Unexpected Blessings

Hi! My name is Ashley Allen. I’m from Brookfield, Wisconsin and I’m a junior at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill studying speech therapy. This summer at the Magic Kingdom, I’m working PAC, which means I help control the audience during parades. I’ve had a great time and have learned so much from my coworkers and fellow project students and staff, but I have also been blessed by an unexpected group of people: the guests at Walt Disney World. Among cast members, the guests at Walt Disney World are notorious for being slightly challenging. I’ve already been asked hundreds of times when the 3 o’clock parade starts, I’ve mastered the “Disney Point”, and have found my fair share of lost children (and parents). But sometimes, guests still take me by surprise.

            Earlier this week I was having a really hard time at work. We were short-staffed and I was left to handle and large and crowded area of Main Street by myself for the first electrical parade. I was unable to keep my emergency walkway clear, there was a crowd of dozens of Brazilian teenagers who didn’t speak much English, and one guest actually punched another. I was not looking forward to the second electrical parade, but a guest asked me a question and I got to share with him exactly why I was working at Disney. It turns out he is a pastor and he and his family found me after the parade and asked me how they could be praying for me. Even when I feel like I am out of control, I can take comfort because God is!

            Another night while I was working the exits, I met a boy with Down Syndrome named Alex. I was able to spend 45 minutes talking and goofing around with him and his dad while his mom finished shopping. The next day I was off of work and some of us decided to go to Downtown Disney for dinner. We ended up walking right into Alex and his family as soon as we got there! Alex’s mom was asking me how I got to work at Disney and we ended up discussing how most people will look at Alex and only see a boy with special needs but he is actually such a huge “blessing in disguise”. God is doing some amazing things among the students and coworkers on project, but praise Him for opening doors of encouragement and spiritual conversations with the guests of Disney World!