Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, has reworked the greeting for its fireworks show at Magic Kingdom in order to be more inclusive For many years, ahead of the nightly fireworks show — which returns Thursday after being on a lengthy hiatus due to the pandemic — an announcer issued this greeting:
“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, dreamers of all ages…” It was revealed Tuesday night, when Disney cast members were given a preview of the new fireworks show, that the theme park nixed the first part of the announcement and will now just be greeting “dreamers of all ages.” You can listen to the before and after here:
The shift in the Orlando park comes months after Tokyo Disneyland made a similar decision in the name of inclusivity. It should be noted the reworked greeting in the Japanese location came initially not from Disney but from the Oriental Land Company, which licenses the Disney brand, its characters, and their likenesses for the park.
The new greeting there welcomes “everyone” and doesn’t use sex- or gender-based language, according to HuffPost. It went into effect March 18. A spokesperson for the Oriental Land Company said the change was made to make people of all sexual and gender identities “feel comfortable in the park.” READ MORE
