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'Will You Fit?' The Reality Of Being A Plus-Size Disney Influencer On A Dickish Internet.
Going to Disney parks can be a stressful proposition if you're plus size: Will you fit in a ride? If your friends want to go to lunch, will it be a tight squeeze in the booth?
Content creator Stephanie Lanciani and her friends, Ashley, Sarah, Deanna and Katie, know that firsthand. As plus-size women, they've dealt with that pre-ride angst. They've even worried about how size-friendly an attraction will be the night before a Disney World or Disneyland trip.
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'We've all done what is known in the plus size community as 'the walk of shame' at one point in our lives,' Lanciani told HuffPost.
For instance, when Avatar Flight of Passage, a 3D flying simulator, opened in Disney's Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World in2017, all five women avoided going on it for a year out of fear they wouldn't fit. (The group ranges in sizes from 2x to 4x.)
'We had tried watching videos that depicted people of our size getting on the ride, but it was difficult to find people who shared our body types, so ultimately we all avoided it for the first year it was open,' Lanciani said. 'I remember thinking then, maybe we could make those videos.'
And so they did just that. (They also eventually went on the Avatar ride.) On their popular social media channel Plus Size Park Hoppers ― they've got 127,000 followers on Instagram and 273,000 on TikTok ― the women test out rides to see if they're size-inclusive: What is the turnstile situation like? (If you can't pass through, can you get a pass to return later through the exit?) How will the seatbelt or lap bar feel across your body? How many people can comfortably fit on each row of a ride?
The passholders ― who live in Massachusetts but go to Disney World about every other month (usually for a long weekend or week at a time, to maximize their content creation) ― also explore Disney-affiliated restaurants and shops. They've visited and reviewed non-Disney parks, too, including Universal parks. (The latter is less size-inclusive than Disney, they say.)
'I think our goal in creating this channel was to give people more peace of mind going into their vacations,' said Ashley Dignard, one of Lanciani's co-creators.
'There are people who avoid Disney altogether because they assume they won't fit, and we just want to show people that they can go and they can enjoy themselves,' she said. (The women never criticize the parks, they simply comment on whether or not each member of their party could comfortably and safely ride the attractions.)
Their videos fill a much needed void in the Disney content creator space which their followers appreciate. Still, this is the internet ― a notoriously unkind space to women and plus-size people ― and they've endured plenty of criticism about their weight, too: 'I don't think the opening is small, you're just big,' for instance.
Then, they were featured on one of comedian Tom Segura's podcast and a local sports radio show, which only emboldened those writing fatphobic comments.
'I think hearing the things that they were saying about us was probably the most difficult thing we had been through at that time,' Lanciani said. 'I remember a time when I had gone into a grocery store, and I felt like everyone was looking at me and thinking negative things about me, like the people in the comments or on the podcasts.'
Two years into posting, they're able to mostly just shake off the mean-spirited comments; instead, they remember the heartening, inspiring ones. For instance, the moms who were going to Walt Disney World with their child for a Make-A-Wish trip reached out to tell the women that their videos helped them focus on making once-in-a-lifetime memories with their families instead of worrying about whether or not they would be able to fit on a ride.
'We once met a family who was on their last Disney trip with their father who was terminally ill,' Lanciani said. 'They said that our content helped them know what he would and wouldn't be able to do because we also feature mobility accessibility tips in our videos.'
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'Comments like that mean so much to us, and they're still an inspiration and driving force for us today,' Lanciani said. 'Our main goal is to help people feel the confidence to enjoy their vacations and their lives to the fullest at any size and at any place in their journey.'
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