Disney and other parks' costumed characters face danger on the job

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/...,4584275.story

Anika Myers Palm and Walter Pacheco
Sentinel Staff Writers
September 14, 2009

They get kicked, punched, groped and cursed at during the course of their normal workdays — and that's usually just from the kids.

Workers in character costumes at theme parks, including Walt Disney World, Universal Studios and SeaWorld, and at restaurants in Orlando's tourist corridor, often discount the indignities and injuries associated with their jobs and uncomfortable outfits.

Costumed characters were back in the public eye after prosecutors recently found a Pennsylvania man guilty of groping a Disney employee portraying Minnie Mouse at the Magic Kingdom. He told investigators that he was just having fun and meant no harm.

This was the second time the same employee had been molested by a guest. In 2002, she was playing Mickey Mouse when, authorities say, a mentally ill man who was obsessed with Disney characters put his arm around her and made sexually suggestive movements. The man was found incompetent to stand trial and the charges — battery and lewdness — were eventually dismissed.

Although current costumed employees at area theme parks declined to share their stories, former workers, including some who played chain-saw killers and Chuck E. Cheese, shared the ups and downs behind the disguises.

'Blanketed in this suit'
"It's a lot like being a mime, because you have to exaggerate what you're doing," said Kelly Frank, a former Disney and Universal costumed character who now runs her own mascot-costume business. "You're blanketed in this suit that covers your emotions and a lot of what you're doing."

Disney spokeswoman Zoraya Suarez said the company's theme parks employ more than 2,000 costumed workers. Tom Schroder of Universal Studios declined to disclose the number of costumed employees because the company does not "traditionally break out employees by their type of work," he wrote in an e-mail to the Orlando Sentinel.

Frank recalls most of the fun of performing as a costumed character happened backstage — away from the guests.

'Mickey, Mickey! ... Minnie?'
One of her most colorful stories is about the break-room interaction between a young child and performer dressed as Sorcerer Mickey.

The boy cried "Mickey, Mickey!" and ran to embrace the character, but he accidentally grabbed the young woman's chest inside the costume, Frank said. The child responded with a confused, "Minnie?"

In an e-mail to the Sentinel, Suarez wrote that "in order to protect the [Disney] magic" she could not comment about the construction of character costumes.

But performers who wore similar costumes described their limitations under the heavy suits.

Casey Rivers, who now lives near Fort Drum, N.Y., said having her vision impaired by the large, stiff head of her Chuck E. Cheese outfit made an awkward situation worse when a child shoved her down a stairwell at a Portland, Ore., restaurant about 18 years ago.

Fall 'a horrendous thing'
Not only could she not see or regain her balance, but as she tumbled down the steps, the giant smiling mouse's head popped off and rolled down the stairs.

"Kids were screaming, 'Chuck E. Cheese is a girl!'" said Rivers, who almost two decades later laughs about the incident. Other nearby children were horrified, though.

"It traumatized a lot of kids," she said. "I know that some of those little girls — one was about 3 — well, it was a horrendous thing."

Theme-park characters — whether scary or sporting permanent smiles — can incite strong reactions from guests.

Most trouble 'in good fun'
Josh Adelman, who played a chain-saw-wielding killer with scary makeup at Universal's Halloween Horror Nights in 2003, remembers when startled park guests attacked him.

Despite the scuffle, he didn't hold the guests' behavior against them.

"Ninety-five percent of the time, it's all in good fun," Adelman said.

He followed the company's protocol for handling the awkward situation: "Don't fight back, and go to the nearest [supervisor] to point them out," he said.

Adelman thinks of the stint as one of his favorite jobs.

When he wasn't onstage, Adelman and his fellow ghouls watched scary movies — "for inspiration, I guess" — and ate lots of candy, he said.

Payoff: 'Ecstatic child'
In spite of the heat, abuse and the occasional character's head popping off, most former performers said they'd work as characters again — or recommend it to anyone looking for a fun, short-term job.

Donna-Lynne Dalton, business agent for Teamsters Local 385, which represents characters, laundry workers, parking attendants and ranch hands, performed as a costumed character at Walt Disney World for nine years and misses the rush.

"There's nothing like that genuinely ecstatic child that is so excited to see you," Dalton said. "At that point [all the discomfort] doesn't matter anymore."

Dewayne Bevil and Sarah Lundy of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report. Anika Myers Palm can be reached at 407-420-5022 or apalm@orlandosentinel.com. Walter Pacheco can be reached at wpacheco@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-6262.

[TinkerBrie]

Originally Posted by CR Resort Fan 4 Life

[url]
This was the second time the same employee had been molested by a guest.

Come on......molested????

[DisneyGrampa]

I have to admit that, the week before last I, gasp, gave Mickey a high five.
Will I be banned for life?

[annnewjerz]

Originally Posted by TinkerBrie

Come on......molested????

Respectfully, you should look up the definition of "molest." It can mean to bother, annoy or harass. Even though we most commonly hear it in the context of sexual molestation, that's not the only definition.

That being said, if I recall the news story correctly, the CM that was dressed as Minnie was actually molested in the sense that she was droped on her chest by a man. Just because she had clothing/a costume on doesn't make it any different.

[Sagginit]

hey characters are people too and im sure they go thru a lot being in those suits. i work with the public and people often think it is ok to touch me for some reason and it always bothers me. i once saw a santa in target shopping and felt bad for the guy, he was probablly just trying to get some toothpaste and a dvd and people were probably letting their kids go bug him.

[Justsyd2]

That's an eye-opening article! I guess that some people actually forget that there are real people under those costumes. Some of you are making fun at other people's expense...what if it were your mother, sister, etc. Would you want someone to grope them? Probably not...