Costumed Creepers

Now that we are in Fantasyland I feel it's an appropriate to mention my overwhelming fear of the costumed characters that walk around Disney, lurking in every corner, lying in wait to accost unsuspecting visitors.

 

Let me clarify; I like people. I'm usually very nice to people I'm meeting for the first time, if not just a bit shy about it. As long as people are friendly I'm all for having a conversation.

 

 

BUT THESE PEOPLE AREN'T PEOPLE AND THEY CAN'T TALK

 

When I was younger my mother told me about a friend who worked for Disney and the caliber of people that are sometimes sweating nearly to death inside these things and it totally shattered any fascination I might have had for them. My dad actually played Smokey the Bear a few times in parades and I thought that was pretty neat, but the idea of a highly intoxicated person staggering around Disney incognito disturbed me.

 

I have slowly grown into the kind of person who doesn't like when people cannot be themselves with me, this includes the face characters (People dressed as human characters not in the mascot get up) There is something unsettling about a person who has to perpetually take on the persona of someone else.

 

All of these phobias came together one year when I was in Disney's California Adventure.

I was walking towards the Tower of Terror when I spotted The Queen of Hearts interacting with some other guests. I had made a small wager with a friend at work to see who could get the most pictures of/with costumed characters. I had refused to actually be anywhere near them, but I could still take pictures of them. I pulled out my camera and snapped a pic then looked down to return my camera to my pocket. In the thirty seconds it took for me to stow my camera in my cargo pants pocket the Queen swooped across the road and got uncomfortably close to me. It was like a scene from a horror film when I looked up and her huge plastic face filled my entire field of vision. I'm glad my gut reaction wasn't to just punch her, him, whatever, I instead just gasped and froze. I don't remember much more of the interaction (if there was any) until the Queen waddled away.

 

I've made it a point to avoid any possible contact with anything that remotely resembles a furry anthropomorphic animal. Imagine my dismay when both of my brothers were chosen to be the mascot for their high school. I still have recurring nightmares about being mauled by a disturbingly happy husky dog.

 



 

Lesson Learned;

Costumed Characters are scary. If you ever see me running at Disney, this is why.