During my Disney College Program, I worked as a fur character at Disney World.
There were safety measures in place to keep us cool when the job was very hot.
The adults were more difficult to deal with than the children.
During my Disney College Program, I spent four months in fur suits playing Winnie the Pooh, King Louie, and Chip and Dale at Disney World.
People always ask me three questions and here are the answers.
There are no fans inside the costumes for performers, so you may think that the Florida climate is humid.
Disney has other ways to keep its performers safe.
Time for performers to get conditioned to the weight of the costumes as well as the heat is provided by training schedules. The areas where characters meet outside are usually shaded or covered.
If a performer is experiencing distress on the job, Disney takes it very seriously.
Some performers have up to 10 roles they are approved for, but others may only have one or two.
Since the company wants to keep physical consistency with each character, the performers in each role have to be the same size.
Performers have to follow height and measurement restrictions inside their costumes.
People think that children are the worst part of the job, but some of the worst interactions I had were with adults or teenagers.
There were some who just wanted to make me break character who were there to celebrate and preserve the magic with their families. I would get questions like "Is it hot in there?" or "Are you a boy or a girl?"
I always had a front-facing character attendant nearby who could speak to guests directly.
The attendants were the true heroes when it came to the rough guest interactions since I couldn't speak or handle issues while I was in the costume.
The original article can be found on Insider.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
