Tigger Was Provoked...here's how:

[Mr Disney]

My local news stations CBS and ABC made the same quote. :sohappy: I hope most of the viewers feel the same way.

I know I do :wave:

 

[Raven66]

I have had numerous character encounters far 'worse' than Tigger accidentally swatting me in the face. I'm contemplating suing Disney over all of them now, in light of this new lawsuit.

Most recently, in August of 2006, while dining at Liberty Tree Tavern: my husband, myself, and three friends sat down to eat dinner. We are all between 26 and 30. Minnie and Goofy come over to greet us. Minnie begins hugging and wordlessly flirting with my husband. Goofy gesticulates that Minnie is not single. Minnie points to her ring finger as if to say 'I'm not married!!'. I grab my husband's left hand and show it to Minnie, pointing at his weeding band and stating 'Yeah, but he is!' Minnie was quite apologetic, but the tone had been set. Goofy then comes next to me, to an empty seat, and sits down, pulling towards him a plate and flatware. His friend advises him to get up, since there's not enough room at the table. Goofy then stands up, grabs the back of my husband's chair, and begins dragging it across the floor towards an emergency exit, attempting to tip my husband out of the chair and onto the street below. At the time, we were all laughing and it seemed really funny and unique, a great Disney memory, but now my husband feels his manhood was challeneged and is thinking of suing for emotional duress which led to marital stress.

In October of 2004, we were in Toontown waiting to meet Pooh, Eeyore, and Tigger back in the tents. I asked my husband to pose with Tigger, since Tigger is his favorite character. As I started to get ready to take the photo, Tigger started bouncing. Which, as you know, is what Tiggers do best. He grabbed my husband's arms and my husband joined in the bouncing. I have numerous pictures of this incident; sadly, they're all a little blurry on account of all the bouncing. At the time, it was a perfect Tigger-y moment that would make a great memory, but now my husband's left ankle has been a little sore, and he's pretty sure it's from this.

And, of course, there's the time when my entire family was at O'Hana's: myself and my husband, my brother, and my divorced parents who were celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary/20th divorce anniversary. Mickey pantomimed that they were mom and dad and we were all kids, and I tried to explain to Mickey that my mom and dad was divorced, that this is my husband, and they're mine and my brother's parents. Mickey seemed to be very confused, but was still willing to take a picture with my mom and dad. My brother and I are thinking that a lawsuit might be the answer to all the emotions that this picture has caused us. The shock and stress of seeing our parents together, in a picture like that, in a place like that, with Mickey during the Happiest Celebration on Earth, has made us both revert to the age we were during the divorce. My brother has started wetting his bed again and lost his job, and I've taken to rocking silently in a corner listening to black metal. We figure it's good for a few grand, or at the very least, lifetime passes.

All stories are true. The names have not been changed because we're not innocent. All pending lawsuits are the ramblings of a deranged Disney-fied imagination.

Thank you for the laugh. This was a very entertaining post!:lol:



Last year when we went to WDW, my DD was getting her picture taken with Tigger in that big store in Toon Town (sorry can't remember the name). Well, she walked up to him and he started bouncing (she bounced with him) which was very cute. Then he bonked her on the face with his face. She didn't cry, but it immediately swelled up and Tigger was so apologetic. He put his hands over his eyes to tell her that he was crying. After we left tho, about 15 mins later I looked at her and her nose was all black and blue. We just made a big joke out of if. Like Tigger gave her something she would always remember. I can't imagine that he "hit" that kid on purpose.

 

[dopey]

Eeyore once rubbed my stomach!! I am going to sue! :lol:

Sue? I'm going to ask Eeyore for a date! :lol:

 

[Buford]

Up until now, I nearly forgot about this:

Several years ago, while dining at the Liberty Tree Tavern, Goofy tried to high-five me and missed my hand. In doing so, he slapped my wife in the side of the head....not hard...but certainly harder than Tigger slapped that kid. My wife just laughed it off and I announced to everyone that Goofy managed to do something that I wanted to do for 25 years....:lol: (You had to be there to appreciate it)

Goofy was very apologetic. A CM later came out to say how sorry he was for the incident and offered us our meal at no charge. We accepted with the provision that the CM would not be blamed for the incident in any way since it was a total accident. We are sure that was Goofy.

(This event was so innocuous that my wife just reminded me of it)

:sohappy: :sohappy: :sohappy:

Poor Tigger.

 

[hrcollectibles]

This past July Pluto Licked me.. I was not asking for it but he did .... (True Story)... This family is out to make a buck. Its obvious to me that the kid was trying something behind Tiggers back... I hope Karma gets these people back....

 

[PlutoInOrlando]

And what really irk's me...is that every single CM that's in a "costume" is there for the "Magic" value of it. They are there to make dreams come true for everyone that walks into the gates of any of the parks. I can't tell you how many times a "Make A Wish" child has had their wish come true in the arms of a Character. I knew a Snow White several years back that met a little girl, about 12 if I remember right - and had cancer, that actually passed away after she got to meet her. That's not something that happens to you while you are working at your local retail store! (and no offense meant there people! :kiss: )
It's just not a job that you just happen to walk up and apply for. Those guys and gals have absolutly, deep down, a love for what they do.

And having worked in the Magic Kingdom before and witnessed CM's coming out of costume...it's like they've just been doused with a bucket of water from sweat.

There is no way in h-e-double hockey sticks that Tigger would just haul off and (I've seen the video, it was more a push than a slap and definitly not a punch)hit the kid. You can definitly tell, Tigger is going into "self defense" mode when he locks his arm around the kids extended arm.

Go Get'm Tigger!:sohappy:

 

[PhotoDave219]

How about Big Al...:lookaroun

That might be too inside for more than like 5 of us to get it.... but niiiice

 

[Shiloh]

This thing won't even get to court. It will be investigated and these swindlers from New Hampsire..or whaerever will be ridden out of town on a rail and tared and feathered on their way out! I hope they are banned from all Disney Theme parks forever! This is such a stupid accusation from these peole. All they see is possible $$$. And I hope Disney does not give them any!!

 

[PhotoDave219]

Yeah...Pretty much what I figured. But none the less I got a chuckle out of it.

So will everyone else who has an inclining of what we're talking about.... :lol:

 

[kirksheppard]

Emailing Disney

I don't know about you guys, but I'm emailing Disney about my support for the cast member and my hopes that they don't cave into the pressure from the family of morons.

 

[dopey]

Several years ago, while dining at the Liberty Tree Tavern, Goofy tried to high-five me and missed my hand. In doing so, he slapped my wife in the side of the head....not hard...but certainly harder than Tigger slapped that kid.

White people. :lol:

 

[wdwCC]

But he did it after a full meal at Crystal Palace!! :slurp: I pointed out he needed to diet as well. :lol:

Sue? I'm going to ask Eeyore for a date! :lol:

 

[sjc03]

tigger

ok, i'm not going to spend all the time reading through everything here on Tigger. I saw the video today. Didn't anyone notice how the video is cut right afterwards? They only showed part of the video. We can all see Tigger reacting to with he was doing to his neck or costume. Tigger went to stop him, trying to get the guy's arm down. Tigger has to put his arm pretty far out or else he would have hit his own nose and ends up accidentily hitting the face of the guest. Didn't anyone else notice Tigger putting the guy's hand down and then putting a hand back on the guest? Tigger was trying to show the guest not to do that and I'm sure he went back to posing for the pictures after that.

Come on everyone, why would Tigger just randomly turn and hit someone? Didn't you see that he turned when the guest put his arm behind Tiggers neck? Didn't you notice that Tigger's arm went to the guest's left arm and Tigger's hand was open palm?

And thank you to all of the news teams for ruining some of the magic of Disney...

 

[DizFanatic]

This sorta media sensationalization is what really gets me steamed, "Tigger Punches Guest", etc etc.

I just finished watching the interview on Good Morning America or some morning show with the father, the child that was struck, and their lawyer. I would be disgraced to even know these people. The father went on saying he had to take his son to the hospital, the son (who could not even look at the camera) saying he was still sore. I could see the dollar signs in the eyes of the father and can only imagine the "encouragement" he gave his son to say he was still sore. I feel bad for all three of the children of that man, they have quite a role model to look up to.

It did appear as though maybe Tigger was falling back and trying to get his balance, but then after someone mentioned the zipper on the back of the costume that makes even more sense and the CM did armlock the kid as if to stop him from whatever the kid was doing. I just don't see someone, a CM for that matter, just deciding to slap a kid for no reason. I would line up to slap the father after seeing the interview though.

Liquid

Just tell me where the line starts to slap the dad. Can I gat a FastPass???
I agree with the zipper idea - This was the first thing that I thought when I saw the video.
Oh, good Idea, whenever you "juast want an apology" just hire a lawyer...
I would tell you what I really think of them, but I'll get kicked out of here. I wonder how much $$$ he got for selling the video to the TV station. I am a photographer and know that a good photo is worth lots of ca$h, and a video is worth even more.
Shameless fools!:fork:

 

[DizFanatic]

Thank you for the laugh. This was a very entertaining post!:lol:



Last year when we went to WDW, my DD was getting her picture taken with Tigger in that big store in Toon Town (sorry can't remember the name). Well, she walked up to him and he started bouncing (she bounced with him) which was very cute. Then he bonked her on the face with his face. She didn't cry, but it immediately swelled up and Tigger was so apologetic. He put his hands over his eyes to tell her that he was crying. After we left tho, about 15 mins later I looked at her and her nose was all black and blue. We just made a big joke out of if. Like Tigger gave her something she would always remember. I can't imagine that he "hit" that kid on purpose.

I bet you'l be getting a call from that greedy dude's lawyer to tell you that you too can swindle some ca$h from Disney.
I would like to hear Tigger's side of this story.
This type of people make me sick!:hurl: :hurl:

 

[kerlothi]

as a former Character performer in parks west at magic kingdom i can guess at what happened with micheal while on set doing tigger.

but really im more concerned about his future with disney. disney holds a no tolarence policy towards characters preformers acting in a manner thats nots not magical and cute..

thankfully micheal is being protected by the union which means he might be able to keep his job do to the claim of self defence..

does anybody know if he's a new CM (under 90 days) or if hes a regular CM. if hes under 90 days its a good bet he's a goner. if hes a regular CM with a good record then he might be able to get through this

someone asked if they teach us how to get away from from an unruley adult or child... briefly they talk to us about it during training thier advice is to politely and with out causeing harm to the guest to get away from the offender and get to the greeter for help by means of flagging down or whatever or to walk off set if it resorts to that.

part of the fun doing dinners as a character wether it being liberty tree tavern or chief mickeys at the contemporary or character breakfast at the polynisian is haveing fun with families.

i'm guilty of over stepping my bounds in goofy too at liberty tree i think the worst thing i've done was we had a girl who must of just turned 16 or 17 come in and she was a big fan of goofy so i went over and started messing with her her parents were all like go ahead goofy have fun with her i was like okay so i bounced over to the cabnet drawer where we keep the small mickey head sparkle confettie like that stuff you put in greeting cards that gets all over the place when u open the card. so i got a handful went back over to the girl and sprinkled some on her head gave her a big hug, tickled her and laughed with her family.... suffice to say the girl didn't find it amuseing to the point the girl refused flat out to have any more characters to go any where near her section after the incendent. and even my fellow cast mates while we were upstairs on break were like dude what did you do to that girl down in dineing area front left... i told them i did what we always do laugh play and sprinkle confettie on the birthdays my friends were like dude shes ed!!! i even got a talking to by my cordinator later about it... suffice to say after that incident i didn't bother with the confettie fun with kids anymore i let chip and dale and minnie do it. i just smiled waved took pictures and moved on...

boils down to some familys go to the park open minded looking for a good time and get very magical experiances and memories that will last forever becouse of some random thing a character performer or normal CM does..

others go looking for a way to make a quick buck and just dont wanna be bothered by anybody they just wanna do their own thing and move on.

it happens everyday something insignificant happens during the morning the family says its okay to the "responce teams" (management, operators, greeters etc...) only later in the evening come back right before closeing and complain just to get a couple free tickets and the worst part is as long as you can discribe the person or area that "offended" you you get your ticket and then that person gets a warning or written up even if the event never happened... all becouse the guest was able to single that one lone castmember out....

so is it fun being a character absolutely and it warms your heart when you make a guests day magical or when a make a wish/ give kids the world kid comes through all you wanna do is give the kid all the time he or she will want with ya. by the way i have done. i stayed out on set after my set just to be with the special person.. granted again the kids family loved it and i got a performance star for it but it es you off when random family walks over to the greeter not knowing the situation going is brer bear gonna sign again or what... and they looking right at a family with the give kids the world and make a wish badges and some even with the private medical staff for the guest.. usualy the faimily looks very sheepish going oh sorry didn't know and they walk away... but then there are others who are total dicks that just dont care they want their autograph and photo.. and those are the people i truely hated... the poor child is scared to death or crying or the family doens't wanna wait in the LONG line to see us they run up toss the kid in someone elses photo and then snap a photo and run off... when i spot this i usually just take the kid im currently with and turn my back to the offending family give the family nice good shot of my backside or i trun and walk up to the line and sign from the line till the offending family takes the hint..

yeah theres a diffrence between a kid not knowing and walking up on us alone and a parent going "quick davie get in there go on move hurry much to the yells and jeers from the people who are currently waiting their turn some for over 15+ minutes

 

[CelticRose]

Just tell me where the line starts to slap the dad. Can I gat a FastPass??? :fork:

Ditto, give me a fast pass also:fork: :fork: as a matter of fact line up the whole family and give us all fast passes:drevil: :drevil: :drevil: :drevil: :drevil:

Also where do we send an e-mail to Disney? I think the CM should be reinstated.

melissa

 

[jerrysliljess]

*sighs* I leave disney to go back home and this happens? Goodness, everything good happens when I leave.

Anyhow, that kid is a grade a you know what and I'm very angry that tigger got suspended. Sheesh!! While at CC I'd always see little kids pull and grab on Mickeys ears. Mickeys response: He'd move away, put his hand out or just shake his head. All while the father does nothing!!

Judging from the video, this teen wanted to do more to tigger then just give him a hug. =/ And stupid anchor lady!! Tigger doesn't need to applogize!

I hope that kid is happy that he might have caused tiggers job. Stories like these make me sick to my stomach.

My mom used to work at Disney in the hotels and she would hear horror stories at how the CM's in costumes were abused. Some were hit and teens that met up with the characters would push harshly on them to see if they were male or a female. I'm probably the same few who are angry that this CM will most likely lose his job because of what this kid did.

 

[L Fisher]

Here's my take-- I have seen the video many times and the kid looks like he is laughing!!! Of course, did you notice that you don't see the kids face after he was supposedly attacked? Tigger barely touched him and his parents are just plain stupid!!! I hope that this doesn't mean that there will no longer be characters to see and interact with because of these people with there 5 minutes of fame. If I was the kid, I would be embarrassed that my dad made such a big deal out of it. Can you imagine how his friends are going to make fun of him---ha! Ha!! You got beat up by Tigger. I would be appalled. I also can't get over how the media said a child got hit by Tigger, they have made it sound like he was little or something.

 

[andresmatamoros]

Knock off by Mickey!!

I was waiting to post my story. When I was 8 years old (long time ago) I was at Magic Kingdom and I stood behind Mickey so my father could take a picture of me, at that time the characters used rubber gloves instead of the soft glove they now use, and then suddenly Mickey rise his hand so fast to say hi to a little girl and hit my face so hard that I pass out, so when I recuperate I was inside a store been given water with staff people very worried but we thank them for their concern but in no way we could blame the performer or the WD Company, but it was a relief years later when I return and saw that the gloves were now very soft