Another fatality at Disney World

[tazber]

Posted: 8/18/09 at 7:50pm

Someone needs to look at this park's safety standards.
Link

[StockardFan]

Posted: 8/18/09 at 7:56pm

God, I saw this on the news earlier.

Horrible.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 8/18/09 at 8:19pm

They are not having a good year...

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 8/18/09 at 8:30pm

This is getting serious...

[uncageg]

Posted: 8/18/09 at 8:42pm

Not quite the "happiest place on earth" this year. How sad.

[jasonf]

Posted: 8/18/09 at 9:28pm

We just came back from WDW, and it definitely seems like the cast members were already shaken up from the monorail accident. Hopefully this is the last of the deaths. I don't think the cast members have anything to fear in terms of their own safety unless they do something unsafe themselves, but it's sad and certainly upsetting nonetheless.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 8/18/09 at 9:43pm

Disney actually has extreme safety precautions....when it comes to their guests. As for their employees...I have mixed statements from friends who have worked there. One of my friends was one of their featured Mickey Mouse performers at the Magic Kingdom and she was thrilled with the entire experience. She was also Tinker Bell at night during the fireworks show where Tink flies from the castle over everyone's heads on Main Street USA. The only thing she says that she hated was doing Tink. She said it was dangerous and scary. Tinker Bell apparently gets paid $500+ each and every time she flies from the castle because when she lands, she basically slams into a wall. There's no way to slow down...it's basically a zipline without the severe momentum. Several Tinks have injured their legs due to the flight.

Others have said that you are expected to work even if you're sick, that the early AM rehearsals impact on sleep and energy, etc. There is a user here at BWW who performs at the Disneyland park, perhaps she'd like to comment?

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 8/18/09 at 11:56pm

I tip my hat to any girl who's ever played Tink. I just got back from Disneyworld a few weeks ago, and I remember watching her fly and thinking that her entire job centered around diving out of a window. No thanks.

On a side note, my mother once had a friend who played Winnie the Pooh in Disney. Swear to God, the guy's name was Christopher Honey.

[jasonf]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 1:24am

I can't believe anyone is insane enough to do the Tink flight - and frankly, I'm AMAZED Disney allows it. What if something happened - think of all the traumatized kids!

[blaxx]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 2:25am

Tinker Bell apparently gets paid $500+ each and every time she flies from the castle because when she lands, she basically slams into a wall. There's no way to slow down...

LOL, sorry it's not funny. Well, kinda funny.

[EVIE]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 1:07pm

What else could the park do re: safety for these two cast members? It doesn't seem like the park can be blamed for these two particular accidents. Not to blame the victims either...very very sad tho.

[tazber]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 1:18pm

Perhaps re-evaluate the choreography, or hire more experienced performers? Revise that sick policy that capn mentioned.
I mean, I don't know what else the park could do, but with so many accidents (2 of which were performance based) it seems like there should be something they could do to ensure the safety of its staff.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 1:44pm

I saw rehearsal footage of performers walking on stilts. They had all sorts of protective gear on including a helmet.

Back when I did stilt walking, we were given knee pads. That was it. My first day of training, I tipped forward and tried to keep upright, which only made me pinwheel forward, arms flailing, and gaining speed as I was headed right for the area where they stored the cars to the people mover.

I ended up, rolling and dropping to the ground. Luckily, I was not ever hurt, but I saw plenty of performers have their stilts break while on route. My partners did once, and he fell into the float, bounced off that on to a planter lining the parade route and then slammed onto the ground. And there was nothing I could do to help him.

Disney doesn't give two sh!ts about their performers.

Updated On: 8/19/09 at 01:44 PM

[tazber]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 1:48pm

Yea, it seems like they would be easy to take advantage of. I mean, there usually young people who need the money and want the work.

I know this is a stupid question, but I really don't know: are these actors in a union? I mean, does equity cover them? Or are they on their own?

[degrassifan]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 2:10pm

Taz, according to Disney, all entertainers employed are covered under terms and conditions of a collective bargaining agreement with Actors' Equity Association.

And, it's not a stupid question. Updated On: 8/19/09 at 02:10 PM

[EVIE]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 2:16pm

"Perhaps re-evaluate the choreography, or hire more experienced performers? Revise that sick policy that capn mentioned."

I agree about the sick policy, but isn't part of being a performer mastering the choreography? Sticky situation this one.

[tazber]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 2:51pm

yea, you're right EVIE. It wouldn't make sense to alter the choreography, I mean that's their job, as you said.

Well, I hope that they at least look at all the factors involved and do what they can to protect their performers.

At any rate, it's sad.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 2:53pm

Perhaps if Tink sported a stylish helmet...

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 3:14pm

Only SOME of the performers at the parks are Union. NONE of the parade performers are.

It's usually only the singers and the dancers in their 'stage' shows.

[CapnHook]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 4:33pm

"Perhaps if Tink sported a stylish helmet..."

Actually, she DOES. Her wig is actually a helmet made to look like hair.

"Perhaps re-evaluate the choreography, or hire more experienced performers?"

Actually, the choreography at Disney is pretty simple. The stunts are the dangerous stuff, such as that newish car show at Hollywood Studios and the Indiana Jones Spectacular. The Indiana Jones show has been around for decades, so that choreography/stuntwork has been done over and over and over and over and over. That incident must have been a freak accident.

The thing about Disney is, no matter how they treat their employees behind-the-scenes, they make sure that when the park is open and guests are around, NO ACCIDENTS. PERIOD. And yes, they happen, but they go to great lengths to make sure things don't "happen." From the design of the park to the design of the costumes. This ESPECIALLY applies to shows and costumed characters. If Mickey Mouse's head falls off, they just scarred hundreds of kids for LIFE! Think of the lawsuits! If you look carefully at the parade floats, you will see that the costumed characters are actually "attached" to the floats via chains/ropes/buckles/etc.

"Only SOME of the performers at the parks are Union. NONE of the parade performers are."

Correct. Performers in stage shows who sing live and/or performers who dance or do stunts are all part of a joint-contract with Disney and a union, such as Actors' Equity Association. IE the cruise ship shows, the Lion King show, the Beauty & the Beast & Little Mermaid shows, etc. But even in those shows, they only apply to certain characters. In the Beauty & the Beast show, Gaston, Belle, Lefou, Belle's Father, and a few other bit parts are the only characters who are mic'd and have lines/sing. They are union. The others in the show, such as the Beast and Enchanted characters, move to pre-recorded tracks and are not union. When the Beast transforms into the Prince, the Prince lipsyncs and is not union. In the Little Mermaid show, Ariel is the only person in the entire show who speaks/sings live and is union. Eric lipsyncs to a track (notice how his back is facing the audience when he speaks and his head moves up and down to the vocal?

FANTASMIC is a special case, too. The costumed performers on the giant boat are not union. Some of the Peter Pan/Pocahontas (depending on which coast you are on) are union (the ones that do the stunts).

[EVIE]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 5:21pm

Tink's hair is really a helmet?! No way!

[CapnHook]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 6:14pm

You can sorta see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZ9VAboVDpU&feature=related

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 7:08pm

You can add the new and improved Dragon in Fantasmic to the casualty list.

Summer is almost over and there is still no dragon...

[CapnHook]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 7:24pm

New and improved dragon? Do tell...

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 8/19/09 at 7:29pm

It's a 40 foot tall, fully animated dragon instead of the head on a stick they have been using.

It's head fell off during the testing and the whole thing fell on it self and was crushed. They've spent the entire summer with no dragon finale. Just Maleficent thrashing around on her lift.



Commercial

Updated On: 8/19/09 at 07:29 PM