Alright, I saw the news report this morning on the morning news, and I saw the video footage. They replayed it many times. And, my love for WDW notwithstanding, there is no way that I can see what I saw and not be convinced that Tigger willfully clocked this kid. And frankly, it disturbs me that so many of you are so blinded by your unquestioning love and loyalty to Disney that you will believe anything or make any excuse to vindicate Disney or its employees no matter what the evidence shows. Tigger willfully hit this kid and that's all there is to that.
Now, my question is...why? IMO, there almost has to be a little more to the story than that. And I don't say that because of any blind loyalty to Disney that refuses to believe that there could be any malicious wrongdoing on the part of its employees. I say that because I find it hard to believe that an employee of any company would be so stupid as to randomly hit a total stranger just for the heck of it, knowing that his butt will be out on the street as a result, and possibly facing legal action. It just doesn't seem logical. Even most people in jail for assault had some kind of reason for attacking the person they did. Most of them don't just randomly attack a total stranger for no apparent reason whatsoever. So I find it hard to believe that "Tigger" just got a hankerin' to hit someone for no reason. I have to wonder if this kid did something to provoke it. My first thought was that perhaps a female was wearing the costume and this kid was trying to fiddle with her bra strap using the arm that is behind Tigger. But I was informed that it was a male wearing the costume and that the material is too thick to be able to feel a bra strap anyway.
However, with what we see on the video, even if the kid WAS doing something to provoke it, it couldn't have been anything that serious in nature for us not to be able to notice anything. So whatever it may have been, IMO, it could not have possibly warrented a willful clocking across the face. So again, let's not be so blinded by our love for Disney that we can't acknowledge wrongdoing. The blind loyalty I see by many fans of this site reminds me of the blind loyalty that a battered wife has for her wife beating husband. No matter how many times he clobbers her, she stands behind her man and refuses to admit any wrongdoing on his part. :lookaroun
And, on the flipside, I also have to wonder how in the world a slap across the face by a padded hand could cause so many hours of pain to this kid. Either he is a total wuss, or he is trying to milk this thing for all it's worth. Next thing you know, he will be sitting in court with a neckbrace on. :lookaroun