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Stage Four Cancer Triggered Cast Member’s Heartwarming Disney Story

Posted by: Lana Porter May 25, 2023

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Every Disney employee is referred to as a Cast Member and brings a certain magic to the Park Guests they interact with every day. However, Disneyland Resort Cast Member Colin Smith has a backstory that proves how real Disney magic can truly be.

The Disney Parks Blog recently spotlighted Smith and the “circle of life” circumstances that brought him to work for the Walt Disney Company. As a kid, Colin Smith was diagnosed with stage four cancer and visited Disneyland through the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Colin Smith Disneyland resort make a wish cast member

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The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a nonprofit organization striving to grant the wishes of children, aged 2.5 to 18 years old, with critical illnesses. Make-A-Wish has granted more than 550,000 wishes all over the world, and The Walt Disney Company alone is responsible for around 150,000 of those granted wishes, making them the “biggest wish granter” for Make-A-Wish Children.

Read HERE about how Walt Disney World celebrated granting its 150,000th wish in April!

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Colin’s childhood wish? To meet Winnie the Pooh and Eeyore – characters from Walt Disney Productions’ 1977 film. His wish was fulfilled at Disneyland Resort.

Luckily, Colin was able to beat his diagnosis and now he works full-time at Disneyland Resort! The Disney Parks Blog reports that he is currently a “stage technician for the resort’s firework spectaculars.” A Cast Member who helped facilitate his character wish, Lori, ended up being one of his leaders 30 years later!

Colin Smith Disneyland make-a-wish lori cast member

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Colin remarked about his Make-A-Wish and Disney experience:

[It] turned hardship into a positive experience. Disneyland is a place that I continue to come back to. It’s a safe place that holds a lot of special memories for me. I’d like to say to all the Make-A-Wish kids out there to just have the most fun you possibly can every day. Make the most of every memory, the good ones, the hard ones and the ones that can bring you so much joy.

Cast Members Colin and Lori dropped the curtain for three windows dedicated to Make-A-Wish kids on Main Street in Disneyland Resort this past April 29, World Wish Day. Thanks, Disney Parks Blog for continuing to share the Disney magic!

About Lana Porter

Lana has never lost a Disney Trivia night. Maybe it’s the hundreds of times she’s been to Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, her love for Disney’s ’90’s era hand-animated musicals, or the fact that she’s often likened to cartoon characters, but Disney and its magic have a special place in her heart. Her favorite Disney experiences include the EPCOT Food and Wine Festival, eating Mickey Bars on the PeopleMover, and crying during the Magic Kingdom fireworks show. One day she hopes to be chosen as the rebel spy on Star Tours. When Lana isn’t Park Hopping, she’s at home reading books of all topics, watching her favs on Disney+, or snuggling her two cats, which she swears are not named after Disney characters. She loves surprising people with her knowledge of the Marvel Cinematic Universe but admits she is still catching up with Star Wars. She is happy to combine her excitement for writing with her love for Disney-style storytelling and share what she can with the world!