If You're Planning on Going to Disney World as Ariel

[Alveric]

Don't do it! Or at least don't do it too well. A fifteen-year-old girl, dressed as Tinkerbell was asked to remove or cover up her costume because it was too good and might confuse the guests. Eventually she was given a teeshirt to cover it up and her family was given a special pass that allowed them to cut in line for rides. She was very disapointed, she loves dressing up as Tinkerbell and always wanted to go to DW as her.

I'm not sure what I think about this. I can see points on both sides. What do you all think?

[Spindrift]

Lol I just read about that in a newspaper someone handed to me on the DC metro.

The excerpt reads, "'They were talking how, [for] little girls, it ruins their dreams. But it ruined my dreams.' - April Spielman, after officials at Walt Disney World in Florida made her change out of her Tinkerbell costume Sunday before entering Disney's Animal Kingdom because her outfit was too similar to the official Tinkerbell costume.

[Merman Chris]

Disney is notorious for having quite the ruthless army of lawyers. They can use the "confuse the guests" line, but it's all about corporate interests.

[Alveric]

Yes, that's it. I heard it on the radio on the way to work this morning, so I couldn't remember the details.

[Spindrift]

If it's corporate interests, I wonder what they could have against that girl?

[Merman Chris]

It's their image, the character, so they want to be the only ones that project it, whatever the medium. If that makes sense.

[WavyMermaidy]

I used to work at Disney (at the Transportation/Ticket Center where people go before getting to the Magic Kingdom), and I remember one Easter a couple came dressed very convincingly as Abe and Mary Lincoln. They weren't allowed to enter the park with the costumes on. I guess ol' Abe is in the Hall of Presidents, but is of course not technically a Disney character...but if they reacted that way to a non-Disney character I am not surprised they would go after someone in a convincing Disney costume. I am of the same opinion as Alveric in that I can see both sides. Disney provides characters, so it takes something away from what they strive to provide when someone they haven't authorized comes in. On the other hand, it is really a nod to Disney that people love the characters so much they would want to work so hard to dress up and come in costume...so it's a tough issue. I think Disney should have a Disney cos-play day if they won't let people dress up in the park on a normal basis. I bet that would be neat :)

[Kanti]

I don't like Disney too much, they're way too uptight about that sort of stuff.
Besides the fact that people would ask the girl to take photos with them and stuff
I don't really see the harm.
I think in a way maybe they're trying to stop any future copyright issues. If people
were to find out she made the costume herself they may ask her to make it for them
as well and it may lead to her getting business selling Disney's design.
I don't really think that's why, though, it seems like a really round-about way to do
it?

[New York Mermaid]

Im sorry, the girl is 15 yrs old, i can understand the dress up game, but not to a park, unless its halloween. I can see why the park has such rules, probably due to an incident that happened previously, but you have to think of the parks stance on it, some "pedophile" comes prancing in as a random character for example: Aladdin with intent to harm a child and decides to use the "character" to entice children.. a child is harmed, Disney gets sued..

the video of the 15yr old scroll to the bottom: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/05/april-spielman-tinkerbell-disney-animal-kingdom-florida_n_1570964.html

[WavyMermaidy]

I can see why the park has such rules, probably due to an incident that happened previously, but you have to think of the parks stance on it, some "pedophile" comes prancing in as a random character for example: Aladdin with intent to harm a child and decides to use the "character" to entice children.. a child is harmed, Disney gets sued...

Wow, hadn't heard about that...very good point!!

[Spindrift]

Yeah I'm sad that you can't dress up in HP stuff at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter though, except on special event days (I think). Like it would be pretty obvious you weren't with the park there (I would think) so it doesn't have the same problem as dressing up in Disneyland/world.

[Kanti]

Wow you know what, Lanai, that's a great point, I didn't even think of that.
Then yea I see why Disney would do something like that.
But I mean, when they see the girl is 15 maybe they should be a little more lenient?

I think they should at least have some way you can dress up. Dressing up just makes
it that much more fun

[Theta]

I can see both sides, but I can see the park's side more. People are going to want to interact with costumed characters (particularly if they're better than the park's characters costume wise, which I've seen several cosplayers pull off.) It's a huge liability issue- not just pedophilia stuff, but injury (kid trips over Belle's hoopskirt but Belle isn't an employee- who do the parents sue?) as well as a copyright issue. Although it kind of sucks, Disney does hold the copyrights to their versions of their characters, and they can limit exposure in their own parks as they so choose.

I think it would be awesome to have a park cosplay day, but I'd save it for conventions anyways. Conventions seem like they would be way more fun to cosplay at than parks: props won't get in the way of going on rides, sticky little kids won't get smears on your costume, there are better pro photographers and photobooths and stuff like that. Also, unless you're going to Comicon or Otakon or one of the big ones, the price is a bit better ^_^

[Kanti]

Well I think Disney can only pull out their copyright if someone is getting payment from using their
characters. If that girl was just running around in a costume, they can't do anything with that copyright.
At least that's my understanding.

I think it's just a little stupid that sueing is such a big issue anyway. If your kid "trips over Belle's hoopskirt"
maybe you should teach your kid to watch where they're going rather than sue someone for it.
Unfortunately, that's probably the way people would go, so yea, Disney has to protect themselves.

I wonder if they made the boyfriend take his outfit off too? They don't really mention him at all.

[AniaR]

I think it's similar to how weeki wachi wont let other mermaids swim etc because it confuses guests and if someone thinks they're employed and they do something against the rules/ offensive it causes problems. That's exactly what happened at weeki wachi. So I can understand that bit.

[Alveric]

Yeah, I can see some kid being obnoxious and Tinkerbell giving him the finger, instead of doing what employees would be trained to do. Some might not realize Tink doesn't work there.

[Vyrel]

I can see both sides of the argument. But here is a fun fact...one of my guy friends...Mui, is the flying Tinkerbell and his boyfriend is Maleficient!

[Merman Chris]

OMG Vyrel that is actually hilarious.....I can just imagine how much the homophobes heads would explode if they knew that......oh noez my children are being exposed to gay cross dressers at disneyland!" hahaha!

[Spindrift]

I thought the Disney cast members were required by contract to not reveal who they play/are?

[Prince Calypso]

Disney can suck it. if my little girls want to dress up as princesses i'm gonna let them dress up
i mean i understand both sides of the situation but honestly i have to agree with merman Chris.
its' simply copyright and money that's an issue to them
and yeah i can understand guest being confused and someone taking advantage of the costumes and stuff but honestly
i don't think they should make people change or deny them entry into the park
there have to be other ways of handling it

[Mermaid Sirena]

Random thought, their policy says 'adults' when speaking about costume that look to close their characters, she isn't an adult. So can it still apply? Because I know they don't have a problem when children do it.

[Vyrel]

I thought the Disney cast members were required by contract to not reveal who they play/are?

that is the upside to making friends in the theatre field! you get all sorts of fun tidbits...Mui makes about $300 every time he gets flung across the park! He is one of 3 Tinks.

[Spindrift]

Random thought, their policy says 'adults' when speaking about costume that look to close their characters, she isn't an adult. So can it still apply? Because I know they don't have a problem when children do it.

The Disney policy is that it's okay for children under 10 to dress up in costumes.

[Spindrift]

that is the upside to making friends in the theatre field! you get all sorts of fun tidbits...Mui makes about $300 every time he gets flung across the park! He is one of 3 Tinks.

I have friends who work at Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom and they all told me that if word ever got out on who played who they could get fired.

[Vyrel]

well shhhh keep it secret! lol So do you not know who your friends play?

[michellerobison]

A friend of mine played Minnie Mouse years ago, she was glad to get promoted, hated people grabbing her "mouse boobs".

[Dacora]

I kinda see it both ways. But more towards Disney's way. They have to protect their butts like many mers have already said. Disney did give them free clothes and a free cut in line pass so its not like they just told them they could not get in at all and sent them back home.


Random thought, their policy says 'adults' when speaking about costume that look to close their characters, she isn't an adult. So can it still apply? Because I know they don't have a problem when children do it.
Legally she is not an adult but she does look like one and could be mistaken for one.

I kinda feel bad for the girl but she should have looked into the policy that Disney has about dressing up and this all could have been avoided but I think Disney handled it well.

[Blondie]

When I was 14 I dressed up as Tinkerbell and went to Magic Kingdom. I won't say my outfit was "that good" but I wasn't bad. I had a really cute green dress, sparkly flats, wings, and I pulled my hair up in a bun. I got lots of compliments and a lot of the park workers played along that I was Tinkerbell. Hm... Well at least Disney did give them a bit of a refund.

[Spindrift]

well shhhh keep it secret! lol So do you not know who your friends play?

Only after they moved on and no longer work there. I've only been to Orlando once before. I've been to Disneyland in California much more often.

[Mermaid Star]

I haven't been able to read through everything yet. But this is no where near a surprise to me and I am shocked that it is a surprise to anyone. The line that tipped me off that the 15 year old said, "I wanted to be Tinkerbell. I didn't want to take the costume off." She wanted people to believe that she was Tinkerbell and that she wanted the attention. She had already been into the Hollywood studios and they were switching parks and they said no and gave her a t-shirt (as a change of cloths) and apologized. As a Disney Cast member who works in entertainment I want to protect the magic. We are trained to respond appropriately as a character and we don't want other guests meeting a guest posing as a character that may be inappropriate. If you want to be a character, there are auditions. If you want to dress up as a character and "be the character" that is what conventions are for and if you want to go to the park dressed up (in any character) you can wait til the Halloween parties and go then. It is perfectly acceptable and part of the draw for Halloween Parties to be able to dress up in the parks :)

[Mermaid Bella]

sorry guys, i actually agree completely with Disney.

firstly the people dressed as these characters have extremely expencive training, ensuring each partron is reacted to correctly, if this girl said the wrong thing or was not convincing enough in character it could really crush a child. my sister in law did an audition for princess jasmine last year and it was intence! even standard santas over here are trained so they dont mess up. just the wrong greeting could be so harmful, something as innocent as this girl saying "hi" instead of an in character greeting can have a knockon effect, plus, what if a little girl sees this tinkerbell then sees another one ten steps later? *boom* child brain explosion.

and yes, if a child is hurt by a random person dressing up, the first thing the parents would say is "why did you allow some stranger to dress up in the park, knowing that children automatically think they are safe? when else would a parent let their kids hug anyone they want?

the 16 year old was old enough to be a convincing legal adult, hell when i was 16 i looked much older, but a little girl dressed up is a totally differant story.

the fact is, disney cant do anything to protect the copyright from costumers on the street nor would they really need to, but in their own home they have more than a right to, and yes, you may be taking revenue from them, sounds selfish but that is how they keep a very expencive park open and a massive staff employed, you think if there were 60 belles walking around they would bother to hire their own?

disney didnt have to offer them squat and the fact that they were looked after was really kind of them.

[deepblue]

Disney parks has a FAQ on their website http://disneyland.disney.go.com/faq/general/


What is the best way to dress for a day at the parks? Is there any clothing that isn't permissible?
The parks are a casual, family-oriented environment. We suggest you dress comfortably, wear good walking shoes and check the local weather report before you leave for the parks.
Ensuring that the parks are family friendly is an important part of the Disney experience. In that spirit, we ask you to use your discretion and common sense. Attire that is not appropriate for the theme parks (and which may result in refusal of admittance) includes but is not limited to:


Adult costumes or clothing that can be viewed as representative of an actual Disney character
Masks (unless you are dressing up for a particular event)
Clothing with objectionable material, including obscene language or graphics
Excessively torn clothing
Clothing which, by nature, exposes excessive portions of the skin that may be viewed as inappropriate for a family environment
Tattoos that could be considered objectionable, such as with obscene language or graphics

A Guest is allowed into the parks if her or his hair (or make-up, if applicable) has been made to resemble a Disney Princess or character (for example, after a Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique makeover) provided the Guest is not also wearing a costume or clothed to look like the character.






Sadly, I saw a pretty obscene Mickey/Goofy/Minnie tattoo (and a bad one at that) on a guy many years ago, out there for anyone to see. I was without a kid at the time, or I might have complained. That was just messed up, you're at a family place, cover your porn tats.

Oddly, they used to have an age limit listed, who knows why they don't now. Maybe so they can give leniency at times. If a person is an adult by age but has a special needs situation and is a child at heart and mind, and is with a care-giver, they let that person stay in a costume, I'm sure.

At Halloween time, they do list a limit, in the past it's varied 9 or 12.

Personally, I love Disneyland and have had tons of fun there and will continue to. I can't wait to take my daughter, but so far she hasn't been exposed to the princesses. She's more likely to dress as Mickey. :)

Oh, and fyi, Disney can be exceptionally cool about things they don't have to be. When I was there with an ex and his family and his elderly father was knocked over (which resulted in bleeding and cuts) by someone who took off, Disneyland not only got him a wheelchair, they escorted us all out, had their doctor look at him, provided a van to our car, and gave us free passes to the park for anytime WITH a pass to get to the head of any line. And wasn't even their fault. :)

[Mermaid Fenicia]

I had the same experience at the Disney-Resort in Paris. First I searched there site about any dress-code, but found nothing http://static.cosplay.com/images/smilies/frown.gif So we left very early in the morning from Antwerp (Belgium) to Paris (France), me dressed as Belle (golden dress) and my friend as just a lion. One other friend didn't felt like dressing up that day, so he went in plain clothes. Went we wanted to buy our entrance-tickets, a guy from the park came to us to tell us to change outfits at the hotel we were staying. But as we where there for only 1 day we didn't had a room. So we were escorted to the parking white that guy and had to leave the park. We do had to pay for the parking as we parked there.

[Thalassa]

FYI, it's not just costumes that could be official Disney characters. Disney is pretty flip-floppy about their dress policy depending on which Land you're at, who's at the gate, what management is there, all that...but any clothing that could be construed as a costume tends to be a problem. I'm part of a Lolita fashion community, in which some of the members' everyday fashion generally consists of a modest dress with petticoat, mary janes or such, and some sort of headwear. There are several stories of people being turned away from Disneyland despite their outfits having no resemblance to any character, explanations that this is how they dress daily falling on deaf ears. I understand Disney's stance to a point (even if I don't like it), but I just wanted to point out that the limitation is not only when clothing resembles one of their characters.

(and WOW that post ended up longer than I thought! XP)

[deepblue]

Wearing Lolita on Bats Day, you'd get in just fine.

But as for me... I won't be going on Bats Day or any other anytime soon. Their prices have skyrocketed since the last time I went. sigh and suckage.


1-Day 1-Park Ticket (http://disneyland.disney.go.com/disneyland/en_US/reserve/buildticketurlredirect?id=DLR_TIXX_1D1PTicketLink)


Ages 3 to 9
$81.00
Ages 10 & Up
$87.00



$81 for a 3 year old. Riiiight. Sure, I'll be right there.

For that, they ought to let you dress like Disney.

[happyguava]

I thought the Disney cast members were required by contract to not reveal who they play/are?

My friend worked at WDW last year and said that the line everyone uses is to be "friends with" a character. So she did not PLAY Mickey, she was just "friends with" him. But she thought there were people hired to check facebook and stuff to make sure cast members weren't posting photos and outing themselves as characters online... It's all a bit crazy but I guess that's how they keep their "magical" reputation :p

And although I can see Disney's point and tend to agree with them re: adults not wearing convincing costumes, it would suck to have worked really hard making a costume, only to show up and not be allowed in because of it.

[Mermaid Dottie]

I don't see why she didn't take it as a compliment that her costume was too good. And if I were one of the park managers, I would have asked that couple to come talk to me about their costumes, because they're so well done, "why don't you go to school for this and then come work for us?" kind of a thing.

[Mer-Crazy]

Haha. Sorry, my friend went over to America on a holiday recently and met one of Disneyland's Ariels (I couldn't say which one, I don't remember). He mentioned me and my mermaiding (which was nice of him) and she said it sounded cool and would like to meet me (which was nice if her) but as he walked away she slapped (or gave him a light tap more accurately) on the ass (can I say that here?) Anyway I thought it was funny how everyone was saying how much training these guys have to go through to make sure they act in character all the time and behave appropriately. Who knew Ariel was such a secret flirt?

[Blondie]

I think the problem they had was that she looked TOO much like the character. Not because she dressed up as Tinkerbell. It was at the point where they didn't want her causing a "scene".

Which I get really, I feel like it goes the same thing to weddings. Don't wear white because you're not the bride. I wore a Tinkerbell costume to Disney and had no problems at all.

[Usagi]

Im sorry, the girl is 15 yrs old, i can understand the dress up game, but not to a park, unless its halloween.
Idk if I responded to this when the thread first arose, but I don't see anything wrong with going out dressed up. In seventh grade, my friend and I went to the zoo...I was dressed as Dorothy. Can't remember what she was dressed as. But it's just fun. Nothing wrong with being "weird," except that you'll be criticized by others.

[Usagi]

Oh I guess I didn't respond when it arose, since it was started before I joined. Lol but yeah, if you look too much like the character, then little kids will want to take pictures with you and it's basically like stealing the real actor's job. Even for the Halloween Party, on the list of rules it says you are not allowed to pose for photographs or sign autographs if dress up as one of their characters.

[Miyu]

FYI, it's not just costumes that could be official Disney characters. Disney is pretty flip-floppy about their dress policy depending on which Land you're at, who's at the gate, what management is there, all that...but any clothing that could be construed as a costume tends to be a problem. I'm part of a Lolita fashion community, in which some of the members' everyday fashion generally consists of a modest dress with petticoat, mary janes or such, and some sort of headwear. There are several stories of people being turned away from Disneyland despite their outfits having no resemblance to any character, explanations that this is how they dress daily falling on deaf ears. I understand Disney's stance to a point (even if I don't like it), but I just wanted to point out that the limitation is not only when clothing resembles one of their characters.

Hey, that's where I learned about Disney's visitor dress policies! I guess, if you're a child, that anything "out-of-the-ordinary" or "fanciful" may make it look like you're a character. Specific character, maybe not, but think of all the fluffy-dress-wearing, head-eating-bow-donning, frilly background characters. You don't want a kid getting all excited and grabby while you're wearing Baby or AP, so although I love daily lolita fashion, I'd probably tone it down a bit, more subdued colors/prints/acessories, or just say the heck with it and do some daily fairy-kei.

At Disney, the "adult" costume seems to be after you're 10. And really, those are the only (Non-Disney) people I've ever seen wearing costumes in the park - little girls in princess dresses and boys dressed like Woody.

Not to say that you can't dress up - I have a few wonderful outfits that make me FEEL like a mermaid, and other mers will be able to look at me and think I'm a mer, but I'm not walling around in a tail and shell bra. You wanna be Tink? Wear the dress, do the makeup, try something a bit different with the hair, leave the wings. Easy - you'll be Tink-inspired, not Tink.
I'm working on a lolita/fairy-kei salopette made from vintage Little Mermaid bedsheets I found in great condition at a thrift shop. I'd feel just fine wearing that to Disney.

Yes, to us adults, the 15-year-old may look like a kid, but to children, there are two ages - kids and grown-ups. To little ones, even pre-teens, that 15-year-old and her boyfriend would be seen as adults by most kids, and their outfits were decent enough to make kids think that maybe they really were characters.