I just wanted to take a moment to honor Walt Disney World cast member Austin Wuennenberg, the 21-year-old Cast Member who died this morning in an accident on the monorail. His job was literally to bring guests to the magic, and he no doubt helped bring joy to thousands who never knew his name and maybe never even saw his face. May his contribution and sacrifice never be forgotten.

An effort is in motion to have #Austin become a trending topic on Twitter, as suggested by Tweeter DisneyFrankness. Just a small gesture of respect to a man, but perhaps it will be a large sign of how much WDW fans appreciate the work of ALL Cast Members.

The Orlando Sentinel has a write-up about Austin, who co-workers say was working his "dream job."

UPDATE 07/07/2009 21:38 EDT

The Orlando Sentinel has posted a link to a family's vacation video featuring Austin "on stage" as a monorail pilot. View the video

UPDATE 07/06/2009 19:09 EDT

It is a testament to the dedication of WDW fans and Disney fans everywhere that hundreds, if not thousands of Twitter users managed to get #Austin -- in honor of Austin Wuennenberg -- into the Trending Topics area of the main Twitter page. The Trending Topics listing displays the most talked about words or phrases on Twitter at any given segment of time, thus putting all posts related to that phrase within easy reach of ALL Twitter users.

#Austin "trended" at about 3pm this afternoon, thanks in part to the coordinating efforts of DisneyDean, Mindy Burdette, DisneyFrankness, and many others.

Screenshot by justmikeyhrc

Austin Wuennenberg's death has hit fans of the Disney Parks hard. Though most had never met the man, the response to the loss of a Cast Member was swift and heartfelt. Resident Twitter haiku writer and WDW fan mouseofzen summarized his feelings as follows: "heaven's gate open / monorail ride to austin / on autopilot."

I hope to have a link up soon for those of you who wish to help out Austin's family.