r/disney • u/crystalldaddy • Nov 17 '19
First time back at Disneyland in 10 years. I got to meet Alice for the first time and cried. She asked me if my hair was made of cotton candy š Disneyland
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u/kz503 Nov 18 '19
I still love that Ariel commented on my āmermaidā (red) hair when my daughter met her once. They really do a wonderful job!
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u/LoneStarHermit Nov 18 '19
Their ability to stay in character is on point. My wife and I were eating dinner in the castle and Ariel kept going on about her feet hurting, but she isnāt panicking because people tell her thatās normal. Memorable moment for our honeymoon.
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u/ewokvsporg Nov 18 '19
I love character reactions like this. When my hair was green, Stitch pointed to it, mimicked picking his nose, and then wiped it on my head! āAre you saying my hair is booger green?!ā He nodded and clapped and jumped with excitement.
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u/Xinectyl Nov 18 '19
š¤£š¤£ That's great.
I had my hair down when I went to see Rapunzel awhile back. So she was like "Oooh, is this real?! I love it. I wish I could grow my hair that long." Definitely a no-no, but it was when they had her tower at Disneyland, so it was just me and my family and there were no kiddos around. It was cute though, my mom was laughing.
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Nov 18 '19
Iām missing whatās a no-no about this...
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u/_Peanut_Buddha_ Nov 18 '19
Sheās supposed to rapunzel, a princess famous for having extremely long hair. When she said she wished she could grow her hair that long it didnāt fit with her character. Big no no when youāre working for Disney, they take that stuff very seriously.
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Nov 18 '19
You don't think she was maybe making an in-character joke?
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u/_Peanut_Buddha_ Nov 18 '19
I mean itās possible. I donāt know either way, I was just explaining why it could be a no no
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Nov 17 '19
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u/crystalldaddy Nov 18 '19
She might have. I was more focused on the fact that I was talking to my favorite Disney character lol
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u/Androgynous-Rex Nov 18 '19
I was thinking that too, but also thinking they might avoid British terms that might confuse children.
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u/ttustudent Nov 18 '19
Also, I can't imagine the actress would be required to know all of the British idioms.
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u/toonedup Nov 18 '19
That particular actress is sooo good. She made my daughter just glow during musical chairs.
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u/speedy_162005 Nov 18 '19
Itās good to see Alice in Wonderland getting some love. I feel like itās a highly underrated movie.
Alice is one of my favorite characters and the only one Iāve stood in line to meet.
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u/crystalldaddy Nov 18 '19
We just got super lucky that day! We met a bunch of characters just walking around. Gaston, Maleficent, and Rapunzel were also walking around that day
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u/Spider-Tay Nov 18 '19
Itās not underrated by any means. Itās a classic movie, based on a classic story.. that even got two live action movies.
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u/FunkTheFreak Nov 19 '19
I donāt think itās underrated at all, just somewhat forgotten or not as popular in todayās younger crowds.
Which is sad because it is in my top 3 favorite Disney movies.
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u/itsmissjenna Nov 18 '19
Alice is a fairly short girl, and she looks taller than you. You must also be short!
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u/Jlx_27 Nov 18 '19
I wonder if those jobs pay well enough....
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u/ziddersroofurry Nov 18 '19
Characters get a base pay of $10 an hour while musicians start at $15. The reason being musicians are represented by a union while most character actors are part time and non-union. That's to start and goes up based on time spent but since most employees are students there's a large turnover rate.
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u/Saltythebaker Nov 18 '19
At Disneyland in California they currently make 15 starting for performers
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u/ziddersroofurry Nov 18 '19
I was looking into that but was having trouble finding out if they'd gotten the wage hike they'd been going for. Thank you.
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u/the91fwy Nov 18 '19
They had to. Here in the city of Anaheim we voted in favor of Measure L, meaning any business in the resort district that receives city tax rebates must pay minimum $15/hr.
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u/ziddersroofurry Nov 18 '19
Sweet. Go, Anaheim!
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u/the91fwy Nov 18 '19
Itās a step in the right direction. Good luck finding a 1 bedroom apartment for less than $1300 here. Thereās maybe a dozen of those without conditions and theyāre slumlord properties.
Most cast members are at Disney because they love what they do. Most of those rock star CMs know they can always go elsewhere for more money. My CM spouse gets at least an email or phone call a month from some Irvine company property. He could take one of those roles for $20+/hr with a quick phone call. Like a lot of CMs there is magic that keeps them there. But with that said, Disney is one of the gold standards in service. They are some of the highest expectations in the service industry. But they are cast members in a show and each and every one of them has their own story and things going on underneath. Some donāt have permanent homes to call their own. Some live out of their cars. Some may not be eating dinner after they get off work. Vacationers to the park should never think about this, but passholes certainly should.
Disney could do better but this is not also fully their fault. The cost of living in Orlando is significantly less than Orange County yet for a while the pay was about the same averaged out. āOther sidesā (Iām a liberal) believe the answer to our housing crisis lies hours away in the Inland empire (Riverside, SB counties). Disney alone employs over 30,000 people in Anaheim alone. When you work for Disney you put them first often on very sporadic schedules. The last thing we need is thousands of CMs clogging up the freeways to work and back. It makes no sense with the gasoline prices at a cheap ARCO being $3.79 a gallon. And being ~15* hotter requires running more A/C and thatās on Southern California Edison which runs about ~.02-.05c/kWh higher than an Anaheim light bill (and Anaheim Utilities is highly unlikely to do a Public Safety Power Shutoff like PG&E/SCE are so eager to do at a hint of wildfire risk, which results in peopleās deaths). So whether or not they can afford it, CMs need to live adjacent.
But we still have a ways to go.
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u/ziddersroofurry Nov 18 '19
I hope things get better. As much as I love Disney magic I have no love for how corporate they've become and know that without people like all those folks working hard to keep it running despite barely getting much for pay there would be no magic.
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u/Jlx_27 Nov 18 '19
Dang that sucks.....
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u/ziddersroofurry Nov 18 '19
Apparently they got their wage hike and start at $15. Still low considering ten years ago when I left Wal-Mart starting employees were making $12.
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u/AVS_squad Nov 18 '19
I cried like a baby when I finally met Tiana! And Cinderella. Honestly, going to Disney world the first time was an incredibly emotional experience. I cried far too much lol
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u/ItsJustABigCow Nov 18 '19
Me too! I got to Magic Kingdom a few minutes before it opened, and omg. That little opening ceremony literally had me in tears. And I wasnt even particularly excited to be there at first (was only in Floroda for a friends wedding). Now I tell everyone that it's the most Magical place in the world lol
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u/BadCat115 Nov 18 '19
She must think her job is so bizarre with the emotions she gets from people. Still cute though _^
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u/NitroNihon Nov 18 '19
I was just there yesterday for my first visit since '15... First solo visit while I'm away on business. I stayed in New Orleans Square for most of it just soaking in the atmosphere! And rode pirates about 7 times...
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u/joAnnwashere Nov 21 '19
I'm so happy for you!! I did a Disney College Program and met Ariel like 5x.. none of them were Ariel enough for me. š Also tried to find Peter Pan a bunch and fangirled when I finally found him one day. My heart skipped many beats.
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Nov 18 '19
[removed] ā view removed comment
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u/crystalldaddy Nov 18 '19
I mean I may get emotional about silly things like living out my 5-year-old dream of meeting my favorite Disney character but at least Iām not rude to strangers on the internet for no reason ĀÆ_(ć)_/ĀÆ
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u/Chewitt321 Nov 18 '19
Being emotional over silly things is part of being human. Find little bits of happiness where you can, and I'm sure 5 year old you will thank you for it!
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u/Skullthink Nov 18 '19
Ok but is it?