April 21, 2009

Back from vacation ...

Good to be back and catching up on all of the skating blogs out there. Thanks for coming back to mine, too.

Yup, Ice Charades to the kid to the House of Mouse - Walt Disney World itself. And just in time, because my 5-year old now tells me she doesn't like the Disney Princesses anymore.

Okaaay.

Well, she certainly was happy to see them after waiting in line (only 20 minutes, which isn't too bad actually - the line for Tinkerbell was more like 45 minutes).

I must say, I was impressed that all four princesses - Ariel, Cinderella, Belle and Sleeping Beauty did a good job of seeming interested in each little girl they posed with. After you seen hundreds (thousands?) a day, it must seem like a blur. It must be hard to stay in character.

Who knows what Mickey is mumbling to himself at the end of the day?

Where are you going with this, Ice Charades?

I'm glad you asked.



Seeing the princesses pose for photos reminded me of a show I did in Atami, Japan where we posed for photos and sold T-shirts to the audience before and after skating. While we never came close to the numbers these princesses see in a day, I must say we still got good at smiling. You don't want to waste Polaroid film - that stuff is expensive in Japan.

Was it cheesy and artificial? Sure. Did I feel like a shill? You bet. But we made a commission from our sales, so I smiled away, happy to be selling out.

I hope the Disney Princesses are making a commission off of the sales of their photos. That would explain why they didn't rush the kids through, instead engaging them in conversation ... perhaps to get more photos for parents to buy.

If they aren't making a commission, I'm doubly impressed. The House of Mouse has some magic charm indeed!

1 comment:

Ice Mom said...

You know, I always think it's less painful if the shilling act has a bit of class. Dignity and commission!