Over one year ago, the words “Ladies and Gentlemen, Boy and Girls” were eliminated from fireworks announcements at Magic Kingdom Park in the Walt Disney World Resort. On March 30, we shared the news that it appears Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products will be making genderless announcements the norm across all of its Theme Parks, from Disneyland Park in California to Hong Kong Disneyland.
But it appears that Disney’s gender neutrality push will go so far as to alter the way Cast Members interact with some of the Guests.
Part of the charm of a Disneyland or Magic Kingdom experience was that every little girl got to be a princess. And Cast Members addressed them as such whether or not their parents paid for the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique makeover.
Now, Vivian Ware, Disney’s Diversity and Inclusion Manager, appears to make it clear that the Guest-facing tradition will become a thing of the past–along with allowing Cast Members to “just assume” a Guest is a girl.
“We want to create that magical moment with our Cast Members, with our Guests,” she said. “And we don’t want to just assume because someone might be in, our interpretation, may be presenting as female that they may not want to be ‘princess.'”
SCOOP: Disney diversity and inclusion manager Vivian Ware says the company has eliminated all mentions of "ladies," "gentlemen," "boys," and "girls" in its theme parks in order to create "that magical moment" for children who do not identify with traditional gender roles. pic.twitter.com/OWsGTUoeCA
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) March 29, 2022
Ware also mentioned with a smile that the removal of automatic gender-specific terms had challenged Cast Members to seek more creative ways to address Guests. As new Cast Members become trained in this new “inclusive” Guest interaction, only time will tell how the language policies will affect the Disney Park Experience for Guests.
This is all part of Disney’s initiative for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion called Reimagine Tomorrow. The training has been met with scrutiny, though, and might even face complications from the Florida Legislature.
Read More: Bill Fighting Disney’s ‘Woke’ Cast Member Training Makes Progress
Meanwhile, the one way it appears little Disney Guests can have their parents pay for them to overtly self-identify as a Princess (or Knight), Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, remains shuttered due to lingering Covid concerns.
We at Disney Fanatic will continue to update our readers on Disney Park updates as more information comes to light.
