Tom, Katie, Suri and Connor Cruise visit Magic Kingdom

[SCUBAbe]

Originally Posted by Stitchy

that's not very fair to the rest of us, is it? The rich and famous get to buy their way around anything, and we get the leftovers? Not very "walt" like.

how is it not fair? call them up and see if you can buy it for a night. Not everyone gets into club 33 either and that was very "walt" like.

[pixie chick]

Those are some great family pictures. Very cute!

Look at all the people in the background taking pictures, though! Every time I think I would love to trade places with a celebrity, seeing how even a simple family vacation turns into a major production, I'm not sure. It's a double-edged sword at the very least, I guess.

[TDRFAN25]

They photos of Suri of really cute. She is totally have the time of her life.

[SusieP.]

Originally Posted by Stitchy

another question......can you buy time with the characters like that....or is that another "you gotta be famous" thing?

Of course you can. There's a price list for everything!

[disneytim]

Originally Posted by Stitchy

another question......can you buy time with the characters like that....or is that another "you gotta be famous" thing?

You gotta be famous . . . and why not? I say good for them.

Suri looks adorable in her princess dress. Too bad her dad is such a weirdo.

[aimster]

Originally Posted by mikelieman

Tom Cruise? The fact that he's an insane cult member always creeps me out. I hate seeing his kind get any PR.

There is no Science in Scientology, and it's not a religion because real religions don't charge you to read the next chapter of the bible.

He was probably on his way to Clearwater to visit his fellow whack-a-doodles.

[MonkeyDishwasher]

Originally Posted by Stitchy

another question......can you buy time with the characters like that....or is that another "you gotta be famous" thing?

You probably can buy it, but why does a celebrity probably get it for free and in such a public location? Because:

1. It's a good memory for the celebrity in question, thus it becomes a positive endorsement for the Park as well. A celebrity Guest enjoying their parks is the cheapest way to get an extra bit of airtime and internet interest out into the media. If the celebrity has a good time, they'll probably come back, and what everyday Guest doesn't want to have the chance to see their favorite celeb there? Hey, look, it actually COULD happen!

2. It does not further disrupt another Guests' enjoyment of the park. Imagine waiting in line to visit the Princesses in Toon Town, only to be told you have to wait another 20+ minutes because "some celebrity" gets to have one on one time with them. OR you could send a Princess or whomever else to a lovely photo location that in no further way impacts the other Guests' wait. The celeb is happy (endorsement), and the Park is happy (publicity).

3. Again, FREE(-ish) publicity!

I'm sure you could buy it for a price, but as a private purchaser of said experience, you'd probably only get backdoored into the Toon Town meet and greet locations or something. Mostly because, let's face it, no one's going to care to see your picture in the tabloids, whereas they will want to see a celebrity. That location has been used for several shoots over the years, I've seen the pictures that come out afterwards (several with Miley Cyrus, Vanesss Williams [or was that DL?]), a Food Network judging on a cake competition, and There are definitely more). Random rich people that would be unnoticable in a crowd? Zero.

[Bryce05]

Originally Posted by Stitchy

The rich and famous get to buy their way around anything, and we get the leftovers? Not very "walt" like.

Walt created Club 33.

Edit: Somebody already mentioned this.

[urbandonovan]

Putting up the Cruise family in the suite would be the same basic "whale" principle that the Vegas casinos use. Make your RICH guests happy and they are more apt to drop a big wad in the parks.

[KevinYee]

As cynical as I am, sometimes even I realize there are pragmatic realities that trump the sinister conspiracies we sometimes think we see. For decades, the highly visible celebrities would be carted around DL and WDW backstage, and with free Guest Relations support, for the simple reason that to NOT offer it would be disruptive to the day guests. Imagine the crowd following Mailey Cyrus or Johnny Depp if they just sauntered about from Space Mountain to the teacups, all day long.

The same principle applies to the characters; give them private access. Doing it on the lawn is a bit risky - it does look elitist - but it's a great publicity shot for the park. They knew bloggers and news agencies would run the photos, and the great pics make the MK look like a fun vacation for us regular Joe's.

The same principle - avoid undue crowds - also applies to the private suite, IMHO.

Doesn't mean I'm not envious. I am. But in this instance, I can't see how I would have acted any different if you had put me in charge of their visit.

[TDLFAN]

The cynical me says: Disney offered *everything* (including Castle Suite) for free, in exchange of having the Cruises pose for pictures that are obviously allowed to be used for marketing purposes. Now they can even say.. "Tom Cruise took a leak in the royal toilet and slept in this bed..." so they can charge more for it's use, if indeed they plan to rent this suite for the night.

[sailerm]

I'm not a fan of Tom Cruise, never have been, and since his Scientology views have become more pronounced over the last couple of years, I've cared for him even less, but being rich and famous does have it's rewards, doing anything you dang well please, when ever you like, no matter what the price is definatly one of them.

Rich famous celebetries will always be treated in a special manner, subjected to perks that you the common poor folk will never have, the least of which is having a $9 an hour kid in a rubber mask kissing up to an over privileged 3 year old of some film star.

meh

[KevinYee]

I'm just waiting for someone to photoshop the pic of Tom on Dumbo, but make it upside down.

"We were... inverted."

[FigmentJedi]

Originally Posted by TDLFAN

The cynical me says: Disney offered *everything* (including Castle Suite) for free, in exchange of having the Cruises pose for pictures that are obviously allowed to be used for marketing purposes. Now they can even say.. "Tom Cruise took a leak in the royal toilet and slept in this bed..." so they can charge more for it's use, if indeed they plan to rent this suite for the night.

But Tom Cruise has become less popular as he's become more of a Scientologist nutjob. Hell, it's some of that wackjobbery trying to be hidden that started those protests that have really caused numbers inside the "Church" to drop by the thousands.

[astrologic]

Welp, at least Suri is looking cute.