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Doodle Duck
03-29-2007, 06:54 AM
Tuesday we noticed the Characters (both parks) were wandering around without CM escorts...is this a new thing or is the employee shortage that bad? They were also in some cases pretty far from the 'escape' gates. Just curious and if this is a repeat Q, sorry 'bout that.

Doug

hlbtimes2
03-29-2007, 07:55 AM
I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it depends on the character. Face characters are more likely to be seen without an escort. They have the ability to talk and see, and can take care of themselves a bit more easily. Some of the more popular face characters, like princesses usually have an escort.

Doodle Duck
03-29-2007, 08:06 AM
Sully & Goofy, just to mention 2...Sully's costume is so unwieldy and hard to walk in, he seemed to be having an issue or two getting through the throng...also that cowgirl character (so sorry...not a TS fan and I don't rmember her moniker) was well down the path from the corral and it started to rain and she was running and holding on to the head and kids were stopping her for signings...and...well it just looked like she could have used a hand.

hlbtimes2
03-29-2007, 09:39 AM
That does seem odd. Typically "fuzzy" characters (aka: those if full costumes) have someone there to help the. Although, I've read reports of Eeyore being alone one day and having a hard time getting out of a situation, so it does happen.

Cowgirl is Jessie (or maybe its Jesse?)

Mrs Mouse
03-29-2007, 11:25 AM
I've never seen Sully! I'm assuming you'd find him in DCA near the Monsters Inc. ride, but is he out quite frequently? Is Mike W. ever there too?

ssturgeo
03-29-2007, 12:22 PM
I have seen Sully several times...Usually a little down from Playhouse Disney...once by the TOT

Doodle Duck
03-30-2007, 03:02 PM
Sully comes out from between TOT and the Hyperion and usually stations himself around the corner just down from the Animation Building. It's a huge costume and the feet, gigantic.

I got a kick out of Cruella (in DL) while signing the books was really giving it to the kids... "Do you think I have all day? Hurry up...here, now go away..." She was excellent. Naturally not many seemed to get it and mothers were shooting her 'looks'. Are kids 'allowed' to smile anymore? Didn't notice any.

adriennek
03-30-2007, 03:31 PM
Doodle - come with me and my brood sometime, you'll see lots of smiles ;)

I wish there were MORE character escorts, myself. Hearing that there are fewer is a bad thing. :(

Adrienne

itig
03-30-2007, 03:50 PM
We were at the hub on main street near the entrance and Baloo the Bear appeared from the side of the street by the hat shop without an escort. My son and I saw him right away and wanted a signature and pic. We were about to get a picture when he turned and started walking away. A crowd was gathering quickly and it looked like he realized he had no escort. He walked swiftly across the hub to the other side of the street. We (and the throng of people) followed...still no escort in sight. Being the orderly person that I am, I raised my hand and said "the line starts here"...and strangely people actually started to line up behind us :)

We were able to get our picture and just as we were finishing, a CM appeared to help out ol' Baloo. I feel bad for the characters who don't have escorts...people just get crazy and lose all manners.

ThemeParkAddictOfOC
03-30-2007, 05:03 PM
We (and the throng of people) followed...still no escort in sight. Being the orderly person that I am, I raised my hand and said "the line starts here"...and strangely people actually started to line up behind us :)


Oh my goodness. That is hysterical! I can see myself doing that. Glad it worked out for you all.

katya
03-30-2007, 07:56 PM
We were waiting for the Casey Jr. Train this morning and Peter Pan walked by. I remarked that I was surprised that he didn't have an escort, but he was walking quite quickly and purposefully. A few minutes later he came back and started looking in the bushes. I asked him if he was looking for something, and he said, "yes", and kept looking. I asked him what he was looking for, and then he stopped and explained in *almost* an annoyed manner that he'd buried some treasure, marked it with a red 'X' so that he wouldn't forget where he'd buried it, then forgotten where the 'X' was. My husband and I assured him we'd keep an eye out for it, and by this time the children in our end of the line got bold enough to ask for a photo with him.

It was one of the cleverest, best interactions with a character I've ever had. An escort would have totally distracted from it! :)

PanFan
03-30-2007, 08:53 PM
^I had a similar experience with Peter Pan near the restrooms by the entrance to TL. He was hiding in the bushes there and called out to a little girl to come over there. They had the cutest conversation about the Lost Boys and snacks and finding the Mad Hatter and Alice. Then he said "I've got something for you" and pulled a leaf off the bush he was behind and gave it to her. The girl thought it was the most natural thing in the world to be having a conversation with Peter Pan! It made my day and I was just a bystander!

Good face characters can usually stand on their own without an escort--and like you said, it would have been distracting anyways.

hlbtimes2
03-30-2007, 09:02 PM
Last year on the last morning of our March trip, we had a great time with Peter Pan. I was walking along, quietly talking with Hannah and pushing Harrison in the stroller. Dh had went on the walk in walts tour. I could sense someone was in my space. I quickly turned around to see why the heck someone was so close behind me. It was Peter! He went skipping off when I turned. People near us giggled. I have NO idea how long he had been following us or what he was doing. LOL We took off after him to get an autograph. When we caught up he quickly noticed Hannahs she was untied. Without hesitation he sat down on th ground and tied her shoe.

When we told dh what he missed he was disappointed he missed it. When we got back home we were looking at the pictures. Dh was with the walk in walts tour group in the back ground of the pictures we took of Peter!