Gaston cast member update

[Bairstow]

So with the increase in guest traffic over the last 20 years, did Disney also try increasing the number of roaming characters in the parks?

It just seems to me that if they had kept the supply up with the demand, overall behaviors wouldn't have changed.

 

[LAKid53]

I had no "want" to ever go to DLR because I assumed, "it's a smaller park = less 'wow'."

Your review of DLR is the same of everyone's - everyone says it's more chill and overall a better experience. I actually want to go there now. I've never heard anyone say anything negative about DLR. Interesting.

You MUST go. Then you can join the "which rides are better at Disneyland/WDW" posts.

DCA is amazing and has the BEST roller coaster at either park in the California Screamin'.

 

[asianway]

So with the increase in guest traffic over the last 20 years, did Disney also try increasing the number of roaming characters in the parks?

It just seems to me that if they had kept the supply up with the demand, overall behaviors wouldn't have changed.

The mng FTE at Wdw is insane. There's over 30 Mickey shifts in a given day around property. Contrast with when I was a wee one you would be lucky to find him. Attendance hasn't gone up 30x since then. So rather than have the parade crew do mng randomly during the rest of the day, you add things like hoedowns and street parties. They then built an army of performers to staff meet n greet locations(many of them now billed as "attractions" that eat up even more $$$), gave them different outfits in different parks, and encouraged a collect them all mentality because if you don't meet Belle at Tales your kids childhood is ruined. All of these changes amplified the ones before and in no way encourages repeat visits.

It's to the point where you could spend a week at Wdw doing nothing else but eating character meals and doing mng and never go on a ride.

Adding more characters would be like throwing gasoline on the fire

 

[asianway]

So I had no idea what the parade performers did when the parade wasn't on. Turns out...nothing really. They might do a MiSI and a Hoedown, but sometimes they're just FOF and both MSEP. And there's just this huge chunk of time in between those.

And just the sheer number of performer shifts. The document is 400 pages. 400!!

Tokyo and Paris use the parade team to cover mng. It's efficient, it's easy enough to find them if you really want to, and I've never seen a melted snowflake

Consider a 24 hour party. They will use 24 performers plus the Magic words team plus a phalanx of handlers. Why? Just to keep the wait down and hit the MAGICal number of attractions per day

 

[HelenBezzo]

As for this friend of Gaston, I chatted with him in Publix last week. He's doing well.

Glad to hear that, he's got some good karma heading his way. He was just so entertaining that I set up a Facebook fan page! lol

 

[jloucks]

Glad to hear that, he's got some good karma heading his way. He was just so entertaining that I set up a Facebook fan page! lol

That's not at all stalky

 

[ItlngrlBella]

^^^ I'm sure it's all in good fun.

Stalky are the creepy old men and Dads that hug Pocohantas a little too tight or the cougar Moms trying to grab Gaston's butt - or worse. People think they are being funny and easily cross that line. Ewww.

I was in-line with my daughter for Pocahantas and a grandpa in front of us yells "I want to Poc-a-in-her-hantas." Then I have my 3 year old ask me "Mommy, what's a Hantas?" (I said "it's a shoulder").

Or... Creepy Chester-molesters we had hanging out in are parking lot who were trying to "meet" our actresses at a seasonal attraction I was on a production crew for. Needless to say we enlisted off duty sheriff's police as security. Personally, it was terrifying.
^^^^ THAT... That sh---- is stalky.

 

[jloucks]

I was in-line with my daughter for Pocahantas and a grandpa in front of us yells "I want to Poc-a-in-her-hantas." Then I have my 3 year old ask me "What's a Hantas?" (I said shoulder).

I am in agreement with the 3 year old. What the heck is a hantas?! Grandpas attempt at lascivious word play needs some work.

All kidding aside, not cool in front of kids. Several good threads on these forums examining acceptable behavior variations based on venue. ...some people just don't get it. f-bombers last week in Universal Studious where everywhere. Not cool.

 

[ItlngrlBella]

I am in agreement with the 3 year old. What the heck is a hantas?! Grandpas attempt at lascivious word play needs some work.

All kidding aside, not cool in front of kids. Several good threads on these forums examining acceptable behavior variations based on venue. ...some people just don't get it. f-bombers last week in Universal Studious where everywhere. Not cool.

Dropping an f-bomb at UNI HHN whilst being chased by a hatched-wielding maniac is one thing. Dropping f-bombs in a family park during the day shows everyone you're a moron with a complete lack of vocabulary.

 

[Matt_Black]

Gremlins, Raiders (thanks to #2, we now have the PG-13 rating), etc. I grew up watching those 50s and 60s sci-fi movies - the ones where the aliens/spiders/grasshoppers, etc. are stand ins for the Commies - and I'm okay. What was really scary were the duck and cover exercises in school. Yes, because if the Ruskies dropped an atomic bomb on L.A., I will save my behind by curling up in a fetal position under my desk. Yeah, right. Some of my favorite movies are those sci-fi gems from that time period.

YES. My goodness, when people wax nostalgic about the 80s like it was some kind of mythic Utopia, I wonder if they forgot about the very real concern that we could all perish in nuclear annihilation. (Technically, that's still true, though it's much less of a concern.) Combine that with the blatant and pervasive homophobia and racism as well as other awful societal things, I shake my head at that. Although, I suppose every generation does that.

 

[LAKid53]

YES. My goodness, when people wax nostalgic about the 80s like it was some kind of mythic Utopia, I wonder if they forgot about the very real concern that we could all perish in nuclear annihilation. (Technically, that's still true, though it's much less of a concern.) Combine that with the blatant and pervasive homophobia and racism as well as other awful societal things, I shake my head at that. Although, I suppose every generation does that.

It always makes me chuckle when folks reminisce about the idealized America of the 1950s. Don't remember my mother doing housework in a dress, heels, hose and pearls. We lived under threat of nuclear annihilation. Along with homophobia, racism (nothing like watching Watts burn from the safety of your backyard up in the canyons), rigid stereotypes, etc. However, it was nice to be able to play outside because our moms weren't paranoid that some pervert would snatch us from our front yard. Which really doesn't happen as frequently as the hysteria would lead one to believe.

 

[ItlngrlBella]

It always makes me chuckle when folks reminisce about the idealized America of the 1950s. Don't remember my mother doing housework in a dress, heels, hose and pearls. We lived under threat of nuclear annihilation. Along with homophobia, racism (nothing like watching Watts burn from the safety of your backyard up in the canyons), rigid stereotypes, etc. However, it was nice to be able to play outside because our moms weren't paranoid that some pervert would snatch us from our front yard. Which really doesn't happen as frequently as the hysteria would lead one to believe.

What do you mean? I stay at home and houseclean in heels and pearls all the time! Lol!

2015 version:

Stay at home mom w/own business on the side.

We live under the threat of super viruses and radical jihadist terrorism.

Instead of watching Watts, we watch Baltimore burn.

Instead of pervs snatching kids off of the front yard we now worry about cyber-pervs.

The more things change the more they stay the same.

...and this thread went off topic in the craziest of ways.

 

[Matt_Black]

It always makes me chuckle when folks reminisce about the idealized America of the 1950s. Don't remember my mother doing housework in a dress, heels, hose and pearls. We lived under threat of nuclear annihilation. Along with homophobia, racism (nothing like watching Watts burn from the safety of your backyard up in the canyons), rigid stereotypes, etc. However, it was nice to be able to play outside because our moms weren't paranoid that some pervert would snatch us from our front yard. Which really doesn't happen as frequently as the hysteria would lead one to believe.

Most crimes against children are done by family or friends.

... Wow, we really went off-topic. No one causes thread drifts like Gaston!

 

[HelenBezzo]

Yep, just a tad!! ha ha So, in a nutshell, he no longer works for Disney but is doing well.

 

[LAKid53]

What do you mean? I stay at home and houseclean in heels and pearls all the time! Lol!

2015 version:

Stay at home mom w/own business on the side.

We've under the threat of super viruses and radical jihadist terrorism.

Instead of watching Watts, we watch Baltimore burn.

Instead of pervs snatching kids off of the front yard we now worry about cyber-pervs.

The more things change the more they stay the same.

...and this thread went off topic in the craziest of ways.

Yes it did. And yes, the more things changed, the more they stay the same. Sadly.

 

[LAKid53]

Most crimes against children are done by family or friends.

... Wow, we really went off-topic. No one causes thread drifts like Gaston!

The only way then to get back on topic is for Disney to bring back that particular CM.

 

[Red Sox]

...and the craziest thing is those viral Gaston videos (that cost TWDC $0), caused more positive chatter and international media than any recent TV ad or their "YouTube vlog stars" finding their "Disney Side" on the Disney Parks YouTube channel.

Dude should have had a bigger spotlight and a raise - not a reassignment.

You said it perfect!

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

Is that guy still at ToT? I'd see him in promos and on TV shows and we'd look for him there but never saw him in person.

Did he do such an awesome job that they scrapped him too? I have a feeling that if certain CM's gain notoriety they don't like guests seeking them out to meet them and grab a pic - we would have loved to meet that dude. He looked the part - creepy yet funny.

What I found interesting is he was also used on a shirt...Albeit using his likeness they changed him to a skeleton...

The original promo pic..

The Shirt Design..

 

[Chef Mickey]

Does anyone have a good handle on how the queue-for-designated character spot arrangement came to be at the Magic Kingdom and why character interactions are still so ad-hoc at Disneyland?

I know it's not a new things, but I'm curious how much of it is management and how much is guest behavior.

As I understand it, the Japanese Disney parks follow the WDW scheme of doing things, but with even more rigidity, right?

I've been to Tokyo and would have to say the rules for everything are similar, but people in Japan actually follow them.

 

[Chef Mickey]

And that, kids, is why Florida will never have a Maynard.

Pictured: Maynard Smith, almost as famous as the Hatbox Ghost.

Maynard has done all kind of stuff at Disneyland.