A Disneyland Resort guest is speaking out after an encounter with a park entry cast member left her frustrated. The mother, who was visiting Disney California Adventure Park with her three-year-old son, claimed that a cast member repeatedly questioned her child’s gender in a way that felt unnecessary and offensive.
Disney Park Guest Calls Out Cast Member
Disneyland Resort welcomes thousands of guests daily who pass through park entry without issue. However, one Disney Park guest’s recent experience stood out—for the wrong reasons.
TikTok user @disneysarah23, a Magic Key Pass holder, recently posted a video about an uncomfortable encounter she had while scanning into Disney California Adventure Park with her young son, Luke.
@disneysarah23 For the record I remained calm and never gave this guy an attitude back because I know they have a difficult job dealing with the public. Do you think he was having an off morning or this is his regular routine? #disney #disneyparks #disneylandresort #castmember #disneytiktok #magickeyholder #californiaadventure
“For the record I remained calm and never gave this guy an attitude back because I know they have a difficult job dealing with the public,” she captioned the video. “Do you think he was having an off morning or this is his regular routine?”
According to the guest, her son was sitting in his stroller when she scanned his Magic Key Pass. Upon seeing his pass, the cast member at the gate seemed confused and reportedly made a face before asking, “Luke’s a girl?!”
Mother Defends Son After Cast Member’s Repeated Remarks
The Disneyland Resort guest explained that her son has long hair and is often mistaken for a girl, so she calmly corrected the cast member, responding, “Oh, no, he’s a boy.”
However, instead of moving on, the Disney cast member reportedly made another face before continuing, “Um, look at the screen. You’re gonna need to get this changed, or you’re going to continue to have issues because of his picture. He looks like a girl.”
Luke’s mother explained that when he first got his Magic Key Pass, he had just turned three and was too fidgety for a proper photo. This resulted in a side-profile picture in which his long hair partially covered his face.
Although she understood that Disneyland Resort is introducing facial recognition technology that could require a more recognizable photo of Luke, she felt the cast member’s issue was not with the photo but with her son’s appearance.
“It’s my understanding that the Disney parks are now getting facial recognition so I can see how that would be an issue for that,” she said. “But that wasn’t this guy’s issue. His issue was that my son ‘looked like a girl.’ He could have said, ‘You might want to take a new photo so we can get his full face.’ But instead, this cast member chose to insult a three-year-old by right in front of him saying, ‘He looks like a girl.’”
Disney Parks Fans React
The incident sparked debate online, with some fans urging the guest to report the cast member to Guest Services.
“I would’ve definitely taken this to guest relations and filed a formal complaint- their reasoning was executed so poorly and disrespectfully, I’m so sorry – I hope you guys have a better experience,” one TikTok user, @millies.neverland, wrote.
“If you know the CM name and location on their name tag you can still report them,” said @gamolienickle.
Others claimed they’d experienced similar frustrations with Disneyland Resort cast members questioning their appearance.
“Cast members HATE seeing people come in with different hair colors all the time,” @jupeeeessss wrote. “Especially vivids. They fume that you don’t keep the same hair color and assume you’re stealing someone’s key.”
“Omg!!! The same thing just happened to us there last month!!!” @patcer58 replied. “My son is 12 long curly hair and very obviously a boy.”
Have you ever felt discriminated against by a Disney cast member? Share your story with Disney Dining in the comments.
