Policy on Adults in Costume

[parkhopping]

First of all - I do NOT want this to become a thread where anyone is ridiculed or derided for his or her costume/clothing choices in the parks. Just wanting to discuss this potential policy change in a civilized manner.

Recently, sightings of adults dressed in costume have been reported here on the DIS. Notably, there seems to be a local guy who dresses up as Captain Jack Sparrow and hangs out in the parks. He is apparently allowed to do so only as long as he does not take photos with or give autographs to guests. On another thread, mesaboy2 stated, "Apparently Disney has relaxed their rules regarding this behavior as long as the guests in question adhere to certain rules." I think this has to be the case because today, upon arriving to MK, I saw two adult women dressed as Belle and Cinderella entering the park. Their costumes were not convincing enough for them to pass for the real thing, but it was obvious that they were dressing as characters. I watched them to see what would happen once they approached the turnstiles. After going through, they were approached by a CM, who had a short conversation with them. Then they proceeded on their way. My guess is that they were being briefed on these rules. Later in the day, I also saw an adult woman in a Minnie Mouse costume.

Has anyone else noticed adults in costume in the parks? More specifically, have you seen anyone entering the parks in costume, like I observed today? I am curious to know if any costumed adults are getting turned away these days. My guess is that after the Santa Clause and Tinker Bell stories made the news not too long ago, they are at least experimenting with this new relaxed approach. Perhaps we will see an official policy change in the coming months. I don't currently own any character outfits, but I would certainly enjoy the opportunity to cosplay as a Disney character if allowed!

 

[mesaboy2]

First of all - I do NOT want this to become a thread where anyone is ridiculed or derided for his or her costume/clothing choices in the parks. Just wanting to discuss this potential policy change in a civilized manner.

Recently, sightings of adults dressed in costume have been reported here on the DIS. Notably, there seems to be a local guy who dresses up as Captain Jack Sparrow and hangs out in the parks. He is apparently allowed to do so only as long as he does not take photos with or give autographs to guests. On another thread, mesaboy2 stated, "Apparently Disney has relaxed their rules regarding this behavior as long as the guests in question adhere to certain rules." I think this has to be the case because today, upon arriving to MK, I saw two adult women dressed as Belle and Cinderella entering the park. Their costumes were not convincing enough for them to pass for the real thing, but it was obvious that they were dressing as characters. I watched them to see what would happen once they approached the turnstiles. After going through, they were approached by a CM, who had a short conversation with them. Then they proceeded on their way. My guess is that they were being briefed on these rules. Later in the day, I also saw an adult woman in a Minnie Mouse costume.

Has anyone else noticed adults in costume in the parks? More specifically, have you seen anyone entering the parks in costume, like I observed today? I am curious to know if any costumed adults are getting turned away these days. My guess is that after the Santa Clause and Tinker Bell stories made the news not too long ago, they are at least experimenting with this new relaxed approach. Perhaps we will see an official policy change in the coming months. I don't currently own any character outfits, but I would certainly enjoy the opportunity to cosplay as a Disney character if allowed!

Interesting--seems to support the theory, doesn't it? Thanks for being observant and reporting back.

 

[mattsdragon]

I wonder if the 15 year old drama queen that dressed up in the inappropriate Tink costume that immediatly phoned the press has anything to do with this.

 

[ttintagel]

What kind of Minnie Mouse costume? Did she have a mask on?

 

[parkhopping]

What kind of Minnie Mouse costume? Did she have a mask on?

Nope, no mask. But she was wearing the red polka dot dress and mouse ears. I suppose that one really could not be construed as attempting to impersonate the character, now that you mention it. So that's not really a good example of the theory.

 

[ktlm]

Nope, no mask. But she was wearing the red polka dot dress and mouse ears. I suppose that one really could not be construed as attempting to impersonate the character, now that you mention it. So that's not really a good example of the theory.

If it is the Minnie Mouse dress I am thinking of, I was a bit surprised the first time I saw someone in it too a couple of weeks ago as it looked pretty costumey...then I quickly saw that they were selling that dress in multiple stores in the parks. We saw several women wearing that dress in the parks with mouse ears. They looked pretty cute.

 

[Hillary12.8.07]

Was in MK today and saw the same lady as Minnie, was quite surprised as well. First time I had ever seen an adult in costume, other than the Halloween party.

 

[WDWChloe]

Last month I saw a group of young adults by the entrance of BTM dressed as Aladdin, jasmine and the genie - blue face and all. They looked pretty convincing. I was sure the CM talking to them was either going to tell them to change or leave. To our surprise they ended up entering the standby line... Later that day, on the monorail to Poly, I saw a petite woman wearing a kid's Belle costume. It was odd ... I'm not sure how I feel about seeing this in the parks often :/

 

[parkhopping]

If it is the Minnie Mouse dress I am thinking of, I was a bit surprised the first time I saw someone in it too a couple of weeks ago as it looked pretty costumey...then I quickly saw that they were selling that dress in multiple stores in the parks. We saw several women wearing that dress in the parks with mouse ears. They looked pretty cute.

Very interesting; I didn't realize they were being sold in the parks! I don't think I've ever seen adult costumes being sold in the parks, actually.

 

[WDWChloe]

I've seen the Minnie Mouse dress on guests and in the stores, this isn't as bad since its only the dress and a headband (ears) rather than the elaborate princess gowns

Since mickey and Minnie are more like mascot costumes, it seems more acceptable and normal for guests to dress as them around the parks. But if an adult truly looks like a princess or live-character (see my above post) it doesn't seem right, IMHO.

That whole Tinker Bell story is ridiculous. If she really wanted to make nice costumes and go to the parks, she needed to go around Halloween. Were'nt people asking for autographs and she was loving the attention? Apply to Disney, sweetie.

 

[minnie mum]

First of all - I do NOT want this to become a thread where anyone is ridiculed or derided for his or her costume/clothing choices in the parks. Just wanting to discuss this potential policy change in a civilized manner.

Good luck with that.

But if this is a shift in policy it should be interesting to see just how far they allow these costumes to go- full makeup and wigs to the point of trying to impersonate face characters? Or just the dresses? I assume that they won't allow face masks/character heads to be worn, but maybe I'm assuming too much?
Whatever your personal opinion of adults indulging in cosplay in the parks, I wonder how much extra work this will make for the CMs who have to try to monitor these people to ensure that they aren't interacting with the other guests as the characters.

 

[bumbershoot]

Very interesting; I didn't realize they were being sold in the parks! I don't think I've ever seen adult costumes being sold in the parks, actually.

But Minnie Mouse basically just wears a polkadotted dress. So wearing that isn't really a "costume". Even if you wear ears you're still not going to look just like Minnie.


I think I kind of like that they have relaxed a bit. Not sure why; I can't imagine ever dressing up like that, I wouldn't even want to wear the Minnie dress (DH pointed it out thinking it would be cute), but I just think it's nicer or something.

 

[TunaSled]

I'm all for it being whatever Disney allows, but I'll say this... if I discover years from now that one of my treasured photos of a beloved character had been just some schmuck who bought a ticket just like I did, I'm gonna be pissed.

 

[Melodious]

Since this was brought up, I've been wondering what the policy is for all the non-park parts of WDW. What if someone wore a costume to dinner? What if it wasn't a Disney character? The rules specifically mention the parks but not anywhere else.

 

[parkhopping]

Good luck with that.

Ha, I know I just don't want to see this thread disintegrate into a pointless debate/name-calling session and get locked. We'll see how long it lasts.

But Minnie Mouse basically just wears a polkadotted dress. So wearing that isn't really a "costume". Even if you wear ears you're still not going to look just like Minnie.

Yes, as I said in my previous post, that wasn't really a good example to support the theory. Even though it's obvious that it's a character reference, you would have to wear the hands and at least a mask (if not a full-on head) in order to pull off anything close to lookalike. My guess is that people have always been able to get in dressed as any non-human character as long as they were not wearing a mask.

Since this was brought up, I've been wondering what the policy is for all the non-park parts of WDW. What if someone wore a costume to dinner? What if it wasn't a Disney character? The rules specifically mention the parks but not anywhere else.

That's a good question. I have a feeling you'd be more likely to be turned away at a character meal. Other than that, though, I've never seen anyone attempt it at DTD or a resort. On a somewhat related note, my former college hosts a formal banquet every year at a Disney resort, and we students would always hang out at DTD afterwards. We frequently had people stop and ask us if we were in a wedding or something, and on one occasion a group of teens wanted to take a picture with us. I was pretty confused by this and wondered if maybe they thought we were dressed up as princesses. We obliged, but it was pretty bewildering!

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I am going to start cosplaying as the 10th Doctor in WDW, just to confuse people.

Or maybe Han Solo. Or Sirius Black.

 

[mm1971]

First of all - I do NOT want this to become a thread where anyone is ridiculed or derided for his or her costume/clothing choices in the parks. Just wanting to discuss this potential policy change in a civilized manner.

Recently, sightings of adults dressed in costume have been reported here on the DIS. Notably, there seems to be a local guy who dresses up as Captain Jack Sparrow and hangs out in the parks. He is apparently allowed to do so only as long as he does not take photos with or give autographs to guests. On another thread, mesaboy2 stated, "Apparently Disney has relaxed their rules regarding this behavior as long as the guests in question adhere to certain rules." I think this has to be the case because today, upon arriving to MK, I saw two adult women dressed as Belle and Cinderella entering the park. Their costumes were not convincing enough for them to pass for the real thing, but it was obvious that they were dressing as characters. I watched them to see what would happen once they approached the turnstiles. After going through, they were approached by a CM, who had a short conversation with them. Then they proceeded on their way. My guess is that they were being briefed on these rules. Later in the day, I also saw an adult woman in a Minnie Mouse costume.

Has anyone else noticed adults in costume in the parks? More specifically, have you seen anyone entering the parks in costume, like I observed today? I am curious to know if any costumed adults are getting turned away these days. My guess is that after the Santa Clause and Tinker Bell stories made the news not too long ago, they are at least experimenting with this new relaxed approach. Perhaps we will see an official policy change in the coming months. I don't currently own any character outfits, but I would certainly enjoy the opportunity to cosplay as a Disney character if allowed!

While I know that a lot of people think that it should be OK and like the idea, I'm not really in favor of it. My personal feelings are directed more towards young children that may be confused. What would someone do when a 3 year old runs up all excited? Kind of a downer to hear "oh, I'm not the REAL Cinderella".

I understand why they would want to allow it, whether the lawsuit or just to sell more merchandise. As long as they don't look like the characters I think it is OK, but I have seen some pretty realistic character costumes (not at the park).

Just an opinion.

 

[anniemae]

We saw a woman dressed as minnie mouse a couple of weeks ago. She had on black tights, black flats, the polka dot dress, white gloves and mouse ears.

 

[LSUfan4444]

I hope that fanny packs and Crocs with socks never becomes part of any Disney costume because I just can't get enough of seeing people wear that when I go to the parks.

 

[ttintagel]

I took this really blurry picture two weeks ago. It was after 4:00 on an MVMCP day, and there were a lot of people in unusual clothes, so I didn't think of it as being "in costume" at the time.