I think a lot of it has to do with the perception of accessibility in Orlando. It's not like Hollywood where everyone is rather jaded and understanding that performers do a job and there is a disconnect between performer and person. On the west coast, when people interact with performers it's all with ingrained understanding that they're performing.
In Orlando that schism is much muddier because it's a tourist town, not a performance down. The success of the performer boils to their ability to engage the audience in a way that FEELS personal and genuine. When Princess Aurora waves, she's waving AT me because she SEES me. It's not a performance. It's real. It's the "magic" of the Orlando parks (including Universal). For a lot of the more obsessive locals, I think, that sensation breaks them and they lose track of the idea that there are boundaries.
I saw a compelling post on Facebook regarding the woman who plays Chance. She's had hundreds of roles across the southeast. Television, stage, etc. But she will forever be tied to playing a scary clown at a theme park. And most of the people who know her name will only EVER see her as that while refusing to acknowledge anything else she's done. And really, as an amateur performer, I think that has to be a fairly melancholy feeling.
