Disney World adopts more gender neutral language

Park removes ‘Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls’ from greeting

Walt Disney World (Getty Images)

Disney World has reportedly swapped “Ladies and gentlemen” for more inclusive language at one of its attractions.

The theme park in Orlando, Florida, put on a special preview of its “Happily Ever After” fireworks show at the Magic Kingdom for employees earlier this week.

According to Insider, in the introduction to the show, the previous greeting of “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls” had been changed to the gender neutral “Good evening, dreamers of all ages!”

Twitter user @ShowcaseWishes shared a video of Wednesday’s show alongside the performance in 2020 to compare the different pre-show announcements.

Disney has not made any official statement on the alleged alteration, but the brand has been making changes to its rides to be more inclusive in recent years.

In 2020, it announced that the signature Splash Mountain ride would be changed to a “Prince and the Frog” themed attraction at US parks following a petition online calling for Disney to remove the Song of the South imagery and music.

The 1946 film has been surrounded by controversy, with critics denouncing the film’s portrayal of African Americans as offensive.

And in January this year, the brand committed to removing racially insensitive scenes from its Jungle Cruise rides.

“We want to make sure everybody has the best time – that guests from all over the world can connect with the stories we share and that how we bring those to life are respectful of the diverse world we live in,” Chris Beatty, Walt Disney Imagineering's Creative Portfolio Executive, told Disney's D23 fan club at the time.

“And when they get off the attraction, they know that we have done our homework because these are the details that matter.

”When you look at the Jungle Cruise, as it is today, there are just a couple of scenes that don't do that and needed a refresh.

“But I want to make sure people know we are not changing the whole Jungle Cruise. This is not a re-envisioning of the entire attraction.

“It's the Jungle Cruise you know and love, with the skippers still leading the way, and at the same time, we're addressing the negative depictions of 'natives.' So that's one of the scenes we're going to go in and change.”

The Independent has contacted Disney World for comment.