Disney World tells man to be less 'Santa-ish'

[jcb]

It appears today is a slow news day for Local 6.
http://www.clickorlando.com/news/Di...ish/-/1637132/15656630/-/ykaf0gz/-/index.html

I wasn't going to post this until I saw this person's "solutions." Next time I visit, I think I'll tell Disney I resemble a celebrity . . .

 

[monkeyknuckler]

This guy wants to look like Santa and likes the attention. Same type of guy who walks around with a parrot on his shoulder knowing that people are gonna come up to him to see the bird. I just ignore these types - "Hey, look at me!, I'm zany!"

 

[WaltD4Me]

It appears today is a slow news day for Local 6.
http://www.clickorlando.com/news/Di...ish/-/1637132/15656630/-/ykaf0gz/-/index.html

I wasn't going to post this until I saw this person's "solutions." Next time I visit, I think I'll tell Disney I resemble a celebrity . . .

I saw that at the end. He thinks Disney should treat "celebrity look-a-likes" like real celebrities and escort them around the crowds.

 

[Stacy's a freak]

This guy wants to look like Santa and likes the attention. Same type of guy who walks around with a parrot on his shoulder knowing that people are gonna come up to him to see the bird. I just ignore these types - "Hey, look at me!, I'm zany!"

This! "I'm zany!" Is this line accompanied by "jazz hands"?

 

[disneydad78]

He was nice about it. Its the way he wants to look. Disney asked him to change, he did. Good for him.

 

[ImTooExcitedToSleep]

You can look like someone, sure, but signing autographs and taking pictures????

I look just like Brad Pitt (for arguments sake), but I'm not going to sign autographs and take pictures as him in the Parks.

 

[tina.tina]

What normal (paranoid) parent would allow their children to run up to a stranger & start a conversation? I'm not saying that anyone who emulates Santa has an evil agenda, but we tell our kids never take candy from a stranger and the Santa look is the same kind of enticement for children.

In the past, my kids have seen Santa look alikes. Here's what we tell them: You don't know if that is the REAL Santa. Some people just look alike and some people even like to dress up like Santa as a hobby. You should never talk to a stranger. I'm really sure this isn't the real Santa because if he were on vacation/in Walmart/driving down the interstate, he'd be in disguise- not wearing a Christmas Tshirt or using a car with Santa on the license plate.

 

[Beka]

Oh for the love of...

I met Santa when I was 8 at the France pavilion. It has been a favorite memory of mine. Was he hired by Disney? Nope. He didn't approach me either, but did show me his sleigh license.

Maybe the autographs were a bit much, but you can't stop people from approaching you.

 

[jecskc]

We saw him on our trip in June ans I seriously thought he was a park employee. Kathy asked for a photo in the podcast and I am happy to say .... I have one !!

We were eating at Liberty Tree Tavern when he came in to sit down. There was quite a buzz and he got lots of attention for sure. Just his presence created it, he didn't actually stand up and do anything that demanded attention. Anyway .... here is the photo.

You can see that he looks VERY much like Santa. And he was even wearing a red and white striped shirt with lace on the cuffs. I thought he worked there - maybe in the Christmas Shoppe - and was surprised to find out that he did not. To each his own I guess. We enjoyed seeing him !!

 

[AVDisney]

Honestly, I don't know if he's lying or not about it. He seems truthful so I'm going to believe him until I have a reason not to. It seems unfair to make him change because he looks like Santa...Disney doesn't own the rights to the character, Santa Claus because it is a world wide symbol. (Says "The Santa look-alike") This is a good point! Though, I can see how Disney might get upset because he is drawing attention away from characters and confusing children. Though, I totally disagree with him saying that he should be treated like a celebrity for looking like Santa. All guests pay the same amount of money for the same park ticket, why should he get rewarded? Everyone is going to start dressing up like a celebrity...

 

[eeyorethegreat]

What if he really is Santa ?

 

[WaltD4Me]

What if he really is Santa ?

Good point!

I'm amazed by all the press this is getting. 2-3 stories are still showing up in my Disney news feed every day. A couple things I have read say he is a "professional" Santa...one story even said award winning, so if he plays Santa for a living, you can't expect him not to look like Santa. One the other hand, dressing like him in July in WDW is a bit much...even if he wasn't in the full suit. I see his point and I see Disney's. Disney IS a place for children after all...a place of fantasy and make believe, even though Santa isn't their character, I can understand them not wanting him to portray Santa. If he was inappropriate with a child or did something very un-Santa like, you can bet the parent would blame Disney and then that would really be a news story.

 

[Disneybridein2k3]

Sorry it took me so long to find this. I took my daughter for her graduation trip to CA. It was an amazing trip where we had so many wonderful opportunities. But we did encounter one fellow that fit this description who was walking around quite jolly between DL and DCA when he was stopped by several cast members. I dunno - looks to me like they were profiling - appears they were stopping anyone who was dressed like Santa that day.