Characters in the park

[Alex2kMommy]

This may be a dumb question, but what determines which characters will be in the park on a given day? Are there 'seasonal' Disney characters? Are there certain people for certain roles, maybe physical requirements that might limit a character's availability, like very tall women for Cruella? I'm just curious. Does anybody know?

Thanks!

 

[Mom2micayla]

I'm not positive on everything, but my husband worked at DL back in the last 80's and he told me that there are definitely requirements for the roles. Like for instance, he said that Donald Duck is (or at least used to be) only played for a little person b/c he is so small.

I don't know if some characters are seasonal or not. But it does seem like you'll see alot more of specific characters when a movie comes out on dvd or is in the theatres.

 

[iceskatejen]

Characters that it's a given to see are Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Chip & Dale, Princesses (Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Belle), Ariel, Woody & Jessie, Buzz, Alice in Wonderland characters, & Pooh & friends. I've seen Pocahontas a lot lately, too. Some characters do require very specific body types and it's true, you don't see Donald that often.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

Very interesting! I got to thinking about it in reading about Cruella and the White Witch from Narnia. They seem to really make an impression on guests by playing up the character. Maybe the other costumed CMs play their parts just as vigorously, but the villains are just more memorable for their evil?

And someone posted that a Daisy Duck autograph was rare. It makes sense that they'd have the more popular characters out more, but why some of the others on some days and not the next? That's when I thought there may be physical requirements for the character ?(ie. Tuesday is 'Donald's day off) I think DS1's gym class teacher said she has relatives or family friends who are 'Mickey and Minnie', so CMs are assigned to certain roles? Or maybe a handful of roles? Thought I'd read somewhere about a CM working as a ride operator or somehow getting to know a child, then later on meeting the child as a character and really making the child's day when he was recognized!

I would think, too, that some of the costumes may be more expensive and therefore they bring that character out less often? (The White Witch costume is gorgeous!)