Summer changes for characters

[disney9752]

well most of know the unions at wdw are generally "the best they can buy".... let's hope penny pinch meg & her goons don't push this thru. let her crazy behind try bein in fur standing in the sun in middle of july with 100% humidity, i think reedy creek might be pickin up bunches of entertainment cast members.... maybe if they start dropping like flies where they HAVE to go to first aid & there is NO MORE cast to fill in those roles without yanking extras from other parks they will realize NO NO NO, perhaps we should try contacting meg, guest communications & the folks in burbank & tell them how bad of an idea this is. Unless u want a pic of Mickey surrounded by paramedics on the front page of every paper in the world....

 

[wilkeliza]

Just wondering are characters under Equity Contracts? I can never remember. I know dancers, singers, and characters that sing/dance in shows are Equity. I can guarantee if it is Equity fighting for their rights this won't go through with out some major adjustments to how the characters are cooled down while in costume. Equity is willing to shut down all of Broadway if need be to get actors fair treatment so I'm sure they will fight just as hard for Disney.

Now if it isn't Equity on the characters side I pray the union has good negotiations. Start telling people that no characters will be in the parks due to contract negotiations falling through and Disney will cave quick. They will not fight the 10 extra minutes if they might have to loose days of characters in the park to keep it.

I agree that 10 minutes is too much extra. If it is 100 degrees outside even in the shade the costumes can get up into the 120s and higher. It is like when they tell you not to lock a baby in a car in the summer (well any time really) even in the shade because if it is 100 outside a car can climb into the 140s easily. The fur suits are hardly ventilated and unless they are circulating cold water through the suit not much else will cool it down. The only other successful cool down method I have heard of is gel pack suits because when they melt it doesn't become hot water.

 

[Pitchforkman]

I have lost faith in humanity...those poor little entertainment CMs...they have to work an extra ten minutes while while CMs spend HOURS in the sun with none of you saying a word.

 

[asianway]

Characters are not equity with rare exceptions-b&b show is the only one that comes to mind- think singing and improv

 

[zulemara]

Things like this just take one more chip off the block of pride I have in saying I work for WDW. There isn't much of a block left these days....

 

[COProgressFan]

Just when you think TDO couldn't stoop lower, you read this.

I'm sure someone will get a promotion and bonuses will be paid because of these "found" savings.

And it will be worth it when Daisy is sprawled flat on Main St and we need to explain it to DD and DS

I'm just shocked (and saddened) that they would ever even consider doing this. It just shows how little they think of their employees. I'm sure the geniuses at work here have never actually worked in a character costume before.

I guess since its been almost 3 years since the monorail crash OSHA must be off their backs for now...

 

[kennygman]

The purpose of this is to cut labor costs at these locations 33%. There will be no increase in breaks.

$100 bounty for anyone who can get me a copy of the PowerPoint presentation some middle manager put together to push this through.

So a friend of a fur currently only works 20 minutes of each hour? I thought it was 20 on and 20 off.

 

[Brava Centauri]

Ridiculous! Stuff the suits into the character costumes and let them spend an extra 10 minutes in the 100% humidity at 96 degrees!

Just when I think the penny-pinching has reached a new low ...

Is there anything in state legislature that has parameters for employee safety and health while on the clock? Wouldn't working in an enclosed fur suit in extreme weather constitute stricter regulations to ensure health and safety?

 

[Zummi Gummi]

Just wondering are characters under Equity Contracts? I can never remember. I know dancers, singers, and characters that sing/dance in shows are Equity. I can guarantee if it is Equity fighting for their rights this won't go through with out some major adjustments to how the characters are cooled down while in costume. Equity is willing to shut down all of Broadway if need be to get actors fair treatment so I'm sure they will fight just as hard for Disney.

None of the characters, be they face or fur, are Equity performers. The exception would be the characters who sing live in shows (Belle and Gaston in BatB, Ariel in Voyage of the Little Mermaid, etc.).

 

[TubaGeek]

So a friend of a fur currently only works 20 minutes of each hour? I thought it was 20 on and 20 off.

IN GENERAL it's 30/30 at the moment. Granted, when being personal biographer to certain characters, that does not translate into much. Frequently, the changing room is NOT the same as the break room, plus it takes up to 15 minutes to get changed, and you're supposed to be ready 5 minutes before you go out.

 

[WDWFigment]

Disappointing, yet unsurprising. Any further reading on this beyond blog posts? If the union is fighting it, I'd hazard a guess that it has been documented somewhere...right?

 

[wilkeliza]

Disappointing, yet unsurprising. Any further reading on this beyond blog posts? If the union is fighting it, I'd hazard a guess that it has been documented somewhere...right?

If the Union has a webpage maybe there is something on there? I don't know which union it is so I'm not help with linking to it.

 

[MichWolv]

I think that even 20 minutes in the 100 degree heat is insane.

I always assumed that this issue is part of the reason why so many meet n greets have been moved to air conditioned locations over the years -- safer for the people in the suits, and lower labor costs for Disney because they can work longer sets.

Other M&Gs, like the character trails at DAK, are still outside, but are at least in the shade. Have the outdoor shaded M&G sets been 20 mins in the past, or have they been longer?

Seems to me that the best solution might wind up being to just shelve outdoor, unshaded M&Gs when the temp exceeds 90 (or even 85). Find a few more shaded and/or indoor spots, and it wouldn't be too hard to do.

 

[RWilliams]

If the Union has a webpage maybe there is something on there? I don't know which union it is so I'm not help with linking to it.

They are part of the teamsters union.

I think that even 20 minutes in the 100 degree heat is insane.

I always assumed that this issue is part of the reason why so many meet n greets have been moved to air conditioned locations over the years -- safer for the people in the suits, and lower labor costs for Disney because they can work longer sets.

Other M&Gs, like the character trails at DAK, are still outside, but are at least in the shade. Have the outdoor shaded M&G sets been 20 mins in the past, or have they been longer?

Seems to me that the best solution might wind up being to just shelve outdoor, unshaded M&Gs when the temp exceeds 90 (or even 85). Find a few more shaded and/or indoor spots, and it wouldn't be too hard to do.

All outdoor locations, whether in the shade or not, previously went to 20 minutes on set 40 minutes off set during the summer months (from around June- early October).

I think there will come a time when there won't be any characters outside. We're already seeing most new locations being built indoors. I'm not sure what they would do about world showcase though, remove characters altogether? I know that would make a lot of people around here happy. :lol:

 

[MichWolv]

They are part of the teamsters union.



All outdoor locations, whether in the shade or not, previously went to 20 minutes on set 40 minutes off set during the summer months (from around June- early October).

Got it. So the solution to this little discussion will wind up being 20 minutes on, 30 minutes off. Therefore, in a 5 hour shift, the CM will go from having 5 20 minute sessions to 6. Labor costs will be cut 16.67% rather than the 33.33% Disney is asking for.

 

[RWilliams]

Got it. So the solution to this little discussion will wind up being 20 minutes on, 30 minutes off. Therefore, in a 5 hour shift, the CM will go from having 5 20 minute sessions to 6. Labor costs will be cut 16.67% rather than the 33.33% Disney is asking for.

That sounds pretty reasonable to me.

The characters normally go from twins to triplets in the summer. :animwink: So Disney are trying to cut out the third group to maximize profit. I understand that it's a corporation with responsibilities to shareholders but some care and concern for their employees would be nice. The longer I work for the company the less I feel like I matter. If it weren't for the great experiences I have with guests on a daily basis I wouldn't be working for Disney at this point. The guests are really what keep a lot of cms with the company. Just for the record, I'm not an entertainment cm.

 

[RWilliams]

Got it. So the solution to this little discussion will wind up being 20 minutes on, 30 minutes off. Therefore, in a 5 hour shift, the CM will go from having 5 20 minute sessions to 6. Labor costs will be cut 16.67% rather than the 33.33% Disney is asking for.

Upon further reflection this plan wouldn't work. It would leave the character location dark for 20 minutes of each hour. In this instance Disney would still need to pay the extra cast to staff for an entire hour.

 

[phi2134]

Why doesnt Disney setup a cool station with a high powered fan/cooling unit as well as canopy for the outdoor stations? My thought is that if it is so unbearable out there that these CM's have to be pulled in after 20 minutes right now, why not make a suitable environment to make them be able to spend an hour outside.

Construct a smaller themed "hut", install an air conditioning/fan unit in the hut, improve the suits to increase air circulation and possible cooling coils, (basically cold water tubes all over a CM's body. If you could take care of the problem and bump up the time outside even more, then I don't see why this wouldn't be a more valid option. If you are saving that much by a ten minute jump, the cost savings would quickly offset the amount it would cost to create a better CM environment.

 

[MichWolv]

That sounds pretty reasonable to me.

The characters normally go from twins to triplets in the summer. :animwink: So Disney are trying to cut out the third group to maximize profit. I understand that it's a corporation with responsibilities to shareholders but some care and concern for their employees would be nice. The longer I work for the company the less I feel like I matter. If it weren't for the great experiences I have with guests on a daily basis I wouldn't be working for Disney at this point. The guests are really what keep a lot of cms with the company. Just for the record, I'm not an entertainment cm.

I don't know if it's reasonable or not -- it was just a prediction.

Upon further reflection this plan wouldn't work. It would leave the character location dark for 20 minutes of each hour. In this instance Disney would still need to pay the extra cast to staff for an entire hour.

At most, it leaves the location dark for 10 mins each hour, as CM 1 is ready to come back 10 mins after CM 2 leaves. CM 1 on 10:00-10:20, 10:50-11:10, 11:40-12:00, 12:30-12:50, etc. CM 2 on 10:20-10:40, 11:10-11:30, 12:00-12:20, 12:50-1:10, etc.

That gets Disney a 33.33% labor reduction with only a 16.67% reduction in the time characters are available.

If the downtime is not acceptable, you could fix by rotating CMs through different characters, which is possible because there are usually at least 2 charcters at each location. That gets complicated, but it's doable from a scheduling standpoint.

 

[MAF]

Sickening...