Credit: DisneyWalt Disney World Resort is being accused of allowing cast members to make fun of one particular group of guests based on their appearance, specifically, something that most people cannot control. Here’s what Disney Parks fans are saying.
Disney Cast Members Mocking Guests
One of Disney’s Five Keys for cast members is Inclusion, which emphasizes that Walt Disney World Resort employees treat all guests with respect and dignity, regardless of identity. However, some Disney Park guests believe that cast members are mistreating a specific subset of guests: bald men.
Redditor u/SayNoToHypocriscy recently made a post about their family’s experience with cast members at Walt Disney World Resort. Multiple members of their travel party are bald men and have been made fun of by different cast members on numerous visits since 1995:
I’ve been going to WDW every 2 to 5 years since 1995, and I’ve noticed this over and over again. Whether it’s my dad, my brother, or my fiancé, it feels inevitable that at some point, a cast member will make a joke about their baldness.
I’ve seen it happen with a Jungle Cruise skipper, a character during a meal, and even with one of those handlers who walk around with Chewbacca. It feels like baldness is an easy lever to pull for a laugh, and cast members seem way too comfortable using it.
I understand there are parts of WDW where guests are intentionally teased or made fun of. That’s part of the experience. I get it. But making fun of someone’s baldness crosses a line. People don’t choose to be bald, just as they don’t choose their sexual orientation. Others might be bald due to chemo or other medical treatment.
And for many people, it’s a real insecurity.
I genuinely don’t understand why this is considered fair game. Why is this still a thing? Do others have similar experiences?
The post sparked a heated discussion among Disney Parks fans. Some agreed with the original poster.
“Imagine being bald due to cancer, or shaving your head in solidarity with a cancer victim, then getting made fun of,” u/GeneralInspector8962 wrote. “No one’s physical appearance should ever be mocked.”
“As a bald person it’s not that they’re making fun of your baldness is that they’re TRYING to use it to leverage a laugh which is rude,” said u/m3thdumps. “I don’t care that I’m bald but I will think less of a person that jokes about it.”
Still, some argued that it wasn’t a problem at all.
“Speaking as a middle aged man, we get a lot of advantages,” u/SkierBuck wrote. “One of the disadvantages is we tend to be fair game for jokes about being bald or pudgy around the middle.”
“Baldness is just one of the few (only?) physical characteristics that it’s still socially acceptable to make fun of,” u/The_Pompadour64 added. “If you look, you’ll see it everywhere. I don’t think it’s a Disney thing in particular.”
Others Push For Nuance
Other Disney Parks fans felt that cast members could appropriately judge whether it was the right time to make a joke about a bald guest.
“I feel like if the dude is obviously shaved bald, it’s fair game,” said u/CosmicHazmat. “It’s a choice. If it’s directed at a balding guy, that’s in poor taste.”
“CMs are the first people to offer kindness for a guest clearly going through cancer treatment,” u/Cautious_Nomad_ replied. “Context matter here. For 99% of middle aged healthy looking dudes that dont look frail, being bald is just genetics, not cancer. Treating every bald guy like a potential chemo patient is actually more awkward than just making a silly joke.”
Do you think this is a valid criticism of Walt Disney World Resort cast members? Share your opinion with Inside the Magic in the comments.