Originally Posted By GalDisney Once the lawyers for both parties get involved and look at the evidence, etc. there will be a decision whether this will go to court. It may not end up in court..it may be thrown out of court, which would be a good thing if indeed Tigger is innocent.
Originally Posted By FenwayGirl I am from the NE( although the Boston area and not up North)and I think that this family is NUTS! Tigger is a playful character...don't think he punched the kid, but was playing with him. I have pictures from last year that show Tigger putting my granddaughters long ponytail in her face...should I sue??
Originally Posted By Liberty Belle ^^^ I have a picture of the Big Bad Wolf trying to put his jaws around my sister's head. That's abuse, right? >>A law suit???!!! Jeese<< I agree. Even if the kid is innocent or they truly believe he's innocent, a law suit doesn't exactly garner public sympathy. It seems so opportunistic. What permanent damage has been caused to this kid to justify a lawsuit? He said himself that he could "still feel it even through the padded gloves" - well, okay, I can feel the hands on my back through padded gloves. That doesn't exactly sound like he's seriously injured. I agree with what's been said here about the costumed characters being a thing of the past if this continues - I hadn't thought of it until I read that, but it's entirely possibly and if so, it would be a REAL shame. At the very least, ticket prices will probably rise further to cover the potential damage caused by lawsuits. The other thing is, isn't it kind of wrong to put this on the news? If I'd seen this sort of thing as a kid, I would have been really upset. It either proves that the characters aren't REALLY walking around the park (there were a few comments about him "stepping out of his costume" to apologise) or the kids will think that their beloved movie character actually punched someone. Either way, it just seems wrong to me - can't kids keep their pixie dust for as long as possible?
Originally Posted By Shadow wolf Looking at the video and reading the reports I know this is really overblown. Reading the reports the father first thought it was his kids fault! That and the kid's hand is behind Tigger, and Tigger head does come up before he turns around. To me it looks like the kid was tugging on the suit so it made Tigger lose his balance and he had to grab on the kid to regain it and turn around to move it off his back. Since the kid still was hanging on Tigger he got pulled forward from the turn so that place his head right in the path of the hand by accident. Now in the video the kid has a smug smile on his face like he was doing something foolish and he still has it on his face AFTER the contact! If I was punched in the face I would NOT have a smile on my face. That and Tigger patted the kid's shoulder and shook his hand, something someone would not do if they intentionally struck someone. Now I will admit a character has turned around like that to move my arm away. Apparently I accidentally tugged a bit too sudden in the back area and that choked them a bit. Thankfully the the CM with the character and myself apologized to eachother and Chip so no worries.
Originally Posted By kennect What a bunch of bull all of this is...My only question is who called the media to pick up on this story? I think I know the answer...
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Originally Posted By kennect Mr X, Agreed in total...Anything involving a court would be laughable...
Originally Posted By Mr X Disney generally does a lot to avoid court, both because they strive for guest satisfaction AND because they don't want to take the chance at a potential verdict against them. When push comes to shove though, you wouldn't want to go up against Disney in court! (I'm sure this family won't...they seem plenty "white trash"ish to me, oportunistic, and will probably snatch up any money offered with glee and never care about that all important "apology from Tigger" *rolls eyes*).
Originally Posted By Mr X One more thing...having worked at Disney and all that, I know how tough the character job must be. If anything ever happened where my kid got hurt, I'm almost certain I'd chalk it up to "accidental" (I've seen characters fall backwards and knock over baby carriadges! Scary, and sad if a kid gets hurt...but not the characters fault). But if I was SURE that a character actually DID intentionally and for no reason try to HARM my daughter...I'd have something to say about it. But at the same time, wouldn't it be more appropriate to bring the assaulter up on charges, rather than trying to bilk a big company for cash? Unless there were medical bills to take care of, I don't see the point. ?? Well of course, I DO see the "point", it's just shady.
Originally Posted By fkurucz After seeing the video my reaction was "that's it?". From all the commotion I figured it was something with a little more substance. It looked more like a half hearted slap.
Originally Posted By Mr X Talked to a friend who is a former entertainment cast member, who is pretty certain the kid was either trying to push the head off OR more likely grabbing the zipper and trying to unzip the costume. Having pointed that out, my friend also said it doesn't matter...it's still Tigger's fault because you're not supposed to react angrily like that. "Tigger was very stressed", my friend said.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN Good for Tigger. I can only imagine how stressful it must be for any tail wearing character to put up with abuse from those darn brats, pulling on their tails. It's too bad Disney doesn't allow the characters to hit and kick back when children of all ages are out of control!!! Maybe aprents would then be more keen to have their brats under control instead of harrasing the characters.
Originally Posted By oc_dean I just caught this news today ... saw the video ... and all I can think is ... THIS FAMILY IS SOOOOOOO LITIGIOUS .. THEY MAKE ME SICK!
Originally Posted By melekalikimaka I just watched the video on the evening news (much larger than the pc video)and it almost looks like Tigger put one arm down and the kid's arm kind of got stuck, then the kid started to fall backwards and Tigger reached over to stop the kid from falling over the metal railing behind them. After Tigger's hand touches his face, Tigger's arm reaches back and sort of pulls the kid forward a little. The dad is so riled up like it *just* happened...but yet the press is there and filming his complaint?
Originally Posted By ssWEDguy >> I agree with what's been said here about the costumed characters being a thing of the past if this suit continues << Not necessarily. They could have the guests sign a release form at the front of the character queue. They could use the same pen they're going to use when the character signs their book.
Originally Posted By dizneed Why is the manager not taking a bit of heat for this, as he or she was not around to possibly avoid all of this hoop-la! I think Tigger (despite the hand contact) still stayed professional...I did'nt hear him speak in the video, he did stay quiet as he was supposed to?? The credibility scale tips more towards the castmember rather than the family IMO. As TDL says, some kids and parents ARE real brats!
Originally Posted By mrichmondj This is just part of the oost of doing business in America these days. Just think about what portion of your admission ticket goes toward legal battles (small and large) with families like this.
