Disney Chicks

Sleeping Beauty

Princess Aurora & Prince Phillip

Notes:

It is interesting that the folks in charge of character costuming at the theme parks have chosen to have Aurora appear in her pink “princess” dress. In the majority of her screentime in Sleeping Beauty, Aurora wears her “peasant” clothes (top). When she appears in her royal apparel, toward the end of the film, the dress is, in fact, blue for most of the time. The costume folks may have reasoned that, since when the fairy Flora makes the dress, it is pink and since Flora is the de facto leader of the fairies, pink is therefore the proper, natural color of the dress. I have seen photos of Aurora at meet & greets in the parks wearing a blue dress but have never seen her personally in blue. (But I am still looking.)

A cast member informed me during our 2009 WDW vacation, that many Aurora cast members shun the blue dress for fear of being mistaken for Cinderella (whose dress is blue)...

For the next note, a bit of background may be necessary.

The centerpiece of Disneyland, which opened in Anaheim, CA in 1955, is Sleeping Beauty Castle. The centerpiece of the Magic Kingdom at WDW outside Orlando, FL, which opened in 1971, is the much larger Cinderella Castle.

In 2004, when I inquired of a Magic Kingdom castmember about meeting Aurora, I was informed, “Princess Aurora doesn’t make many appearances at the Magic Kingdom, because her castle is in California and her coming here would make Cinderella jealous.” Setting aside the pettiness of the supposed jealousy of the princess, that castmember then informed me that Princess Aurora was indeed scheduled for a meet & greet at the MK that day. I showed up at the appointed time & place and considered myself infinitely fortunate for such a rare occurrence.

However, when we went back to WDW in 2006, 2008, & 2009, Aurora was present at the Toontown Hall of Fame every time. Strangely, Aurora was more difficult to find during our 2010 visit to Disneyland.

Mary Poppins

Mary Poppins, Bert, & Penguins

Notes:

Mary Poppins makes appearances in both her white, chalk-pavement-picture dress & in her everyday, street clothes. However, all of the times I have seen her at meet-and-greets, she has been in her “jolly holiday,” supercalifragilisticexpialidocious dress.

Aladdin

Princess Jasmine, Aladdin, the Genie, & Abu

Notes:

Aladdin

The Little Mermaid

Princess Ariel & Prince Eric

Notes:

Not having legs, the mermaid Princess Ariel, unlike other characters at the Disney theme parks, does not walk around making appearances at different locations. At the Magic Kingdom, she is confined to her grotto, a special meet & greet location behind Dumbo the Flying Elephant at the Magic Kingdom where the old ride 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea used to be. Although, a bipedal Princess Ariel rarely makes appearances in a dress, the dress worn by this WDW castmember does not closely resemble any of the outfits sported by Ariel in The Little Mermaid (see above photos).


Home