Mods: Please Close This. Let's Think Happy Thoughts!

[Brocktoon]

I think many people are missing a major point here. This isn't about 'magical' moments, or being nice to kids. It's about $$$ pure and simple.

Disney is still a business, and like every other big service based business out there, they need to continue to tap into the increasing Spanish speaking population with disposable incomes. It's not about 'right' vs. 'wrong' or 'speak English in the US!'. If Disney doesn't cater to spanish speaking customers, then those customer may be more inclined to go to another park or outlet where they are bilingual ... and spend their $$$.

I'm sure if the non-English speaking German, Japanese, Indian etc. population was as large as the Spanish speaking, then you'd start to see other language options all over the place as well.

If it's good for business and ticket sales, then it's good Disney's shareholders. Sorry to be blunt, but that's how I see it ...

 

[disneymama73]

The posts I've read here where people would "dislike" it if a princess spoke Spanish to a little girl is atrocious. Such negativity. Geez, these are children at Disney. I think WDW should do anything it can to make their visits as magical as possible.

I've gone back through this thread, and I don't think anyone has said they would dislike hearing a princess speaking Spanish to a little girl. Am I missing a post?

 

[IandGsmom]

Where I live (in the SF bay area) it is the biggest mixing pot ever!!! We really have all walks of life in every flavor possible. There are tone of places I can think of that I can go to that NO ONE even speaks English in a store. Does that offend me or most people I know?? No way! Thats part of what make this place rock! I love the diversity. I just cant understand why people would even care if a princess spoke a different language. That sound very interesting.

 

[orljustin]

Why? We are all being respectful and no name calling has happened. This is an important topic that is very relevant to a Disney theme park. Just because one does not like other's viewpoints does not require a thread to be closed.

Probably not enough dumb smileys being used.

 

[mill4023]

The English/Spanish issue is a cultural change that is being forced upon us (and mostly by illegal means) and unfortunately has made many of us very sensitive to the topic.

I think you are right that this is why so many are reacting to this thread this way. When I first read the thread title, I had the same thought. I'm totally against having our public schools teaching classes in spanish and having the DMV issue test in Spanish and other languages. So it bothers me when I see our country doing more and more to accomodate those who choose not to learn our language.

But after thinking about it some more, I realized that this is NOT the same thing at all.

We are not talking about a government agency using our tax dollars to make accomodations for residents(often illegal) who choose not to make the effort to learn our language. And we are not talking about a group of people using political influence to force the issue.

Instead, we are talking about a private business deciding to provide a better experience for those guests who speak spanish. As such, I see nothing at all wrong with that. I think it would be great if Cinderella is able to communicate with more children who don't speak English.

 

[disneymama73]

while it may seem strange to us to see Alice in Wonderland say hola it would be another little girls happiest moment.

It would probably seem strange at first, but I think my girls would be amazed! They love hearing people speak in different languages.

 

[Talking Hands]

The local news has reported that they are casting for Spanish speaking princesses. They are also going to increase the number of Spanish signs in the parks and at the resorts.

I know they want to appeal to non-English speaking guests, but the idea of Sleeping Beauty with a Spanish accent just seems odd to me.

Oh, well. Tink is going to speak in the new movie. I guess change is good.

Spanish speaking doesn't necessarily mean a Spanish accent. If you have ever spoken to some of the interpreters at Disney, you will find that they have no accents but many of them are Spanish speaking. I think that bi-lingual face characters are wonderful. I just wish that Spanish wasn't the only language they are focusing on althoguh I can see why.

Also Florida has become pretty much a bilingual state. Children are learning Spanish from Kindergarten up. For people that live in Florida bilingualism is the norm. Only in the US do people have an attitude that their language is the only one that should be used and everyone else needs to learn English. We all need to be at least bilingual if possible.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

Hmmmm.... interesting development. I like the idea of WDW having bilingual characters. I think it would be easily "explainable" to young Anglo kids. Speaking two languages is something a princess might be able to do. In fact, most of our (US born and raised) kids will be conversant in English and Spanish by the time they are young adults. For some reason, Disney characters speaking a bit of Spanish just doesn't bother me.

Funny image I had... You know where Lumiere sings "Be Our Guest" in Philharmagic? Imagine if he sang "Be Our Guest... as long as you understand English"

I see nothing at all wrong with WDW being hospitable to its guests. If I were visiting a Disney resort in another country I would by no means expect to be spoken to in English, but it would be a nice little touch of extra magic if I did hera it somewhere

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

Hmmmm.... interesting development. I like the idea of WDW having bilingual characters. I think it would be easily "explainable" to young Anglo kids. Speaking two languages is something a princess might be able to do. In fact, most of our (US born and raised) kids will be conversant in English and Spanish by the time they are young adults. For some reason, Disney characters speaking a bit of Spanish just doesn't bother me.

Funny image I had... You know where Lumiere sings "Be Our Guest" in Philharmagic? Imagine if he sang "Be Our Guest... as long as you understand English" For crying out loud, people! Disney is in the hospitality business!

I see nothing at all wrong with WDW being hospitable to its guests. If I were visiting a Disney resort in another country I would by no means expect to be spoken to in English, but it would be a nice little touch of extra magic if I did hera it somewhere

 

[salmoneous]

I've gone back through this thread, and I don't think anyone has said they would dislike hearing a princess speaking Spanish to a little girl. Am I missing a post?

I think comments like these are making people think posters would be upset is a CM spoke in Spanish:

Flame away all you want - it certainly won't change my perspective that a Cinderella in the United States should speak English.

Snow White to me saying Bueno Dias Muchacho doens't seem to right to me

When go WDW I no expect anyone speak Russian. I understand it is America, speak English.

We are an English speaking culture and anyone travelling here should expect to hear English being spoken and all signs to be in English.

I just believe that just as Spanish should be spoken in Mexico, English should be spoken in the United States.

If speaking to the Princess' is so important then maybe these little girls parents should work on a few key phrases before they leave.

 

[Sleeping Becca]

There have been several posts stating that they have never seen or heard of people being born in the US and don't speak English. I guess we don't have any elementary school teachers in here. Because let me tell you, there are lots of kids coming into school systems that don't speak ANY English and don't have anyone in the home who speaks English. This is a REAL problem.

 

[PlutoLuvr]

I've gone back through this thread, and I don't think anyone has said they would dislike hearing a princess speaking Spanish to a little girl. Am I missing a post?

1/3 of the posts I've read on this thread seem to be opposed to WDW princesses speaking anything other than English to visitors. The theme all over the thread has been little girls, I presume because it's generally assumed little girls head right for the princesses.

 

[HayGan]

But yet no one said they would be upset buy it. Those comments (some even by people outside of the US) state that they disagree with the decision. Not that they are going to be upset by it.

Once again people are reading what they want to read and ignoring what many are saying.

I think comments like these are making people think posters would be upset is a CM spoke in Spanish:

Flame away all you want - it certainly won't change my perspective that a Cinderella in the United States should speak English.

Snow White to me saying Bueno Dias Muchacho doens't seem to right to me

When go WDW I no expect anyone speak Russian. I understand it is America, speak English.

We are an English speaking culture and anyone travelling here should expect to hear English being spoken and all signs to be in English.

I just believe that just as Spanish should be spoken in Mexico, English should be spoken in the United States.

If speaking to the Princess' is so important then maybe these little girls parents should work on a few key phrases before they leave.

 

[ssleblanc]

My bolds

Thank you for posting this And what I meant in my post is that the native language and English are spoken in most tourist destinations (like WDW). It's good business. Regarding the princesses, I think it's a great idea, and the more languages WDW ads, the better!

You are so well traveled. I'm jealous!

Thanks, I was just lucky (and not that I came from a wealthy family - each trip was just something I happened upon). I'm jealous of me too, now. I had 2 kids and haven't traveled outside of the country since. Heck, my poor kids are 6 and 7 and are finally just about to have their first Disney trip.

I try to stay out of these hot topics (I'm here to talk about the Happiest Place on Earth and plan my trip there - if I want to debate issues, I'll go read forums on MSNBC, FoxNews, CNN, etc - so for me I just avoid posting in the debate topics).

But since I opened my mouth and jumped into this thread, I should have mentioned - I agree that Disney is a business and they are trying to provide that magical experience to everyone who walks through their parks. I think this is a great thing (and I'm about as Anglo as they get - give me 10 minutes in the sun and I look like a lobster), and I also agree that they should expand it to include other languages as well. At least some catch phrases, though I think knowing a bit more of the language would be good - because English speaking little girls ask a question and get a response even if it is short, it is clear that the princess knows what she is saying - if the princess just knows a few catch phrases, that look of "I have no idea what you just said" would give it away and kill some of the magic.

 

[Talking Hands]

There have been several posts stating that they have never seen or heard of people being born in the US and don't speak English. I guess we don't have any elementary school teachers in here. Because let me tell you, there are lots of kids coming into school systems that don't speak ANY English and don't have anyone in the home who speaks English. This is a REAL problem.

I agree. It is a big problem in our schools in Florida. Many of the children come from Spanish or Creole speaking homes and even if their parents do speak English it is not the home language. I have a friend whose son, 5, already speaks 3 languages. His home language is ASL, but he also uses English and Spanish. This is not unusual with Hispanic deaf and their hearing children. He is fortunate that because he is a child of deaf parents that he was placed in school at 3 so he would get the English. Children whose home language is SPanish or Creole don't always get this advantage.

 

[Annam26]

There have been several posts stating that they have never seen or heard of people being born in the US and don't speak English. I guess we don't have any elementary school teachers in here. Because let me tell you, there are lots of kids coming into school systems that don't speak ANY English and don't have anyone in the home who speaks English. This is a REAL problem.

And are you sure that those kids were born here?

I have a friend whose first language is Spanish. Although she speaks English, the primary language at home is spanish (Grandparents don't speak much of English, they came here when they were old) She has a child, and just by watching TV and his daycare center, the kid (three yrs old) is already choosing English as his favored language.

I suspect the children you speak of are recent arrivals.

Ad me to the list of people who live in a heavily immigrant city (Miami), and I've never, ever met anyone born here who doesn't speak English

 

[Linxzy]

Most cast members know other languages already, so I don't see what is all the fuss about this (well, yes I do...). I imagine that if the Princess goes to the table and hears the guests talking spanish, she will too. Or the character greeter will tell them. I doubt she will greet every guest in spanish.

Now: changing things to spanish because of people not wanting to learn english is another subject, which by the way I agree with most of you.

 

[Michelle2]

I think you are right that this is why so many are reacting to this thread this way. When I first read the thread title, I had the same thought. I'm totally against having our public schools teaching classes in spanish and having the DMV issue test in Spanish and other languages. So it bothers me when I see our country doing more and more to accomodate those who choose not to learn our language.

But after thinking about it some more, I realized that this is NOT the same thing at all.

We are not talking about a government agency using our tax dollars to make accomodations for residents(often illegal) who choose not to make the effort to learn our language. And we are not talking about a group of people using political influence to force the issue.

Instead, we are talking about a private business deciding to provide a better experience for those guests who speak spanish. As such, I see nothing at all wrong with that. I think it would be great if Cinderella is able to communicate with more children who don't speak English.

I totally agree about the first part. We (or at least I) do not expect visitors to speak english--that is absurd, its the ones that choose to live here. Like an above poster, I have been to many countries and were very happy to find people speak english with me, but I won't get into the Spanish in America debate.

My issue is the Disney parks implementing it. I have been to all of the Disney parks except Hong Kong. I recently went to Tokyo Disneyland in Japan. It is in THEIR country, and yet most of the songs, face characters, and signs (store and ride names) are ALL IN ENGLISH! Why? Because Disney is an american, english language company---an originating cultural gem that they do not want to take away from. I feel that if face characters, signs, ride names, even words to most of the songs are in english in Japan, then I feel that it should stay that way in our own. When things were in japanese (inside rides, etc) it did not take away any magic at all, in fact added to my experience as a visitor by experiencing a different culture. In my opinion, I say leave things be. But this is just my 2 cents, seeing how things are in other Disney parks.

 

[Shubunk]

There have been several posts stating that they have never seen or heard of people being born in the US and don't speak English. I guess we don't have any elementary school teachers in here. Because let me tell you, there are lots of kids coming into school systems that don't speak ANY English and don't have anyone in the home who speaks English. This is a REAL problem.

LOL, they are kids! If they speak spanish at home they cant help it but eventually they learn when they are older. I know what you mean about the kids being born here and they only speak spanish but i mean when they grow odler. Ok let me restate i have never talked to a person older than 10 that was born in the US lived here all their lives and did not speak english. I know there are MANY kinds in the school that were born here and do not know english, their parents might of just came over from their country so it takes a little time to learn another language.

 

[mexican-mouseketeers]

I understand the people who are bothered by having Spanish signs in non tourist areas. If the official language is English, then all signs should be in English.

But WDW is a tourist area, and around the globe it is common for tourist areas to have signs in the native language and at least in the language that most visitors speak (which, btw, is usually English). In Islas Canarias, for example, most signs are in Spanish (official language) and German (since most and certainly not all visitors, are from there). In Cancún, Acapulco, Los Cabos, etc., most signs will be in Spanish and English because most foreign tourists are from the US (but not all, since there are tons of Europeans too).

As many of you, americans, mentioned, you were spoken in English in many other countries (to the pp who had trouble in France, it is common knowledge, at least in Spain and Mexico, that in France you will do a lot better speaking Spanish than English, but to that same poster, your issue is with Spanish, and I don´t think you will ever be in that same situation in Mexico). And I know that if I traveled to Japan I would be glad to have anyone speaking English to me, since it would definetly be harder to find someone who speaks Spanish.

They (I mean WDW, and international tourist destination), as a business, are catering to tourists, not changing the official language of the United States. So are you mad that it might be good for their business to put signs and have princesses who speak Spanish? I though all of us Disers go there to have a great time and make the most magical memories for our children (those of us who take them) and I have seen hundreds of times posts about how this or that princess spoke to your dc engaging them in conversations, way more than just hello and goodbye (which my dd 3 can certainly say and understand in English). Why does it make you angry to give this oportunity to more children?

Somebody said that there are far more asians (though in Asia there are many languages spoken so there would be a need to address them by country) and brazilian people that Spanish speaking people in WDW. I don´t know, but I guess if that were the case, they wouldn´t be hiring spanish speaking princesses, they would be hiring them for another language. If the princesses spoke English and Japanese I wouldn´t be angry or expect them to speak Spanish too.

And a bit of history, when the Spanish arrived in America there were few natives (certainly not English speaking) in Florida, and Florida was the property of Spain until 1819, when the Spanish Crown sold Florida to the United States to keep them from intervening in the Hispanoamerican independence, so technically Spanish was the main language of Florida for a couple of centuries before English was spoken there.
Oh, and of course, maybe Luisiana, Texas, California, etc, might be mentioned too...
Which definetly has nothing to do with WDW catering to tourists, lol, but can give some light to ignorance.

If the princesses spoke English and Japanese I wouldn´t be angry or expect them to speak Spanish too. And I never thought that Cinderella in Tokyo Disneyland would speak English, I would have assumed that she would speak japanese, after all, I bet that most people who visit that park must be from Japan.

And of course I agree with those who posted that it would be awesome to have a good story behind an african princess.

And Peggy, I think you posted this with the best of intentions, since you are always posting news for all to know. I always love it when I see posts like this one or the one about BBB from you. And I don´t think people were actually thinking about hispanic princesses who barely spoke English, lol, at least I know I completely understood what you meant.

Well, enough rambling here.

Julie