News New Changes Coming to the Disney Look 2021

[disneygeek90]

There are a lot of changes that individually aren't a huge deal, but combined lead to an overall decrease in show quality.

Allowing CM's to take their costumes home, so you see them in full costume pumping gas after work? Sure not a huge deal, but not a plus either.
Visible tattoos on CM's inside the park? Individually not a huge deal, but combined with the lower service, wearing costumes homes, etc- it gives CM's a very different public perception.

Is that a change? I’ve seen CM outfits in both gas stations and Publix. As a local it’s really not weird, and I’d expect it’s mostly locals that are the ones that will come across this.

 

[SuddenStorm]

The bulk of these changes were to widen the labor pool and thus make the costs of labor cheaper for the company. Higher standards require higher pay. Lower standards allow for lower pay.

Do we think that an increase in mobile services like mobile food order, tickets, fastpass, etc through the app is contributing to this as well? If Disney isn't going to rely on the CM's for basic transactions, they don't necessarily need to pay for the best of the best.

 

[SuddenStorm]

Is that a change? I’ve seen CM outfits in both gas stations and Publix. As a local it’s really not weird, and I’d expect it’s mostly locals that are the ones that will come across this.

At least in Anaheim, CM's weren't allowed to wear their costumes outside the park. They checked out their costumes from costuming when they got to work, changed in the employee locker rooms, and changed back into their street clothes before returning their costumes to costuming to be washed.

Disney started allowing CM's to wear their costumes home and launder them themselves around the late '90s.

 

[WillWrambles]

Disney would say that, because that is good PR.

They say it because it’s true. Why do you think I’m not going back until streetmosphere is back? Why do you think I near revolted when Nemo got canned? CM’s ARE the magic!

 

[corran horn]

One could make a valid argument that Disney has invested Billions and Billions of dollars over the decades into their parks and their physical structures. Have they invested that much into the people who work in those facilities? I don't know that they have.

It might not be a bad thing if they started investing as much into CM's as they do into park benches and trashcans.

Allowing these changes is investment. As people in this thread have noted, it doesn't come without cost. It'll affect the guest experience for some.

Disney would say that, because that is good PR. Especially in an HR training class. But people don't fly across the Atlantic because a CM is going to ask them to pull on their yellow tab, they fly across the Atlantic because they get to go on Space Mountain.

So you're saying the concept of 'Disney Magic' is wholly enabled by technology and rides and not castmembers?

This is a way to broaden the labor pool and suppress future wage growth. You may now get some tatted up darling person who makes for a fabulous churro salesman but never applied because of their tats, but that's not why these changes were made.

The bulk of these changes were to widen the labor pool and thus make the costs of labor cheaper for the company. Higher standards require higher pay. Lower standards allow for lower pay.

The social winds are blowing in this direction. I'm not sure it's to 'broaden the labor pool'. That's probably a side benefit for Disney though. I imagine the push for Disney to pay living wages will grow, rather than retreat, in the coming year(s).

 

[TP2000]

Do we think that an increase in mobile services like mobile food order, tickets, fastpass, etc through the app is contributing to this as well? If Disney isn't going to rely on the CM's for basic transactions, they don't necessarily need to pay for the best of the best.

Sure. All of those things lower labor costs. That's not exclusive to Disney, that's something all commerce and industry is tapping into new technology for.

But the costs of attracting, training, and maintaining a massive employee base of tens of thousands of people at their two American theme park complexes is huge. It behooves them to lower labor costs for both short-term gain and long-term prosperity. Lowering grooming standards is an easy way to do that.

It helps that they get to piggy-back the messaging of this onto a trendy "Inclusion" thing. But that's just convenient for them.

Although, there are a few of these changes that do seem to genuinely fall into that category, specifically around religious and cultural accommodations. That's because the Disney Look has always changed, always flexed and bended a bit as society changes.

This one though, this was a big one. And quite radical with its removal of gender-based rules. And the tats.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

If Disneyland really was a living history museum, a new take on Colonial Williamsburg or Fairfield Village

I think you mean “Greenfield Village” at the Henry Ford. They are more of Henry Fords personal collection of buildings and artifacts. Fantastic place to visit especially knowing the Disney history.

 

[TP2000]

They say it because it’s true. Why do you think I’m not going back until streetmosphere is back? Why do you think I near revolted when Nemo got canned? CM’s ARE the magic!

I don't know that anyone has said any different when it comes to professional entertainment like that. They are great little adds to the park experience, and they will continue. Cinderella will not be appearing with a You Only Live Once tat she regrets getting at spring break in Myrtle Beach five years ago. The Dapper Dans will not sing from the trolley wearing gorgeous pearl-drop earrings.

The show, for the most part, will go on. These changes are almost exclusively about the entry-level CM roles in the parks; the ride operators, custodians, ticket takers, shop clerks, burger flippers, busboys, etc.

 

[Nunu]

My first WDW visit was in '83. I remember being impressed with how CM's presented themselves back then, you could tell they made an effort and looked proud to be the faces of the best theme parks in the world. I remember thinking: "Wow, I'd love to be one of them!" To me, CM's definitely added to the whole experience. That being said, I understand times change, and for the record, earrings or a tattoo don't bother me.

As a company, it is in your best interest for employees to feel motivated and comfortable doing their jobs of providing good service. I just hope some standards remain so that what's left of the Disney Difference" isn't lost.

 

[TP2000]

I think you mean “Greenfield Village” at the Henry Ford. They are more of Henry Fords personal collection of buildings and artifacts. Fantastic place to visit especially knowing the Disney history.

Yes, thank you! I had just gone back to change it when you typed that. I knew it wasn't right after I typed it, but I had to think about it.

Like my Crystal Gail Gayle reference yesterday.

I went to Greenfield Village once. While waiting in the line for the Model T ride the guy asked me where I was from. I said "Villa Park, California" which of course got a blank stare. So I added "It's a few miles from Disneyland" and he lit right up. He told me all about how Walt had visited Greenfield Village in the 1950's when he was planning Disneyland, and that Henry Ford II gave him a personal red carpet tour of the whole facility.

It made me chuckle to think how proud he was that Walt had gone there for research. That's apparently the gold standard if Walt came to check out your place!

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Yes, thank you! I had just gone back to change it when you typed that. I knew it wasn't right after I typed it, but I had to think about it.

Like my Crystal Gail Gayle reference yesterday.

I went to Greenfield Village once. While waiting in the line for the Model T ride the guy asked me where I was from. I said "Villa Park, California" which of course got a blank stare. So I added "It's a few miles from Disneyland" and he lit right up. He told me all about how Walt had visited Greenfield Village in the 1950's when he was planning Disneyland, and that Henry Ford II gave him a personal red carpet tour of the whole facility.

It made me chuckle to think how proud he was that Walt had gone there for research. That's apparently the gold standard if Walt came to check out your place!

I had a similar encounter in the tin type photography shop. I think I was wearing a hat with the castle on it or something and they made certain to point out the photo of Walt & Ward Kimball.

 

[TP2000]

I had a similar encounter in the tin type photography shop. I think I was wearing a hat with the castle on it or something and they made certain to point out the photo of Walt & Ward Kimball.

I love that! They really do know their history there, appropriately enough. I imagine that visit helped pave the way for Henry Ford II to ask Walt to create Ford's big pavilion at the New York World's Fair a decade later.

Also, going back to transgender things, I ate at that old Colonial era roadhouse they have at Greenfield Village where they sit you at big long communal tables and you use long pasta as straws for their bourbon punch. I was paired with four people at the table; two rather boring upper-middle class housewives and two other ladies who were... quite clearly not born as ladies. This was about a decade ago, before there was so much talk about transgender stuff.

The two ladies were I guess transgender? Or just very low-key drag queens who hang out at museums? Or something gender non-conforming. I can't really keep up with the trendy labels.

But they had makeup and hair and outfits that looked more pulled together and coiffed than the average 21st century woman. They were an absolute delight to chat with over that long lunch! The other two women at the table were rather aghast and kept to themselves over stares, but I just chatted away with the "lady" tablemates about Michigan colleges and California gardening and all sorts of chirpy topics. It was really a delightful and memorable lunch in that unique restaurant.

I think the vast majority of Americans want to be polite and treat others as they would want to be treated. But when it comes to playing the role of a butler in an elaborate show like the Haunted Mansion, I would think it would be respectful and nice for the butler to take off his pearl-drop earrings before he steps onstage.

 

[Stevie Amsterdam]

Today on their Instagram account. Apparently effective immediately

Oh, and.... TRIGGER WARNING!

 

[Stevie Amsterdam]

And another one

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

View attachment 549297
Today on their Instagram account. Apparently effective immediately

Oh, and.... TRIGGER WARNING!

Walt Disney Imagineering is not Walt Disney World or Disneyland. Imagineering, like Pixar, Disney Animation, etc. has always had its own dress code.

Imagineers I’ve talked to at D23 events have had all sorts of extreme hair styles, tattoos and piercings.

 

[Sharon&Susan]

And another one
View attachment 549298

These are Imagineers right? The Disney Look has never applied to them as far as I'm aware (just look at Joe Rhode).

 

[Stevie Amsterdam]

Walt Disney Imagineering is not Walt Disney World or Disneyland. Imagineering, like Pixar, Disney Animation, etc. has always had its own dress code.

Imagineers I’ve talked to at D23 events have had all sorts of extreme hair styles, tattoos and piercings.

I thought that the topiary sculpters who work inside the park are "on stage" and therefore Cast Members? Nowhere did I mention all Disney employees so I'm not sure why you would try to educate me on the dress codes at their studios or an event like D23?

 

[Stevie Amsterdam]

I thought that the topiary sculpters who work inside the park are "on stage" and therefore Cast Members? Nowhere did I mention all Disney employees so I'm not sure why you would try to educate me on the dress codes at their studios or an event like D23?

Also I'm not trying to be shady or anything. I genuinly thought that all employees who work in the parks during visiting hours are on stage and therefore Cast Members. Or is it just the employees who work in food & bevs + attractions @TrainChasers ?

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Also I'm not trying to be shady or anything. I genuinly thought that all employees who work in the parks during visiting hours are on stage and therefore Cast Members. Or is it just the employees who work in food & bevs + attractions @TrainChasers ?

Disney Imagineers do not work “on stage” nor do they work for Walt Disney World or Disneyland. They work for Walt Disney Imagineering.

 

[Patcheslee]

So for past CMs with tattoos here, what happened before if you used a bandage or makeup to cover one up and the makeup started to wear or bandaid come off? Did you just wait for break to address or did you have to leave your post then to take care of it?