Looking for something fun to do this week? Walt Disney World and Disneyland are asking fans to come dressed like a princess to their theme parks on Thursday, October 11.
The request comes in support of International Day of the Girl, sponsored by the United Nations to help empower girls around the world, especially in nations where they face legal or cultural barriers to education and paying work. Be sure to take a picture in the park, too, because Disney will donate $1 — to US$1 million — to Girl Up, the United Nations Foundation's program supporting girls' leadership and empowerment, for each video or photo shared publicly on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter that is tagged with the hashtag #DreamBigPrincess between October 10 and November 20.
Disney is not abandoning its in-park costume rules for the day, so the usual guidelines apply. So for grown-ups, we're talking Disneybounding rather than full-on cosplay here.
How to do it? Pick your favorite female Disney character and dress in colors or patterns than suggest, rather than faithfully reproduce, her look. (See above, and here are a few more examples, from Disney itself.) Kids ages 13 and under are good to go for costumes, however, provided any masks do not cover the entire face and eyes remain visible.
If you will be in the parks on Thursday and planning something especially creative with your attire, be sure to tag us on Twitter (@ThemePark) or Instagram (@ThemeParkInsider) with your #DreamBigPrincess photo, too, and we will share it with our followers. Maybe the "double dipping" can help hit that million-dollar donation goal even quicker.
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I know inspiration comes in many forms, but am I the only one a little offended by this? Hey girls, your big dream should be about fashion and marrying into power?
How about encouraging girls to dress up as their favorite imagineers or maybe a ride design competition?
As a grandmother to 3 beautiful teenage girls, I am so offended by this! How does dressing like a princess line up with "empowering" girls?? Sounds more like encouraging the "Cinderella Complex"!
I see where you're coming from Jeff D- I think Disney should've also included those components.
BUT I would lean more in the direction of those as an 'in addition to' instead of replacing dressing up as princesses. As a Disney-loving businesswoman whose parents pretty much killed any thoughts of me being a princess, I should be the first to ban all this, but I also LOVE dressing up in costume, and I don't see this as encouraging future trophy wives. It's just... fun. Side note: I could be missing someone, but Disney Princesses actually had great qualities whose goals didn't include marrying into power.
But very true-- this is also a missed opportunity by Disney to encourage and promote young ladies growing in STEM directions.
Let the kids have their dreams, Jeff. Life will eventually push most of us into conformity by the time we hit our teenage years.
Any daycare worker will tell you that as a group, little boys and little girls are vastly different in their behavior and development patterns. If little girls want to be princesses and little boys want to be sports stars or cowboys or pirates there's nothing wrong with that.
And there's nothing wrong with dreaming about fashion. Coco Chanel, Estee Lauder, and dozens of female supermodels have made millions from being interested in fashion and using their abilities to best of their advantage. Should we push them into chasing a STEM career when their interests lie elsewhere?
And how would a little girl dress up like an imagineer? Heck, I can't even think of the name of a female imagineer off the top off my head.
It's time to stop being offended and it's time to stop being PC. This is about Disney, and imagination, and kids, and fun.
Educators I admire have told me that the most important thing you can do to influence someone is to meet them where they are at. If you impose some standard and demand people come to you, prepare to be ignored.
Disney's campaign here is meeting its fans where they are at. The fans are all aboard the Princess Hype Train, thanks billions of dollars in Disney productions and marketing. So the way I see it, this promotion is starting with fans' love for princesses and then pointing gently toward something else - the UN campaign. Disney is saying " you want to dress up like princess? We love that! Now how about you do that for a good cause?"
Meet the fans where they are at, then steer them gently. That's fine. You don't need to demand that people make the jump to something bigger right away. Just point, then see who takes a step toward that on their own. Maybe some girls will hear now about the UN campaign, read more, and become inspired. Maybe most won't. But any that do are a win for us all.
My $.02
Wow! Our anonymous grandmother pulls a 40-year old theory out of the ether and totally misapplies it to the situation.
The Cinderella Complex might have been accurate 40 years ago when the book was written when Aurora and Cinderella were Disney's leading ladies, but it certainly doesn't describe the recent Disney princesses. The Disney princesses of the last 30 years have encompassed some pretty tough and independent gals, so maybe it's time not to be offended by the concept of little girls pretending to be princesses.
Now what would offend me would be if TH Creative showed up to the Magic Kingdom dressed like a Disney princess. That would be so wrong! And you're welcome in advance to those of you who had that mental image implanted and can't get it out of your heads!
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For the "Day of the Girl}", how about dressing like successful businesswomen, scientists, engineers, hard working homemakers. Anything but imaginary stereotypes.