Stupid Guest Tricks

A few months ago I observed Cruella in the front of the second level of the double decker bus. In her sarcastic voice she was moaning about having to take the bus, they took her license away because she tried to hit Pluto. Another time she was interacting with guests when a couple walked by with a German Shepherd guide dog and she loudly announced, "It's a good thing I don't like brown!". I really get a kick out of her!

Yeah, those are the best type, and truly are great experiences! I'm glad I'm not alone!

To the Toontown Stores CMs who helped Goofy and Pluto get backstage on sunday after getting attacked and mobbed: they thank you!!! :p:

We had the greatest character interaction in March at Animal Kingdom -- and it involves an (unplanned) autograph! My boys, and especially my younger son Benjamin, are HUGE Lilo & Stitch fans. We ran into a L&S meet-and-greet near Pizzafari right after lunch and got in line.

Stitch was fun to watch: impish, as you might expect, snatching people's hats, dropping autograph books, etc. When it was my boys' turn, we were thrilled by Stitch’s reaction to Benjamin, who was wearing "Stitch ears" he'd just purchased that morning. Stitch held out his arms to Benjamin as if he was a long-lost cousin and gave him a BIG hug!

Then Stitch gently pulled the “ears” off of Benjamin’s head and carried them over to his CM handler. At first I thought he was being mischievous again, “stealing” the ears, but no, it turned out Stitch went to the handler to get a marker… and autographed one of the ears!!!!

Needless to say, Benjamin was delighted beyond words, and we all came away from there with big, goofy grins on our faces. It was a priceless moment, and completely unexpected. Just one of the many reasons we love Disney.

Yeah for me the adults can get so old and annoying and pushy, but if you just make sure that you ONLY focus on the kids when the parents are going crazy the sets seem to go alot smoother. Mostly bc when the parents see how thrilled little Jimmy is to be dancing with Baloo or whatever, the too seem to remember that its for the kids not for the checklist of things to do. And you can see the sparkle in the kids eyes when you are acctually paying attention to them instead of just slapping a sig. in the book and a quick pic.

Does anyone know when all this madness with the Autographs got started?

I don't remember this at all from 25+ years ago, so i assume it is Eisner's doing. Another thing he will be doomed to Hell for. "Sell autograph books and increase profits by .00000000001%? Great! Let's Do it! Now Characters can earn their keep!"

I'm headed to DLR just after Memorial Day and one of my coworkers has two little girls (ages 4 & 2) who are just completely in love with the princesses. So I will be in line seeking pictures and autographs. He made a poster that has a picture of each princess and the message "Hello Suzanne & Sydney, we can't wait to meet you!" and has asked me to try and get as many pictures of the princesses holding the poster as possible and then asking them to sign it. They are planning on going to DLR next year. I think he wants to do a big build-up for Suzanne (the oldest) leading up to the trip.


Autograph books weren't on sale when I was a kid and I remember being able to walk up and interact with the characters instead of having to wait in line at a meet & greet area that seems more for Disney to sell photos. I can understand some of the need to have the meet & greet areas since it seems guests just seem to be getting ruder and more abusive of the characters. In the last year that I worked at PGA, (1998) the characters were really getting beat up. I remember a story that a guest grabbed a height-stick (aluminum pole made with a 90 degree bend to check kids against the height restrictions) and starting hitting Yogi Bear in the head with it. At one point it went into the mesh of the head and came close to the performer's face.

Hah....you wanna talk GRABBY?

Yesterday on Parade Control, a lady tried to move an entire bench by herself to the other side of the rope on Main Street.

I'm just standing there like, "what the crap, lady?!".

At least she didn't expect you to do it for her!

techie-13 wrote:Autograph books weren't on sale when I was a kid and I remember being able to walk up and interact with the characters instead of having to wait in line at a meet & greet area that seems more for Disney to sell photos. :

I think autograph books started when I was about 7 or so. I wanted one cause I wanted my friends from school to sign it and it had Donald Duck on it. I do remember the days of having the characters to myself. This was also november of any given year. I think having a designated Mickey greeting is a good idea then you can always find Mickey.

I remember one slow day I was at the park with my family as a kid. The characters were almost in line to see us! Well they were all by Lincoln and we just went down the line greeting characters and Dad was snapping pictures. This was also the same time Donald stole my hat.

Just a comment to Techie-13, if you're going to get any autographs from any costumed characters, i.e. Mickey, Donald, Queen of Hearts, etc. Buy a really fat pen, they sell them in the park and it's easier for the characters to hold. If you're just getting princesses autographs though, I don't think it matters.