News New Changes Coming to the Disney Look 2021

[Nubs70]

Yes, this is the reason most men wear skirts

There is obviously an outlier in every situation. Let us not get stuck in the weeds as we both understand that men wearing skirts because they feel more comfortable airing the boys out is not what is being discussed here.

Nothing like a little breeze on the berries on a hot day.

 

[celluloid]

To be fair to Walt, the grooming codes his management team instituted, called "The Disneyland Look" at the time, did not come along until the early 1960's. Even during the first couple of years, the grooming codes weren't in place to any real extent. Many of Disneyland's restaurants and retail were outsourced to other companies at first, and Walt couldn't really control their employees. That was one of the things he changed as soon as their leases started running out in the late 1950's.

The famous ban on mustaches didn't exist until 1957 or '58. Van Arland France, the director of the Disneyland University training department didn't codify a lot of what we now know as the basics of Disney theme park operation until the early 1960's.

There was a famous story that Van France would tell later in the 20th century, who knows if it's true or not, about Mrs. Disney seeing a young shop clerk going to her job at The Emporium with a very fashionable yet towering beehive hairdo, when those came into vogue around 1962. She complained to Walt that the girl looked too modern, and Walt told Van France to write new rules about ladies hairdo's into the Disneyland Look codes.

It was all part of the process. It didn't pop into immediate being on July 18th, 1955. It got going later in the 1950's, and didn't really gel into place until around 1961-63. By the time Walt took all those Disneyland managers to help operate the World's Fair pavilions in 1964, the Disneyland Look had been pretty much codified and understood as part of the park's foundational principles.

Later, the Disneyland Look standards were changed to the Disney Look standards after WDW opened and the same principles were brought out to Florida. They have evolved ever since as styles and standards change.

Some things were strictly in place though outside of grooming.
For example, the Storybook Canal boats were only allowed to be narrated by women.

 

[TP2000]

You're posting utter foolishness in this thread because you didn't bother Reading The Friendly Manual...

https://disneycasting.net/downloads/wdpr/Disney_Look_Book.pdf

Those things that are causing your fainting spells are still not allowed.

They are. I am objecting to the two photos they used in that guidebook. Specifically;

• The Jungle Cruise skipper with the visible flower tattoo.
• The Haunted Mansion butler with the matching gold hoop earrings and black fingernail polish.

That means visible tattoos are now allowed, and men can wear dangly earrings and paint their fingernails in any vibrant color.

Of course the two CM's they chose to display this change were put in the most flattering of circumstances and costumes. But the reality for tens of thousands of CM's working all over Disney property will look far less curated and tailored. There will be trashy looking tats done by strip mall artistes all over the place, and random men sporting purple nails and dangly-spangly earrings while dressed up as 1860's cowboys or 1950's soda jerks or 1930's bellhops.

All of those things used to have to be removed and/or concealed before a CM stepped out on stage to work in the parks. No longer.

I am of the opinion these changes have been made to prevent Disney from paying higher wages and/or providing a better work environment to attract top talent.

Some of these changes are no big deal and probably needed to be addressed. Like the ability for a Sikh to wear a turban.

But no longer asking a man to remove his pearl-drop earrings before he goes to work in a cowboy outfit in Frontierland is simply the lowering of standards to avoid paying higher wages and offering better employee benefits.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

And that's the thing... That's just an opinion. Other folks consider dressing as who you are professional. Others believe clean cut is professional. So it doesn't matter.

I looked up how to dress professional on “wiki how” -

View attachment 548853

 

[TP2000]

Some things were strictly in place though outside of grooming.
For example, the Storybook Canal boats were only allowed to be narrated by women.

Not at first. Storybook Land Canal Boats (called Canal Boats of the World in 1955) was operated by men for the first few years. Only after the name was changed to Storybook Land and the engineering behind the boats had improved to the point that ride operators weren't having to do on-the-fly engine maintenance when their boat died out on the canal was that ride changed to women only.

Here is a photo from 1955, when it was Canal Boats of the World (AKA "the mud bank ride" because there wasn't anything but muddy banks to look at) showing the male ride operator at the rear right of the boat wearing the cap.

And here is a photo from Life Magazine in 1957 also showing a male ride operator standing at the back of the seating compartment operating the boat.

This photo below is from 1958 and you can see that the Storybook Land villages have been filled in. Men are still operating the ride, as seen by the male with his arms crossed at the back of the boat on the right, or the man with the hat in the boat at left. They didn't have loudspeakers then either, the hosts just sort of bellowed and pointed out what you were seeing along the riverbanks.

By about 1960 the operation of this Fantasyland attraction had been improved enough and feminized enough that only women were allowed to operate the attraction. That ladies only rule lasted until the mid 1990's, at the same time women were allowed to operate the Jungle Cruise, Submarines and Canoes, and men were allowed to operate the Tiki Room, Mr. Lincoln, and CircleVision.

Here we see Storybook Land Canal Boats in the early 1960's. The men are gone, replaced by lovely hostesses in red frocks who perch on the back of the boat and finally use microphones to deliver their spiels to the passengers.

The operation of Disneyland, and the codifying of its principles and management techniques did not just instantly pop into being in July, 1955. It was a years long process that wasn't really finished until the early 1960's. That includes CM grooming standards and rules for how they appeared in the park.

 

[Disney Analyst]

No worries.

I'm not sure why we aren't allowed to talk about this in the Disneyland forum either. But I respect the owner of the site if that's his decision, and he made it convenient for us by linking to this discussion from the Disneyland forum.

It was just a response to @Disney Analyst who somehow objected to Disneyland regulars posting here on this forum, as though we needed to ask permission or something. I didn't really get it either, but at least it made me chuckle!

No objection, just an observation. Seeing as I was chuckling about it with another Disneyland regular

 

[disneygeek90]

Yes, this is the reason most men wear skirts

There is obviously an outlier in every situation. Let us not get stuck in the weeds as we both understand that men wearing skirts because they feel more comfortable airing the boys out is not what is being discussed here.

A transgender woman wearing a dress is not the same as a man wearing a dress. Don’t confuse the two. And, to your point, I don’t think we will see a lot of male identified people that choose this. But it is available now for everyone.

 

[TP2000]

No objection, just an observation. Seeing as I was chuckling about it with another Disneyland regular

Well, I'm glad you now have the knowledge behind why a bunch of us Disneyland regulars are here slumming it on this side. Our invitation to chat here was actually engraved on lovely vellum by the owner of the website.

 

[Figgy1]

Well, I'm glad you now have the knowledge behind why a bunch of us Disneyland regulars are here slumming it on this side. Our invitation to chat here was actually engraved on lovely velum by the owner of the website.

Totally off topic but it's ramps season . BTW how's your convertible shop? Now back to your bickering

 

[WondersOfLife]

I looked up how to dress professional on “wiki how” -

View attachment 548853View attachment 548854

Okay?? “traditional dress code” is probably not going to be the new traditional in the next decade or so.

 

[TP2000]

Totally off topic but it's ramps season . BTW how's your convertible shop? Now back to your bickering

You are killing me! I love it!

I was at a stylish resort last week, as I was invited by old friends to get out of California for a breath of fresh air and a dose of sanity. The hip restaurant had this on the menu and I had to ask the waitress. I wish I had recorded for you her pretentious yet informative little spiel about the importance of ramps in springtime cooking! It really is a thing. Who knew?!?

 

[Oddysey]

A transgender woman wearing a dress is not the same as a man wearing a dress. Don’t confuse the two. And, to your point, I don’t think we will see a lot of male identified people that choose this. But it is available now for everyone.

With genuine respect I ask where did I confuse the two? Also and with genuine respect, if in your view I did confuse the them, please describe the difference between a transgender woman wearing a dress and a man wearing a dress so that I do not repeat my mistake.

 

[Figgy1]

You are killing me! I love it!

I was at a stylish resort last week, as I was invited by old friends to get out of California for a breath of fresh air and a dose of sanity. The hip restaurant had this on the menu and I had to ask the waitress. I wish I had recorded for you her pretentious yet informative little spiel about the importance of ramps in springtime cooking! It really is a thing. Who knew?!?

You may need to turn in your foodie card

 

[disneygeek90]

With genuine respect I ask where did I confuse the two? Also and with genuine respect, if in your view I did confuse the them, please describe the difference between a transgender woman wearing a dress and a man wearing a dress so that I do not repeat my mistake.

Alright, I’ll bite once on this and I’ll respectfully bow out of further conversation regarding this.

You said- “The person dressed in said manner has a condition where their brain perceives that they are female, but were given the body of a male.”

I think you’re trying but the way you phrased it is kind of insulting. Transgender people aren’t broken. They’re not sick. A transgender woman is a woman, not a man. If you disagree I won’t be able to change your mind, but I’m not going to worry about how other people want to present themselves to society.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Okay?? “traditional dress code” is probably not going to be the new traditional in the next decade or so.

We shall see. The pendulum is always turning... I mean the turntable is always swinging. How does it go?

 

[ToTBellHop]

Oh, my God, he has black nail polish!

Wait...there’s absolutely nothing unprofessional here and the deviants will still only work for Six Flags?

Time to move on.

 

[Smooth]

I see and hear people "expressing" themselves everyday out here in the "real" world. That is why so many of us made WDW our escape from all of that. Disney created a fantasy world. A place that doesn't exist outside that Disney bubble. A " happy place" that expresses the lands that we are visiting. Cast Members are the supporting cast for all of that. It allows us to kind of become kids again with our kids and all of us go along with the fantasy. CMs looking like the world we just left ruins the illusion.

 

[UNCgolf]

I see and hear people "expressing" themselves everyday out here in the "real" world. That is why so many of us made WDW our escape from all of that. Disney created a fantasy world. A place that doesn't exist outside that Disney bubble. A " happy place" that expresses the lands that we are visiting. Cast Members are the supporting cast for all of that. It allows us to kind of become kids again with our kids and all of us go along with the fantasy. CMs looking like the world we just left ruins the illusion.

I would understand this complaint more if the new guidelines were that there are no guidelines.

But you're not going to see people with blue or pink or green hair, or facial tattoos/piercings, or sleeve tattoos on their arms. As I said earlier in this thread, I am guessing the vast majority of people will never even notice a change was made when seeing CMs in the parks.

 

[ToTBellHop]

We all agree CMs do extraordinary work. We should support their employer showing them enough respect to allow them to present themselves in a way that makes them feel comfortable yet still professional.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

We all agree CMs do extraordinary work. We should support their employer showing them enough respect to allow them to present themselves in a way that makes them feel comfortable yet still professional.

Honestly this attitude sums up so much of what is wrong with political debates these days. If I like the historical “Disney look” that automatically means I’m against CM’s?

Same argument with Splash... if I like splash mountain and wish it would stay as is I’m automatically a racist.

Heck the reason I feel like the Disney look matters is because Disney themselves taught me that!