TheQuartering [4/23/2021]
Disneyland is going down the drain!
A self-described longtime fan of Walt Disney World penned an op-ed blasting the company for making changes to popular attractions in the name of “wokeness.”
“I am strongly rethinking our commitment to Disney and, thus, Orlando,” Jonathan VanBoskerck, a Nevada resident, wrote in a commentary piece published by the Orlando Sentinel. “The more Disney moves away from the values and vision of Walt Disney, the less Disney World means to me.”
VanBoskerck appears to have written his screed against Disney DIS, +0.14% most directly in response to changes the company recently announced to the “Disney Look,” which comprises guidelines for dress and appearance that the company’s theme-park employees must follow.
The company rolled out more gender-inclusive rules that allow workers to have a broader range of hairstyles, paint their fingernails and wear jewelry, regardless of their gender identity. Disney is also allowing workers to grow longer facial hair, and the parks’ “cast members” can have visible tattoos if they are small and not located on or above the neck.
In the past, employees couldn’t have any visible tattoos, and facial hair could be no longer than one inch.
(Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the op-ed.)
“I’m not traveling across the country and paying thousands of dollars to watch someone I do not know express themselves,” VanBoskerck argued.
But the new dress code for employees wasn’t the only target of his ire. VanBoskerck, who described himself as “a Christian and a conservative Republican,” also took issue with changes the theme park has planned in recent years for some of its most popular rides.