The goal of this blog series is to factually prove or disprove rumors, myths and misconceptions in the Disney-verse. Tonight we are going to tackle two myths, and bring back up a topic we covered a while back to ensure you are safe. Tonight’s topic are “Which Quote”, “How Many to Point” and “You Can Win A Disney Trip”
Which Quote
Today Nation Member Casey P posted the following question. “We all know the famous quote, but which version of it is correct?” This myth is more about which words were used. We all know the famous quote was said but was is “it all started with a” or “it was all started by.”
It seems that at some point Walt’s quote about remembering that Mickey was the reason for the start of the Disney empire was tweaked be it on purpose or on accident. Thankfully this is easy to resolve because Walt said it on film!!
So the answer to this perplexing wording is, “I hope we never lose sight of one thing- that is was all started by a mouse.” So since this was more of a misconception or “re-wording” we will go ahead and stamp this with “Myth Confirmed.”
How Many to Point
This myth was brought up by Nation Member Brandon P. when he shared this cute graphic:
Brandon then he asked “Do you know why Disney cast members point using two fingers (index and middle )?” then followed it with the following info ” I was told while working there was because while Walt was smoking his cigarettes were always in his right hand between the index and middle fingers and when he was building the parks and pointing it was always with the two fingers.”
In doing some research I noticed that in photos of Walt her was pointing with 1 finger and his thumb, but never 2 fingers.
I came across this info regarding CM training and guest interaction. “When giving directions to a show or attraction the Cast Member will use The Disney Point. Cast Members must point using two fingers or their whole hand, as its rude to point with one finger. When pointing with one finger a guest may think that the Cast Member is pointing at him/her.”
In researching the fact that it is rude to point with one finger in some countries I learned that not only is pointing with one finger rude, pointing PERIOD is rude. “As a professional speaker, I am all too aware that simply pointing with the index finger at something or someone can be offensive in many cultures. It is considered a very rude thing to do in China, Japan, Indonesia, Latin America, and many other countries. In Europe, it’s thought of as impolite, and in many African countries the index finger is used only for pointing at inanimate objects, never at people. It’s best to use an open hand with all your fingers together when you need to point at something or someone.”
Based on the photos I found, and the information above, I have to say that Walt’s smoking habit is NOT the reason for the two finger point, that it is in fact to be seen and to avoid being rude to guests from other countries making this myth busted.
You Can Win A Disney Trip
We are revisiting this topic because there has recently been a rash of fake Disney contests online as well as people being scammed when buying tickets from other guests.
This myth really is more of a PSA warning that we hope will help you protect your personal information. Way to often I see my Disney friend’s sharing posts about winning tickets and free trips to the parks or a free cruise thanks to online “Disney” run Facebook contests. These posts show up on Facebook accounts that are only a few months old and only post about their giveaway, have about 1/10 the followers that the actual parks pages have and they use the same profile picture as the actual Disney Parks and Disney Cruise Line pages. You will also see things like “Disneyland. is giving away a Disney Cruise Line Cruise” and “DisneyWorld is giving away a DisneyCruise”. The best part is that when you click on these page’s “entry” urls instead of redirecting to a Disney owned website you end up at some weird url asking you to sign up for accounts, refer X many people and they tell you you can get bonus entries for sharing the contest on Facebook. These contests are in fact scams. Sadly the people who run these sites are using your trust and faith in Disney for their own personal benefit and in the process phish your personal information!
The other scam we want you to know about involves individuals reselling tickets. Recently the LA Police have started warning residents about individuals reselling Disneyland tickets on Craigslist at “low low prices”. These sellers only take cash, and require the buyers to meet them in Downtown LA. He will show his license to people when asked as some sort of “proof of legitimacy”, the problem though is the tickets are fake and the only way to tell is by scanning them at the parks. Please remember activated tickets are not suppose to be resold to others, and you should ONLY buy tickets through Authorized Disney Ticket Sellers.
Sources: www.huffingtonpost.com/gayle-cotton/cross-cultural-gestures_b_3437653.html; https://goo.gl/WPu9Bo; https://goo.gl/LHHRUy
Michele also contributes theme park news for Fox 35 Orlando 11pm news and on the radio on WDBO.
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About the Disney Point – when we had the Olympics in Atlanta in 1996 everyone was trained to use either their whole hand or the 2 finger point. The same reasoning applied that it was considered rude in some countries to point with one finger.