You know how Adam and Eve felt after that unfortunate episode with the apple. You can see the Happiest Place on Earth, but you can’t go in. You’ve been banned, kicked out of paradise. It’s the worst thing that can happen to a theme park tourist.
Even if you didn’t realize it, Disney does have rules about park behavior. Violating some of these rules is enough to guarantee you get not only removed from the park for the day but in some cases banned forever. This may seem harsh to some, but try to think of it from The Walt Disney Company’s perspective.
Over 134 million people visit their theme parks each year. That’s a larger number of people than live in Japan. If Disney didn’t enforce their rules for tolerable park behavior, well, nobody would ever call Disneyland the Happiest Place on Earth again.
Disney parks function as melting pots for all the world’s travelers. On a given day, guests from dozens of countries visit Disney’s establishments. Each of these groups of people has their own customs and behavior. Some of them are a bit unusual to others. In order to maximize the enjoyment of as many people as possible, Disney tries to police with a light touch, but if they turned a blind eye to the most annoying guest behavior, anarchy would ensue.
Rather than allow their parks to fall into chaos, Disney park analysts watch carefully to determine which guest practices are acceptable and which ones either annoy or endanger other visitors. There’s a legal element to this as well. If something goes wrong at a Disney theme park, the company is responsible. Time Magazine reported 30 years ago that Disney faces approximately 100 lawsuits each year, and the country has only become more litigious since then. That’s why Disney has to spend so much time and financial consideration on park safety.
Even in Florida where the company deals with less governmental oversight due to deals that Walt Disney made when he bought the land, incidents still occur. In 2001, the Florida legislature requested that the company report major injuries and deaths each year. Wikipedia actually collates a list of them if you’re interested. Without thoughtful rules in place to increase park safety, this list would be exponentially longer.
Given the above, it’s understandable why Disney bans so many dangerous practices at their amusement parks. Any behavior that threatens others poses risks to the company in terms of legal fees, guest compensation, and public relations woes. In the social media era, the last of those three is the gravest concern. Issues at parks that were historically local stories kept out of the national media now trend in a matter of moments.
Now that you understand why park rules are so important, it’s time to learn about all the banned items and behaviors at Disney amusement parks. Some of what follows may shock you, but you’ll shake your head in approval at many of Disney’s decisions. They didn’t become the dominant force in the theme park industry by accident. Their meticulous research into acceptable behavior is the gold standard across the business world.
The early days
Image: Disney
When Disneyland debuted in 1955, Americans lived in an entirely different culture. The social revolution of the 1960s was still a few years away. A post-World War II mentality dominated all phases of society. The country’s leaders expected civilians to act in a certain way, and many of those beliefs passed down into the business industry.
Walt Disney, who was an ardent supporter of the war effort, felt trapped by societal conventions. As an artist, he interacted with many creatives whose individuality was the source of their greatness. He didn’t like the idea of telling his friends to behave differently, but he was also a harsh task master like so many perfectionists are. His vision for Disneyland was precise, and that meant he expected employees as well as guests to look and act a certain way.
Beards not allowed!
Image: Disney
When Uncle Walt hired employees for the park opening, some of them experienced shock when they received the criteria for public appearances. The best way to describe it is that Disney himself must have hated hair, at least on men. He banned any kind of facial hair for male cast members. He deemed mustaches, beards, and goatees unprofessional, and his idealized vision of Disneyland would include clean shaven workers with smiles on their faces. He wanted his park to seem wholesome, and shaggy-looking employees wouldn’t provide that atmosphere.
Long hair is for women!
Image: Disney
Similarly, Disney wasn’t a fan of long-haired hippies. In this regard, it’s a good thing he died a few years ahead of Woodstock, because the sight of Jimi Hendrix onstage might have killed him. Disney loathed the idea of men wearing long hair. This may seem crazy now, but the perception in the 1950s was that any guy with extended locks was a beatnik. A beatnik was a commie-loving poet. And Walt Disney was not about to let the park of his dreams get overrun by bongo-playing hippies.
The dress code, well, hair code didn’t solely apply to employees, either. Any long-haired man who tried to enter Disneyland in its early days didn’t get to go inside. Instead, a cast member informed them that they failed to meet the park dress code. This became especially problematic in 1964 when an ascendant band from Britain invaded America. The Beatles had a revolutionary sound and even more original hair. Any man who mimicked their look would find out that Disneyland wasn’t a fan of the mop top.
Free the Anaheim Two!
Image: Disney
Women also had to live up to the Donna Reed Show expectations of the 1950s. Cast members didn’t use rulers to measure how far above the knee skirts were, but they still employed guidelines for appropriate dress. Any lady in a halter top found herself publicly shamed if she tried to enter the Happiest Place on Earth. Such a free-flowing bosom didn’t fit well with the family image Disney wanted to display in its early days.
Protestors have their day
To punctuate the absurdity of the situation, the hippies actually got their revenge on Disneyland in 1970. In violation of established park rules, a group of 300 protestors legally gained admission to the park. While there, they protested its long-standing practices by staging a protest at Tom Sawyer Island. They even hoisted a Viet Cong flag.
Park officials had no idea how to respond to such an unprecedented event. They called the Orange County Police, who overreacted completely by arriving clad in riot gear. They arrested 18 of the protestors that day, and Disneyland gave the them the ultimate demerit for their behavior. They didn’t receive rain checks to return for free on another day. Then again, the demonstrators also walked away with a victory: It was the first time in the history of Disneyland that the park closed early due to a guest incident.
Before the rainbow
Today, The Walt Disney Company is one of the best employers for the gay and lesbian community. Starting in 1991, fans organized Gay Days at their parks that have become an annual tradition. While the company doesn’t officially sanction the event, they continue to be the gold standard in the equal treatment of all employees and guests.
In 2014, Disney even stopped their donations to the Boy Scouts of America, a charitable act that had gone on for decades, because the company refused to allow gay men to become scout leaders. They also were one of the first major American corporations to provide health benefits to same-sex partners. They’ve even signed court documents expressing ardent company support for same-sex marriage.
However, in the 1950s, their position was not as inclusive. During the early days of rules creation, the company took a hard look at potential practices at Disneyland. Dancing was a hot button topic at the time – don’t laugh – because it was considered a gateway activity to people having sex. Disney crafted a series of rules about appropriate behavior at a family-friendly park. While authorizing dancing in 1957, they decided to exclude same-sex couples. Ostensibly, it was to enact “crowd-control measure(s)” to protect women. In reality, it was a decision to exclude gay people from dancing since such an action might make other guests uncomfortable.
Even though a couple of early Disney Imagineers including Disney Legend Bob Gurr were homosexual, his employer did what they felt was best for a family-friendly park. The rule remained in effect until Disney experienced some embarrassment with a lawsuit in the early 1980s. They eliminated the rule for good in 1985. It’s to the credit of The Walt Disney Company that 41 years later, they had come so far with their policies. Actively encouraging the gay and lesbian community to visit the park by offering Gay Days doesn’t make up for the historical slight, but The Walt Disney Company is clearly passionate about treating all their employees equally today.
Disney today
Many of the early rules for park behavior went away as evolving social dynamics altered the public’s perception of inappropriate activities. Only a few of the early rules still exist, and most of them are modified to demonstrate modern updates to the social contract.
Clothing not optional…
For example, women can and do wear halter tops to parks today. They must, however, wear clothing. Disney theme parks aren’t nudist colonies, and cast members will eject anyone who walks around topless, even men.
One of the infamous examples of Disney’s issues with nudity occurred at Splash Mountain at Disneyland. The vaunted log flume attraction climaxes with a huge plunge straight down into the water below. The idea is that you’ll get somewhere between slightly and extremely wet. In order to save the moment for posterity’s sake (and make a few dollars along the way), Disney installed cameras to capture the expressions of riders during the big fall.
There’s just one problem. Some people are always going to find ways to bring nudity into the situation. A few women, perhaps still lamenting the stringent halter top rules, started to use the cameras as an opportunity to show off their cleavage. Even a family theme park like Disneyland isn’t immune from a bit of exhibitionism. Disney obviously bans guests that they bust for flashing their breasts, but Flash Mountain is still a thing even today.
If you get caught flashing on Splash Mountain, however, you’re in a lot of trouble. Disney could throw the book at you for this one. It’s technically public indecency, and with small children around, getting banned from the park might not be your biggest concern. The prosecution on this crime could be a felony, not a misdemeanor. You should avoid the temptation to flash on this particular mountain.
Selfie Sticks
In January of 2015, NPR noted that the global trend of selfie sticks was finally arriving in America. These mobile monopods were already ubiquitous in parts of Asia. Global sales are in the tens of millions, and the popularity of the devices has led to a massive debate over the inventor of the device. A man named Wayne Fromm has the patent for the device, which he obtained in 2010. There are sales catalog photos of a selfie stick going back to 1995, however, and someone unearthed an image from 1925 (!) that looks like the same device.
Assuming a TARDIS wasn’t involved, selfie sticks are almost a century old, yet people didn’t notice until a few years ago. Americans took note in late 2014, when over 100,000 people bought selfie sticks over the holiday sales period. That’s a drop in the bucket compared to international sales, but those numbers reflected the ascending American popularity of a global trend. In late 2014 and early 2015, selfie sticks were the Gangnam Style of camera add-ons. Americans were last, but once we got on board, the situation changed.
The problem with selfie sticks is obvious. It’s right there in the name. A stick is a dangerous item in an amusement park in the best of circumstances. If someone foolishly tried to use it on a ride, they run the risk of seriously injuring themselves, others on the ride, and potentially even innocent bystanders nearby.
The rising popularity of selfie sticks placed The Walt Disney Company in an awkward position. They knew that a certain segment of their clients were used to having them. They understood that people want to commemorate their visits to Disney theme parks with personalized images. And they realized that like many trends, selfie sticks could quickly go the way of the Tamagotchi if they ignored the problem long enough.
Alas, too many irresponsible people starting employing selfie sticks. I witnessed this first hand during a May, 2015, visit to Magic Kingdom. A person holding a selfie stick mindlessly wandered directly into the path of float. An attentive cast member jumped in their way and thereby averted catastrophe, but that’s merely one anecdotal example of the perils caused by inattentive selfie stick holders.
At the end of June, Disney had seen enough. They added selfie sticks to the banned list on June 30th at Disneyland and Walt Disney World and on July 1st at Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland. Their official statement was powerful in its honest assessment of the problem: “We strive to provide a great experience for the entire family, and unfortunately selfie sticks have become a growing safety concern for both our guests and cast.”
A lot of the reasons why selfie sticks were banned apply to ride videos as well. While smartphone cameras get smaller and more powerful every year, Disney ruled in the early days of the technology that carrying a recording device on a ride was a bad idea. They had a hidden agenda in doing so.
Some of the technology employed in Disney’s attractions includes copyrighted material. At the time they decided to ban videos, they didn’t own all of this material, either. A good example is Star Tours, which Disney eventually purchased from George Lucas when they acquired LucasFilm in 2012.
If someone recorded the special material created by LucasFilm for the attraction, Disney was culpable. The two companies had too strong a relationship for that concern to create financial friction, but it was a possibility. Primarily, Disney wants to protect its intellectual property as much as possible. Strangers taking videos doesn’t fit that plan, so they’re theoretically strict about all recording devices.
Today, it’s largely a non-issue. If you try to record at a Disney theme park, you won’t get banned even if it’s technically a possibility. The primary exception is if you do something egregious that interferes with the enjoyment of a fellow guest. Otherwise, smartphone cameras are a way of life, and Disney understands that attraction videos are functionally free advertising for their marvelous themed rides. If a cast member ever asks you to stop recording, however, do what they say. You are technically breaking the rules, after all.
Disney uses Segways, but you can’t
Image: Disney
The Segway briefly took the world by storm when inventor Dean Kamen introduced it in 2001. Disney wishes that he’d built something else instead. The Segway and their reaction to it have cost them a lot of money and negative news cycles over the years. They have no one but themselves to blame, either.
Over the years, The Walt Disney Company has offered mixed signals about their opinion of the Segway. They clearly admire the technology. Why else would they offer Segway Tours of Disney facilities? Even today, they still offer the Wilderness Back Trail Adventure, a two-hour tour at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort. For a time, they also provided a Segway Tour in one of their most popular theme parks, Epcot.
That’s despite the fact that they only recently ended a protracted lawsuit involving the usage of Segways at Disney. Amazingly, they were defending their position of not allowing these electric vehicles. How did Disney get in such an awkward position? They examined the new ride right after it was announced. After investigating all the potential safety concerns, one number stuck with them.
A Segway can travel over 12 miles per hour, which isn’t a lot, but it’s still enough to qualify as dangerous in the right conditions. Imagineers feared the potential of multiple Segways bumping into one another, causing a pile-up in the middle of the park. They also worried about innocent bystanders getting run over by Segways, which may seem unlikely to some. If so, watch this video of Usain Bolt getting knocked down after winning the 200-meter sprint. No competitor could stop the champion runner yet a Segway completely wipes him out. Imagine how an elderly person or child would handle such a collision.
The problem Disney has faced involves the disabled, generally one of the best treated customer bases for the company. After the company banned Segways, guests vented their frustration over the decision. From their perspective, a Segway was a different form of a wheelchair, and Disney could never ban those.
Starting in 2004, lawsuits sprang up across the country. The matter took almost a decade to litigate. You can read one of the first instances here. Eventually, the Supreme Court had to chime in on the subject. They finally ruled in Disney’s favor in 2013. You can read the details here. That makes the Segway historical in a sense. It’s the only thing banned at Disney that required Supreme Court confirmation to codify. Then again, it’s also the only thing banned at Disney that Disney still sells as a tour.
Don’t have a cow, man
Image: Disney
No matter how much you love your skateboard or roller skates, you can’t bring them with you to the park. It’s the same concern as the Segway. Even Tony Hawk isn’t allowed to bring a skateboard, because Disney fears that you might trip and fall into someone. Given the massive crowds pervasive across their theme parks, it’s an understandable concern. Skateboards can go upwards of 80 miles per hour in the right circumstances. Even a fraction of that surpasses Segways, and a fast roller skater does as well. So, Disney has to hold the same standards across transportation devices, no matter how innocuous. You can’t even wear Heelys, those shoes with wheels.
Cremated remains
Some people really love Disney. In fact, they love one of the theme parks so much that they want their family to bury them there. Don’t laugh. This comes up a lot more often than you think, and the math checks out on it. If 134 million people are visiting the theme parks each year, even if only one out of every 100,000 wants to do this, that’s STILL over a thousand people who want their ashes scattered at Disney annually. If the company didn’t take steps to address the problem, Disneyland would double as a constant Dust Bowl.
Disney not only bans the spreading of ashes at their parks but also takes steps to prevent it from happening. Otherwise, they’d wind up punishing people after the fact for the unwelcome dissemination of their loved ones. Alas, even in this age of security cameras and high-tech alarm systems, there’s only so much that they can do. Stories of dead people finding permanent homes at Disney theme parks are more than simply Haunted Mansion tales. There was even an infamous instance that shut down Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland in 2007. I presume Johnny Depp has this in his will, also.
Playing dress-up
Many Disney fanatics love to play dress-up when they visit the parks. They want to put on their costume tributes to the characters they love. The problem is that Disney needs people not to do that. They post a list of acceptable apparel for just this reason. You may have violated the dress code without even knowing it, and I don’t mean by wearing a halter top.
Any adult clothing that cast members feel is similar enough to confuse for an official Disney costume is off-limits. They don’t want people not employed by Disney acting as representatives of the company. The concern is that you never know when a dude dressed as a pirate might decide it’ll be funny to act like a pirate as well. If someone behaves inappropriately in a Disney-esque costume, people might confuse them as a cast member and think less of the company as a result.
Don’t be confused by this rule, though. Yes, Disney does sell costumes at the parks and yes, you will see pint-sized darling princesses and fearsome pirates strutting around everywhere. The catch is that these outfits receive authorization that they won’t confuse anyone.
Disney offers an exception to explain the incongruity. Their “no costumes” rule has a caveat that anybody under 10 can wear whatever makes them happy. It does lead to some awkward situations, though. There was an uncomfortable viral video in 2012 wherein Disney denied admission to a 15-year-old girl dressed as Tinker Bell. She broke down in tears, the media picked up the story, social media ran with it, and Disney as a company looked like a total jerk. Few people noticed that the girl wasn’t banned from the park but instead forced to change outfits to avoid potential confusion with the real Tinker Bell.
Rather than risk a banning, Disney fanatics discovered a workaround: DisneyBounding. You’ll get to dress in the style of your favorite character without confusing bystanders about whether you work for Disney. Cast members get a kick out of it, too. If you DisneyBound as Cinderella and then happen to see her at a park, she’s certain to mention your keen fashion sense. Even creatures who can’t talk such as Dug from Up will find a way to let you know that they understand and appreciate your tribute to their character.
Sure, you’d rather dress up as your favorite princess. Disney’s rules are understandable, though. So, DisneyBounding provides the perfect compromise option. Plus, you can personalize your outfit more than with a basic character costume.
Other fashion don’ts
While Disney doesn’t live in the 1950s fantasy of acceptable apparel any longer, they do still retain some rules. Even if wearing a halter top is fine, there are still exceptions. You cannot, for example, where anything ripped or torn. You may get away with it, depending on where the rips and tears are. If they’re around parts of your body that a television network would blur (or Game of Thrones would provide a close-up), expect to be escorted off the premises. Disney parks might be G-rated, but that doesn’t mean they’re G-string permissible. If they can see your underwear, you’ll have to cover up or depart.
We also live in an era where people can get a t-shirt made that says anything. Cast members try to be respectful about their tolerance of such tops, but swearing is a no-no. If your shirt says something that George Carlin noted can’t be said on television, you’re in trouble. Similarly, if you wear a shirt with a graphic that could offend some of your fellow guests, they’ll probably notify you of the issue. Generally, Disney tries to be proactive on problem apparel rather than wait for guest complaints. The same is true of tattoos. If you marked your arm with a swear or an illicit sex act, A) you’re probably fun at parties and B) you’ll have to cover up if you want admittance to the Happiest Place on Earth.
Finally, even if you head over from Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach, you can’t walk around in a bathing suit or bikini. You can’t even wear a bikini top.
Gum
Image: Disney
Do you know a key reason why the parks are so clean? The answer is in every Disney store, even if you’ve never noticed. They don’t sell gum at the theme parks. Now you know why. If kids have access to gum, they’re going to chew it and then they’re not going to want it after the flavor diminishes. What do kids do with gum, parents and teachers? That’s right. They stick it wherever they happen to be at the moment.
Disney’s theme parks are a magnificent exercise in cleanliness. You’ll never see another place as populous that enjoys such pristine conditions. There’s simply no chance they’re going to risk the majesty of their park on a cheap stick of gum.
Quick wit is your only weapon
If an employee discovers anything deemed a security risk, they won’t allow you to enter the park. You’re not technically kicked out since you never gained admission, but the situation is functionally identical. The primary items Disney disallows are weapons. Whether you’ve got a knife, a gun, or a Chinese throwing star that was a gag gift, you’ll have to leave them behind prior to heading to the park. Otherwise, you’ll have an uncomfortable encounter with security personnel.
The gun issue is particularly noteworthy. Florida is an open-carry state in theory, but Walt Disney World bans all guns. In fact, even law enforcement officials cannot bring weapons into the parks. If someone forgets or is unaware of the policy, Disney will escort anyone carrying a gun off the property, as this gentleman discovered at Animal Kingdom in 2013. Disney handles its own policing, but it can press criminal charges if they deem a guest as a hostile entity.
Know when to fold ‘em
Image: Disney
The problem with parades is that the seating options are limited at best. You’ll have to fight complete strangers for the right to sit down. Even if you win, there’s nothing to stop the person you just bested for a seat to stand directly in front of you. You can make mortal enemies quickly at a theme park.
A potential solution you’ve probably considered or, at least, fantasized about is bringing your own chair. Alas, you’re not the first person to think about it, and Disney is staunchly against it. If you try to bring a chair into the park to provide your own portable seating, they’ll stop you at the gate and kindly ask you to turn around and go back home. Nobody gets a decent seat at a parade. It’s just a fact of life at a Disney theme park.
No hairy babies…
Baymax from Big Hero 6 uses this phrase to describe his new friend, the family cat. If you’re an animal lover, you actually have a lot in common with the caretakers at Disney. I mean, Animal Kingdom is basically a zoo with rides. Still, there’s a company policy that prevents you from bringing your cat, dog, ferret, or killer yeti with you when you visit the park. On the plus side, Animal Kingdom does provide its own yeti if you want to fill that void.
Seriously, Disney tries to make their properties as tourist-friendly as possible. Some folks do travel with pets, and I’d be one of them if my cats didn’t connect the idea of a car with an impending visit to the veterinarian. If your furry friend is made of sterner stuff than mine, you absolutely can bring them with you on the trip. Disney offers pet care services just as they offer babysitting. You’ll have to pay for it, but you’ll also know that your little buddy is getting world class attention on vacation, same as you. You just can’t bring them into the park.
There is one important exception to this rule, and it’s a surprisingly divisive one. People who have service animals can bring them into the park. It’s actually one of the most frequent complaints Disney receives. Some other guests resent the presence of such animals for whatever reason, so they keep pressuring Disney to exclude all animals from the parks. Thankfully, Disney has held strong thus far, so you’ll see the occasional canine helper if you spend enough time at the parks.
Watch your language!
Image: Disney
Most people swear, but if you plan to visit a Disney park, you’ll have to watch your tongue. A proliferation of swearing around a cast member could lead to cross words. If you’re foolish enough to direct the swearing at a cast member if, say, they mention that you’ve violated any of the other rules above, they’ll send you on your merry way out of the park. A family-friendly company such as Disney has to reduce negativity whenever possible. That includes swearing and overall nastiness to other guests or park employees.
So, that’s the list of things that can get you banned at Disney. Note that the rules are constantly evolving based on current trends. For example, the selfie stick ban occurred within the past year. Disney is already considering another change as well. They are carefully tracking the group behavior of chanting while at the parks. Many guests have complained this sort of behavior in combination with clapping is distracting. Disney cast members allegedly blamed a couple of recent incidents on the distractions caused by chanting as well. It’s exactly the same series of events that triggered the selfie stick ban, but this one seems harder to enforce.
What do you think should be banned at Disney? Is there anything currently banned that you feel Disney should allow? Please leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
