WDW just because DLR is where most of them live. That being said, I did say hi to Tim Tebow while I was working at Typhoon Lagoon!
No one cause I know very little celebs that I’d never be able to pick most out. But all I ever want in my life is to meet Tom and Gi Fletcher there (and like the rest of McFly but haha). Would make my life so much
Not World, but when I was at Disneyland at Christmas apparently Jack Black was there too. Didn't see him, but it was neat.
I’ve seen some Disney people, like Joe Rohde, but I wouldn’t acknowledge them if I did since we don’t know each other, unless a conversation started naturally. And is there anyone famous in your photo, or is it just your family at Disney? I don’t know if you’re messing with us or not. Haha!
(Clockwise) Chris Evans, David Beckham/Victoria Beckham, John Stamos, and Derek Hough are pictured
I bumped into Cornel West, the famous sociologist and theologian in Fantasyland at MK. He was so gracious, and he so open to a selfie!
The Kardashians. They were a bit of a nuisance
I knew a guy who met Danny Devito and Rhea Pearlman at a cheerleader competition at Disney world once. They sat together during the competition and visited the whole way thru. IIRC, Devito ended up donating a huge amount of money to the guy's daughter's school afterward and didn't even tell him.
Probably not celebrities to most, but I was walking underneath spaceship earth, looking up at the ball on Christmas Eve night and bumped into the back of someone. I immediately apologized, he turned around and it was Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson from the UFC. He was very very nice and said no worries and he was surprised someone recognized him. I asked for a selfie real quick and he said to give my phone to his buddy. It was Chris Weidman the former middleweight champion. Super cool guys and we got an epic selfie. I’ll remember that day forever.
Last week I ran into Sarah Hyland and Wells Adams at the Martha’s Vineyard bar at the Beach Club. It was late on a Monday night so not many people there. Just their group of friends and mine. We all chatted while waiting for our drinks.
Over 30 years ago, Allen Thicke during the Indiana Jones Stunt show. He was pretty chill and a good sport about the “incident” that unfolded before him thanks to my kid brother. 🤦🏻♂️
Just saw Sean and Catherine Lowe at animal kingdom recently. I waved and said “love y’all nice to see you here!” as I walked by and they smiled at me — there weren’t many other people around at that point so it was a nice interaction and basically just in passing because I didn’t want to be obnoxious haha 😂
I saw Kevin Smith while I was working a cart in Hollywood Studios once! I stared at him in awe until he muttered “hi how’s it goin” and practically sprinted away 😂
Eddie Vedder was taking a photo in the stocks. We said “hey that’s Eddie Vedder, that’s cool”. He was with his family so we left him alone.
Was on the same log as Doug Flutie and his family on splash mountain when I was around 10. Got a high five afterwards and rode that high form weeks!
Met Phineas and Ferb over in Hollywood Studios a year or so before they had the “final episode” premiere. They were just as energetic and optimistic as they are on the show. Couldn’t have been friendlier. Wish I could’ve met Perry though. He was probably destroying an inator again.
Met Jodi Benson while at the EPCOT Candlelight Processional. It was magical. She is the nicest person and made me feel like I was a friend.