Man Who Played Goofy Proves Magic Still Exists

A man who played Goofy at Walt Disney World for over 20 years proves magic still exists.

In an ‘ask me anything’ thread on Reddit, the man who didn’t reveal his name, shared a magical Disney story that will bring a tear to eyes.

When asked if he has any good stories about some magical moments, the man said there is one that stands out above all the rest: It’s the reason he moved into the character department.

“I was working City Hall one day when two guests came in with two little girls” he began. “One was in a wheelchair and they both were cut and bruised and the one in the wheelchair had her arm in a cast.”

The girls were on an overseas holiday with their parents and were in a horrible accident that killed both of their parents. Two nurses had brought the girls and their tickets back to be refunded for some much-needed money.

“My heart absolutely sank. If you had seen these girls you'd know why. They were truly traumatised. I refunded their tickets and got permission to be their private tour guide for the rest of the day (which they were not expecting).”

Despite his best efforts, the girl’s understandably weren’t interested.

“I left them at the bridge to go change, walked backstage and bawled my eyes out. I just had never seen something so horrible. I was truly affected and it was a terrible feeling of powerlessness not being able to fix the situation.”

However, walking the girls back to the bridge to watch the parade is where the real "magic" happened. Read the full story below:

“I had called the parade department to let them know what was going on and set up a private meet and greet afterwards. As the parade was coming around Liberty Square I told the girls that I had called Mickey and told them all about them. I told them that Mickey asked to meet them after the parade.

The little girl in the wheelchair smiled.

"Really?" she asked. My heart skipped. "Yes, really! He told me to tell you to look out for him in the parade and to follow the float back to City Hall."

The other girl smiled.

"You mean right now?" she asked.

It had worked. They were talking. Not laughing, but talking. It was the first time I had heard them speak.

Every single parade performer came up to them on the bridge and told them to look out for Mickey. Every one of them told them that. When Mickey's float came up Mickey (who was attached to a pole at the top of the float) managed to turn her body sideways, look down at the girls and point towards Main Street. That was all it took. The girls were excited now. They had forgotten about death. They were lost in a magical world and I couldn't believe I was watching it unfold in front of my eyes. We followed that float all the way back to City Hall, singing "Mickey Mania" the whole way.

The girl who was Mickey that day got down off her float and without even taking her head off walked up to me backstage and said "Let's go." I walked in with Mickey behind me so I got to see the exact moment the girls met their new friend. They got shy but Mikey was in control now. Those girls met the REAL Mickey Mouse that day.

Every single parade character stayed dressed to meet those girls. One by one they'd come in and play a bit then leave. We were in that lounge for over an hour. Mickey stayed in costume the entire time (which is hard to do after a parade).

When Mickey finally said goodbye I had two excited girls on my hands that couldn't stop smiling. They talked and talked and talked. We had a wonderful day after that but what I remember most is when we walked by the rose garden, the older one said "Oh, my mommy loves roses! I mean..." and she stopped. I held out my hand and walked her to the gate, picked her up and put her on the other side and I said, 'Pick one!' She looked happy as she picked out her favourite rose. She didn't say anything more and she didn't need to.

I said goodbye to the wonderful nurses and the wonderful girls then walked backstage. This time I didn't cry. It felt so good to be a part of that. I realised that as much as I liked helping guests at City Hall, the true magic of Disney was in the character department. I auditioned, transferred and never looked back. Thanks for letting me relive this. It was a special day for me.”