I'm a new character performer... HELP!

[coldfire409]

Just remember I got a part time job at a radio station in Miami being a DJ. Go figure, I wasn't "good enough" to entertain the guests at Disney, but I'm good enought to entertain the metro Miami area before the Howard Stern show once a week. Since the broadcast day doesn't start until 6 am I'm the Sunday overnight guy. My time slot is 2am to 6am on 103.1 FM

[lovethefuzzies]

Here's a small list of "Pluto" height characters I can remember: Bre'r Fox, White Rabbit, Mr. Smee, King Louie, Bullseye, Jessie (pending a fitting), Eeyore, Prince John, Friar Tuck

Are the costumes different over there? King Louie, Bullseye, White Rabbit, and Jessie are all 'munk height at DLR. Pluto heights do Buzz, Eeyore, Geppetto, Tweedles, sometimes Flik and Atta, the Hag from Snow White and stuff like that.

[Sweetums]

Oh yeah, BUZZ! How could I forget Buzz Lightyear? Actually, character heights at WDW have gone back & forth quite a bit. I know they tried to do a "global height chart" at one time, but there were so many full time CM's with high seniority that would have thrown a fit if they were disapproved, that it kind of fell apart. Take me for an example; I'm 6'3" and for the longest time I was in Goofy, Launchpad, Bre'r Bear, Sheriff, Captain Hook, and Tigger. YES, you heard me, TIGGER! A six foot, three inch tall tigger bouncin' all over the place. It was never an issue until they began trying the global height thing, during which they put Goofy height between 5'10" and 6' which would have disapproved me in the very first costume I ever wore. But because my name was on an approval list, no one ever questioned it, and it never came off. I continued to do all the characters I'd always done. So to answer your question, I would say DL is much more strict about the height chart than WDW. I did have quite a lot of Pluto Height friends do roles such as Louie & white Rabbit on a day-to-day basis. As far as Flik & Atta...they're primarily at AK so I've never had real contact with the costume, I just know it helps if you're really skinny.
But if you think about it, WDW has so much more territory to cover with characters, they can't really afford to be "picky". Don't worry, though. You'll still never see a duck height character doing Beast, and vice versa. Although, I did try Donald on one day while I was doing Orville (we had the same color tights) and it was hysterical!

[Parkbench]

Y'all are SO wonderful!! It's crazy how I came across this site... but I'm glad I did. You've all been so patient with me and my silly questions... More to come!! How long are you in costume and how long are you out/on break? What do you do when you're out? Just cool off? Thanks everyone!!! You are ALL the bestest!!!

[Sweetums]

Street characters spend 30 minutes on set and 30 minutes off. That's the standard. Most VIP characters have a back-to-back. (I.E. Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Donald, Chip & Dale) That means when you're on set, they're on break, and when you're on break they're on set. When you're on break, you can just hang out in the designated break area. Re-hydrate yourself, change your shirt if you're too sweaty, and relax. You're not allowed to sit in costume (although there are exceptions) but with the Florida heat & humidity you'll want to get out of costume ASAP until you're body gets accustomed to it. Your lead/greeter should give you a 5 minute call to let you know it's time to start getting dressed, and pending on the character, it may take a few minutes more or less to get into the costume. Some costumes will also require your leads help to dress you. Each costume is different, and there are virtually hundreds of combinations of fastening your costume on with zippers, velcro, buttons, snaps, straps, clips and ties. Another thing about your character issue clothes; they are bar coded and once your ID is scanned, the clothes are too. You may scan out up to 7 t-shirts, shorts, socks, skull caps & head bands per day. Although, I found that I rarely needed to change my shorts and socks, so I would only get 2 pairs of those. (In case of emergency.) But I would get at least 3 t-shirts. After a couple of sets and breaks the first one of the day was dry & so on & so on. Same with skull caps (if you don't know what that is, it's what doctor's wear on their heads to keep hair out of the way during surgery) they are made of very thin cotton and dry very quickly. Just be careful not to lose any of the clothes (also reffered to as your 'blacks' but that's a long story) because once they are scanned, they are linked to your name until you scan them back into the system at the end of the day. If any are missing, it will show in the computer and they will charge you for any lost items when you finish working for the company. Hope some of this info helps! It can be a little overwhelming all at once if you don't know the area and the people, so knowing a little of what's expected from you may calm your nerves a bit.

[screnwriter]

Y'all are SO wonderful!! It's crazy how I came across this site... but I'm glad I did. You've all been so patient with me and my silly questions... More to come!! How long are you in costume and how long are you out/on break? What do you do when you're out? Just cool off? Thanks everyone!!! You are ALL the bestest!!!

I've been in costume for up to 2 1/2 hours, but that was on New Year's and I had no other person in my costume, and our lead let us just run around and play with guests. This was in the old days when Disneyland closed at about 6-7 PM on New Year's Eve and re-opened (with separate, higher admission) at 9 PM and stayed open till 3 AM. It was ALL adults acting like kids and having a great time, tho the smell of alcohol on breath was strong enough to stay in my costume the whole night!

Then there are special events, some in the park, some out, where you'll be in costume possibly longer than the 30 min. It all depends. You might be taken to a local hospital to visit an AIDS ward of kids, or go to a home where children are terminally ill. You may find yourself on a dais with local celebrities from radio or TV, and the cool thing is YOU are the biggest celebrity there! I've had that happen and it blew me away.

You'll learn pantomime skills you never knew you had, and have the time of your life playing "hide and seek" with kids of all ages. A bunch of teens once wanted to play out on Main Street on a Sunday evening, and when I stood behind a lamppost (totally visible all around the post but only Goofy would be silly enough to think he was 'hiding') and the girl who was "it" saw me there, she laughed so hard I thought she'd have a stroke. I'd recommend renting some tapes of famous movie mimes. Harpo Marx, Charlie Chaplin, Red Skelton, and even Dick Van Dyke can teach you a lot about miming something. ANYTHING you can mime is funny in a Character costume, and anything that would be funny outside of the costume is a thousand times funnier inside of it.

You'll get to see little eyes light up when they look at you, have babies reach out and pat your Pluto nose, watch children dance a jig with delight at meeting you, get thousands of hugs, write thousands of autographs (sometimes when you're signing one book, 6 more are being thrust in your face at the same time!), take picture after picture after picture all day long - BUT NEVER FORGET! Each picture you take will carry with it the Magic of Disney for that person or family, so do your best to keep happy inside the costume at all times.

You'll get REALLY tired of hearing your own breath echoed in your head during a set, but you'll get used to that. You'll learn not to eat burritos before your shift (no further explanation necessary). You'll learn to drink LOTS of water all day long, even when you're full or not thirsty, but you'll also feel so relaxed and your body limber after spending time heated inside the costume. You'll get to sit at THE CHARACTER'S TABLE at whatever cafeteria you have in Florida. Here in Anaheim, every other table looks at the Characters, with their Character feet on, their "Zoo Crew" t-shirts, shorts, skull caps and bandannas - and wishes they had as much fun on break. Years ago, when I was first a Character, Steve Valley, a lead, used to come up with the coolest things each day. One day we all had to learn to say, "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" BACKWARDS. I can still do it to this day!

Be sure and let us know how your first day goes!

[BRWombat]

Parkbench, welcome! And let me add my thanks that you posted your questions here -- this is fascinating reading for us non-CM types! I really enjoy learning how the magic is made. It makes me appreciate y'all even more.

Have a great time "working with" the characters!