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ehbowen
06-04-2006, 01:34 PM
Just got back from our big Amtrak trip to Disneyland, and I have to share the funniest thing which happened to us. On our last day there, Sunday the 28th, we had brunch at Goofy's Kitchen before departing. There were eleven of us, from 1 to 74, at two tables. The character interaction was great; Alice and the Mad Hatter had come and gone, when a very pretty Wendy came up to our tables.

My eleven-year-old nephew saw the green dress and the blond curls, and immediately came to a determination. "You're the ugly stepsister, aren't you?"

Wendy almost came right out of character. If looks could kill, this one would have been assault with intent to maim. But it gets better. A few seconds later, Peter Pan came up to our table. Wendy, who had more-or-less recovered by then, turned to Peter and said, "Do you know what? He just called me the ugly stepsister!"

Peter looked her up and down and replied, nonchalantly, "Well, that happens." It broke up both tables.

Disney Vault
06-04-2006, 05:31 PM
Great story:D
I always thought she had a blue dress though:confused:

ChipmunkStar
06-04-2006, 05:34 PM
And brown hair....

(Though, in his defense, Drizella also has brown hair in a ponytail [with curls] with a bow [though her bow IS in fact green, not blue like Wendy's])

Hakuna Makarla
06-04-2006, 05:39 PM
Just got back from our big Amtrak trip to Disneyland, and I have to share the funniest thing which happened to us. On our last day there, Sunday the 28th, we had brunch at Goofy's Kitchen before departing. There were eleven of us, from 1 to 74, at two tables. The character interaction was great; Alice and the Mad Hatter had come and gone, when a very pretty Wendy came up to our tables.

My eleven-year-old nephew saw the green dress and the blond curls, and immediately came to a determination. "You're the ugly stepsister, aren't you?"

Wendy almost came right out of character. If looks could kill, this one would have been assault with intent to maim. But it gets better. A few seconds later, Peter Pan came up to our table. Wendy, who had more-or-less recovered by then, turned to Peter and said, "Do you know what? He just called me the ugly stepsister!"

Peter looked her up and down and replied, nonchalantly, "Well, that happens." It broke up both tables.

sorry, but at 11 years old I think that was pretty rude.

ChipmunkStar
06-04-2006, 06:18 PM
No worse than a full grown adult calling Gideon "That Drunk cat from Pinocchio" in front of a group of children. Honest mistakes happen. People get over them.

Seashellmama
06-04-2006, 10:54 PM
How is it rude? "The Ugly Stepsisters" are certainly Disney characters- why shouldn't he think they'd be walking around at a character meal?

Wesley815
06-05-2006, 12:40 AM
sorry, but at 11 years old I think that was pretty rude.I agree... not funny at all.
How is it rude? "The Ugly Stepsisters" are certainly Disney characters- why shouldn't he think they'd be walking around at a character meal?Well, let me just take a stab in the dark at this one... perhaps it's because she is NOT a "ugly stepsister" (and that's what it makes it bad... I bet the 11 year old knew that and just wanted to make a rude comment). At that age if they didn't really know the difference, I'd be surprised.
...when a very pretty Wendy came up to our tables.

My eleven-year-old nephew saw the green dress and the blond curls, and immediately came to a determination. "You're the ugly stepsister, aren't you?"She's never been in a green dress.

I'm glad your big group had fun making fun of a face character. :rolleyes: I can't believe you'd actually post "Funny character interactions" as the title to this topic, it should be "Rude guest comments to characters".

Seashellmama
06-05-2006, 07:17 AM
Huh. I have a 4 year old daughter. I've seen Cinderella, or had it playing in the room I was in, well, rather a lot. I can dredge up the sisters' names if I try, but I couldn't tell you which was which, nor could I tell you what color dresses either one wore or did not wear; I do remember that one of them has ringlet curls. An 11 year old boy may well have marginally less familiarity with this Disney movie than I do, and less awareness than one of the "Ugly Stepsisters" isn't valuable marketing at Disneyland, so might well make this guess without trying to be rude at all.

The "funny interaction" part of this is how the cast members handled it, with Peter Pan getting in a bit of an in-character snark.

bradk
06-05-2006, 07:49 AM
not only is Wendy always in a blue dress (except for that time I saw her.. well... almost not in the blue dress in the tunnel system at WDW), but she doesn't have curls?

i'm confused. about this too.

the ugly stepsisters do make an appearance in DEP though if I'm not mistaken.

DangerMouse
06-05-2006, 07:53 AM
the ugly stepsisters do make an appearance in DEP though if I'm not mistaken.

You're not. :)

ehbowen
06-06-2006, 02:01 PM
Okay, everybody. I'm almost sorry I brought the subject up, although I did and still do consider it funny--not for the brief case of mistaken identity, but because of the way the cast members handled it and made it funny in regards to the responses of their characters.

Wendy may indeed have been in a blue dress--my camera went dead just before this episode--although I still remember it as green in comparison with Alice's (who definitely was wearing blue). She did indeed have curls, although I don't know enough about girls' hairstyles to describe the exact style--the hair on top of her head was straight, while the hair which fell off of her head was curled.

It is, I suppose, possible that the eleven-year-old in question was being deliberately rude--he's a bit of a pistol--but I do not think this was the case. For one, it would have been the first time all week. We ate at Ariel's on Wednesday and had several wonderful interactions with the characters; I got great pictures of him with Mulan, Belle and Snow White. In actual fact, I think that the original mistaken identity was due to a lack of familiarity with Disney's version of Peter Pan. I know I don't have that movie in my collection and I don't think my sister does either; I honestly think the kids may never have seen it. They have seen -- many times -- the Mary Martin (VHS taped) stage version of Peter Pan and were in fact wanting Peter to sing "I won't grow up" when he came to the table--which he largely begged off from. But while I can't recall when or if they've ever seen Disney's Peter Pan, I know for a fact that they had seen Cinderella several times, most recently on the train ride west (we brought along a couple of DVD players). So it was fresh in their minds--and I believe that my nephew felt proud of himself for "identifying" this character on his own. The fact that his identification was wrong--and the way the cast members handled it--combined to make this incident quite a hoot.

I guess you just had to be there....

hbquikcomjamesl
06-06-2006, 02:29 PM
Personally, I've always had a problem with the stage tradition of casting a young, athletic woman as Peter Pan.

I've never seen any stage productions (save the brief excerpt of one, in the beginning of Hook). I did see the Disney animated feature. It was a theatrical re-release; my parents and I saw it in a drive-in; it was sometime in the mid-1960s; I barely remember it at all.

I would say that if casting and costuming have become so inattentive to detail that Wendy could be mistaken for an "ugly stepsister" (ever notice how no two versions of the story can agree on their names?), then the incident is at least as much their fault as it was the 11-year-old's.

tink1234
06-06-2006, 04:28 PM
Forgive me for getting in on this post, but I feel I must defend the child. I doubt this child was being at all rude. I am sure he was just trying to find out who the character was.

Wendy's dress is not a dress at all, but a nightgown. And if memory serves it is a pale sea green or a pale bluish-green that could be mistaken for either a green or a blue. As opposed to Alice's dress, which is most certainly a sky blue.

Please, don't get angry with me for putting in my 2 cents as I appreciate this board and all of its members. But a child, even an eleven year old at Disneyland is probably just caught up in the Disney magic and not at all thinking of offending one character by guessing them as another.:|

junglemom
06-06-2006, 06:22 PM
Forgive me for getting in on this post, but I feel I must defend the child. I doubt this child was being at all rude. I am sure he was just trying to find out who the character was.

Wendy's dress is not a dress at all, but a nightgown. And if memory serves it is a pale sea green or a pale bluish-green that could be mistaken for either a green or a blue. As opposed to Alice's dress, which is most certainly a sky blue.

Please, don't get angry with me for putting in my 2 cents as I appreciate this board and all of its members. But a child, even an eleven year old at Disneyland is probably just caught up in the Disney magic and not at all thinking of offending one character by guessing them as another.:|
I agree, the OP was about a funny situation. Bravo to the CM's for handling it so well. I would have been rolling on the floor myself. I really don't see how mistaking one Disney character for another is in any way rude. My oldest son is almost 11 and I could definitely see him making the same honest mistake.

Crazy4DL
06-06-2006, 06:32 PM
I agree, the OP was about a funny situation. Bravo to the CM's for handling it so well. I would have been rolling on the floor myself. I really don't see how mistaking one Disney character for another is in any way rude. My oldest son is almost 11 and I could definitely see him making the same honest mistake.

Oh me too! I didn't read the incident as an 11 year old being rude but as an 11 year old accidentally making a mistaken identification of a character. The CM handled it wonderfully - with humor. :)

SarahShep
06-06-2006, 08:03 PM
I don't think the little boy was being rude at all. And I think the story is hilarious. Don't feel sorry for bringing it up, ehbowen. I'm glad you shared!

But since this is about funny character interactions, I thought I'd share a couple of my own.

Last summer we had a huge family reunion at Disneyland around my Aunt's birthday. Since we were staying at the Grand Californian, they promptly drew up a button for her to wear. And, being the cruel family that we are, we made her wear it proudly, and to her embarrassment...every day for the 5 days of the trip. At Disneyland, on one of the days, we came upon Pocahontas sitting on a rock near the Rivers of America at Frontierland. She must have just arrived, as there was no one else around. We stopped to take pictures, which drew a moderately sized crowd. That crowd attracted another crowd, led by Goofy and his handler, both decked out in Western gear. They came running over and the handler jumped on the rock next to Pocahontas and began shouting a barrage of questions.

"Hey Pocahontas, is it safe to swim in the green river?" The look on Pocahontas' face was priceless. She had no idea what to say! After stammering for a few minutes, she came up with something about Grandmother Willow.

"Hey Pocahontas, just how many colors of the wind are there? 32? Like Crayola?" Again, she was almost speechless. Luckily, the handler noticed my Aunt's birthday badge and poor Pocahontas was off the hook. He drug my aunt up onto the rock with him and led every one in a birthday song.

I wish I could remember every detail of what he said, but it was hilarious! I've never heard interaction like that before. And I was really impressed that Pocahontas managed to stay in character. I would have been rolling on the floor, laughing like crazy!

Another handler had us laughing as a ranger at Storyteller's. When we came in for breakfast, he started talking to us for a bit before we sat down. On our way to the table, he asked if anyone, including Koda who was near by, had seen Piglet that morning....

...and then he warned us to stay away from the bacon. LOL!

My sister's favorite character is Piglet, and her expression was CLASSIC. LOL

simbaNnala101
06-06-2006, 10:02 PM
I thought it was Halariouse and I love they way that peter handeled it. And yes she does have curly hair in her pony tail. I thought it was great I got a good laugh out of it thanx for posting it.

~Ash~

PirateSmile
06-07-2006, 12:55 PM
I don't think he was being rude, either. I wouldn't expect an eleven year old to be a character expert. I'm in high school and even now my friends will get characters confused. Heck, some of my aunts and uncles would probably get some confused. Wendy is popular, but she really isn't as identifiable as a lot of the other characters in the park.

hlbtimes2
06-07-2006, 02:27 PM
Here is what Wendy looks like, since some of you seem a bit confused.
http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=8663315&uid=2672688&members=1

oohykitten
06-07-2006, 02:52 PM
I once had Piglet serve my son ham, till I point out to him just how wrong that was...he quickly started giving him eggs and potatoes after that.

Disney Vault
06-08-2006, 11:31 AM
Here is what Wendy looks like, since some of you seem a bit confused.
http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=8663315&uid=2672688&members=1
Thanks for that. I was just about to start searching for a picture.