Brushes with fame

[CujoSR]

Umm... Zazu?... I umm... Locked this thread.

[Main Streeter]

Have seen quite a few stars but never seem to recognize any until after they've passed. Often other CMs give me a heads up so & so is in The Park. Sweeping doesn't give one a circular view of the world! Encountered a Laker's star player with his family in BTM queue. Forgot his name. He & entire family were dressed so tastefully. Really cool celeb guests who were friendly, funny, kind, & quite down to earth. As I swept through BTM the Laker star stopped me & thanked me for keeping the area so clean. I explained everything they enjoyed @ DLR was a team effort. He then flashed me a $50 bill. Sure could have used the $50 :!: Thanked him & moved on. A minute later his wife came over & told me they wanted me to "please take their small gift." Again I declined. Just before I cycled out the Laker player came up & was very insistent I take "the tip." He was so sincere, then winked & said he knew Disney Land didn't pay well. He sure got this right! I left with a clear conscious but $50 poorer. :(

[BohoRoohaha]

I saw a guy bearing a remarkable resemblance to Robert De Niro, walking throw DTD with his family. I'm pretty sure it was him.

[DLRFantasmic!Dan]

I never met, but heard that Gary Sines(sp?), Lt. Dan from 'Forrest Gump" and from CSI: (something), was in the VIP section watching Fantasmic!,

[screnwriter]

Anyone else have a star encounter they would like to share?

Michael Jackson was supposed to be on my submarine back in '91. Apparently,that was one ride he'd never been on, so they SHUT DOWN the whole damn attraction, kept people in line waiting for over an hour, ran empty sub after empty sub (while the place was crawling with security, guest relations personnel and others - really not a very covert op!), as we waited for Michael to come over. Like anyone would have decided to go to Disneyland on that random day thinking that MJ would ride the sub ride and he'd plug him? One security made the error of walking OUTSIDE of me toward the water as we passed on the little ledge. How I wanted to hip-nudge Mr. Smug right into the drink! Everyone had this look of self importance like the president was coming.

I was supposed to be the one rotating in that sub, but the guy ahead of me practically crawled up the lead's butt to be the one. Like I cared anyway. I let him take the sub and do the deed.

[Socallica]

I'm not one to brag, but I've been holding this one in for a while: My third day working (not including training) was doing crowd control for the DCA celebrity grand opening. Throughout the day we did various things like block off an area so His Royal @$$holiness could do an interview, so I think my back was on TV (don't know, I didn't see the interview). Anyways the real fun started when I was chosen as one of four people to check badges for all the celebrities (and their parties) that came off the red carpet. For anyone who cares we were positioned just to the left of the fountain, they blocked off the entrance to Condor Flats, so the only way in was past us.

Ok, here's the list from what I can remember (it's been almost four years, so this is in no particular order):
Jack Nicholson, Sydney Poitier, Dick Van Dyke (he was dancing the entire time), Jaleel White, Johnny Rzeznik (from the Goo Goo Dolls), Whoopi, Rosie, Wayne Gretzky (and Janet Jones I think), Luc Robitaille, Drew Carey, Wayne Brady, Greg Proops (the one with glasses from Whose Line...), Mickey Rooney (who really did not look well, he had to be helped over a 2 inch ramp (one of those ones that cover cables so nobody trips), it was just sad, surprised he's still alive), David Hasselhof (who was wearing his Baywatch jacket in case anyone didn't recognize him), Tyra Banks, etc.

But my greatest OMFG moment was when Tim Allen was walking out and Dennis Miller was walking in, they stopped to talk 2 ft in front of me. As if that wasn't enough Ryan Stiles comes up to throw away some trash in the can next to me, looks up and sees them talking and joins in. I nearly went apesh*t, but I kept it Disney (being fresh off training).

There were like 30-40 that I recognized, but can't remember them all now.

After that night I've had Pierce Brosnan (who was kind of a jerk), Cindy Crawford (she was quite nice, but much skinnier in real life and she had no but), Geraldo Rivera was playing pinball (I was "testing" the game next to him as a Starcade attendant) with his family (he was obviously very impressed with himself and his playing ability), Melina Kanakaredes (Sydney from Providence, and is now on CSI: New York, and is very pretty in real life), Spencer Breslin (the "kid" from that movie with Bruce Willis) wanted to try on a leather jacket in Indy, but we didn't have one his size.

There's more, but that's enough bragging for now

[hobie16]

Speaking of Pierce Brosnan, my neighbor owns a cool car rental company here on Maui. Pierce and his wife picked up a Porsche Boxster a few months ago. They weren't interested in any of the instructions offered.

The next afternoon my neighbor got a nasty call from the wife saying the ignition key wouldn't turn and demanding a new car. When asked where they were she replied, "Almost to Hana." For those unfamiliar with Maui, Hana has the worst, windy road on the island. They would have been lucky to get a replacement in under five hours.

My neighbor instructed her to wiggle the steering wheel to see if the key would turn. Vrooommmm!!

My neighbor was biting his tongue to keep from asking, "Why don't you call Q?"

[lady ulrike]

Cindy Crawford (she was quite nice, but much skinnier in real life and she had no but),

Wow, Cindy Crawford was nice when you had to deal with her?? Not for me, she wanted what she wanted and she wanted it now. Luckily I wasn't the one who had to deal with her directly cause I'm sure I would've gotten in trouble. She had reserved seats at the Snow White show, which at the time were up on one of the terraces, that wasn't good enough for her, she wanted front row center. My lead gave it to her, we're all kind of thinking, fine whatever, those seats suck anyway and there will be a lot more people around who might recognize her and pester her. Her fault, she insisted on it. Now that wasn't that bad, what was really bad was when after the show she wanted her family to get their picture taken with the cast of the show. Well, she managed to get that too (I think the stage manager gave her permission, but I'm not sure) and was up on stage posing with the cast while we were trying to clear the theater of people.

She came back a little later, weeks, months, I don't remember, and did the same thing.

[BRWombat]

I'm not one to brag, but I've been holding this one in for a while: . . .

There's more, but that's enough bragging for now

Post away with more, Socallica! It's interesting reading.

[Sweetums]

Well, when you work in 'characters' at the studios (where all the celebs have to go and do the "handprint" ceremony) you're bound to run into and work with a few. So instead of boring you with the details, here's a list of my favorites that I've met and mingled with.

James Earl Jones
Carrie Fisher
George Lucas
Ellen Degeneres
Nancy Kerrigan
Anne Margaret
Cassandra Peterson (Elvira)
Donn Knotts
Donnie Osmond
Drew Carey
Ryan Stiles
Wayne Brady
Susan Sarandon
Steve Tyler
Simon LeBon
Will Wheaton
Oprah
and my favorite, Noel Macneal (Bear in the Big Blue House) who I still swap emails with to this day.