While every theme park visit offers numerous delights, one of the ones fans seem to have a true affinity for is dressing up.
It's typical for Walt Disney (DIS) parkgoers, for instance, to arrive wearing headbands with sequined Mickey or Minnie ears. Another popular form of self decor is to wear a lanyard, which people enjoy decorating with the park's large collection of commemorative enamel pins.
However, every park has dress code guidelines attendees must follow. After all, theme parks are intended for families to be able to enjoy, and you can't just trot in there in a sequined bra and expect kids not to go all google-eyed.
While Disney's dress code regulations are about what you would expect (no shirt, no shoes, no service), it is a great disappointment to many when they learn you cannot go to any of its parks in costume if you are over age 14.
However, a new issue regarding dress code has popped up for Disney since 2021 -- and it's just one more thing to make parkgoers wonder why its rules are so strict (or, for that matter, aimed only at women).
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What Dress Code Rule Did Disney Implement?
In 2021, TikTok user Amanda DiMeo posted a video to her 1.5 million followers, claiming that she showed up at a Disney park wearing a shirt that was deemed too revealing by a Disney Cast Member. She was then escorted to a shop and asked to pick out a t-shirt to wear, which she says cost $75 and was given to her for free.
Naturally, a lot of people wanted to try what was nicknamed "Dress Coding" at Disney after that to get a free shirt, and social media proves that a lot of people did, proudly showing off their free clothing, which is probably not a thing you should do if you don't want the company in question to notice its loophole.
And notice Disney did. According to a report from Theme Park Tourist, some park visitors have been turned away entirely or informed they need to purchase a shirt in order to enter the park.
According to the videos people have posted on social media, the garments that women are usually dress coded for are crop tops and low cut tops. There are no social media posts indicating that any male or non-binary parkgoers have been dress coded.
Both the women targeted and social media users reading the news are starting to get pretty upset about it now that Disney isn't giving out free clothing anymore, to the point where some are calling for a boycott of the park.
Costumes Are Welcome at Universal
While you can't go to a Disney park dressed as a princess or apparently in anything less than puritanical, Universal Studios (CMCSA) does allow visitors to its parks to wear costumes with a few limitations (sadly, Halloween Horror Nights is one of them).
"No costume masks, veils, long trains, live animals, swords or weaponry are permitted. Face coverings worn for medical or health reasons are permitted. Any home-crafted wands must be rounded on either end and must be appropriate in nature," the dress code guidelines read on its website.
Universal does have a similar line in its dress code to Disney's that says,"Clothing that Universal construes as indecent, exposes excessive portions of the skin, or that Universal views as inappropriate for a family environment is prohibited." However, there's been little mention on social media of visitors receiving the same treatment.
Universal Orlando also made some changes in dress code inclusivity for its cast members in 2021, changing the guidelines to permit all genders to wear makeup, nail polish, and have visible tattoos showing. Disney made a similar move in 2021 as well.
