It’s no secret to people that DisneyLand, the happiest place on earth, has a lot of rules. Countless ex-Disney employees have come out telling about all these weird rules that Disney has. At first some of these rules may sound stupid and make any sense, but they are all put in place to ensure Disney goers have a fun and safe time. One Junior, Christina Chase, described Disney as, “an all inclusive empire.”
One of Disney’s most bizzare rules is that once a park goer reaches the age of 14 they can no longer wear costumes to the Disney Parks. At first glance this could seem unfair and upsetting but Disney has very good justification for this rule. Once a kid reaches the age of 14 due to safety concerns.
It is well known that many actors rome the parks pretending to be characters like Belle, Tiana, Ariel, Peter Pan, etc. and if anyone older who is not a Disney actor is dressed up they could be confused as one of the actors. This presents danger because younger children love meeting their favorite characters. Disney doesn’t want them running up to strangers that could put them in danger.
Disney takes great care to make sure that everyone who visits their park has a fun and safe time, thus helping create many memories that people will remember years later.
“I remember meeting Ariel,” recalled Freshman Miles Griffin. “We were eating at one of the Disney restaurants and she came up to talk to me and my sister because we both had red hair.”
Despite this rule people have found ways to dress up as their favorite character without breaking any rules; inspiring a Disney fashion movement.
To get around this rule, the idea of Disneybounding emerged. Disneybounding is a fun fashion-forward way of expressing your personal style and love for Disney. It is characterized by styling an outfit by taking inspiration (rather than dressing exactly as)from a certain Disney character.
Stella Seiler said, when asked about Disneybounding, ”I think it’s a great idea to have for people who want to dress up but can’t because of that rule.”
For example, if someone wanted to Disneybound as Belle from Beauty and the Beast they may wear a yellow sundress accompanied by rose shaped jewelry; or go as Mickey Mouse and wear red shorts, a black sweater, and yellow shoes (you could even add a pair of white gloves if you wanted).
I think the idea of Disneybounding is really smart,” Madeline Dabbah, Sophomore, explains . “There are some adults who do truly love dressing up, so it [Disneybounding] is good for that reason.”
There are no rules to Disneybounding. It doesn’t matter how old you are, or what gender you are; as long as you are expressing yourself it’s okay. Disneybounding is all about the expression of someone’s love for Disney using fashion.