Complying With The Disney Look

Well, I've done it. I've dyed my hair to follow the Disney Look guidelines.I forgot how dark my hair is naturally, it's been so long since I had one color hair!
For those of you who don't know, Disney requires it's cast members to have one color hair. You can have highlights/lowlights but they can only be one shade lighter or darker than the rest of your hair and you have to keep up with the roots. I decided to go ahead and dye my hair back to it's natural shade, since I'll be lifeguarding and won't be able to keep up with the roots without risking having to get in a pool the next day. I've heard of people leaving their hair ombre'd and trying to hide it by putting it in a bun all the time, but that only works if all of the hair that shows in your bun matches your roots. If you go to check in and your roots don't match your ends, they give you 2 days to dye it one color. Having so many different shades of red in my hair from the sun, that was never going to work for me.

The Disney Look is pretty strict, and they expect you to follow it. They go over and over it with you time and again, so they expect you to know it. One piercing in your earlobe only, no visible tattoos, no pixie cuts, neutral colored nail polish only. They talk to you about it during your interview, you have to review it during your application, your acceptance, over and over they will email you to make sure you understand what they expect from the Disney look. Because they've reminded you so many times, they expect you to be within the look by day one. I've heard stories of people being made to hold their ends against their roots at check in, being told to take out piercings, and even of people being sent home for refusing to comply. One of my roommates has done the program, and during her Traditions last time around a girl had pink nail polish on her nails. They handed her cotton swabs, nail polish remover, and sent her into the hall until it was gone. They're serious about following the Disney Look. I certainly don't want to miss any of Traditions!

Morale of the story? Be honest about your tattoos, take out your extra piercings and dye your hair. No matter how many people tell you their coordinators never cared, you don't want to be the one that gets termed for breaking the rules.