Racism at Disney World: Cast Members Speak Out

Disney World is meant to be a place where all Guests and Cast Members feel accepted, seen, and included. Although that is the company’s outlook on diversity, sometimes, a bad egg may make it through the hiring process and ruin it for others. 

Lately, we have seen Disney make a huge push in the direction of inclusivity and diversity. The initiative is strung across from their Disney Parks to the Walt Disney Company’s content, from movies to series on Disney+ and theatrical releases.

Previously, Disney launched the Reimagine Tomorrow initiative, stating that “We haven’t always got it right.” This came after the Cast Member dress code changed when it came to the “Disney Look,” allowing Cast Members to express themselves more while at work. On top of that, we have already heard of the progress coming along on the new Princess and the Frog attraction, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, that is replacing Splash Mountain’s racist undertone scenes due to the Song of the South IP, as well as changing the storyline on both Walt Disney World Resort’s and Disneyland Resort’s Jungle Cruise attraction to ensure cultural appropriation disappears.

Disney has indeed taken many steps towards ensuring inclusion is prevalent within the company. The Disney Parks celebrated Pride Month this year larger than ever with murals, merchandise, and more covering Walt Disney World Resort. Disneyland Resort held Pride Nite, and After Hours event. We have even seen many accusing Disney of being “too woke” after finding out the future live-action Snow White film, starring Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot, will not have a Prince Charming, or the iconic seven dwarfs. 

In the end, we can see Disney is pushing for change.

On a recent Reddit thread, one Cast Member spoke out on the racist behavior they saw from another Cast Member while at work.

“I got hired at world of Disney about 6 years ago a group of us got hired together n trained together we were shadowing at the cash registers and this lady told my coworker I don’t want u touching my stuff our trainer heard n saw she said what’s happening the guest again said I don’t want that black girl touching my items the trainer helped the guest as we stood there when the guest left the trainer didn’t even acknowledge what happened didn’t say sorry u had to experience that or anything just brushed off the situation I never saw racism in person so I was shocked”

From this, we can clearly see that the Cast Member who was writing this was stunned at the behavior, and did not accept it by any means, which is the mindset of the majority of Cast Members at Walt Disney World. That being said, it is unfortunate to hear that the situation was brushed under the rug, and not dealt with to correct what had happened. The incident did take place a few years prior to Disney putting diversity and inclusion in the forefront of their mission, however, so this scenario would likely be treated very differently if it happened today.

Most recently, we have seen Disney look to change the look of their characters, making them more fluid in culture. The recent live-action The Little Mermaid (2023) starred Halle Bailey as Ariel, which received a lot of backlash. Black-ish star Yara Shahidi will also be playing Tinker Bell in the live-action Peter Pan remake.

Star-Wars actor John Boyega has even spoke out against Disney for highlighting him as a lead actor, and then never developing his character the way they did for other Caucasian actors in the franchise. Although this was not necessarily something that happened within the realm of the theme parks, we do see Boyega’s Finn character represented as an animatronic in Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge, so it is alarming that the actor who is literally in the attraction has found problems with diversity within the Walt Disney Company. So, it seems more can continue to always be done to continue moving in the right direction. 

Have you ever experienced or seen racism within the Disney Parks?

If you are looking to visit Walt Disney World Resort for a magical vacation, the Walt Disney World Website can be a great tool to begin planning your trip! You can begin exploring their theme parks: Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and EPCOT. You can also take a look at their water parks where you can splash around in the chill of Disney’s Blizzard Beach (alongside new Frozen characters, Anna, Elsa, Sven, and Kristoff), or hit the waves at Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon. When you get hungry or want to go shopping, Disney Springs is the place to be, especially with World of Disney there ready to help you pick up some souvenirs! You can also begin looking for your Disney World Resort! If you are looking to stay at a Deluxe monorail Resort like Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa or a Value Resort where you can hop on the Skyliner like Disney’s Pop Century Resort, it is always fun to begin looking for a room that would best suit you and your party. Plus, it has all the information you need to know on Disney Genie+ so that you will be ready to go on your My Disney Experience app once you download it! Click here to check it out today.