Conformity refers to individuals changing their behavior, style, or attitude to fit in with a group or majority.​

A major way people in the parks conformed to others was through wearing Disney ears. Almost every gift shop or store around the park was filled with a wall of ears that encouraged guests to conform to those around them. Individualism was also a part of the process as the reasoning behind what ears guests picked varied. Some guests picked ears they thought were stylish while others got them as they identified with a favorite character or movie. The variety of ears allowed guests to conform to the norm of the park while also keeping their own individualism through their choices​.

For example, we got ears from the Tower of Terror gift shop because we really enjoyed the ride and are also both a fan of spooky stuff. This allowed us to conform while also maintaining our individuality.

Matching t-shirts or outfits was also a common thing to view around the park. Large families or schools on trips all tended to have identical outfits on that they wore on park days. This could lead to other guests wanting to create shirts or coordinate outfits with their groups so they could fit in while also having something meaningful to them. ​

Another large aspect of conformity was the lounge fly bags that were also present it many different shops and gift stores. There was a variety of them with different characters, movies, or parks pictured on them. This, like the ears and shirts, allowed people to conform to the norm of Disney while remaining their own individual.

Looking at female cast members, we noticed that there wasn’t much representation for bigger bodies in any of the parks. Any time that someone with a bigger body was represented, they were usually evil (e.g., Ursula). This goes back to a more traditional view of what is considered an “ideal” body, a potential detriment to young girls' self-esteem as seeing their icons only as thin and petite could be internalized and lead to them wishing they looked like them.​

On the other hand, we noticed that male cast members were typically larger, more muscular and intimidating, displaying a stereotypical "dominant" body-type that excludes large numbers of men interested in working at Disney. Consider characters like Gaston or Prince Charming. This also conveys a certain message about what is considered attractive and physically ideal in men, inadvertently causing other men to feel a sense in inferiority (especially in the hiring process).​

We find it interesting that most of the characters not in a full, enclosed costume (e.g., Ralph and Doug from Up) were physically fit and objectively attractive, while they may have been hiding cast members not fitting this ideal in other costumes where they can't be seen​.

Additionally, it’s obvious that they are trying to keep things as close as possible to the original stories which leaves little room for change. We would like to give a critique here. We think that it is possible to preserve the original stories while also being more inclusive and representative. It is clear that they have a goal of including people of many different demographics considering Disney's proud stance on diversity in their parks. However, if this is a goal that they would like to maintain, then they should also include more representation of diverse body sizes. They can achieve this by allowing cast members of different sizes to play the roles of different characters, rather than confining people to a certain role based purely on physical characteristics.

Specifically at Magic Kingdom, we found out that the Disney princesses that are hired must fit a certain size and height in order to play that role, a seemingly "one-size fits all" mentality that reinforces an idealized body image for young women and girls​

Typically, there is only one costume for them to wear and if you can't fit into that costume then you can't play the role.