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Character Costumes
- Thread starter Florida
- Start date
the-reason14
Well-Known Member
What about the character performers in the parades? Aren't they subjected to the heat for a good 30 minutes or so? Surely they have some kind of cooling vest or something!!
CaptainShortty
Well-Known Member
No, that's a common misconception. The regular M&G characters have no cooling systems in them what so ever. And the answer is that it gets INCREDIBLY hot. They are hot even on the coolest days. Entertainment CMs during the hotter months generally spend about 20min. an hour in costume. There are also signs that a CM can give the Character Attendant if they feel they are getting faint to "preserve the magic" as well as protect the Entertainment CM.
It is my understanding that some theme parks experimented with a frozen gel-pack vest. Turns out they worked for about 5 minutes and then actually started to heat up making the problem worse.
mergatroid
Well-Known Member
My wife is always amazed at how all the female cast members appear to wear pantyhose in the Florida heat :shrug:
Nemo14
Well-Known Member
I remember seeing Goofy and Smee water skiing too, as the commenter reported. I also remember Pluto jumping into the pool at the GF.
cwtigerlily
New Member
From someone with experience as a character in Florida weather (though not at Disney unfortunately), it is terribly hot, and the cast members in those roles have to be in excellent shape. From what I have been told when trying to apply to be a fully costumed character (i.e. Winnie-the-Pooh, not Cinderella), most of those positions go to students in the college program (who are generally speaking in better shape).
I know at Universal, costumed characters have to go through rigorous exercises at their audition for 20-30 minutes in the heat to prove they are in decent enough shape to wear the costume for that amount of time in the heat.
I know at Universal, costumed characters have to go through rigorous exercises at their audition for 20-30 minutes in the heat to prove they are in decent enough shape to wear the costume for that amount of time in the heat.
DizneyPryncess
Well-Known Member
This is what a good friend of mine told me as well. He was a fur character in the parks years ago and said everyone was turning these packs down because they made the problem even worse.
CaptainShortty
Well-Known Member
Yes, they have made them worse. And parade performers from what I understand spend about an hour in costume total by the time they put it on are "loaded" onto the parade float, go through the parade and return to the start to take it back off. It's really a tough job and incredibly hot.
friendofafriend
Active Member
There are certainly quite of lot of college program CMs in entertainment but they are not the majority.
JIMINYCR
Well-Known Member
I've heard a lot of nasty comments from parents whose children miss out on seeing a character because they have to go back, probably reaching their heat limits. And I think to myself, How long would the parents last in costume in this heat? They are sweating to death wearing shorts and t shirts. No compassion for the CM's.
CaptainShortty
Well-Known Member
It drives me crazy! You have no idea how many times I have been waiting in line to see the characters (especially when it's one of my "friends") and I hear something like that. I just want to turn around and snap at them being like, you have no idea how hot it is in there and that they're not wearing any sort of cooling device like you might think they are!"
Of course I can't do that but it makes me so frustrated. People can be so impatient. (Especially since in most cases if you wait there the character comes back out in about 5 minutes.)
Zummi Gummi
Pioneering the Universe Within!
I've never understood that. 99% of the time, the handler tells you the character will be back in about 3 minutes ("Pluto just needs to go get a bone"; "Chip and Dale are going to go eat some acorns and then come right back"; etc.).
CaptainShortty
Well-Known Member
Exactly. The entertainment CMs work in shifts on purpose so you don't have to wait more than 5 minutes for them. Just pure impatience.