Hot take on sig dining dress code

[Genie+]

Honestly I really don’t notice exactly what people wearing. On some level it’s all just registering as ‘clothes’. Babies and kids? Yes, I do think parents are responsible for doing everything in their power to make sure they are not disturbing other people. Young kids screaming their head off? Remove them from the table. Go outside, in a bathroom, in the vestibule, or wherever until they are back under control. If kids can’t stay seated and/or keep their volume down, the polite thing to do is not expect all the other diners to tolerate it because ‘kids will be kids’. We’re talking about upscale venues here.

 

[LKing]

How vague is vague? If someone doesn't hang out on these boards or is new to WDW, "clothing that is clean, neat, in good condition, and not swimwear" is pretty broad.

Signature Dress Code: Guests are expected to dress accordingly in attire that respects the restaurant's sophisticated and upscale aesthetic. Clothing should be clean, neat and in good condition. Please no swimwear.

 

[gmi3804]

I don’t understand why people can’t leave the parks and change into more compliant clean clothing to come into a signature dining restaurant. I’m not saying they need to put on their ball gown. BUT seeing people roll in in their theme park shorts and sweaty T-shirts distracts from the ambience of the restaurant. Here’s an even hotter take, when you take your babies to a restaurant at 8 o’clock at night, they are going to fuss and scream. Go earlier

Amen. I find that most of the people who do this are the ones who need to tick their FOMO boxes, who just HAVE to see the fireworks from California Grill, for example (not the best view by any means, IMO). Disney clearly had these people in mind when they instituted their prix fixe-only menus, which all but eliminated the selfish "let's go just for dessert" slobs. The last thing a lot of people out for a good time want to see is some woman-child in Minnie Ears next to them while enjoying a special and expensive night out.

In-park signature dining shouldn't be subject to the same rules. Indeed, the big reason many of the park Signatures are designated as such is for DDP purposes, i.e., money. With a couple of notable exceptions, the food at park Signatures is not commiserate with that of resort Signatures.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

How vague is vague? If someone doesn't hang out on these boards or is new to WDW, "clothing that is clean, neat, in good condition, and not swimwear" is pretty broad.

Signature Dress Code: Guests are expected to dress accordingly in attire that respects the restaurant's sophisticated and upscale aesthetic. Clothing should be clean, neat and in good condition. Please no swimwear.

I think that's reading two different things

Step 1) Guests are expected to dress accordingly in attire that respects the restaurant's sophisticated and upscale aesthetic.
Step 2) Clothing should be clean, neat and in good condition. Please no swimwear.

Granted if it were me I would have put the swimwear under the step 1 part. For step 2 they are meaning the clothing shouldn't be in the condition that is opposite of what they state. You can have a nice dress shirt that is previously stained or highly wrinkled so even though it falls under the presumed dress code by what the item is the appearance of said item fails. Just using that as an example.

I don't think it has anything to do with being a member of the DIS or a lurker of the DIS. They are counting on a social contract that exists in which X type of restaurant is commiserate with Y type of attire. IMO however if the place exists within the actual theme park itself as opposed to the hotel leeway should be utilized due to the environment.

 

[Brian rhymes with dyin]

People who are inconsiderate are inconsiderate with or without kids. But when they have kids there's more of a tell.

 

[LKing]

I don't think it has anything to do with being a member of the DIS or a lurker of the DIS. They are counting on a social contract that exists in which X type of restaurant is commiserate with Y type of attire. IMO however if the place exists within the actual theme park itself as opposed to the hotel leeway should be utilized due to the environment.

My point was, look at the restaurant descriptions on the app. Using Narcoossee's as an example, where is the "sophisticated & upscale aesthetic" described? If one was unfamiliar with the restaurant, how would they discern the difference between Narcossee's and Boathouse, which is also listed as signature/fine dining?

I'm not debating you. I'm a WDW newbie and I found it difficult to tell based on the descriptions on the app.

 

[jason423]

While you may know, others who don't visit regularly may not.

Personally, I hadn't been to WDW in >10 years. Only because of threads like this one, did I know that the resort restaurants were dressier. We were staying off site so I knew it wasn't reasonable timewise to go back to our hotel to change clothes. I purposely avoided booking ADRs for any resort dining. However, I was told by multiple people on this forum that the dress code was not very strict, so I made reservations and we packed a couple of polo shirts and sundresses. We did not pack slacks, dress shoes, make- up, or cologne/perfume. On days when we had resort dining booked, we wore clothing that we thought would be "compliant" (ie. shorts & polo shirt, sundress) to the parks. Both of us wore running shoes (yes, with a sundress) and had backpacks. After a long day, I'm sure we arrived at the restaurants smelling like the parks. The CM didn't give us a second glance. No one mentioned that we weren't "compliant, hadn't "cleaned up", or that we were carrying backpacks and wearing Disney "Celebrating" buttons.

It bothers me to read this thread and think that other guests might have looked down on us, or that what we wore somehow impacted their ability to enjoy their dining experience.

I would say very few, if any, people would look down on anyone because of how they dressed. In my experience the dress code at disney is barely a recommendation more than anything else (Victoria and Alberts the obvious exception). One time we ate at Flying Fish we were surprised how dressed down people were and we just chalked it up to the weather- it was insanely cold- but other than thinking to ourselves maybe we could have gotten away with a little less what difference should it make to our night? As it turned out it really wasnt the weather and it was more just people having a different definition of being dressed up, but who cares. The only thing that would really ruin a dining "experience" due to other guests would be if they were loud and obnoxious, regardless of how they were dressed.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

My point was, look at the restaurant descriptions on the app. Using Narcoossee's as an example, where is the "sophisticated & upscale aesthetic" described? If one was unfamiliar with the restaurant, how would they discern the difference between Narcossee's and Boathouse, which is also listed as signature/fine dining?

I hear you but that's why I said it's based on a social contract. You're looking at the highest tier type restaurant so social contract would normally dictate attire that matches that. Of course being explicitly clear and actually enforcing their rules to a T would actually help bring consistency which helps on the expectations but that's probably asking too much in the real world lol. But like I said to me in my personal opinion within a theme park itself you should temper those expectations to adhere to the dress code

Various ways we have to see social contract: number of dollar signs (or price range if dollar signs are not there) or in the wording, or explicit description.

The Boathouse on WDW's website mentions upscale restaurant. Upscale is your clue. They also list it as Fine/Signature Dining. Fine is your clue (I'd include signature as well but that is Disney's term less commonly understood).

Narcoosee's also lists Fine/Signature Dining with the description of "This restaurant is a Disney Signature Dining experience offering fine dining with a distinctly magical flair. Guests are expected to dress accordingly in attire that respects the restaurant's sophisticated and upscale aesthetic. "

Both are 3 dollar signs (though that isn't the highest it can be as V&A is 4 dollar signs). V&A does a better job of spelling it out by saying "Victoria & Albert’s is an exquisite and intimate upscale dining experience and the culinary crown jewel of Walt Disney World Resort. Guests are expected to dress accordingly in semi-formal/formal attire that respects the restaurant’s elegant and opulent aesthetic." (bolding mine).

So the issue one could come into is that because it's not spelled out exactly what they mean in other restaurants there can be variations on what exactly people are wearing but the basic point is the social contract by this it means that when you go to an upscale restaurant or a fine dining restaurant expectations follow not just in ambiance of the restaurant but the service, the menu items, even the tipping percentages (though I'm not trying to get into that mess) as well as what one would normally be considered appropriate to wear given said environment.

The cruise company we sail with lists this out as their dress code
Daytime: Casual, resort-style attire, including shorts and jeans, is welcome in all lounges and dining venues. Swimsuits, brief shorts, cover-ups and exercise attire should be reserved for poolside, on deck or in the spa and fitness center.

Evening (after 6pm): Elegant Casual. The following is the nightly dress standard for all dining venues:

Men: Slacks with a collared dress shirt or sweater; Jacket Optional.

Ladies: Slacks / skirt, blouse, pant suit or dress.

Elegant jeans are welcome in all dining venues. (this part has been of high controversy as to what this means but I digress).

In any case I use that as an example because they spell out quite a bit what they mean which still leave a lot of variation but helps the guest understand what is expected of them. Back to WDW and you'll have more the other clues I mentioned since they don't spell out more.

The social contract exists when we're at home the same as it does when you're at WDW, you typically do see people going to higher end restaurants in nicer attire. To use non-Disney examples we used to go to Scarpetta's in Vegas. The dress code reads Business Casual. That can be any number of things that can fall into it but the point is they do expect you to not be in a shorts, t-shirt and flip flops as that is not business casual.

I'm for sure not debating with you either just pointing out that it's not a thing about being new to this forum. It doesn't mean I personally have an issue with what people are wearing and personally do advocate for leeway on places within the parks themselves but just that Disney is counting on people to understand (for better or worse) what these places are expected to be. That's not getting into international variances (though I would say Americans probably dress more casually than some other cultures do).

 

[J-Dog]

My point was, look at the restaurant descriptions on the app. Using Narcoossee's as an example, where is the "sophisticated & upscale aesthetic" described? If one was unfamiliar with the restaurant, how would they discern the difference between Narcossee's and Boathouse, which is also listed as signature/fine dining?

I'm not debating you. I'm a WDW newbie and I found it difficult to tell based on the descriptions on the app.

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That's the point of Disney's vague description. It's left open to interpretation.

I personally have no problem meeting the minimum requirements of a dress code. If other people have some stricter idea of what an unwritten, upscale dress code is supposed to be, and you aren't meeting it in their minds, then that's their problem, not yours.

 

[daae3]

I like to dress up… I like to Disney bound… I do not expect others to do the same… And their experiences and choices do not affect mine…