malem Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 Topic lost in the database reset. I think Magic Kingdom has a winner on this character. Earlier this week a push up contest with Gaston went viral. Since others have started sharing their Gaston experiences with others. Here are some others. This may be my favorite. I'm lucky enough to work in the same area on most days and it is amazing how big the line gets for this guy. I'm sure if videos of him go viral the lines will stay big too. I never saw him during my visit last October. That guy is fantastic. My daughter got her picture with him and it was so fun watching him interact with everybody. It's people like this guy, that truly love their job, that make the theme park experience great. That guy is fantastic. My daughter got her picture with him and it was so fun watching him interact with everybody. I do wonder though, how long it'll be until Disney stops this. Remember the Toy Story thing that happened....people would yell "Andy is coming" and they'd fall down in their place. That got stopped. While I know Gaston isn't doing the same type of thing, it seems like it's stuff that isn't scripted. I could see Disney telling him to stick to the script or be let go. The Toy Story characters never did fall down though. That was a false rumor. I don't think it would be possible to fully script a meet-and-greet character anyway. If it was, it wouldn't be preferable to a performer who is quick enough and understands his character well enough to interact organically with whatever comes his way. Fully scripted would feel a lot like talking to a tech support person who is semi-robotically parroting back lines out of their virtual "book" based on the things you say to them. Which is not particularly fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malem Posted January 10, 2015 Author Share Posted January 10, 2015 Hey, The Beast is one of my favorites, too! Oh, right... Not the same Beast... Au contraire. The Toy Story thing was discontinued because characters in costume can't reasonably drop to the ground over and over and over and over and over as people walk by yelling "Andy's coming!" all day every day. In a big fake head, that's a safety hazard. A cute thing that the performers were clearly trained to do, but when it went viral is was too much. Part of Gaston's schtick is his gloating. People will keep challenging him, and he'll continue to do things within limits. I'm sure there's a script in place for when things can't be done, and if lots and lots of people keep asking for push-up contests, that'll be added to the list of requests that only make him say "Proofs in the pudding" while he flexes his fake muscles. The Toy Story thing ended because it was damaging the costumes. Those costumes cost more than people's houses. I will share our Gaston pictures. Quite a funny experience. The costume characters at WDW and DL are the greatest! They are living representations of the characters, and it is a tough, tough job in the hot summer sun. To be their best, they have to love what they are doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malem Posted January 10, 2015 Author Share Posted January 10, 2015 Between character actors like this and the talking Mickey... Im beyond pumped to be taking the little guy to WDW this summer.... We are booked with a meal plan and flight.... We are ready! Have fun and take me. I'll fit in a suitcase Have you looked at baggage fees recently? Touche. That's almost a day at the parks. Not to mention I doubt even you weigh less than 50 pounds! Try UPS overnight....might be cheaper. There is an amount of ad-libbing allowed in most Attractions and Character positions at Disney. Take the Jungle Cruise--while there is a very lengthy and age-old script for it, skippers are allowed to insert some other things here and there. I've noticed subtle differences in the way the Princesses interact with kids in each of my visits. As for the characters, the only thing that must remain constant is the autograph style. Each person portraying the character must sign that name in the same way. They are given lots of practice before they're turned loose. As for Gaston, he is indeed a boastful but ultimately thick headed character. It thus wouldn't be uncommon for him to react to a physical challenge by showing off his muscles. Of course if everyone were to then challenge him, he could simply find a funny excuse to brush them off that would fit his character (I have to go look at myself in the mirror, I have to sit here and look fabulous, etc.). If he becomes popular enough again, perhaps Disney would add him top the FP+ lineup. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colonel_SoB_fan Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 Thanks for the recreate. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homestar92 Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 OK, now I'm curious. Did you get this from Google's cached version, or from the Internet Archive, or do you just have a cron job set up to run a nightly recursive wget of KIC? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malem Posted January 11, 2015 Author Share Posted January 11, 2015 ^ I had a few threads, including this one, open in tabs on my desktop. Here's another: http://belle.zzxc.net/fun/tmp/springfield.jpg (See, Goble, there sometimes are advantages to keeping browser tabs open.) 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shark6495 Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 The mall topic was really fun... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldiesmann Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Already posted this in the "Random Video of the Day" topic, but I'll post it here as well since it's relevant. Another girl has apparently humiliated Gaston recently. This was posted 6 days ago and has already gotten over 1.5 million views... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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