Credit: Justin AldridgeDisney Character Performers bring the magic of our favorite films and television shows to life. Throughout Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort, Guests can step into the worlds of Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, Indiana Jones, and more!
The Disney Parks are for everyone aged one to one hundred. Similarly, entertainment Cast Members are happy to interact with Guests of all ages. Unfortunately, adult Guests often behave inappropriately with Disney Characters.
Disney Princess actresses regularly recount sexual harassment and inappropriate touching from grown men. Costumed characters like Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse often suffer injuries from rough adults pulling on their costumes. This week, former Disney Character Performer Justin Aldridge spoke to The Mirror about the harassment he experienced at Walt Disney World Resort.
Aldridge worked at Disney’s Hollywood Studios until 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the Star Wars and Toy Story (1995) performances he acted in. He spoke of “misbehaving moms,” who often treated Aldridge as poorly or worse than handsy dads with Disney Princesses.
“Vacation brain is definitely a thing,” the former Disney Cast Member said. “People lose their inhibitions but also their common sense.”
“I was groped constantly as a Green Army Man,” he recalled. “I’m lucky to have male privilege so I know that they wouldn’t hurt me, but it did get a bit annoying. A lot of women – including moms – would slip their hands down lower and lower while waiting on a photo to be taken. Mostly, the women would be fine with that but on occasion, they could get a bit aggressive.”
Aldridge often found himself treated as a prop rather than a person.
“I’d also get some women who would use me as a prop and wrap their leg around me for a photo, but we can’t have photos like that ending up online, so I always had to put a stop to it,” he said.
At Jedi Training in Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Aldridge expected to entertain the children invited onstage. But he found that many women regularly watched the show, familiarizing themselves with the male performers.
“One girl, who used to come to the show three times a week, got the location coordinates of our stage tattooed on her arm,” Aldridge said. “She was perfectly fine, though, we all just wondered how she could afford to come to Disney World so often.”
“It did get a bit scary when one of my castmates had a stalker,” he continued. “At first, she was just a fan like the others, but then she showed up to where he was playing sports and then found out where he lived. He had to get a restraining order in the end.”
Rowdy Bachelorette parties were a problem, too.
“I was concentrating on my dialogue, and suddenly, I heard one of them shout – ‘You can use the force on me any time you want,’” Aldridge told The Mirror. “I looked up and made the mistake of making eye contact with the heckler, which just opened us up to around five minutes straight of rude comments and heckling.”
“Everyone took it in good fun, but then one of the women started dancing suggestively and sucking on her finger,” he recounted. “At that point, our stage manager had to beg another Cast Member to move them along so we could get on with our show.”
Still, the former Disney Character Performer felt he had it easier than the Disney Princesses and female Cast Members.
“The moms could be intense if they had vacation brains, but it was usually harmless,” Aldridge said. “Men, however, would be creeps to the Princesses daily, and Cast Members would regularly swap horror stories. I worked in Disney for five years and genuinely loved working with so many fantastic people and putting smiles on people’s faces.”
Have you witnessed Guests misbehaving with Disney Character Performers? Share your experience with Inside the Magic in the comments.
Please note that the story outlined in this article is based on a personal Disney Parks Cast Member experience. No two employee experiences are alike, and this article does not necessarily align with Inside the Magic’s personal views on Disney Park operations.