Nicole220
Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by WDWKat26
Okay, i'll be the light shedder here.
People have gotten fired for saying "I'm ____" <--Enter character name here.
Secondly, when I go out, and I say, "I'm in Entertainment" that leads to "Oh ARE YOU SNOW WHITE?" or some stupid question along those lines. Hence the reason why I now lie and say i'm in attractions. I don't know if you remember the papers that you signed, but we are supposed to keep some secrets in this company. It's also called, "Preserving the magic". So, don't take it personally if I don't feel like blabbing about my job on a board that MANAGERS read.
Yes, I remember signing those papers years (, decades even ago, and when I worked in the zoo, I did respect the fantasy being sold daily. But now, I have not been an employee of Disney for years, and well, I don't see the mickstopo coming to tell me to hush up. I have one relative that is a real "a double s" because REGARDLESS of where we are he proudly and loudly proclaims that he is the uncle of Pluto, regardless if kids are around or if we are on Disney property.
Part of the papers we signis not profiting from our work while employed by the mouse, er Walt Disney Productions, errr, Walt Disney Co. and I really wish I could publish a book about my years in the zoo.
Two more little tidbits of my life as Pluto, besides having to pose for a certain former king of slop, er pop with the White Rabbit (who had already fainted in the parade but the end f the route was the closest exit so we just buddy carried him the last "100 yards or so", but this king of slop was there with Steve Emerson (first name not sure of, but last name I am) his personal photographer, and we had to pose with the person for a minute or so. Why, because the blond boy he was with liked White Rabbit and Pluto just happened to be there along with Prince John. A few months later we found out who the face slapping boy who was left home alone was, Macauley whats his name...
The one story I wrote about several times in college is this one, due to how I would play with the medically challenged kids without obvious outward emotion(s) coming from the character (usually Pluto), one day a boy requested Pluto. Just like other terminally ill kids would request other characters as their wish. The boy was from Canada and terminal. Against his specialists wishes they made the trip to Orlando. He was young 12-14ish, I forget now. If my memory holds correctly, he had cancer and it had pretty much taken over his body. Every breath could be his last. After arriving at the Magic Kingdom, he could not do much due to being tired/drained, etc. His parents asked if our meeting could be moved up so he could go back to the hotel to rest. My lead and sups arranged for them to go back to their hotel (Contemp, Poly, etc) and that Pluto would come see him there.
I became a worry wart after finding out he had gone back to his hotel. The special lead and I got in the van and drove to the resort for the meet and greet. Back then, in room meet and greets were sorta verboten, but this boy could not really get out to come down stairs to an empty ballroom.We eventually decided to screw it and with his parent's permission we came up to their room. The boy who had been resting in the bed got up the strength to get out of bed enough to sit on the floor and roll a ball to Pluto. Without a moment to think, I got on all fours and using my nose (a tad akwardly (sp?)) rolled/pushed the ball back to him. He lit up and laughed and had his parents look at what Pluto did. One of the parents explained how he wanted a puppy, but he is allergic to dogs. I was this boy's pet for a while, then he told me to sit. I did, like a dog, then he told me it was ok to sit indian style (yeah kid, I wish, do you know how thick this fur suit is???) Pluto sat in what appeared to be indian style enough for him. For the next 35 minutes all we did was roll a ball back and forth. He started to fade and wanted to take a nap. I felt horrible because he was laughing and having a blast. He had rubbed Pluto's tummy a few times, and got Pluto licks from that slick red plastic tongue. After he got under his covers, Pluto got up on the bed and laid at the foot of the bed the best that he could. His parents told him to rest and turned off the lights. My lead of course was no more then a couple feet away watching the whole thing and never loosing sight of us. The boy feel asleep very quickly. Pluto got up, left him an autograph and a special gift. Pluto and lead then left. Lead was crying, mom and dad were crying, and yes, I was crying. Mom and dad wanted to personally thank the person inside Pluto. My lead tried to give the party line, but I went up and gave them a hug.
Two days later over breakfast, I read how the boy died on the way home clutching the gift that Pluto gave him. His mother said in the article that the boy died talking about how Pluto was his pet and that all he talked about was how he and Pluto played ball like he always wanted to with a doggie.
Yes, I am crying, and I bet if you got this far, you are crying to. The morning that I found out about the boy's death I was working Pluto and when I clocked in, in the zoo, several people hugged me and said all would be ok. My sups told me that if I needed to take the day off I could. I thought that was odd, and I did not take them up on it. Later on that day, I realized why they offered it, because each boy I saw that morning and all day, and for a few days after reminded me of him. I pretty much cried all day, but never gave a hint something was up with Pluto. Minnie broke a branch off a tree and I fetched it for the crowd to react to. Pluto got a person to stand up and do 2 jumping jacks, and we (Minnie and I) played around some more. A couple days later I met with another terminal child and started the process of being a virtual pet again. As far as I know, this boy was the only one to pass away within a day or two/on their way home after a meet and greet with me.
What an amazing story! I'm crying now...Thank you for sharing!
