How do you feel about the Disney "business casual" dress code?

[Uncleromulus]

THis is always a hot button issue on the boards, and I imagine a lot of people don't want get involved in the discussions that go back and forth. So here's a chance to express any feelings you may have on the subject with no need to post any comments (unless, of course, you want to).
So how do you feel?
Here is the actual code:
http://www.wdwinfo.com/tips_for_touring/dress-code.htm#Restaurant

 

[TheDISneyFamily]

OK, I'll bite! (no pun intended) I think there should be an 'enforced' dress code for the signature restaurants. The key word is 'enforced'. Business casual isn't that hard to achieve, even at WDW. There are plenty of places to eat right after leaving the parks. There should also be a few places to dine where you actually have to take a shower and dress up a bit for. Personally, if I'm going to spend over $300 for a nice meal, I don't want to smell the table next to me. LOL!

BTW, it was kinda hard to vote - I mean, Business casual is not too lenient if it is enforced. The way it is now, they sorta, kinda, well... maybe have a dress code at signature restaurants, but when you go to dinner, you still see cut-offs and flip flops.

Don't get me wrong - the way I think of Business casual is a clean shirt and nice slacks or shorts. I'm not even picky about the whole 'collared shirt' thing. Although, how hard is it to wear a polo shirt? Anyway, I don't want to have to dress to the nines for the signature restaurants, just clean up a bit and look nice. Not park wear, you know what I mean?

 

[Mackey Mouse]

I am not sure exactly what you mean by business casual.....do you mean sports jackets for men?? Because when we are in WDW, my husband always wears nice slacks and a golf shirt when we go to dinner and I am usually in a nice top and capris, sandals, not sneakers......would that mean more than that? If so, then I prefer resort casual and if they enforce something other than that, I may eat elsewhere..

OK, I am ok with Victoria and Albert being sort of "dress up," but I like to dress the way I mentioned above. When we do Disney cruising, we avoid the formal nights like the plague, just not our scene. Probably because we live in a resort area, and casual is the way to go.

 

[Nie0214]

I wish the Disney definition of "business casual" would fly at my work. I think, if you're spending that much on a meal and they advertise that there is a dress code, it should be something enforced. I can understand why they might not require higher than jeans (non-fanatics might not even know of the dress code existing and not have anything in their luggage) but people should look presentable at the least, imo.

BTW, it was kinda hard to vote - I mean, Business casual is not too lenient if it is enforced. The way it is now, they sorta, kinda, well... maybe have a dress code at signature restaurants, but when you go to dinner, you still see cut-offs and flip flops.

I voted for the second one but I agree. Business casual is fine, but needs enforcement.

 

[Uncleromulus]

As it now stands, the Disney version allows for shorts, jeans, and even t-shirts. Shoes aren't even mentioned. Almost anything is allowed except that which is expressly prohibited--torn clothes, true tank tops (on men mostly) hats (on men), and swim wear.
Must suggest that the code (as it now stands) IS being enforced. Last 4 or 5 trips I haven't seen any of the prohibited items at a Signature restaurant. The "dress shorts" thing has been stretched a bit--but that can be a matter of personal interpretation, so they seem to allow cargo shorts, etc.

 

[lady browning]

By business casual I take that to mean shower first, nice pair of docker shorts or pants for men with belts, collared shirts, shoes with socks or nice sandals. For women, a nice pantsuit, capri outfit, skirt/sundress with nice sandals. My family dresses appropriately as above for all dinners. I don't believe it to mean swimsuits with or without coverups, flip flops, cutoffs of any kind, t-shirts. But that is just me. I work in a uniform all week and I enjoy getting cleaned up for dinner and wearing a bit nicer clothes. Teaching my sons the same as above as well.

 

[SplashMtnCrew]

Just enforcing the dress code is fine with me. At Artist Point a couple years ago a man actually came in and was seated and he was wearing overall's with NO shirt on It was actually quite a sight considering his bald head was covered in tatoos and he was well over six feet and at least 300lbs. the hairy back for all the "World" to see

Everytime we have ADR's to Artist Point the DH reminds me to pack his overalls

 

[Mackey Mouse]

Thanks for the clarification......ok.. not for shorts and tees at the signature restaurants... I think maybe a little effort to clean up and dress appropriately... no torn shirts, no shorts, no tees...capris, slacks, skirts, nice top for the women, and nice pants and shirt for the men. I am also a jeans girl and I think if you are dressed nicely with a colorful top and decent shoes, why not.

Also, I thought they stopped with the hat thing. The reason I said this was the last time I ate at Bistro de Paris for some reason it seemed like the hostess with the mostest had it in for one of our dining partners... he was wearing a designer cap.. think jaunty here, and she asked him to remove it. We then looked around and realized some men were wearing baseball hats and they were allowed but my friend who was wearing Marc Jacobs was asked to remove his. He was off from the table to go to Cirque and I could not help myself. I asked to speak to the Manager and he came over and I asked him their hat policy... wearing hats inside the restaurant..

He told me that they did not have one so I told him the story and said that maybe he needs to speak to his hostess as she enforced it on one of our dining friends but not on others who were sitting there with their baseball caps.

I have my own theories on this... but I left after that. I did say what if he was wearing that hat for religious reasons.. some men do?? some women do....I thought it was a thing of the past..

 

[MickeyNicki]

I always wondered if people were asked to leave a restaurant because of how they were dressed.

We were at Y&Y June 20th for dinner and as we were leaving there was a family checking in for dinner, the 2 tween daughters were in bikinis and sneakers. No shorts on, no shirts on, just a little bathing suit...and the host didnt say a word.

 

[curiouser]

I definitely agree and wish that Disney would enforce the business casual dress code. We enjoy getting a little dressed up when we go to CG or another signature restaurant. While I can honestly say that once the food is in front of me Big Bird could walk in and I wouldn't care, before the food, while I am taking in the ambiance of the restaurant, someone coming in hot and sweaty in their Disney 2008 tee and cut-offs would definitely detract from that.

There was a long thread on here not too long ago about the hat thing, it got pretty heated so I won't share my views here! I don't want this thread turning into another hat thread!

 

[momandseandodisney]

Just enforcing the dress code is fine with me. At Artist Point a couple years ago a man actually came in and was seated and he was wearing overall's with NO shirt on It was actually quite a sight considering his bald head was covered in tatoos and he was well over six feet and at least 300lbs. the hairy back for all the "World" to see

Everytime we have ADR's to Artist Point the DH reminds me to pack his overalls

I seen the same guy there in Oct 08

 

[Katiebell]

Just enforcing the dress code is fine with me. At Artist Point a couple years ago a man actually came in and was seated and he was wearing overall's with NO shirt on It was actually quite a sight considering his bald head was covered in tatoos and he was well over six feet and at least 300lbs. the hairy back for all the "World" to see

Sorry, couldn't help but think of that old joke:
Where does a 500 lb gorilla sit?
Anywhere he wants.

I always wondered if people were asked to leave a restaurant because of how they were dressed.

We were at Y&Y June 20th for dinner and as we were leaving there was a family checking in for dinner, the 2 tween daughters were in bikinis and sneakers. No shorts on, no shirts on, just a little bathing suit...and the host didnt say a word.

Hmm...I have very mixed feelings about this. WDW is...an amusement park. A huge, wonderful, amazing, fantastic, magical amusement park in a class by itself...

...but an amusement park all the same. And it's an amusement park that is located in a state famous for incredibly hot muggy weather. And it has a few rides (like Splash, and Kali River Rapids), that are designed to get you wet and cool you off. Or totally soak your clothes.

So, I think any restaurant located IN any of the parks is going to have to be pretty lenient in dress code -- flip flops, T-shirts, and shorts will abound. I do think bikinis in a sit down restaurant are a bit much, and I'd never let my kids wear a bathing suit to a restaurant -- not even a Denny's But who knows? The girls could have just been totally soaked head to foot on Kali, and their clothes were drying on a railing outside?

Now, for the restaurants at the hotels...many of them are more casual (for example Kona) and park wear should be totally fine -- shoes, shirt, hopefully not torn or dirty. For the nicer signature restaurants, yes it would be nice if people spiffed up a bit before coming to dinner. But the logistics of leaving a park, catching one or two buses, and/or monorail, and/or boat, and/or taxi --

back to your room to get showered and changed for dinner --

then taking another two buses, and/or monorail, and/or boat, and/or taxi, hoping you make your ADR on time --

it's just not my idea of a relaxing evening. Then after dinner, you have to either reverse the travel plan to go back to your room to change again, or head out to a park for the evening in your dressy clothes.

You know, come to think of it, this is probably why I've avoided making ADR's at one of the signature restaurants

But for some guests, it's all about the dining, and they'd rather be at CG or Citrico's than riding the rides anyway...so it all depends on what you want out of your vacation, what makes your family happy

But also...I don't really pay attention or critique what other people are wearing at other tables around me That's their business. If I don't like it, I just don't look at them (some things might make me raise my eyebrows and giggle, but I don't let it ruin my meal). I'm a lot more likely to be upset by unseemly behavior of other diners -- like if they are rude to the wait staff, or get drunk, loud and obnoxious, or their kids are screaming and throwing a fit. I'd rather see an enforced behavior code than an enforced dress code

 

[madalex]

My ideal dress code for men at signature restaurants would be pants or shorts (no jeans, cutoffs or torn shorts), collared shirt (no t-shirts) and shoes (no sandals, crocs or flip-flops).

 

[KatMark]

Now, for the restaurants at the hotels...many of them are more casual (for example Kona) and park wear should be totally fine -- shoes, shirt, hopefully not torn or dirty. For the nicer signature restaurants, yes it would be nice if people spiffed up a bit before coming to dinner. But the logistics of leaving a park, catching one or two buses, and/or monorail, and/or boat, and/or taxi --

back to your room to get showered and changed for dinner --

then taking another two buses, and/or monorail, and/or boat, and/or taxi, hoping you make your ADR on time --

it's just not my idea of a relaxing evening. Then after dinner, you have to either reverse the travel plan to go back to your room to change again, or head out to a park for the evening in your dressy clothes.

You know, come to think of it, this is probably why I've avoided making ADR's at one of the signature restaurants

This is exactly one of the reason's my DH does not want to do any signature dining while we are at Disney--too much hassle when we'd rather be at the parks. Plus neither one of us is impressed with or care about "fufu food" as he puts it.

 

[ReggieB]

I like the people at my table to look as if they made an effort. So my DH and DS are usually smartened up. To be honest I don't worry too much about anyone else's table. If someone was particularly bad (man in overalls bad!) I probably would be a bit horrified, but I don't think it would detract horribly from my own experience. Now if it was a rowdy table, badly behaved (adults or kids!) it would ruin my experience more, I find that more difficult to block out. So I'm with Katiebell on that one.

 

[Uncleromulus]

Katiebell makes a very good point. Imagine all the valuable park time that would be wasted if you had to go back to your hotel, change, and then get back to your Signature restaurant of choice--all using Disney transportation.
HOURS!!
And then being in nicer clothes that you really don't want to wear in case you wanted to go back to a theme park. My hunch is that this is a major reason why the code is as lax as it is--there are a LOT of families in that very position.
And just to add that Y&Y isn't a Signature spot and there is no dress code. I suspect a few folks just off Kali Rapids would walk in Y&Y that way.

 

[patsal]

I wish they would enforce what they already have. For the poster with the Y&Y experience that surprises me only because I have seen on two occasions, people asked to put clothing on or leave at AK. AK and all the Disney parks require clothing and just a bathing suit is not accepatable.

 

[MollyMoo]

I guess if they have a dress code it should be enforced and that is why I have always, despite some desire to try them, avoided the signature restaurants (except for the Brown Derby). We dress casually ... capris and nice t-shirts for me, hubs wears shorts and collared shirts with sneakers. I usually try to wear something other than flip flops but have a knack for developing blisters in peculiar places on the first day and generally end up in the for the rest of the trip. I suppose we might "pass muster" but really don't want to feel bad when dropping big $$$ for a meal. Just as soon stay with the non-sigs and be comfortable.

 

[TheDISneyFamily]

Katiebell makes a very good point. Imagine all the valuable park time that would be wasted if you had to go back to your hotel, change, and then get back to your Signature restaurant of choice--all using Disney transportation.
HOURS!!
And then being in nicer clothes that you really don't want to wear in case you wanted to go back to a theme park. My hunch is that this is a major reason why the code is as lax as it is--there are a LOT of families in that very position.
And just to add that Y&Y isn't a Signature spot and there is no dress code. I suspect a few folks just off Kali Rapids would walk in Y&Y that way.

Yes... but do people go out to signature restaurants every night of their WDW vacation? We don't. Why can't people plan for a nice evening out and allow for the transportation time in their schedules? The point is, should signature restaurants (non-park) be destinations of their own, or just a 'stop and eat' place after leaving a park? I agree that it takes time and effort to go to a nicer restaurant, and I think that it's warranted to have a signature dining experience. Just my 2 cents.

 

[ransom]

I think the business casual dress code is fine.

But I really wish they'd enforce some standards on the people they allow to eat at the signature restaurants. It ruins my dinner to have to look at someone ugly at the next table. And you know how often that happens at WDW!

If they'd only allow supermodels (plus me) in the restaurants, I'd have a much better dining experience.