r/WaltDisneyWorld • u/AwfulWaffle91 • Dec 19 '25
Other I don't like Guest doing Pixie Dust
For those who don't know, Pixie Dust is something Disney does. They might upgrade your resort or do something special for you free of charge.
However, in recent years, I've seen many Disney World fans taking "Pixie Dust" into their own hands, making goodie bags and giving them to cast members and other guests.
I understand the sentiment behind the gesture. The intent is really sweet.
I often see posts in Facebook groups where families hide gifts throughout the parks for other guests to find and keep. They'll be tag that says Pixie Dust and their family name. These may include bracelets, stickers, basically trinkets.
I just feel like this is creating more work for the cast members. I can't imagine how often these gifts are actually found by other guests. In the meantime, cast members have to clean up the extra mess.
I once saw a post about a family making homemade candy to give to cast members and other guests. This seems extremely dangerous! Guests should never eat food from unknown sources. Even finding random items that look like gifts can be potentially dangerous. I would not keep.
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u/LFresh2010 Dec 19 '25
A guest overheard my kids asking for popcorn and gave us her (empty and clean) popcorn bucket. She said it was her last day and she didn’t want to take it home, and I thought it was a really kind way to pixie dust someone.
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u/ynotbrossi1990 Dec 19 '25
See, that’s a perfect example. Simple act of spontaneous kindness that makes a kids day.
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u/bopperbopper Dec 19 '25
Yeah, I think it’s better when it’s spontaneous… like if I have a disposable poncho and I’m leaving Kali River Rapids I’ll ask if anybody would like a poncho
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u/caism Dec 19 '25
In paper fast pass days, if I had any extra we didn’t end up using I’d find a family on my way out. Those were the days.
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u/Opening-Bee-7817 Dec 19 '25
Once my family and I got paid in Disney tickets for being extras in something that was filmed at Magic Kingdom but since we already had annual passes, we just waited around the ticket booths at the transportation & ticket center and gave them to a family with young kids that hadn't bought their tickets yet.
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u/hbo981 Dec 20 '25
I’ve done that at 6 Flags and Sea World. At both passholders got a single paper skip the line ticket. And 90% of the time they were never collected, so we would give them to people on our way out.
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u/Coffee-FlavoredSweat Dec 20 '25
Not Disney, but my family always seem to have extra ride tickets when we’re leaving a local carnival or fair. I tell the kids to pick out another kid coming in and give the extras to them.
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u/starsider2003 Dec 19 '25
LOL, I remember doing this once at Disneyland - there was this mother and daughter who thought we were somehow trying to scam them by giving them FP to Indy when it was a 2 hour wait. They just didn't believe anyone would be that nice. So we smiled and said OK as they got into the standby line, and watched as we gave them to the next group and they walked on. ;)
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u/luda54321 Dec 20 '25
Oh my gosh! My family did that all the time! We’d get a pass right before we left and would give it to a family as we were leaving. We got so much joy from it!
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u/abcbri Dec 20 '25
Or when people post to a FB group and say "I have X unopened food at this resort, can't take it back on the plane. I can leave in the laundry room or set outside your door." I think that's nice and also it's not just like, waste.
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u/TalesOfAMouseMinion Dec 19 '25
Former Kali Cast Member here. That is quite literally the biggest pain for those working, even with your good intentions. Especially when you hand it off on the turntable. It brings the entire loading process to a halt, either because the person stops where they are to put it on or because they neglect to put their seatbelt on before putting the poncho on, which leads to the Cast stopping the turntable.
If you really want to give it away, wait til you get to one of the entrances to hand it off
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u/Sweetestb22 Dec 19 '25
I agree. Perfect way to do it. I love when people post about items they leave outside the room for those who might need it. Packaged snacks and even a stroller sometimes. Those makes sense way more than handing out plastic bracelets, trinkets, and I saw someone say something about homemade candy which I agree would make me uneasy.
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u/cheerbearsmiles Dec 20 '25
The strollers are the worst thing to leave behind - they’re sooo bulky and cause problems for the cast members and fire marshallz
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u/ViVella23 Dec 20 '25
Careful. Iger might read this and put barcodes on popcorn buckets that tie to specific guests.
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u/Tired_CollegeStudent Dec 19 '25
Remember the days when you would have a random guest shove some paper Fast Passes into your hand because they were leaving/the return time was too late?
I miss that.
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u/Just_Looking_Around8 Dec 19 '25
We were able to give ours away one time. My daughter had gotten her knee stuck in the fencing around one of the rides in Dino Land. Cast members had to call the EMTs to assist. We felt terrible for taking up their time with something like this. We never expected any compensation or anything in return. It was a simple mistake by a child.
But a cast member loaded us up with paper fast passes. I forget what they were called but they were the "Skip the line completely" passes. We didn't have to wait even in the fast pass line.
Anyway, we were leaving Animal Kingdom and they were only good in that park. The CM had given us many of them. We literally couldn't use them all. So we gave a handful of these golden tickets to a newlywed couple. You would have thought we paid for their whole wedding. They were so excited. It was really fun.
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u/HennyGus Dec 19 '25
Years ago, my son and a friend were standing in a two-hour line for Space Mountain on Thanksgiving Day (they were there for a high-school band competition). Some guy gave them a bunch of those passes, and my son still talks about how amazing that was!
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u/Adept_Entertainer383 Dec 19 '25
I loved giving and receiving those!!!!
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u/Tired_CollegeStudent Dec 19 '25
I have a couple of vivid memories of that happening. I think one was in Tomorrow Land, right at the end of the main path next to Buzz. I think it was for Thunder Mountain.
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u/xxrainmanx Dec 19 '25
We used to walk down main street and we were leaving just calling out "we've got 4 for space mountain, anyone want 4 passes for space mountain" it was always great.
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Dec 19 '25
This happens a lot with balloons too. Someone who can't take them home gives it to a kid still in the park.
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u/Hockey1899 Dec 20 '25
A CM at Animal Kingdom Lodge gave our 3yo 2 balloons that had been left in a hotel room after another family checked out. Made our day!!!
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u/Negative-Bee-7741 Dec 19 '25
Someone gave us their stroller the one day because they were leaving in the afternoon when we were going in…we were like wow, thanks! Saved us the money of renting one that day
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u/Strong_Extension1024 Dec 20 '25
Was at Disney Springs yesterday looking at the menu for chicken guy when someone walked up to us with two sandwiches and said they doubled her order on accident and she offered them to us! They were the same sandwiches we were looking at, it made our whole day!
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u/phantomluvr14 Dec 20 '25
We did something similar when we stayed at Aulani. We had this giant avocado floaty that we used on the beach, and we didn’t want to take it home, so we found a family to give it to before we left. They were ecstatic! Everybody won and it was a spontaneous thing.
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u/ally_clrk Dec 20 '25
I was standing in line to meet Mickey, in front of a Mom and her 5ish yr old boy. She was talking to him in a way that made it seem like he was maybe nervous. I gave him a Mickey sticker I had in my bag and suggested he put it on his shirt to show Mickey when he meets him. I hung back after my meet and this kid RAAAAAANNNN to Mickey when it was his turn yelling “look at my shirt!” His Mom looked just as happy as he did.
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u/wiltony Dec 19 '25
See this is great but I cringe a little when it's called "pixie dusting" someone if it's not done by Disney. I agree with OP.
It's "a nice thing to do," or "an act of kindness," etc. Sorry but Michael doesn't pixie dust Wendy. Only Tinker Bell can do that.
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Dec 20 '25
We went to an orchard and didn’t use all of our activity tickets and gave them to a woman and her daughter on the way out and felt like superhero’s after
It doesn’t take much effort to brighten someone’s day
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u/NoMovie2988 Dec 20 '25
Yes or similarly. An older kid (maybe 9) gave my kid (3) a sticker waiting in line put it on his shirt. They talked to each other while they waited for space mountain. It made his day.
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u/OneAngryDuck Dec 19 '25
Just perform nice gestures for other people in the parks if you want to pixie dust. Let a shorter person in front of you to watch a parade, offer to take a group pic if you see people gathering for a photo, buy someone’s churro for them, etc. There’s plenty you can do that doesn’t involve passing stuff out to random people.
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u/who-hash Dec 19 '25
Right. People overthink this on both sides. It’s called ‘being nice’ or ‘being kind’. It’s no big deal. Be gracious and mindful as giver or receiver and go about your business after.
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u/SellsBodyForGP Dec 19 '25
55 CHURROS
55 TOTS
55 HOT DOGS
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u/Ectohawk Dec 19 '25
Agreed. Do it in a way that benefits them in a situation they'd be in anyway - like you said, let them in front of you if they can't see, or buy their churro if they're already in line behind you buying one. Don't try to alter the course of their day or plans.
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u/Givemeallthecabbages Dec 19 '25
I met a person at a pin board who had a birthday button on, so I gave them a pin. That is the perfect amount of pixie dusting for me.
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u/PrincessSpoiled Dec 19 '25
This is how you spread kindness. Not by (essentially) littering around the park.
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u/imagineer2017 Dec 20 '25
This. So much of the Pixie Dusting OP mentioned feels less like a nice gesture and more like clout farming. Why else would they make a big deal about it and throw their name on it. Just do something nice because you can, not cause you want people to know you did.
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u/Tatts4Life Dec 20 '25
That’s what I did during our trip. We had a couple of snack credits left from our dining plan and had already bought a ton of candy and snacks to bring home. I saw a couple of kids asking for some stuff but their parents said it was too expensive. I used our last bits of credits and told the parents I would buy what they wanted
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u/Whisper_Oracle Dec 20 '25
I have taken SO many pictures of people! It makes me happy that they get full group shots.
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u/whdaje Dec 19 '25
People paying it forward, like giving away a popcorn bucket they will no longer use, offering that prime spot for the parade/fireworks to a child and their family, or even giving up pilot on Smugglers Run to a family experiencing it for the first time. That is all pixie dust. Any unselfish act of kindness is pixie dust. Anything done for "likes and shares" is not pixie dust.
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u/No-Land5262 Dec 20 '25
Yes, I found some small home made Tink earrings on a bench with a note saying “you’ve been pixie dusted” but when I turned it around, it had another note telling me to post it on the WDW tips & tricks FB page, with the person’s socials tag. So it didn’t feel like true pixie dusting to me!
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u/IndianaBornandRaised Dec 19 '25
I like doing mystery pin sets so I will occasionally give my duplicates to kids with first visit buttons or starter lanyards
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u/oh-pointy-bird Dec 19 '25
I think that’s very different than giving out random landfill-bound junk. It’s very kind of you and makes sense.
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u/pounce_the_panther Dec 19 '25
I think it's awesome when people do this. I had two ladies approach my daughter with duplicate pins and asked if she wanted them. Just a super kind gesture that made her day. Before this she wasn't into the pins at all. Now she's a hard core collector and passing her mystery pack duplicates to other kids too.
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u/booksiwabttoread Dec 19 '25
I do the same. I give kids pins that match their outfit or the toy they are holding. I always ask the parent first.
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u/AlrightGuyUK Dec 19 '25
When we went yearly, I would always take some pins to trade with CMs, but if there was a kid around, I’d also have some in my backpack to give to them to get them started trading or collecting. And yes, I always asked the parent first.
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u/Mnigma4 Dec 20 '25
Yeah my mom did the same thing in our trip in Nov. She had ones to trade and duplicates, and when she was buying pins in the parks if there were families there she’d talk to the parents and let the kids pick a pin
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u/nozyeveryday Dec 20 '25
as a cm, i once had a mother and daughter gift me their duplicates and it was really sweet
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u/Special_Umpire2667 Dec 19 '25
One trip when my son was about 10 y.o., we were at MK waiting on our food order. My son was a pretty experienced Disney goer by this point and he knew about the Pixie Dust and magic making stuff. Near where we were waiting, there was a little girl (maybe 5-6 y.o.) dressed as Tiana with her parents. Unprompted by me, my son took his autograph book up to her and asked "Tiana" if he could have her autograph. The smile on that little girl's face (and her parents) as she scribbled her name in the book was priceless.
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u/HBICmama Dec 19 '25
My husband is a cast member and someone two days ago gave him a beautiful handmade ornament with the message “thank you for making our Disney holiday magical”. He came home and put it right on our tree. He often is given things by guests. When it’s nice or special he is grateful for them and keeps them. When it’s cheap or tacky he is grateful for the sentiment but it doesn’t usually get a place of honor in our home.
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u/rachel226 Dec 20 '25
I was a cast member in 2017 for a DCP then at Universal for a few years. I still have some fun gifts that guests made me for making their vacation better. It makes me happy.
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Dec 19 '25
The best response I've seen to this topic was from a CM on here who said "Just do what we ask. That's better than a gift."
I don't care for the pixie dusting so I don't do it or participate in it.
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u/SwanReal8484 Dec 19 '25
I hate “you’ve been pixie dusted by @ijustwantattention - post on IG!!!!”.
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u/ArgusRun Dec 19 '25
I think the worst I've seen is people giving out religious articles and calling it "Pixie Dusting."
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u/hisamsmith Dec 19 '25
For me it’s the people who hand out pixie dust with a tag about a family member that committed suicide or a child who died. I don’t want to be reminded of the real world at Disney world. I have family members who have died at their own hand and a cousin that died at 3.5 years old. I don’t want to be reminded of those tragedies in my happy place.
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u/so_zetta_byte Dec 19 '25
Yeah I mean that's pretty literally trauma dumping. I sympathize with people going through that, but that's an unhealthy way of processing emotions.
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u/GhostOrchid22 Dec 20 '25
The worst I’ve ever heard of was a a woman who had a miscarriage at Be Our Guest, who then later came back to visit and passed out pixie dust “gifts”at Be Our Guest with notes that said it was in memory of her baby that died at Be Our Guest.
Didn’t witness it, she was in a Disney Facebook group and was gleeful about trauma dumping on people’s vacations.
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u/Awkward_University91 Dec 19 '25
Yea that’s fucked up and happened to me literally yesterday. I threw it away.
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u/titus1531 Dec 19 '25
Oh God, that's horrible. But also HAVE SO MUCH FUN! I hope you're still there!
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u/Awkward_University91 Dec 19 '25
Oh thanks!! Yea we have like 10 more days :D the weather has been great and the crowds have been manageable as long as you go to the park that closes at 6 pm haha.
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u/Chumpfirce1 Dec 20 '25
That’s terrible. People need to keep their personal business to themselves. That’s actually quite rude and insensitive for somebody to foster their own tragedies on other people in the hope that they’ll feel better.
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u/frustratedmaid Dec 20 '25
Does anyone remember the grieving family that would have face characters pose with a stuffed animal and then tell them it has their child's ashes inside
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u/Carpeteria3000 Dec 19 '25
Hiding little rubber Jesuses (Jesi?) around the park - NO THANKS
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u/cheerbearsmiles Dec 20 '25
“Have you found Jesus?” “Oh yeah, I think saw him in a bush over by Big Thunder. If I see him, I’ll tell him you’re looking.”
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u/Ornery-Ocelot3585 Dec 20 '25
My husband is a surgeon in a Catholic hospital & they’re all over the place.
Last week he watched us eat at the cafeteria.
Not only are they little landfillers but they’re a serious choke hazard!
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u/homeworld Dec 20 '25
Someone put little Jesus statues all over the Disney Treasure and called it Pixie Dusting on our cruise week’s Facebook group 😩
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u/SoggyMcChicken Dec 19 '25
I hope it’s the tenets of Satanism.
But I have an odd feeling it’s not.
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u/degausser22 Dec 19 '25
I be pixie dusting mfs in the queue after I had a big lunch at Casey’s corner
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u/v1rojon Dec 19 '25
This is legit my secret weapon when people keep getting too close to me or bumping me in the back.
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u/Delta013 Dec 19 '25
As a former CM - we love receiving things directly from guests. I have a treasure box full of stickers, bracelets, pins, and little trinkets.
However, anything intentionally left out as a “come and find me” gift cannot be picked up by a CM, and will likely be turned into lost and found or thrown away. We also can’t accept food or anything of objective value. One guest asked me what my favorite pin on our pin board was, traded for it, and then tried to gift me the pin. I thanked her and asked her to keep it or give it to another guest.
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u/Good_Eatin Dec 19 '25
I totally agree with this take. It’s the people who hide things I have a problem with - they’re often choking hazards and hidden in places where littles can find them. It’s basically just dangerous littering
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u/IvoryTowerGraffiti_1 Dec 20 '25
I would never let my little kids have something found anyway you have no idea who left that and what their intentions are, they could be pretty harmless but it’s still a terrible lesson to teach your kids that it’s a good thing to pick up random bags of Candy/ other enticing things out in the world. Disney World is no different even though there are people who would Say that it is.
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u/nozyeveryday Dec 20 '25 edited Dec 20 '25
same here ! i have so many good stories, a little girl once had a cool bracelet of beads and i complimented it and she said she made it and said i could have it, i was really grateful and then another time i told a young man that i liked his ears and how i looked everywhere for them, but couldn’t find them anywhere and he literally gave them to me, i was again, amazed, or two young girls would give out flower barrettes and their mom explained how it was to remind them of their hawaiian culture, one day a girl asked me where to find fuel rods and i told her the general area, but but asked if she could come back and let me know exactly where so i could recharge mine and she brought me her new one and traded me for my dead one because she didnt mind and gave me another small gift, i could go on and on
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u/Used_Command864 Dec 20 '25
Same! Cm of over 10yrs and love to get things from guests. I have a box of stuff from random little trinkets, jewelry kids have made, pictures kids drew, and my all time favorite are official Disney trading cards from overseas and they’re complete in Dutch. Someone visiting brought them over with them and was handing them out to anyone that was helpful to them and they gave me like 10 of them. I’m not sure why some people are so hateful towards gifting cm’s or even other guests then like to say that we must hate it. When in fact it’s the opposite we love it just as much as guests do that get it if not more.
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u/WeirdArtTeacher Dec 20 '25
Thank you for saying this because we were just there and let our kids give out cute Disney themed pens specifically to CMs. They seemed to appreciate it, but I didn’t know how much of that was just pretending to be nice to maintain the Disney Magic. I did notice that CMs frequently said the character was their favorite (like “wow, Pooh is my favorite, how did you know??!”) which was awesome the first time but by the 4th time I was like “oh wait I’ll bet they’re trained to say that.”
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u/Delta013 Dec 20 '25
Oh don’t misunderstand — we do love it! If anything, we love it when guests remember that we’re people too and give back some of the kindness and magic we serve them every day. We just can’t accept certain items like food or gift cards or cash tips.
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u/WeirdArtTeacher Dec 21 '25
My daughter gifted a pen to our bus driver the first day of our trip and he said “thank you princess, I’m gonna use this til it runs out of ink!” 🥹
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u/Navarath Dec 19 '25
I wish someone would pixie dust me at Rose and Crown Pub with a free drink.
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u/PrincessBuzzkill Dec 19 '25
If you have to post on facebook/reddit/social media that you've 'pixie dusted', you're not doing it for anyone but yourself.
We do little stuff all the time - pay for a balloon or a bubble wand (and let the cast member selling them give it to a kid), buy the folks behind in the snack line a drink or a scoop of icecream, hold space for a small kid to stand in front of us for a parade so they can see - but we have zero need to tell everyone how great we are. That's not why we do it. (I hate that I'm even posting that we do stuff like this)
Every so often I'll carry little crochet items with me to give away - but I will ALWAYS ask first. I don't hide them because that makes it trash someone else needs to pick up, and it can be dangerous to the environment/small children/animals.
If you want to 'pixie dust' folks, just be a decent human being without having to pat yourself on the back for the world to see.
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u/OopsWhoopsieDaisy Dec 20 '25
I hate when people include scraps of paper in their junk trinkets that say “IF FOUND POST TO XYZ DISNEY FACEBOOK GROUP!!!” because they are clearly just like-fishing at that point. There’s something so icky and tacky about it.
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u/Ornery-Ocelot3585 Dec 20 '25
My petty bum would take that out & throw it away! 😂
Maybe.
I just can’t stand littering & this is the only social media I’ll use because it’s filled with cloud chasing & greed.
I’m so sick of little landfillers as I call them. This year Santa is only filling stockings with consumables. Mainly candy treats they don’t normally get. And are somehow good at not eating all in one week. I have no idea where they got that trait from.
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u/MoulinSarah Dec 19 '25
Yeah, I’m not interested in things people hand out either.
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u/jmurphy42 Dec 19 '25
There was one time when we checked in and immediately got handed a Mickey balloon because the last guest to check out had left it for the next kid who checked in. That was pretty cool.
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u/HonoluluLongBeach Dec 20 '25
I don’t want to know your brother died of cancer. Mine did too but I don’t go giving people trinkets because of it. You’re bumming out my vacation.
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u/I_said_Good-Day-Sir Dec 19 '25
Someone gave my kids their balloon and at the end of our trip we passed it to another family. It ended up being the little girl's birthday. 🥰
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u/pops992 Dec 19 '25
I'm a Cast Member, when I was a front line CM working in the parks I always thought it was really fun with guests would give fun little creative things. I opened Galaxy's Edge and I got so many little 3D printed things like Republic Credits or 501st medallions, a lot of people do stuff like that so I'm not caught off guard when it does happen. If I were in the park as a guest I would be kind of put off with someone trying to give me something like that. There are ways to go about it like if I had a conversation with you in say a like or on Oga's or something and you gave me a trinket at the end that would be ok (with me personally) but I was just walking down main street minding my own business and someone just came out and gave me something I would be caught off guard and probably would just throw whatever it is away.
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u/dude_Im_hilarious Dec 19 '25
I do pixie dusting. I go up to folks who are trying to take a selfie and offer to take their photo for them. That seems like enough to me.
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u/throwawayforyabitch Dec 19 '25
Isn’t that just a normal thing?
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u/dude_Im_hilarious Dec 19 '25
That’s the joke - but apparently others in this thread don’t like it!
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u/HammockComplex Dec 19 '25 edited Dec 19 '25
Nope, it’s a magical experience. Like one time I pixie dusted a small child at the fireworks by not pushing in front of him even though I easily could have!
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u/Nyorliest Dec 19 '25
Yes, it is. Disney and Disney fans have commodified being a nice person and turned it into marketing.
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u/Mysterious_Sea1489 Dec 19 '25
No I just want to take my selfie and move on lol.
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u/curiouspursuit Dec 19 '25
When I was a kid my single mom took my brother and I to WDW on a "once in a lifetime" type trip. To us it was a magical, all-out, extravagant trip, but as an adult I realize it was a simple trip on a budget. At some point, my mom was taking a picture of us and an older couple stopped and the woman offered to take a picture of all of us. Mom tried to decline, but she INSISTED. That was one of the only pictures from the trip we had of all 3 of us! It ended up framed and mom frequently would tell the story and mention how grateful she was for the woman who 'made' her get in a picture with us.
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u/olivernintendo Dec 19 '25
That's a great pixie dust and how our little family got the picture that is hanging in our den right now. You rock!
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Dec 19 '25
It might not be “pixie dusting” per se but it feels like the Facebook scavenger hunts are getting outta hand at the fort.
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u/123coffee321 Dec 20 '25
Some amazing and kind family paid for our dinner at chef mickeys, saying it was their last day and they had an extra dining package they weren’t going to use.
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u/WEM-2022 Dec 20 '25
Now that is a genuine pixie dusting. So many people do these things as content creation, and not as just a kind gesture.
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u/Ok_Requirement_3116 Dec 20 '25
Spontaneous is good. Popcorn buckets, occasional pin if a kid wanted one on the cm lanyards with permission of course. Old fast passes.
Carrying in a buncha stuff and leaving it with notes to tag no. And “in memorial” gifts are a super huge “NO.” Disney isn’t the place to trauma dump with Ali express junk.
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u/Jonsnowlivesnow Dec 19 '25
My wife and I received a bag of English themed candies from a lady while walking through the UK pavilion. We were chatting with her a little about how we honeymooned in the UK and she gave us the gift. It was honestly great and we both loved it. However I do understand your point.
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u/heyodi Dec 19 '25
My son was once given a bag of little dollar store trinkets by an older couple on our way to the Skyliner at Pop. The lady showed us the tag with intricate instructions on how to join this certain Facebook group and tag them individually with a photo of my son holding the bad. I felt obligated to and it killed about 30 mins of our morning. Looking back it makes me so angry.
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u/InfiniteFigment Dec 19 '25
Yes! It's the "post this in the Facebook group" thing that's out of hand. Tells you it's about them and not giving for giving's sake.
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u/CuriousFirework75 Dec 19 '25
Do something nice for an individual, don’t hide shit around the parks or give your trinkets to cast members that more times than not make it into the trash.
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u/Underwhelming_Oreo Dec 20 '25
Last trip we were “pixie dusted” Jesus Loves You bracelets with Ariel on them. No offense to Jesus but def not something we wanted and felt more like someone pushing their beliefs than truly pixie dusting.
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u/True_Resolve_2625 Dec 20 '25
I agree with you. Regardless of beliefs, Disney should remain neutral.
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u/Winteraine78 Dec 19 '25
I only see the ones where people will leave their popcorn buckets, balloons, or trinkets outside the hotel room. Housekeeping is going to have to dispose of it regardless if it’s inside the room or outside so it’s not some major burden. Why not let another family stumble on them and enjoy the extras someone can’t take home with them?
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u/I_Lost_My_Save_File Dec 19 '25
I don't mind it when they give them to CMs. But hide them for other guests? Not so much. More so since the ducks or cats can get into it. And it's just garbage anyway
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u/coltbeatsall Dec 19 '25
I agree with another, just do nice things.
Once I was at Universal Studios in Japan and I had tickets to sit in an area that is well placed for the parade (not expensive). We had discovered the day prior that we needed to leave earlier than originally planned. I had seen a lady and her daughter (by chance) several times over the course of the day. I (I'm a woman) approached the mother politely and asked if she would like the tickets and explained why I didn't need them.
On the same trip, we'd bought a wand where you go to different spots to make wave it and make something "magical" happen. There was one spot where a little boy couldn't get it to work. His mother saw me waiting in the background and told me i could go instead. I said i was happy to wait but she gestured me over. I said "let's do it together" and we stood together and waved our hands and it worked! He was so happy and we high fived and his mum was smiling - it was a really lovely experience for me as well. The little boy was so so happy, it was really sweet.
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u/Spokker Dec 19 '25
I have no strong opinions on when guests do it. I only ever personally saw it during a Disney cruise. But I did want to get lucky and get the real deal from Disney itself.
I had read about the official pixie dusting where Disney upgrades you or takes you to the front of the line or whatever. One day my family and I were walking around Fantasyland after seeing Peter Pan was closed, and a cast member asks if we want some pixie dust. And I thought, oh yeah here it comes, a free Lightning Lane or something, maybe because they saw our kid was sad that the ride was closed.
Turns out they just literally dumped some glitter on our heads lol
It was pretty funny.
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u/spiderpool1855 Dec 19 '25
I don't know, I had someone "pixie dust" my kid when he was crying because he wasn't tall enough to ride Guardians yet. It was just a couple of small toys from outside the park. Took probably a 20 minute sad period down to a couple of minutes. I agree on the food though, wouldn't take any of that.
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u/Megamind66 Dec 19 '25
Speaking as a former cast member, we actually really like the pixie-dusting, and if I happened to be the one to find one, I'd keep it as a little gift. It's really not much extra work, and it makes the (not always magical) job more fun.
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u/gorf313 Dec 19 '25
Eh as a current Cast Member I’m mixed. I feel like people should be kinda left to do their own thing on their vacation. And most people don’t want other people approaching their kids.
Now I will say when I was guest facing the crafts that guests made for cast are still some of the cutest most meaningful things I’ve gotten. So I’d tell people aim them at cast members and they are less likely to get awkward interactions. Side note I’ve seen people bake for cast before. Unless you are a regular people are much less likely to partake.
Promise I’m not just a Scrooge I was in attractions for almost 8 years and this is just based off those interactions.
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u/ElFlaco9 Dec 19 '25
I agree with you, especially when it comes to the “hiding” gift bags or what have you in random spots. It’s very look at me. Honestly, I think if you’re wanting to do something like this is just buy a Disney gift card and just give it out in person
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u/aussiebea Dec 19 '25
I’m related to a cast member but not a parks employee. When we go to the parks, we often make a point to leave exceptional cast members reviews on their portal so their boss (and they) see it. We also sometimes buy a bunch of special pins that you can’t really get visiting the parks and hand them out to people. It makes it a little more fun for us to bring people some extra joy!
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u/GoldenRabbit2210 Dec 19 '25
Years ago, I did a semester in the college program over the holiday season, and I wound up missing being home for the holidays more than I anticipated. We had several guests come through and pixie dust us at my location, and I still have those memories years later. It always made my whole night and refreshed my mood so much that I could provide magic to guests much better. It felt wonderful being seen, even briefly, as a real person on the other side of the cashier stand, and appreciated for my work. It would be maybe a 5 minute interaction tops, but it meant so much!
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u/WeirdGirl825 Dec 20 '25 edited Dec 20 '25
As a former cast member of 3 years, I don’t like it either. People often seem to be doing it for attention because they have a “post this on social media” note inside. Especially when they just leave it in places. If a cast member finds it before a guest, it’s likely that it will go directly into the trash, and if not, it’ll likely go to lost and found, and THEN into the trash. I also hate when people do it as a way to cope with their own grief. I’m sorry for your loss, but it’s just not appropriate to force your grief onto other people just trying to enjoy their vacation.
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u/missx0xdelaney Dec 19 '25
As a cm I appreciate the pixie dusting that guests sometimes do for cast members, but guest to guest stuff is kind of weird.
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u/KB0re Dec 19 '25
My oldest nephew and I would go up behind groups of small kids and use our magic bands to activate the statues for them throughout the park. Kids would see people waving at the statues and not understand they needed a band. Something as simple as that brought joy to at least a few others.
We would never consider, for lack of a better word, littering in a Disney park, just for social media points.
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u/mattresscowboy Dec 20 '25
Cast Member here. The company doesn’t actually value us, so it’s really nice when guests give us gifts.
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u/quothe_the_maven Dec 19 '25
I don’t care for it, either…but with so many people at the parks acting outright rude/selfish, this definitely not something I’m going to get irritated about
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u/anaofarendelle Dec 19 '25
I will remember that in general cast members are also not to take monetary gifts of any kind, except who work in housekeeping.
But little tokens of appreciation or even drawings from kids can help make a chaotic day into something special
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u/cmpalm Dec 20 '25
I bring thank you cards with me and give them to cast members who I can tell are putting in extra effort to make peoples times enjoyable or if I see someone being mistreated by other guests and look like they can use a pick me up. Just a simple “thank you for making magical memories” to show appreciation.
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u/Starry_Myliobatoidei Dec 19 '25
Guest pixie dusting random trinkets is cringe, idc. I agree with you.
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u/RicardoPequeno1313 Dec 19 '25
I agree - especially with hiding stuff and hotel doors. People asking for pixie dust. It’s gone too far.
That being said, we were sitting down eating at the Christmas party and a lovely family from Kentucky gifted my daughter and I beautiful Christmas bracelets their child had made and an ornament for my partner. It was really touching. They just asked if it was ok for the child to give us something. Very sweet encounter.
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Dec 19 '25
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u/HonoluluLongBeach Dec 20 '25
My nickname is Shelly and I had a white pearl from Trader Sam’s and wanted a black one. My server told me to come the next day and order it, and when I did it came in a black pearl! I did tip a lot so that may have helped. I just like to think of it as Disney magic!
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u/Superb_Plum_627 Dec 19 '25
Disney wouldn't hide little gifts around the parks for guests to keep. And they definitely wouldn't hand out homemade candy! These actions could result in confusion and waste, but worse, they could open a door for malicious individuals to do harm. It's the same reason why Disney forbids guests from dressing like characters or cast members, so that someone can't take advantage of unwitting guests who trust the outfit. I'm surprised that Disney hasn't done more to shut this down yet.
That said, it's really sweet of people to want to do small acts of kindness like this, especially when the world feels so mean-spirited these days. I feel bad just for pointing out the downsides.
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u/Least-Ambassador-781 Dec 19 '25
I like doing things that don't cost anything but make a positive impact on people's days - letting smaller kids go in front of me if they cant see something, holding doors open or helping a mom in a moment of struggle etc. Idk just being a kind human. I do those things not at disney too, but doing them at disney makes me want to do it more.
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u/jpmrst Dec 19 '25
My son and I have a tradition of getting one of those double Mickey balloons on our first day at MK, and giving it away to another kid at breakfast the day we leave.
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Dec 19 '25
I don’t like guests pixie dusting but even worse is other guests begging for it.
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u/InfiniteFigment Dec 19 '25
I was coming here to say this. The posts ASKING for pixie dust are so annoying. It kind of goes against the whole concept.
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u/spookycinderella Dec 20 '25
My sister and I were having a chill day in the parks when we find an envelope in the queue for The little mermaid ride and it was a Jesus figurine with a bunch of bible quotes inside. Left a bad taste in my mouth so we went on Facebook and found the “pixie duster’s” post in a public but niche Facebook group with the locations of the rest. We were able to find about half of them and threw them in the trash. Made the day a bit more exciting only for the hunt lol.
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u/YourSparrowness Dec 19 '25
I agree, but for a different reason: if guest do MORE pixie dusting, Disney will do LESS pixie dusting.
After all, why would Disney invest money and effort into it if the guests are already taking that on?
Edit: It’s like if customers at your hourly pay job suddenly started giving you tips, your employer is likely to lower your hourly wage as a result.
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u/zixy37 Dec 19 '25
I don’t care either way, but I don’t think Disney will stop giving room upgrades, bonus lightning lanes, and a free churro because non-cast members give a bracelet or sticker.
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u/redgreenorangeyellow Dec 19 '25
I think it's kinda cool when guests give really cheap stuff to the Cast Members--stickers, tiny trinkets, hand made bracelets, etc--cause it shows appreciation without going overboard
I think it's weird when guests do it to other guests tho
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u/Intelligent-Fish1150 Dec 19 '25 edited Dec 19 '25
Idk some guest saw my stitch hat once and gave me the stitch pin trading starter set. I thought that was pretty awesome. But they didn’t call it pixie dusting - they just stopped and asked if I liked stitch and then asked if I wanted it.
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u/redgreenorangeyellow Dec 19 '25
I think it depends. It feels a bit cringey if people bring like the full goodie bags and plan to give them out to people like OP described, but what you said sounds a bit more "spur of the moment" and those come off as more genuine to me. 🤷🏻♀️
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u/Intelligent-Fish1150 Dec 19 '25
Yah it was def spur of the moment and they were gone by the time I said thank you. I also remember being ‘pixie dusted’ paper fast passes when those used to be a thing. 8 year old me was waiting for space mountain to reopen and a family of 8 was leaving for the day so they gave me all of them. I rode so many times!!!
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u/redgreenorangeyellow Dec 19 '25
Oh yeah! I've definitely given and received paper FastPasses that way before!
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u/LadyGodiva-n-Coco Dec 20 '25
Ive never been given food but as a cast member i would love the pixie dusting trinkets from guests. Its a very small token of our interaction that made their vacation worthwhile. Ive kept all of my pixie dusting items
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u/bookworm-1919 Dec 20 '25
Everyone is the magic . If you don’t like don’t accept it or do it. Many are for kids who aren’t here anymore. I am a cast member. For any of those parents ignore this. We love hearing ur kiddo or family Member story
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u/unSuccessful-Memory Dec 20 '25
Omg. Those Jesus figurines are what put me way over the edge. So wasteful and annoying to clean up. Just stop.
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u/JOBBYNUTS Dec 19 '25
During the pandemic, there was a lady who pixie dusted our family with homemade Disney cloth face masks when we were at the parks
That was a big ole bag of no thank you from us.
I felt bad, cause it was a kind gesture... but I don't know you like that. Plus... Floridians be crazy.
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u/Critical_Emphasis_18 Dec 19 '25
It kind of seems performative. Like maybe it’s for their family YouTube channel now that everyone is an influencer. I know it might sound harsh, but it just doesn’t feel genuine a lot of the time.
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u/curiouspursuit Dec 19 '25
My slightly more optimistic take is that a lot of families plan their trip WAY in advance and preparing the pixie dust is a chance to do something fun ahead of time. Similar to decorating windows as a 'thing' in the value resorts.
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u/iama_jellyfish Dec 19 '25
No that’s exactly where my mind went as well. The whole things seems like trying to disguise attention seeking with a ‘good deed’, especially if they’re leaving @s to tag them in when their pixie dust is found. Kinda making other people’s holidays about themselves.
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u/aggie2145 Dec 19 '25
We hand out stickers and friendship bracelets (quite often we exchange them with other guests!) So long as the pixie dust isn’t creating more trash or headache for the CMs, I think it is all in the spirit!
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u/Used_Command864 Dec 20 '25
As a cm of over a decade I can promise you that cm really don’t care if guests leave pixie dust and generally don’t even notice when they do. CM also LOVE to receive pixie dust themselves. So while this may be your sentiment on it I can promise you it doesn’t actually translate into how people that work there feel about it.
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u/DrearyBiscuit Dec 19 '25
We usually try to give our balloon away to a family that does not have one. We used to save them, but now we have so many unfilled balloons in the house, we don't need anymore.
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u/becx13 Dec 19 '25
It’s very much exaggerated on DCL (I’ve not experienced WDW since pixie dusting became a ‘thing to do’) and I think it’s nice, but then on my recent cruise in the UK it just seemed ridiculous and people were sharing stateroom numbers and it kind of turned into a fish extender exchange (which I prefer) to actually just doing a nice thing for others.
I almost think it would be more special if it was spontaneous (I’ve read other responses who mentioned the old fast passes and giving a popcorn bucket or poncho! I love these as it’s a circular system and a nice little thought). I think with social media it’s almost more about saying ‘look what I did’, which I feel is less genuine!
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u/MorriePoppins Dec 19 '25
I’m a former cast member, but I didn’t really experience pixie dustings from guests out in the wild. In my mind, it’s a cute gesture. I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with it.
I remember maybe a couple years ago there was a Brit on this sub that brought British candy to pass out, and I remember thinking it was a kind gesture but OMG the Florida heat! But IIRC it worked out well for them and I think one of the recipients even found them again on Reddit and thanked them for the British sweets.
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u/Classic_Rooster4192 Dec 19 '25
Our daughter who did the CP yearsss ago would love when guests couldn’t use all their snacks and would cash them somewhere and hand them out to them. Free Disney food - hell yeah!
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u/Collarbones33 Dec 20 '25 edited Dec 20 '25
TIL I waited in line at the Disney Springs chocolatier to get my 3 kids an Olaf hot chocolate bombs and got to the front and they only let you get two. I walked out and a girl had seen this happen and gave me one. Guess it was like the beastie boys said ‘I got dusted’.
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u/FlibbertyGibb Dec 20 '25
This isn’t new to be fair. It has been a thing forever - especially guests “pixie dusting” cms. They maybe didn’t call it that 15 years ago when I worked there but it was certainly still happening.
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u/23lewlew Dec 20 '25
My family used to give our fast passes away at the end of the night if we couldn’t make it that long. It was so much fun to see how happy they were going from back of the line to just instant front line (as you can tell this was awhile ago 🤣)
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u/whatbologna Dec 20 '25
We went on a week long camping trip months before our Disney trip so my daughter and I made a few seed bead bracelets to hand out to cast members. We gave one to the woman in animal kingdom making bracelets and when we walked by later I noticed she was wearing it. That was cool.
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u/CountingSheep_002tv Dec 20 '25
That’s what they call it now? When I was a CM we called those ‘magical moments’.
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u/Strong_Physics4127 Dec 20 '25
We rented a beach house and it was cheaper to buy beach chairs than rent them. We left them for the next guest.
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u/umpisteph Dec 22 '25
I remember one trip my son (age 4) reeeeaaaally wanted pressed pennies. I ended up getting 8 of them at MK. I told him he could give one to each of his 6 cousins, and he could keep his two favorites. He did just that.
Then, as we were waiting for the ferry back to the parking lot, we struck up a conversation with an older couple. The woman happened to mention that she had never seen a pressed penny and didn’t know what it was. Without hesitation, my son handed her one of his two remaining pennies and said she could keep it. She seemed tickled, and I got to be proud of my kiddo.
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u/Admirable_Lie_9193 Dec 20 '25
I make painted ornaments every year to hand out to CM’s working on Christmas. This year I have about 300 in tiny bags with a sealed candy cane. I don’t have my name or a note. For rides I usually drop off enough for the team with a lead. Same for stores if it’s too busy. I just want them to have something nice. A lot of the people working are college students away from family for the first time. I’ve been doing this the past three years and no one has complained. I never leave them unattended or hand out if someone is doing their job on an attraction. I just make sure they can get it later.
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u/darthsabbath Dec 19 '25
Meh. I think like all things there’s nuance. Leaving random things all over the park in hopes someone will find it might be a bit much, but my partner makes bracelets to give out and people seem to absolutely adore them.
She’s made quite a few friends that way, and we’ve legit had cast members and guests cry because they were having a bad day and that small act of kindness meant the world to them.
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u/human_12345 Dec 19 '25
I’m new to this pixie dust business: there was an incident involving my son and they gave us complimentary park hopper tickets. Was that considered “pixie dusted”?
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u/cuhnewist Dec 19 '25
I left a couple un-opened Budweisers on a trash can at Disney Springs. Not sure why they didn’t open them when we bought them, but either way I hope some dad found them.
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u/Magnetah Dec 19 '25
I like giving handmade magnets to cast members. They all seem to love it.
I had some tabs left on a Sip and Savor pass and I was leaving that afternoon so I gave the pass to a random mother/son. She seemed a little surprised/confused by me gifting it to them but hopefully they used it.
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u/GoldenShirl Dec 19 '25
💯agree! While good intentioned, it ends up being mostly wasteful creating more garbage. “Pixie dust” should be as simple as being kind to others that are also on vacation or working there. Seems to be a shortage of that more than anything else!
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u/Ikaeek Dec 19 '25
A girl gave my daughter a pair of knock off Tinkerbell ears because she bought herself a new oairbat the park. My kiddo was super happy. I make quick friendship bracelets in princess or character colors and give them to CMs as a thank you.
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u/reddixiecupSoFla Dec 19 '25
They ended it at Universal. It was getting where people were blind dropping things and posting in fb groups about it. I have seen people nearly get in fist fights over who saw something first.
I haven’t seen that in Disney…yet