New modern day costumes coming to American Adventure?

[tracyandalex]

I am not really a fan of the new costumes. I think the old ones needed to be changed, but not to something that looks like flight attendants, school uniforms, and railroad drivers of old. Those costumes do not say america to me

 

[Goofnut1980]

A baseball cap? so funny looking...

 

[RSoxNo1]

Does anyone know what, if anything, happened to CM Lonnie for leaking this information and taking the stance that he did?

It would be a shame to lose such a great CM, but I can't imagine that Disney just shrugged off his statements.

What was said?

 

[flynnibus]

What was said?

he was quoted in the orlando attractions magazine article posted earlier in the thread and had posted comments online about the upcoming changes. Go back to the start of the thread..

 

[Viget]

I don't know. The food ones look like McDonald's type of outfits. To me if anything says food service uniforms in the United States, I would say it would be McDonalds. Anyway, I don't really think it's a big deal anyway. Somethings change and it's not a huge deal. If there was no dress code and the people could wear jeans and a t-shirt (like Target) I would get upset. I'm sure that most people wouldn't even realize this changed.

Right... that's exactly true. See since America's predominantly a service economy this makes absolute sense. Now all we need is different colors for the costumes, the alphas get grey, the betas get red, the gammas get green, the deltas get khaki and the epsilons get black.

 

[Viget]

And if you look very carfefully, you can almost make out the Delta Air lines symbol on the card at the end of the lanyard, and I *swear* the pocket on the food services uniform has a McD's golden arches on it!

 

[RSoxNo1]

To the readers that didn't read the original article, here it is.

 

[BrittanyRose428]

I really hope the Voices of Liberty costumes remain unchanged. I mean, what era of American clothing would you associate "liberty" with? Those should really stay colonial looking.

 

[G00fyDad]

These new costumes do not say "Welcome to America" to me. They have a little more of a "Welcome to Delta. Can I help you find your seat?" feel to them.

So, if they update the outfits to "keep up with the times" are they going to demolish the American Pavilion buildings and build more contemporary ones?

 

[c-one]

Timeless? The costumes look like Japanese stereotypes of how Americans dress.

But aren't the other WS costumes stereotypes of how other cultures dress?

 

[JustInTime]

But aren't the other WS costumes stereotypes of how other cultures dress?

Yep. And that is why they are all being changed. Starting with America.

 

[unkadug]

A baseball cap? so funny looking...

Yeah, it would be much more realistic if the hat was turned around backwards and the pants were pulled down below the buttocks revealing Mickey Mouse Boxer Shorts!

 

[xdan0920]

The costumes at The American Adventure were my favorite thing in all of Walt Disney World.

I cannot believe they changed them.

My upcoming trips will be ruined.

Very clever....

 

[xdan0920]

It appears the reason for the change was because the American Adventure and American Pavilion as a whole were never meant to transport you back in time to colonial times that is what Liberty Square is for. The update is to provide a more timeless look for the CMs since the AA covers up until post 9-11 and not just colonial history.

Read this post.

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...merican-adventure.840207/page-24#post-5134239

 

[lazyboy97o]

But aren't the other WS costumes stereotypes of how other cultures dress?

Yep. And that is why they are all being changed. Starting with America.

The stereotypical costumes were chosen and maintained for three decades for a reason. Themed entertainment is a highly visual medium. The costume, as an artifact of the theme, needs to read quickly for as many people as possible.

 

[JustInTime]

The stereotypical costumes were chosen and maintained for three decades for a reason. Themed entertainment is a highly visual medium. The costume, as an artifact of the theme, needs to read quickly for as many people as possible.

I agree. I hate the changes.

 

[thedisneyfan]

I agree. I hate the changes.

Ditto. The theme of AA is colonial. The building is colonial. Costumes of WS need to distinctly tell a story about the country. Generic costuming simply won't do in WS, ever. It's just like when they had the managers go from themed costumes to suits. Awful. Instead of being creative and giving each manager a more elaborate costume to make them stand out from the rest of the regular cast members, they made them stand out like sore thumbs. It detracts from the authenticity of the themed area that Walt wanted fixed in Walt Disney World when Disneyland had cast members from different themed areas passing through other themed areas. Generic is never the way to go, especially not for Disney.

 

[thedisneyfan]

It appears the reason for the change was because the American Adventure and American Pavilion as a whole were never meant to transport you back in time to colonial times that is what Liberty Square is for. The update is to provide a more timeless look for the CMs since the AA covers up until post 9-11 and not just colonial history.

Wrong! The entire pavilion was meant to evoke Colonial America. Otherwise they can just redo the buildings into a square gray concrete and glass block generic building from the 1970's to go along with the horrid costumes. Maybe we can update Mainstreet USA costumes with polyester bell bottoms and ruffle shirts?

 

[wilkeliza]

Wrong! The entire pavilion was meant to evoke Colonial America. Otherwise they can just redo the buildings into a square gray concrete and glass block generic building from the 1970's to go along with the horrid costumes. Maybe we can update Mainstreet USA costumes with polyester bell bottoms and ruffle shirts?

Like I said guys don't shoot the messenger. I work at EPCOT and that was the reasoning I was told by several cast members who work at AA. Way to know when you guys hate something ya'll are completely set on hating it. Many of the CMs are happy with the change because the costumes are much better for those that stand in the heat for long hours of the day.

 

[COProgressFan]

Like I said guys don't shoot the messenger. I work at EPCOT and that was the reasoning I was told by several cast members who work at AA. Way to know when you guys hate something ya'll are completely set on hating it. Many of the CMs are happy with the change because the costumes are much better for those that stand in the heat for long hours of the day.

It's not a matter of shooting the messager, but recognizing BS when you see it, or at least seeing the faulty logic from whomever made the costume change. I'm sure CM's were told the reason was because the pavilion was not supposed represent colonial times, but the original design intent (as some other posters illustrated with photos) was to do just that.

We all know it's not the CM's fault that management is so clueless. Front line CM's are always the ones to deal with the boneheaded decisions of folks from above who "know better". I'm sure that the new costumes are more comfortable. But it would have been nice to see redesigned costumes that perhaps are more comfy, or use more breathable fabrics or are more flattering to various body shapes but still fit the colonial theme. Instead of unique colonial America costumes that fit their surroundings, we have a generic costume that is a cross between McDonalds and Delta Airlines. There was no reason to dumb them down like this.