Disney changes employee dress code

[Captain Nemo]

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2012/01/disney-to-allow-park-employees-to-have-beards-goatees/1

[bkroz]

And the Disney fan base is up in arms. Hop over to your favorite Disney message board to read about how this represents the downfall of the company, and the end of the Disney Parks as we know them, and the absolute last straw... I know people tend to hyperbolize about Kings Island and Cedar Fair on their respective fan sites, but it's nothing compared to the fervor that Disney fans have for Disney things. People call it "foaming," and that's a good word choice. People are literally livid about the change.

These are the same people, by the way, who believe in multi-million-dollar construction to hide the bland rooftops of California Adventure from riders on the monorail; building to-scale recreations of Indian temples onto the show-building of the Indiana Jones Adventure (which, by the way, is only visible from Downtown Disney, even before you've entered the parks) and that moustaches are okay, but beards are not.

The truth is that in today's world and with today's employees, beards are okay. It may not be the most professional look, but it's highly acceptable in many places to have stubble or scruff. Being scruffy is to 2012 as the moustache was the 1970s. And of course, corporate Disney okayed facial hair quite a while ago. It was only the parks that maintained the moustache-only standard.

[teenageninja]

I actually agree. If I am paying $60.00+ to go to an amusement park this year, I want to see professionalism. KI is the same way, if you are stubbly, you need to go shave or go home.

[Shaggy]

I actually agree. If I am paying $60.00+ to go to an amusement park this year, I want to see professionalism. KI is the same way, if you are stubbly, you need to go shave or go home.

By use of the word "stubbly", are you describing a man who hasn't shaved for the day, or do you mean actually having a trimmed beard?

If you meant that a man having not shaved *could* appear unkempt, then I would agree with you - but only to an extent.

However, if you think having a beard is unprofessional, then I couldn't disagree more. Having a beard has NOTHING to do with one's professionalism. Having an unruly appearance could cause someone to have an unbased impression of you, but it does not determine one's capability.

In Disney's case, they hire Cast Members as though they were auditioning for a show. Thus I agree that there are certain positions that probably lend themselves to being clean shaven - just as there are those that lend themselves to having facial hair.

For instance, the fellows that sing in the Barbershop quartet on Main Street. Their having a mustache lends itself to the part, does it not? Or what about the Jungle Cruise Boat Captains? Or the Country Bear Jamboree Show Coordinators? Or Splash Mountain Ride Attendants? Seems to me a rugged look better fits the "part." Actually, I think the cast members in the Adventureland/Frontierland areas of the park always looked out of place by BEING clean shaven and neat and tidy.

Now a cast member working a Fantasyland attraction, such as It's a Small World, or Winnie the Pooh etc would probably be better served being clean shaven IMO. Why? Because small children can perceive men with facial hair as being stern or intimidating. I feel those attractions should be cast with those having a gentler appearance with no seperation between their face and the child's eyes.

I speak to this due to personal experience. I happen to hold the record as the first Disney Store Cast Member in this region to ever be allowed to have a beard. Many years ago, I worked the Disney Store as a sideline kick. I left the store after two years of hard work, only to be asked to return/assist during busier holiday times. In the time since I had left the position, I had grown a full beard and was unwilling to shave clean. Because of my "professionalism" and high former cast member ranking, I was welcomed back with open arms and told I could keep the beard as long as I kept it trimmed within a certain length. I made sure it was kept tidy and trimmed as to not appear sloppy and I worked another season WITH the beard.

Bottom line... I disagree with any *possible* sentiments that someone having facial hair is "unprofessional." Heck, even Santa, Abe Lincoln, and Uncle Walt himself would agree with me.

Shaggy - (but not a shaggy beard ;-)

[AZ Kinda Guy]

Couldn't agree more Shaggy. Any company that refuses to let their employees to grow facial hair shows just how far behind the times they really are. What an example? Have a look at the illustrations Cedar Fair uses in their employee handbook to show "proper" grooming standards.

[Colonel_SoB_fan]

As a former cast member I love/hate this.

I love it because, there were days I was borderline and praying on the bus ride to MK I could avoid the managers for the day, because I just did not have enough time to shave.

I hate it because it's not Disney. It will not have a huge impact on number of guests through the gates, if any effect, but Disney is known for it's "professional" look and customer service.

Like the old saying goes people hate change, and that is what we have here.

[XGatorHead 8904]

I have no problem with Disney allowing beards/goatees. It doesn't show a lack of professionalism to me at all, as long as they are neat & trimmed, which it appears that the guidelines are going to require.

I had worked at KI for 16 straight years, and in that time facial hair was not allowed. I then went back a few years later to work Haunt, and my second year of doing that I decided to grow a goatee. I'll let my geekdom show here: the original idea was inspired by Star Trek; evil Spock had a goatee, so evil Gator would have a goatee too. I soon began to get an odd sense of pleasure working at KI with facial hair, since for so long it was forbidden (and still is for non-Haunt associates).

[CedarPointer]

Couldn't agree more Shaggy. Any company that refuses to let their employees to grow facial hair shows just how far behind the times they really are. What an example? Have a look at the illustrations Cedar Fair uses in their employee handbook to show "proper" grooming standards.

Don't remind me of that picture. Please.

[PhantomTheater]

I have no problem with Disney allowing beards/goatees. It doesn't show a lack of professionalism to me at all, as long as they are neat & trimmed, which it appears that the guidelines are going to require.

I had worked at KI for 16 straight years, and in that time facial hair was not allowed. I then went back a few years later to work Haunt, and my second year of doing that I decided to grow a goatee. I'll let my geekdom show here: the original idea was inspired by Star Trek; evil Spock had a goatee, so evil Gator would have a goatee too. I soon began to get an odd sense of pleasure working at KI with facial hair, since for so long it was forbidden (and still is for non-Haunt associates).

Like me with long hair durring CP's Halloweekends, I giggle at the "looking good today" sign at Spiral Gate. I don't wear facail hair though, full face prosthetic + facial hair = OUCH!

[TombRaiderFTW]

Oddly enough, this story actually made the evening news on multiple channels around Dayton, thus reassuring me that, when nothing's going on the world, literally anything will make for a news story.

[XGatorHead 8904]

Like me with long hair durring CP's Halloweekends, I giggle at the "looking good today" sign at Spiral Gate. I don't wear facail hair though, full face prosthetic + facial hair = OUCH!

It doesn't even take a full face prosthetic to hurt. I've had a little latex from "wounds" get in my goatee, and even my eyebrows. That wasn't fun peeling off.

[Beast1979]

I do not see how facial hair results in unprofessional appearance. The "I didn't shave this morning" stubble, maybe. But a fully grown and groomed mustache or beard or goatee? Hardly, I can't think of anything more inconsequential. If I walked up to an employee and asked him where Space Mountain was, I wouldn't think any different of him no matter how he wore his hair, so long as he was polite and friendly. That's professionalism - attitude towards guests.