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Summer changes for characters
- Thread starter drew81
- Start date
disnyfan89
Well-Known Member
Having previously been a good friend of some of the Disney characters it obvious that the individual who devised this plan has never been in the entertainers place and therefore has no idea what it takes to perform in over 100 degree weather.
I'm sure part of the idea stems from the fact someone somewhere thought to themselves if a character can dance and perform their heart out in a 30 min parade in the middle of summer they can certainly handle a 30min set.
It's sad to see Disney so obviously disregard the safety and general well-being of these performers. Most are already over worked and expected during the busy summer months to work extra long days resulting in a poor life/work balance as well as little to no time to care for one's own personal health.
It has been said in the past that the entertainment department has the ability to bring Disney to their knees. All they simply would need to do is get a large enough majority to agree not to show up for work one day and all entertainment would be canceled. Imagine a day at Disney World if their where no character performers, no parade performers, no sound, light, and fireworks technicians and no equity performers.
I hope Disney makes the right decision or otherwise reports of characters getting sick, fainting, and missing sets will become common place at WDW. I hope newspapers and other major news outlets jump on this story and slam Disney for their obvious money grubbing.
I'm sure part of the idea stems from the fact someone somewhere thought to themselves if a character can dance and perform their heart out in a 30 min parade in the middle of summer they can certainly handle a 30min set.
It's sad to see Disney so obviously disregard the safety and general well-being of these performers. Most are already over worked and expected during the busy summer months to work extra long days resulting in a poor life/work balance as well as little to no time to care for one's own personal health.
It has been said in the past that the entertainment department has the ability to bring Disney to their knees. All they simply would need to do is get a large enough majority to agree not to show up for work one day and all entertainment would be canceled. Imagine a day at Disney World if their where no character performers, no parade performers, no sound, light, and fireworks technicians and no equity performers.
I hope Disney makes the right decision or otherwise reports of characters getting sick, fainting, and missing sets will become common place at WDW. I hope newspapers and other major news outlets jump on this story and slam Disney for their obvious money grubbing.
dclick4968
Active Member
I was an entertainment CM in the "olden days" ('87-'88) and we were 30 on, 30 off. We didn't have unions so we just did what we did. We didn't have cooling suits (one costume had a very small fan, but it was only used for parades), the break area was just a metal roof with a fan in it, metal benches, head stumps....and office cooler type water (cold). If you drank too much water as soon as you came off set, you would get sick..you just had to sip it. :hurl:
To be honest, it really wasn't that bad. Plus, back then the heads were made of fiberglass...not carbon fiber as they are now, so they were much heavier. Yes, you got hot..but I was 19 years old and you just get used to it. I had the time of my life and loved every second of it.:sohappy:
The 3:00 parade on the other hand....brutal. Basically 45-50 minutes of full aerobics with a short 2 minute break from performing as you were going over the bridge between the hub and Liberty Square. But boy was I fit! (not so much any more....)
To be honest, it really wasn't that bad. Plus, back then the heads were made of fiberglass...not carbon fiber as they are now, so they were much heavier. Yes, you got hot..but I was 19 years old and you just get used to it. I had the time of my life and loved every second of it.:sohappy:
The 3:00 parade on the other hand....brutal. Basically 45-50 minutes of full aerobics with a short 2 minute break from performing as you were going over the bridge between the hub and Liberty Square. But boy was I fit! (not so much any more....)
disnyfan89
Well-Known Member
IMHO while we understand it may have been done in the past and is still done during the cooler months of the year, Disney now has enough knowledge and responsibility that they should be looking out for the health and well being of their Cast Members. How can a corporation who is heavily promoting the phrase "No One Gets Hurt" to their CM in a major safety campaign turn right around and place these CM in a dangerous work environment where the dangers of heat stress and heat fatigue are so well know and already common during the summer months?I was an entertainment CM in the "olden days" ('87-'88) and we were 30 on, 30 off. We didn't have unions so we just did what we did. We didn't have cooling suits (one costume had a very small fan, but it was only used for parades), the break area was just a metal roof with a fan in it, metal benches, head stumps....and office cooler type water (cold). If you drank too much water as soon as you came off set, you would get sick..you just had to sip it. :hurl:
To be honest, it really wasn't that bad. Plus, back then the heads were made of fiberglass...not carbon fiber as they are now, so they were much heavier. Yes, you got hot..but I was 19 years old and you just get used to it. I had the time of my life and loved every second of it.:sohappy:
The 3:00 parade on the other hand....brutal. Basically 45-50 minutes of full aerobics with a short 2 minute break from performing as you were going over the bridge between the hub and Liberty Square. But boy was I fit! (not so much any more....)
Furthermore, not everyone in entertainment is 19 years old. What about our character friends who have been doing this for over twenty years? A 19 year old may be able to handle the heat but can the late 20's-mid 30's who are the bread and butter of WDW entertainment handle it?
TubaGeek
God bless the "Ignore" button.
I met an Entertainment CM the other day... 71 years old.
At 24, I can deal with most of the bad parts of the job; I love it. I can't IMAGINE, though, doing it at 71, regardless of whether or not there are 30 minute sets in the Summer.
wdwfan22
Well-Known Member
I couldn't imagine being a character at 71. However no matter what your age is, you should be in the right health and able to perform the duties of the job otherwise you should move to another role.
Figments Friend
Well-Known Member
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Also have to chime in and say i am somewhat dissapointed in hearing about this.
A 30 minute set during a FL Summer is too long. Much too long in my opinion, and i speak with character experience.
I feel for our CM friends in Entertainment who might have to be put through this if it happens. :dazzle:
Funny ol world, eh? Funny how once people who used to be in heads move up the corporate ladder suddenly forget what it is like to be fully suited up and expected to be animated in the extremes of a Southern Summer.
I do hope this does not pass....stick to the 20 minute sets. On the one hand however, the Guests will probably enjoy the longer sets. On the other, is it really worth putting all those CMs at risk?
Those poor characters though...my heart goes out to you all. May this blow over like a bad storm...
Also have to chime in and say i am somewhat dissapointed in hearing about this.
A 30 minute set during a FL Summer is too long. Much too long in my opinion, and i speak with character experience.
I feel for our CM friends in Entertainment who might have to be put through this if it happens. :dazzle:
Funny ol world, eh? Funny how once people who used to be in heads move up the corporate ladder suddenly forget what it is like to be fully suited up and expected to be animated in the extremes of a Southern Summer.
I do hope this does not pass....stick to the 20 minute sets. On the one hand however, the Guests will probably enjoy the longer sets. On the other, is it really worth putting all those CMs at risk?
Those poor characters though...my heart goes out to you all. May this blow over like a bad storm...
AgentB911
Member
It was previously posted that ice packs are used inside the costumes. What happens in the hot summer sun, inside a heavy fur costume, to ice cubes? They melt. Once they melt back to water...then what happens to that water under the same conditions? The water heats. It would be a virtual sauna inside a costume. This can quickly lead to heat exhaustion if the costume is not doffed in a reasonable amount of time.
I serve my community as a volunteer firefighter, and while the gear we wear isn't a character costume, the results and implifications are similar. When we don our gear, head to tow, and enter a burning building, temperatures inside can lead to over 200 degrees F, so says a study recently conducting by the University of Pitt. We are limited to 15 minute intervals. Inside for 15, and we have to come out. Coat, helmet, mask, gloves, SCBA all has to be doffed. Pants are rolled down to our boots. Usually, medics are on scene to wrap ice cold towels around us to rapidly cool our bodies. We even have specialized rehab units that will respond with cooling tents. Reason being, studies have shown that more firefighters are treated for heat exhaustion while operating on scene than anything else.
While I realize that CM's in character are not going to enter a burning building, the conditions inside that costume can be equal to what we face as firefighters. Therefore, increasing the time a CM spends on stage in a costume can lead to the same results as a firefighter in full gear.
I sincerely hope Disney does the right thing here. Increasing time in a costume, even by 10 minutes, can have devastating effects. I, for one, do not want to see Mickey, Minnie, Pooh, or even Stitch sprawled out unconscious on the ground.
I serve my community as a volunteer firefighter, and while the gear we wear isn't a character costume, the results and implifications are similar. When we don our gear, head to tow, and enter a burning building, temperatures inside can lead to over 200 degrees F, so says a study recently conducting by the University of Pitt. We are limited to 15 minute intervals. Inside for 15, and we have to come out. Coat, helmet, mask, gloves, SCBA all has to be doffed. Pants are rolled down to our boots. Usually, medics are on scene to wrap ice cold towels around us to rapidly cool our bodies. We even have specialized rehab units that will respond with cooling tents. Reason being, studies have shown that more firefighters are treated for heat exhaustion while operating on scene than anything else.
While I realize that CM's in character are not going to enter a burning building, the conditions inside that costume can be equal to what we face as firefighters. Therefore, increasing the time a CM spends on stage in a costume can lead to the same results as a firefighter in full gear.
I sincerely hope Disney does the right thing here. Increasing time in a costume, even by 10 minutes, can have devastating effects. I, for one, do not want to see Mickey, Minnie, Pooh, or even Stitch sprawled out unconscious on the ground.
GiveMeTheMusic
Well-Known Member
Just for comparison - at DLR, the scheduling never changes - 30 minutes on, 30 minutes off, however, if heat indexes are called by the park's stage manager, then set times are modified for the safety of the cast. In extreme heat, known as Heat Index III, powerade is distributed to character break areas and sets become 15 minutes for all outdoor locations.
Figments Friend
Well-Known Member
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I can speak from experience that having a cool vest or other type of upper body cold pack wear will only keep you cool for a very short amount of time. I used to use them performing other non-Disney characters and it was only good for about 15 to 20 minutes. After that point, it actually started to work against you and make you feel a lot hotter a lot faster since you had all this nylon and plastic packages strapped to your chest. I eventually stopped using them as you have to be careful with any type of sudden body-temp changes as our firefighter friend above pointed out.
FL heat is some of the most difficult to perform in mainly due to the humid conditions and arid summer air flow. I would think a 15 minute set would be the absolute maximum during the typical FL July thru September season. 30 minutes is just pushing it into the danger zone!
Today i imagined a cartoon drawing i should sketch out...showing a character with his Greeter acting normally in their cheeful way interacting with Guests in a *Before* mode, and then a *After* mode with said character melted into a puddle and the Greeter standing by with the Guests quite shocked. A funny drawing....not so funny in reality.
I can speak from experience that having a cool vest or other type of upper body cold pack wear will only keep you cool for a very short amount of time. I used to use them performing other non-Disney characters and it was only good for about 15 to 20 minutes. After that point, it actually started to work against you and make you feel a lot hotter a lot faster since you had all this nylon and plastic packages strapped to your chest. I eventually stopped using them as you have to be careful with any type of sudden body-temp changes as our firefighter friend above pointed out.
FL heat is some of the most difficult to perform in mainly due to the humid conditions and arid summer air flow. I would think a 15 minute set would be the absolute maximum during the typical FL July thru September season. 30 minutes is just pushing it into the danger zone!
Today i imagined a cartoon drawing i should sketch out...showing a character with his Greeter acting normally in their cheeful way interacting with Guests in a *Before* mode, and then a *After* mode with said character melted into a puddle and the Greeter standing by with the Guests quite shocked. A funny drawing....not so funny in reality.
disnyfan89
Well-Known Member
I am happy to report that the word coming out of WDW Entertainment is that the Union was able to put a stop to this plan and our character friends will be operating on their normal 20 min sets this summer.
TubaGeek
God bless the "Ignore" button.
Woo-hoo! I hope this pans out. Even though only full-time and part-time workers are covered by the Union, I doubt Disney would bother trying to make schedules to accommodate two different types of set schedules.
