Dear Parents ...

[Magicalkingdoms]

Dear Parents,
When you are in Disney World, please don't shove your kids into a Make A Wish family's meet and greet with the characters. And don't yell at us and say "We didn't know!" when asked to leave.

Thanks,
The Characters
----

I really wish that the above didn't have to written, but if I get one more impatient, fuming, disrespectful mommies and daddies scream at character greeters for "making magic" for some deserving families ...

On behalf of some of your pals, I'd like to share some "horror" stories.

Situation 1
Down at Rafiki's Planet Watch, Jiminy Cricket was fashionably late from his chat with the Blue Fairy. 5 measly minutes he was gone and he finally came out to see that those in line waiting for meet were sitting on the floor. He gets to the front of the line and he instantly greets a little girl wearing a pink Give Kids the World button who happens to be standing near by. As he leans down to give her a big hug, Jiminy overhears the following from a mother at the front of the line.

Mom: "WE were here first!"
Greeter: "Yes ma'am and Jiminy will get to you as soon as he can."
Mom: "But WE have been waiting for 5 minutes, FIVE MINUTES!"
Attendant: "Yes I know, and ..."
Mom: "Why is she up there?! They were not in line!"
Attendant: "They are a Make a Wish family..."
Mom: (screaming now) "WHAT'S THAT?!"

Not wanting his little friend to hear the rest of ugly encounter, Jiminy takes little girl's hand and then quickly whisks her off to play with the exhibits - out of earshot of devil mom.

And thank goodness Jiminy didn't hear the rest of that confrontation. Any more or he would have had that woman be turned into a Donkey (like the ass she was) by the Blue Fairy.

Really? Sitting for 5 minutes on the - ahem, CARPETED FLOOR, INDOORS, IN THE AIR CONDITIONING was that big of a chore?

Situation 2
Mickey is happily singing autographs and taking photos at Animal Kingdom when a Make a Wish family waits patiently at the exit to be back door-ed into the big cheese's kiosk. As he steps up to greet the guests of honor, this monstrosity came out of a mother's mouth:

Mom to MAW family: "I DON'T CARE IF YOUR KID DIES TOMORROW! IT'S PURE B.S. THAT YOU GET TO GO IN FRONT OF EVERYONE!"

Needless to say, Mickey got pissed and had the bitch and her family expelled form the park.

Word to the wise: DON'T tick off the Boss.

Situation 3
At Epcot, overseas Give Kids the World family was separated from the Stitch line and were allowed to wait in a shaded area to cool off from the sun. Stitch came back from his cookie and milk break to see his special friends waiting for him. Close behind him is Daisy, who just got done confirming her dress order from the Betsey Johnson shop at Mall at Millenia. As she runs to give hugs to the MAW children, she is intercepted by a family of three who ran from Stitch's line. Daisy tried to wave them off and gesture to the MAW family, but they don't budge. They want autographs and photos. Daisy still keeps moving, despite having the children of the offending family still hanging off her tail feathers. What does daddy of rude family do, stand by and say, "Picture! Picture!" The brats end up being in half of the MAW families photos as well as cutting off every other hug Stitch tried to give the the MAW sisters. When confronted by an attendant, daddy simply and curtly replied, "How were we supposed to know that?! We didn't know!"

Hmmm, a mom and dad in T-Shirts that say MAKE A WISH and two little girls with MAW and pink GKTW buttons, one with a GAC round her neck ....
it's pretty damn obvious.



I know that most of you are fellow CMs and would never do such a thing, you all know better. But this message goes out to any guest who may be lurking here, as I know they do. I want to get this out loud and clear. It's sad to say that it unfortunately has been becoming an increasing problem.

Words can't be expressed on a discussion board how that makes me feel. Are people seriously that stupid. When we go to WDW we NEVER run into that rude of people....Your occasional SG but never someone that cruel!

God bless that "good friend" of Mickey and Jiminy.

[Sarah Magdalene]

And again, I say, Character's Friends are GROSSLY underpaid...like, they should be making at least as much per hour as Disney charges per four top table for character meals. Yeah, do the math. That'd make for a nice livable paycheck wouldn't it? They deserve NO less IMO. Cast members overall should be the highest paid people on the planet IMO. Forget idiots who put a little ball through a hoop or kick it through a couple of goal posts (sorry, sportsfans, no offense...) Disney CMs make magic for millions of people every year, they sure as hell shouldn't have to count pennies while they're doing it on top of everything else.

bru

Yes Bru but ...
Although I fully agree that pay can be better, (much much better) many of us are happy to take the pay we get now because we LOVE what we do.
The reward and the pay is the happiness we bring to people on a daily basis. It's fun and we love MAW families the most because they are the ones who are grateful for what we do and they show it. We do all we can to make it the best memory in their lives. Making the magic is the real reward!

Oh, don't second guess sport stars and others. Many of us would love to have that athletic ability. They do the same for those who love sports, make magic. Just because you may hate sports does not mean that other people don't. Many MAW kids also wish to see it their favorite player in person. Just cause it may look stupid and idiotic to you, it makes others feel good.
For instance, I adore music. To me, Lucia Micarelli creates and weaves magic when she plays her violin. She is no idiot, she is just gifted with an ability. The only time when these "gifts" are at a loss is when the one blessed with the gift is arrogant about it. Then is when you can criticize them.

To the rest of ya ...
Those are just 3 stories -- and there are many many many more unfortunately. Your best pals sometimes have a nice vent fest of all the awful parents they encounter. And almost always ... always always always it's the PARENTS that throw the tantrums, their kids could care less if they had to wait in line.

What I find so amazing is that many of those Make a Wish families choose to stand in line! If attendants see them in line, they will pull them and "back door" them to the front. Now those are truly deserving people! They CHOOSE to take their turn, even if they could jump ahead.

My stomach turned once when I had a family with a LAMINATED GAC shove to the front of the Lilo and Stitch line saying, LOOK AT HER PIN! LOOK AT HER PIN! to the other guests. Um, does this seem fishy to anyone here?
As far as I know, MAW's don't want to cause a scene about their kid. Also, can anyone really get a GAC laminated? Not just that, their attitude just didn't seem like the gratefulness that most MAW's have on a regular basis.

Have there ever been MAW fakers?

[February]

You know what? i posted a response to all of the above but it's just not worth it. You dont' know me and you focused on one word in my post, misunderstood my point entirely.

I have to take issue with you implying that i would ever say that anyone with a gift like Lucia Micarelli was an idiot. I have seen her perform with Josh Groban (from fourth row orchestra of a small venue- she is incredible) and anyone who knows me well (which you don't) knows how much music means to me and that it is the true love of my life.

perhaps my use of the word 'idiotic' was too strong- for that i apologize. but do not put words into my mouth, please.

i won't apologize for my opinion that characters should at least make a decent living wage when people who play sports make such incredible amounts of money. i feel the same way about first responders and nurses. people who do jobs that are underappreciated but that touch so many lives, it seems to me, just make a heck of a lot less than they should.

bru

[felinefan]

When I worked at Knott's, I always maintained that we should recieve hazardous duty pay bonuses for having to put up with high guest level days, like concerts/shows in Ghost Town, summer, etc.. Of course, anyone who has to work at Knott's knows you can dream it all you want, it ain't gonna happen.

Since Disney is a union shop, they should give you guys hazardous duty pay, especially friends of the characters who have to put up with so much crap from SGs.

[Sarah Magdalene]

I have to take issue with you implying that i would ever say that anyone with a gift like Lucia Micarelli was an idiot. I have seen her perform with Josh Groban (from fourth row orchestra of a small venue- she is incredible) and anyone who knows me well (which you don't) knows how much music means to me and that it is the true love of my life.

perhaps my use of the word 'idiotic' was too strong- for that i apologize. but do not put words into my mouth, please.

Of course you'd never call Lucia an idiot, (I dunno who would really) nor did I think you implied it. I was trying to point out that musicians like her are paid big bucks to show off their abilities, just as athletes are. People enjoy sports just like you enjoy music. People pay big bucks for concert tickets and sports tickets both. What bugged me is that I didn't like how you called people idiots for "Tossing a ball into a little hoop". I'm not a huge sports fan, but I'd never call them idiots. I'd never want anyone insulting or thinking less of me because of the profession I choose.

You said your use of the word idiot was too harsh, I now understand. You just could have said something to the like of "Characters should get the same pay like sports stars."

Oh, and from the start - I never disagreed about character pay, I'm right up there with you on that. Way way up there with ya ... trust me on this. I always said that I wished that the average joe or jane should jump into Mick's big yellow shoes or Daisy pink pumps, they'd be screaming for out after only a few hours.

[Cheshire Figment]

I saw a family of six getting in line at a ticket window at TL and they had on MAW buttons. I know that GKTW does not give them water park tickets. I just went up to the window, told the person inside to cancel the transaction in progress and had the family follow me through the gate.

[justafigment84]

Dear Parents,
When you are in Disney World, please don't shove your kids into a Make A Wish family's meet and greet with the characters. And don't yell at us and say "We didn't know!" when asked to leave.

Thanks,
The Characters
----

I really wish that the above didn't have to written, but if I get one more impatient, fuming, disrespectful mommies and daddies scream at character greeters for "making magic" for some deserving families ...

On behalf of some of your pals, I'd like to share some "horror" stories.

Situation 1
Down at Rafiki's Planet Watch, Jiminy Cricket was fashionably late from his chat with the Blue Fairy. 5 measly minutes he was gone and he finally came out to see that those in line waiting for meet were sitting on the floor. He gets to the front of the line and he instantly greets a little girl wearing a pink Give Kids the World button who happens to be standing near by. As he leans down to give her a big hug, Jiminy overhears the following from a mother at the front of the line.

Mom: "WE were here first!"
Greeter: "Yes ma'am and Jiminy will get to you as soon as he can."
Mom: "But WE have been waiting for 5 minutes, FIVE MINUTES!"
Attendant: "Yes I know, and ..."
Mom: "Why is she up there?! They were not in line!"
Attendant: "They are a Make a Wish family..."
Mom: (screaming now) "WHAT'S THAT?!"

Not wanting his little friend to hear the rest of ugly encounter, Jiminy takes little girl's hand and then quickly whisks her off to play with the exhibits - out of earshot of devil mom.

And thank goodness Jiminy didn't hear the rest of that confrontation. Any more or he would have had that woman be turned into a Donkey (like the ass she was) by the Blue Fairy.

Really? Sitting for 5 minutes on the - ahem, CARPETED FLOOR, INDOORS, IN THE AIR CONDITIONING was that big of a chore?

Situation 2
Mickey is happily singing autographs and taking photos at Animal Kingdom when a Make a Wish family waits patiently at the exit to be back door-ed into the big cheese's kiosk. As he steps up to greet the guests of honor, this monstrosity came out of a mother's mouth:

Mom to MAW family: "I DON'T CARE IF YOUR KID DIES TOMORROW! IT'S PURE B.S. THAT YOU GET TO GO IN FRONT OF EVERYONE!"

Needless to say, Mickey got pissed and had the bitch and her family expelled form the park.

Word to the wise: DON'T tick off the Boss.

Situation 3
At Epcot, overseas Give Kids the World family was separated from the Stitch line and were allowed to wait in a shaded area to cool off from the sun. Stitch came back from his cookie and milk break to see his special friends waiting for him. Close behind him is Daisy, who just got done confirming her dress order from the Betsey Johnson shop at Mall at Millenia. As she runs to give hugs to the MAW children, she is intercepted by a family of three who ran from Stitch's line. Daisy tried to wave them off and gesture to the MAW family, but they don't budge. They want autographs and photos. Daisy still keeps moving, despite having the children of the offending family still hanging off her tail feathers. What does daddy of rude family do, stand by and say, "Picture! Picture!" The brats end up being in half of the MAW families photos as well as cutting off every other hug Stitch tried to give the the MAW sisters. When confronted by an attendant, daddy simply and curtly replied, "How were we supposed to know that?! We didn't know!"

Hmmm, a mom and dad in T-Shirts that say MAKE A WISH and two little girls with MAW and pink GKTW buttons, one with a GAC round her neck ....
it's pretty damn obvious.



I know that most of you are fellow CMs and would never do such a thing, you all know better. But this message goes out to any guest who may be lurking here, as I know they do. I want to get this out loud and clear. It's sad to say that it unfortunately has been becoming an increasing problem.

It's the friends like you that I love working with when I am down there.
Bravo to both Mickey and Jiminy.

[Sarah Magdalene]

These are not only my stories, but those of others as well. When "pals" vent, you'd be shocked and sickened by some of the war stories exchanged.

Not so long ago, we had a mom roll her eyes and shout, "Oh give me a break, really?! They get some kind of special pass?!" When Daisy duck stepped from her location briefly to greet a MAW family.

[joanna71985]

Have there ever been MAW fakers?

Unfortunately I have heard of people faking it to get the "priviledges" (is that even the right word?) that comes with MAW.

[Zazu]

Have there ever been MAW fakers?

Oh yeah!

I had a giggle of teenagers try to get on the train with one once. I just asked to see the button, which they handed me. I then asked, "Which one of you is under 12 years old?" and gave the The Look.*

They all suddenly found their shoes more interesting than my face. "When you find the child this was given too, bring her here and I'll give you all a ride."

One of my favorite sights in the Park -- pwned teens slinking silently away.



* Yes, I know MAW kids can be older than 12. I figured (correctly) that these teens didn't.