New dress code

[raidermatt]

Please, at least give a couple specific examples in support of this statement.

No. You can do your own research.


As btwo so clearly stated, the stances on this stuff have been pretty consistent, yet the arguments continue to look for inconsistencies rather than address the action itself. Heck, I even got caught up in it myself by pointing out Scoop's inconsistency with height restricted rides.

So, I'll say it once again. The codes as posted are not in the best interests of WDW. Neither is the code at Bistro, or the code at V&A's. The fewer of them there are, the less of an issue it is, which is why none of us were saying anything when it was essentially just V&A's. That didn't mean it was ok.

I'll even take it a step further than btwo and say the collared shirt requirement probably doesn't belong at the golf courses either. Yeah, its tradition and all that, but really, it wouldn't hurt to allow clean t-shirts. Like the restaurants, most golfers paying the kind of money the Disney courses charge would wear the collared shirts anyway. It really wouldn't hurt anything, just as it didn't hurt the restaurants.

 

[Uncleromulus]

Not at all sure exactly "why" Disney is doing this--unless they have been bombarded with complaints??? Perhaps a CM monitoring this thread (and the one on the restaurant board) could tell us??
Am still waiting to hear a "first person" report of someone (hopefully a family headed to or from a theme park) who is denied entrance to a "signature" restaurant based on how they are dressed. And I don't mean in swim wear fresh from the pool. I mean typical theme park casual--shorts and that awful Mickey T'.
Word will spread rather quickly, I should think, and then we'll soon see if WDW gains or loses from the policy.
As I suggested--if "signature" WDW restaurants want to cater to locals and conventioneers at the expense of families, then that's bad. Could be there are enough of that sort to keep business humming--or maybe not.
BY the by--in spite of Bistro's alleged dress code, several recent visitors there report (on the restaurant board) that diners a'plenty are still admitted in theme park casual.
As for me--am going to Narcoosee, Jiko, and the Blue Zoo in Oct--and will be dresed in theme park casual. Stay tuned!!!

 

[DancingBear]

You say tomato, and I spell it wrong.

That's "tomatoe" according to our former Vice President.

 

[DancingBear]

--if "signature" WDW restaurants want to cater to locals and conventioneers at the expense of families, then that's bad.

I don't really see how the policy is "at the expense of families" any more than any other guests, but, anyway, why should it be wrong for Disney to have a few restaurants want to attract locals and conventioneers?

Club 33 shows that it wasn't current Disney management that created exclusionary practices--and the practices at Club 33 are a lot more "exclusionary" than asking people to wear Larry's Land End shirt and shorts.

WDW is a huge resort destination for families, conventioneers, honeymooners, retired couples, etc. Maybe it can't be everything to all people (i.e., no casino), but it certainly has room to offer a few restaurant destinations for folks that don't want to look at Remus' brother's hairy back in his LSU tank top (sorry Larry).

 

[Uncleromulus]

So it's a fashion show more than a meal--
OK-I get it now.

 

[All Aboard]

Matt,

But this isn't what the place was supposed to be about,

Clearly, applying a policy to a small number of establishments doesn't make the place all about this.

But, let's turn back the clock to the 1970's when there were just a handfull of dining options in the resorts. Six, if I am counting correctly. At one of those six, Top of the World at the Contemporary, which offered dining options for adults and children, there was this requirement (and I am quoting from Walt Disney World News Volume 9, No. 8, August 1979, page 6) - "Gentlemen are asked to wear coats."

So, the current restaurant in the exact same location now has more relaxed dress standards. And, a smaller percentage of resort dining offerings today require anything greater than casual.

I'm not sure what all the fuss is about.

 

[DancingBear]

So it's a fashion show more than a meal--
OK-I get it now.

Yes. Please give us a twirl as the hostess leads you to your table (assuming you make it past the gatekeepers).

 

[Peter Pirate]

Not to be dense (hahaha), but again is business casual meaning NO SHORTS? Because that one issue is HUGE for Florida...At WDW...In the Summer....While on Vacation...!!!!!!

 

[DancingBear]

Accounts of the code say "dress shorts" okay. Basically, they're trying to keep out running shorts and swim trunks.

 

[Beachangel]

Not at all sure exactly "why" Disney is doing this--unless they have been bombarded with complaints??? Perhaps a CM monitoring this thread (and the one on the restaurant board) could tell us??
Am still waiting to hear a "first person" report of someone (hopefully a family headed to or from a theme park) who is denied entrance to a "signature" restaurant based on how they are dressed. And I don't mean in swim wear fresh from the pool. I mean typical theme park casual--shorts and that awful Mickey T'.
Word will spread rather quickly, I should think, and then we'll soon see if WDW gains or loses from the policy.
As I suggested--if "signature" WDW restaurants want to cater to locals and conventioneers at the expense of families, then that's bad. Could be there are enough of that sort to keep business humming--or maybe not.
BY the by--in spite of Bistro's alleged dress code, several recent visitors there report (on the restaurant board) that diners a'plenty are still admitted in theme park casual.
As for me--am going to Narcoosee, Jiko, and the Blue Zoo in Oct--and will be dresed in theme park casual. Stay tuned!!!

Ditto! I'm heading to WDW on Sunday. The concierge at AKL has made all my PS including Jiko's, Narcossee, CA Grille. No mention of any dress code. I too will be there in "theme park casual"!

 

[Uncleromulus]

Dancingbear:
Maybe this isn't such a bad idea after all. The "would-be" diners are first led around the restaurant, with the then dining patrons voting on whether or not to let them in. Entertainment along with the meal. Hard to beat that.
And of course being well dressed means that anyone getting drunk, acting out, or with kids running around the restaurant playing "tag" is exempt from rebuke or complaint. The well-dressed never act that way--even when they do.
gcurling:
Interesting about that "gentlemen are asked to wear coats" item. I was just down to Williamsburg Va. and also spent two days in Charlottesville. Stayed at the Boars Head Inn, and before we went, I called the Mill Room (their 4-diamond restaurant) and inquired about--gasp--any dress code.
"Jackets are suggested for gentlemen" I was told.
My response--"It's 97 degrees. I don't want to wear a jacket. Can I get in with chinos and a polo shirt??"
"That will be acceptable" was the response.
Acceptable indeed. Got there, found less than 10% of the male diners in jackets, and two elderly women eating in sweat-pants..
So much for the jacket request. They said it, but clearly didn't mean it.
By the way--had two excellent meals there.
What's this got to do with the current post? Not much I guess, but it's dress code material so I thought I'd tell it

 

[crusader]

Nice post Uncleromulus. Just goes to demonstrate how far we've evolved as a society.

So, the current restaurant in the exact same location now has more relaxed dress standards. And, a smaller percentage of resort dining offerings today require anything greater than casual.

Those dress standards only relaxed after the dinner show "Broadway at the Top" ceased. I've got info from 1989 and 1991, stating it was mandatory that "jackets were required for gentlemen" only at this particular venue because of the type of show being performed.

Interestingly though, there was no other dress code mentioned at that time - including Bistro de Paris and Chefs de France.

So - to bring this discussion forward, I'd argue that Disney World evolved and expanded a decade beyond the 1979 era - to incorporate 200 dining choices of all respects to thier guests by 1991 and only added one other jacket requirement restaurant with no other mandate for attire.

 

[DancingBear]

So - to bring this discussion forward, I'd argue that Disney World evolved and expanded a decade beyond the 1979 era - to incorporate 200 dining choices of all respects to thier guests by 1991 and only added one other jacket requirement restaurant with no other mandate for attire.

So what does that mean? Perhaps back in 1991 folks didn't have to be told not to wear their cutoffs and wife-beaters to the "nicer" restaurants. Hell, in 1991 I still wore a suit and tie to work every day.

And I don't really follow the distinction about connecting the jackets to the Broadway revue. The jacket requirement was part of creating a certain ambience among the guests, not to impress the stage performers. The CA Grill obviously has a different ambience and didn't require jackets. Now Disney has created some minimal dress code "requirements" to help create a certain ambience. What's the distinction?

 

[DancingBear]

As for me--am going to Narcoosee, Jiko, and the Blue Zoo in Oct--and will be dresed in theme park casual. Stay tuned!!!

So, if I understand you, you are aware of the policy, presumably you own a polo shirt, which is equally as comfortable as a t-shirt (particularly in October), and yet you intend purposefully not to comply with the policy? Why, exactly? To prove that the rules don't apply to you? To stick it to those stuffy fellow guests who find their enjoyment of their meal negatively affected by your t-shirted presence?

 

[Jason71]

I realize everyone thinks of WDW as a country unto itself, but in the context of greater Orlando, the new dress code is hardly big news.

I work in a "9 to 5" office building with hundreds of others; despite the "tropical heat and humidity of the central Florida swampland," I've never seen anyone wearing shorts or a T-shirt. (Granted, it's not as dressy as up north--no suits, hardly any ties--but it's not a Jimmy Buffet concert, either.) I'm pretty laid back guy, but I still throw on a pair of khakhis and a shirt with a collar for a first date, and I'd be a little unnerved if she wore a pair of neon flip-flops. The stereotype of how Floridians dress just isn't necessarily true.

The Blue Martini, the hottest bar in town at Mall of Millenia, prohibits athletic shoes, sandals, and shorts (maybe T-shirts, too, not sure)--heck, even the Mall itself had a dress code when it opened, tho I hear they've grown lax in enforcement. Many downtown clubs do the same. The Sheraton near I-Drive has even stricter policies than WDW for its "nice" restaurant, and I imagine the same is true of the other convention center area hotels. I believe Emerils and some of the Universal hotel restaurants are also stricter (and there are a lot fewer casual alternatives on Unviersal property).

Orlando is growing from tacky tourist trap into a real city. Visitors and residents are looking for something more than cheeseburgers and boat drinks. I think Scoop is right, WDW realizes this and wants to cash in like everyone else. And I see nothing wrong with having that option available to those who want it.

 

[DancingBear]

And of course being well dressed means that anyone getting drunk, acting out, or with kids running around the restaurant playing "tag" is exempt from rebuke or complaint.

Obviously, compliance with a dress code does not exempt one from compliance with any other requirements of civility.

 

[Peter Pirate]

When a man enters midlife and fails to comprehend the diagnostics of inversion should fellow man and marine animals alike be subject to the whims of the madman dictator or free to eat their french salad dressing on toast?

 

[Uncleromulus]

Dancingbear:
Glad to hear you say so. Was getting the feeling that being well dressed was being tied in to being well behaved. There has to be some reason for all the interest in dressing up, and I was beginning to think that might be it---
Anyway--Theme park casual is how I ALWAYS dress at WDW restaurants, ever since we've been going in 1975. That's several HUNDRED dinners, and almost all of 'em at places like Jiko, California Grill, Flying Fish, etc etc. Unless and until there is an ENFORCED dress code, that's how I'll continue to dress.
When (and or, if) they decide to keep folks like me out (and we begin to hear about it on the restaurant boards), then it's decision time. Are Narcoosee's , JIko, and the Blue Zoo worth getting dressed up for? That's the decision WDW will require folks to make, and it will be interesting to see what happens!!!

 

[crusader]

So what does that mean? Perhaps back in 1991 folks didn't have to be told not to wear their cutoffs and wife-beaters to the "nicer" restaurants. Hell, in 1991 I still wore a suit and tie to work every day.

It means there was no policy and for 25 years there didn't need to be one. Despite every fashion trend - tube tops, daisy dukes, the grunge look, spandex, low riders, flip flops, shelf bra tanks, leather and lace, etc..........etc..............etc.......

It wasn't broken. It doesn't need to be fixed and that's not why they're looking to incorporate this now.

And I don't really follow the distinction about connecting the jackets to the Broadway revue. The jacket requirement was part of creating a certain ambience among the guests, not to impress the stage performers.

The ambience being theatre and broadway and lounge acts which back in the 80's typically held that dress code for the evening. It's extinct today.

 

[DancingBear]

It means there was no policy and for 25 years there didn't need to be one. Despite every fashion trend - tube tops, daisy dukes, the grunge look, spandex, low riders, flip flops, shelf bra tanks, leather and lace, etc..........etc..............etc.......

It wasn't broken. It doesn't need to be fixed and that's not why they're looking to incorporate this now.

Again, perhaps the reason there was no written policy is that folks just knew not to wear their tube tops and daisy dukes to the nicer restaurants. There has certainly been a decline (or, if you prefer, a relaxation) of dress standards generally over that time period. Again, back in 1991, business casual Fridays were just coming into vogue, which rapidly evolved into full-time business casual in most offices now.

Dealing with the decline/relaxation in dress standards is an issue in the restaurant industry in general. Some customers care, so restauratuers are having to confront the issue. Disney is not exempt from those trends, or those concerns.