“Oh, my goodness! Look how beautiful you are,” says Mandi Crawford to a little girl she’s greeting off the tram at Silver Dollar City. “I’m so happy you’re here!”
The wonky world may not agree on much right now, but there’s no mistaking the heartwarming way kids connect to characters—to heroes. They aren’t always polished princesses but, sometimes, show up in a patched-up dress and a parasol just when you need a smile the most.
Crawford’s character Whoops E. Daisy’s name may sound like a mistake, but she’s been a purposeful presence at our park for more than 20 years. Confidently poised with an iconic pep in her step, Whoops E. Daisy is the grown-up version of young Mandi—the little girl with a twirl who was always entertaining her family in Iowa.
“Gosh, I was always dancing for them or making them watch my cheers and choreography,” she laughs. “I was always moving, always creating.”
Her family visited Silver Dollar City throughout her childhood. She clearly remembers her favorite souvenir, which would one day, help write her story.
“My personalized parasol,” she beams. “I know there are pictures somewhere back home of me carrying it around and jumping in the mud and rain with it.”
Her uncle Bill Bailey was a longtime cast member at the Silver Dollar Saloon, and she remembers dreaming of a way to make a living like that.
“He was famous around here, and I thought that was so wonderful,” she says. “I knew then that I wanted to find a way to make my mark and be remembered as a memory maker for families.”
While Whoops E. is known for her warm smile, her first job at The City actually didn’t show her face at all.
“I was in the summer parade as a Dancing Diva,” she recalls. I wore a full spandex body suit that covered my entire face. But I got to twirl around and get that first glimpse into what fun opportunities there were at The City for someone like me!”
There were so many opportunities. Mandi’s two-decade journey has allowed her to “be” all sorts of folks, including Miss Belle from the Christmas Saloon show, Lucky’s handler Abby Barker, and nearly every character in the park’s Christmas parade, which she is now the production manager of.
But, she chased her childhood dream to life 17 years ago when she auditioned to be an image character.
“Part of that process was coming up with an original character and writing a biography for them,” she smiles. “I loved the name Daisy, and then it hit me to make it Whoops E. Daisy. It was a joke at first, but then I started really hashing out her story.”
The origin of the name is something Whoops E’s fans may not even know about.
“The City has the Hatfields and McCoys, and my boss's name at the time was Roy McCoy,” she smiles. I figured I could be Roy’s niece, Elizabeth, who is coming to visit him but wants to get along with both feuding families. I call myself Whoops E. to disguise my identity as a McCoy. The “E” stands for Elizabeth!”
Once the name game was established, she worked on her trademark look for the audition biography.
“I like to wander in the woods and pick wildflowers,” she says as she points to the blooms in her side ponytail. “My dress is always getting caught on sticks and brush, so I have to patch it up all the time!”
Her leaders loved the character, so Mandi brought Whoops E. Daisy from those paper pages of the biography to life in The City streets.
Now in her 21st season, Mandi hopes Whoops E. Daisy’s legacy will be helping families be more present with their time.
“Technology is so handy, but it’s hard to notice the beauty in our world with your head down,” she says. “When I see a guest looking at their phone, I playfully ask them to look up, and then I show them something beautiful. It’s so easy these days to forget about life’s little joys. I want to pull people into the present and create a safe escape for them.”
The entire park is a stage for Mandi—an opportunity to connect with each person. She walks about four miles a day, stopping frequently to take pictures and make guests feel loved.
“It’s a therapeutic place for me and all that come through the door,” she says. “I always want to inspire them and love on them to be grateful for every day and all the memories. Memories with friends and family are priceless and the most important thing."
"Life is too short! We all go through hard times and situations at home and want the tough times to be over. I’m so blessed to come to such a happy place every day and help people escape their hard times, even if it’s for one day.”
As Public Relations Manager for the Silver Dollar City Company, she is eager to tap into her journalism background to hunt down “heart tugs” to write about—those stories that celebrate…
