How do characters stay cool in their costumes?

[SarahandPaul]

I don't think the globes are air conditioned. Wouldn't that cause them to fog up? I'm pretty sure they're not.

From what I've read they're not. But they do have a fan on the top of the globe to move the air (like that would help).

 

[Rudegrle]

I've never really thought about keeping cool in the costumes...hmmmm. Must be on of the perks of visiting WDW during the off season, NOT TOO HOT

 

[natcat]

Wow, thanks for all your replys..........I am just amazed.....flabbergasted.....because here it is -5C, Nova Scotia, Canada........I just couldn't imagine!! I thought that someone would surely tell me about some innovative and amazing cooling system that is being used. Well they certainly have my respect........I can't wait to see some for the first time

Curiosity didn't kill the cat this time

 

[ECU Pirates]

It seems like there would be a way to rig a battery operated fan in the huge heads of those things!!! Those poor people!!!

My daughter is the mascot at her middle school. The head has a small battery operated fan built into it. It really does NOT help her keep cool, but at least it moves some air around inside the head.

 

[UrsulasShadow]

I heard that miners have the same problem of keeping cool, and as it is, they do have those cool-gel vests, but they only last a short time. There is a man, though, who is working on making a long-term temperature-control suit (based on NASA technology) which will be more affordable. I wonder if Disney will avail itself of the technology?

 

[Novinha]

I took the Backstage Magic tour in May 2005 and we asked our tour guide all kinds of questions about this, especially while we were in the costume department and saw how thick some of those costumes were.

She showed us a vest and said the CMs have that as an option to wear and put ice in the pockets up against them. However, she said that it is very rare for anyone to wear one. (and once they do, they never wear it again). She said the ice melts really quickly in the heat and then the CM is left just carrying around a lot of water weight.

She also told us that during really hot times, the CMs are only out 20 minutes then in 40 minutes during a work hour. Some people were suprised that they get paid a full hour, but are only out there for 20 minutes. But she assured us it wasn't exactly relaxing during that 40 minutes. Typically, the CMs take off their costume, sit by a fan or AC, drink plenty of fluids for a few moments to try to cool down, and by that time, the have to get all the stuff back on to go back out again.

Our tour ended at the MK parade and we asked her about AC in those globes. She said there was NO AC in those globes. They did have a fan, but all it does is move the hot air around. She said as soon as the CMs go backstage after the parade, there are people with cold drinks and sometimes paramedics waiting for them. She also mentioned something about there being a point backstage where there is no chance a guest could see them, and they are free to "take off their heads" after they cross that point.

 

[puffkin]

Our tour ended at the MK parade and we asked her about AC in those globes. She said there was NO AC in those globes. They did have a fan, but all it does is move the hot air around. She said as soon as the CMs go backstage after the parade, there are people with cold drinks and sometimes paramedics waiting for them. She also mentioned something about there being a point backstage where there is no chance a guest could see them, and they are free to "take off their heads" after they cross that point.

We were basically told the exact same thing on our Keys to the Kingdom Tour. There are 2/3 characters at a time. One on stage the others cooling off and they rotate every 20 minutes or so. The line in the parade is called the sight line, it is literally painted on the sidewalk. Once they step over that, our guide said it wasn't unusual for some of the characters to literally pass out. She also said that the only costume with any kind of built in cooling system is the Beast costume used in the afternoon parade. The other Beasts that you see at meet and greets do not have the cooling system.

 

[Laurajean1014]

hmm...it seems Imagineers could come up with some sort of 'still' suit (did anyone read Dune?) to cool off folks in costumes, if there were any folks in costume-
a 'still' suit was a type of body suit--somewhat like a diver's wetsuit-- that recirculated, well.., but Disney could use regular water-- to cool off the wearer--
they could use Mr Herbert's idea of recirculating fluids, that way no pesky breaks

Jean

They've already done that. They wear an underarmour type skin shirt that has cold coolant tubes inside the shirt/pants. The squeeze the end and it circulates cold air to the torso of the body to keep you safe and cool for up to 30 minutes. They've been using this technology for over 2 years now.

Also, if you notice, characters stay out for no more than 15 minutes, for compliance/insurance reasons (so they do not overheat or become too interactive).

 

[Joanna71985]

Those globes where nasty in my opinion. I notice that they weren't being used the last couple of times I have caught the parade. Plus it's near impossible to use auto-focus on my camera and get a good photo..they definitely looked foggy in my pictures. Maybe it's my claustrophobia, but I thought it was terrible that the Princesses where locked away in a snow-globe!

CM's do an awesome job keeping their cool in those costumes. If it were me, I would have gone on a Minnie rampage in that heat!

Actually, in the SADCT parade, only Cinderella and Prince Charming are in a globe. Princess Aurora, Belle, Ariel, and their princes are on an open float. The other characters that are in the globes are: Mickey, Pinocchio, Aladdin, and the Evil Queen.

 

[Lancer]

When we took the KTTK tour a few years ago, we were backstage at the point where the parade comes off .It was about 80 degrees out and as soon as they got out of view, the characters would lay down flat on their back and two CM's for each character started to peel off the costume, oh sorry, their fur coat.

 

[eeyore45]

The cool suits are the way to go Nascar has them and they also make one with the cooling gel that stays cool for a longer period of time.

The History Channel recently aired the WDW Modern Marvels show, and while characters werent mentioned, they did show the MGM Stunt show drivers, and they showed the vests they wear with the cooling gel going up and down, I believe he said it only stayed cool for 30 minutes... not sure...

Maybe they are too expensive for the character wear right now??

 

[maxiv]

the globes simply have fans since they otherwise would be wet inside as the busses were inside in summer.

the costumes have little water sprinklers above the CM's head

 

[smjj]

I could stand to loose about 25 lbs. Maybe I need to sign up for this job and just sweat if off me...smjj

 

[disneyfan581]

the costumes have little water sprinklers above the CM's head

how do u know this?

 

[Joanna71985]

the costumes have little water sprinklers above the CM's head

Inside the globes? I don't think so. I don't think you can have spinklers in the globes because you would mess up the wigs of the face characters.

 

[All Aboard]

I spent a summer in North and Central Florida travelling around to different McDonald's playing the roles of Mayor McCheese and Grimace. The Grimace costume is basically a giant blanket covered in blue shag carpeting. The McCheese costume wasn't as thick, but the gigantic Quarter Pounder with Cheese head was difficult to balance. We did the meet and greets outdoors in order to get the attention of potential customers driving by. It was brutally hot most days. About 20-30 minutes and you were completely drenched. Good thing I was only 18 years old, because I would croak today.

So, I imagine the Country Bears, Baloo, and Brer Bear must be miserable during the summertime.

 

[byoung]

Give them credit for doing it.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I guess now would be a great time to thank all the cast members out there who do such a wonderful job in making our visit to WDW even more magical!

THANK YOU!

Boy, that's for sure! DS got to be Eeyore at DL for one day last summer, and that's the first thing he said when he finished, "Whatever the characters get paid, it's not enough! They have my utmost respect!" What amazed him was that he just stood there, counting the minutes til he could get out of his costume and get a drink of water. Then he would see the characters who can interact, actually move, while they're sweating. Yes, they do deserve our thanks.

 

[Cobra B.]

I'm afraid I don't understand what you are all talking about?

 

[maxiv]

well they dont get really wet by the sprinklers, its just cools them....i don't really to say what i wanna due to my english lacking at the moment

well i read this on this magic kingdom trivia homepage. at least this was told about the beast costume from beauty & the beast