First it was the TSA...now Donald Duck?

[MIB41]

Wow... I never thought they would try and cuff the Duck...

Donald Duck Breast Grope Accuser Taking Disney to Court - FoxNews.com

[gaga4toyz]

What doesn't make any sense is her fiance was a witness. If someone touched my wife, the story would be about how Donald Duck got the crap beat out of him. I'm not saying I'm a tough guy, but come on. Wouldn't every guy stand up for his partner in this situation. It's unlikely he had a knife or gun in his costume, and even if he did he wouldn't be able to take it out. I'm sure this stuff happens, but that fact that Donald didn't get the crap beat out of him makes me wonder if they're just not out for money.

[enyawd72]

Wow... I never thought they would try and cuff the Duck...

Donald Duck Breast Grope Accuser Taking Disney to Court - FoxNews.com

They'll have a hard time with this one. The person was probably reaching for the child. Believe me, I've done the costumed character thing. You can barely see out of those damn things, let alone intentionally grope someone. You're looking out of a peephole the size of a quarter while buckets of sweat are running into your eyes because it's 120 degrees inside the damn thing. I've tried shaking hands and accidentally grabbed throats, boobs, you name it. Trust me, I'm not interested in your grandma's droopy teats. It's just an accident. Then there's the times when you're waving and smack some kid in the head, or step on them, etc, etc.

[Wee67]

What do you expect from a duck who refuses to wear pants?

Seriously, though, I will echo what's written above- having been inside one of the costumes, I think I'd really have to concentrate on grabbing anyone anywhere intentionally. When I worked at Sesame Place Amusement Park, we made sure that people in the muppet costumes had escorts just to ame sure they didn't accidentally step on a little guest.

[Cmonster]

Crap like this really bothers me. I mean, how do you really get to the bottom of something like this? How can you prove that the guy in the DD costume did or didn't intentionally grope the woman? Either way, it's infuriating...

If this guy did do it intentionally; ***? How could a Disney employee at the happiest place on Earth, do something like that? What's the screening process for hiring the performers to be in these costumes??? How could the ghost of Walt Disney allow this to happen? (Yes, it's true. Walt's ghost is alive and well in the park. Look closely at the dinner scene in the Haunted Mansion.)

On the other hand (pun intended) if he didn't do it on purpose, this woman is trying to sue Diz for millions I'm sure, over an innocent accident. It's SO hard to see in those costumes, it ain't even funny (I'll explain how I know this in a minute). Maybe his hand simply accidentally grazed her breast while DD was putting his arms around her and her son for a picture. I dunno, man... Tough call. I can say this; If it was me, and DD accidentally groped me during a family photo op, I'd laugh it off and joke about it with my friends. Just another Diz story...

Speaking of Diz stories... Wanna know how I know that it's hard to see in those costumes? I'm gonna tell you;

Disneyland, June 1978. The Collora family vacation. We're at the park. Mom and Dad, me and my brother. I'm 10, my little brother is 5. For a reason I can't seem to remember, I have my horns twisted that day, probably because of some toy or crap I wanted and got shut down, I dunno. Anyway, I'm in a ****y mood and who comes bouncing down Main Street? None other than Mickey Mouse... My brother goes nuts; "There's Mickey, there's Mickey!!!" He's all fired up and excited, SO big brother decides that little Sal is old enough now to know that Mickey Mouse isn't real... "You dummy! That's a guy in a costume! Mickey Mouse isn't real!" My mom completely FREAKS, trying to grab me and shut me up, while at the same time, trying to tell my brother, who has this "OH NO!!! That can't be true!" look on his face, that I'M the dummy and not to listen to me.

Hell bent now on proving to my brother (and the rest of the kids in the immediate vicinity) that it's just a guy in a suit, I break free of my mom's grasp and head for Mickey, head down, full sprint... Mickey, who sees me coming, is probably thinking to himself; "Wow, this kid is fired up. He must be really excited to see me!" Well, he would be wrong, because here comes pee wee football all star linebacker three years in a row, little Sandman, furrowed brow under those coke bottle glasses, picking up speed...

WHAM!!! Mickey is SACKED... He's DOWN! Wait! There's a FUMBLE!!!

Mickey's head comes off, and starts bouncing down the street. Little Sandman recovers and puts it on his own head. I remember this vividly, as if it was all moving in slow motion; I could barely see out of this head, but I could make out my brother, crying his eyes out, and like 200 people coming right for me!!! Park security eventually got me and I was taken to... MICKEY JAIL.

Yes, there is such a place. I shared a cell with a kid who tried to stab Captain Hook with a pocket knife... Cool kid. Anyway, to make a really long story short, I was banned from Diz that day and ruined the family vacation. However, mission accomplished and my little brother was scarred for life. YAY!

SC

[Mikey]

I always thought mostly women were in those suits.

[enyawd72]

What do you expect from a duck who refuses to wear pants?

Seriously, though, I will echo what's written above- having been inside one of the costumes, I think I'd really have to concentrate on grabbing anyone anywhere intentionally. When I worked at Sesame Place Amusement Park, we made sure that people in the muppet costumes had escorts just to ame sure they didn't accidentally step on a little guest.

Yeah, those costumes really suck, don't they? Your place was a least smart enough for escorts. I worked one summer for Domino's pizza as the Noid.
NEVER would I do it again. It was the single most miserable experience of my life. I think I lost 50 pounds just sweating.

[boynightwing]

Here's the thing...because of this they will likely put a policy in place where people in the suits can not touch anyone for any reason. Which means when I take my kids (when I have kids) to Disney, they wont get a hug from Mickey or whoever their favorite character will be.
When I was a kid, we stayed at one of the Disney Resorts and as such got to have breakfast in the actual castle at Disney World. It was so cool because the Disney characters showed up while we were eating and Goofy kept stealing my little brothers OJ. We had a good time. I suppose things like this will be a thing of the past.

[Mikey]

When I was a kid I used to be scared as hell of any kind of suited people.

I still remember begging my mom to not make me meet the Banana Splits at the local fair

m

[Werewolf]

As has been mentioned, you can barely see out of those suits and not to mention the short characters like Donald are usually played by women. My guess it's either a misunderstanding or a cash grab. The only people that really have to worry about being groped in those parks are the women dressed as the Disney Princesses. The women in those costumes should get hazard pay.

[MIB41]

You know after thinking about it (and the experiences listed by those here who have been in a similar costume). It seems to me Walt Disney would have some type of air tight clause or waiver in the contract you sign before you enter the park, protecting liability for costumed actors. I mean, if they truly can't see well enough to know when they have compromised someone, that can't be the first time that has happened without complaint.

[El Diablo Blanco]

Yes, there is such a place. I shared a cell with a kid who tried to stab Captain Hook with a pocket knife... Cool kid. Anyway, to make a really long story short, I was banned from Diz that day and ruined the family vacation. However, mission accomplished and my little brother was scarred for life. YAY!

SC

It doesn't surprise me one bit that Disney would put a kid in jail. Nor that anybody would try to stab a beloved Disney character. I myself have had this thought several times.

[kingdom warrior]

Hell bent now on proving to my brother (and the rest of the kids in the immediate vicinity) that it's just a guy in a suit, I break free of my mom's grasp and head for Mickey, head down, full sprint... Mickey, who sees me coming, is probably thinking to himself; "Wow, this kid is fired up. He must be really excited to see me!" Well, he would be wrong, because here comes pee wee football all star linebacker three years in a row, little Sandman, furrowed brow under those coke bottle glasses, picking up speed...

WHAM!!! Mickey is SACKED... He's DOWN! Wait! There's a FUMBLE!!!

Mickey's head comes off, and starts bouncing down the street. Little Sandman recovers and puts it on his own head. I remember this vividly, as if it was all moving in slow motion; I could barely see out of this head, but I could make out my brother, crying his eyes out, and like 200 people coming right for me!!! Park security eventually got me and I was taken to... MICKEY JAIL.

Yes, there is such a place. I shared a cell with a kid who tried to stab Captain Hook with a pocket knife... Cool kid. Anyway, to make a really long story short, I was banned from Diz that day and ruined the family vacation. However, mission accomplished and my little brother was scarred for life. YAY!

SC

LMAO!!!!!!!!!! Man and I thought I was bad at Disney. I got nuthin on you. One time one of the Disney workers yelled out to the Crowd "Hey who are we here to see!" and me not Missing a beat Yelled MIGHTY MOUSE!!!! to the horror of my family put the pure delight of all the adults around me.......

You rule Sandy.....

[cjefferys]

Park security eventually got me and I was taken to... MICKEY JAIL.

Great story. I know about Mickey Jail, my cousin and I were threatened with it by Disney security at Disneyworld once. We were on the skyride and had the bright idea of dropping pennies down at the go cart riders far below us. Little did we know they had video cameras up there. Luckily we were let go with a strong warning.

[UnderdogDJLSW]

Sandy, your story has to be made into a film by you. That would be hilarious!

You know after thinking about it (and the experiences listed by those here who have been in a similar costume). It seems to me Walt Disney would have some type of air tight clause or waiver in the contract you sign before you enter the park, protecting liability for costumed actors. I mean, if they truly can't see well enough to know when they have compromised someone, that can't be the first time that has happened without complaint.

I'm sure Disney does have all of the bases covered. (And I'm not talking about Donald getting to first...). I've known some actors, about 15 years ago, who had been characters for the Disney cruises and the manual/policies/do's & don'ts they have to memorize and be tested on before they will be allowed to wear the costume is like two telephone books thick. I've also done non-Disney character costumes in the past, and they are hot, and you get tired with this football helmet supporting thing on your head, and the last thing on your mind is trying to feel anyone up with giant cartoon, carpeted gloves.