“Oh, somewhere in this favoured land the sun is shining bright, The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light;
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout, But there is no joy in Mudville—mighty Casey has struck out.”
This is the final line from Ernest Lawrence Thayer’s timeless poem Casey at the Bat. It tells the tale of a star baseball player, Mighty Casey, who steps up to home plate to get the winning run for his team. He lets two balls go by him, earning two strikes much to the ire of the fans. The sneering crowd tries to turn their ire on the umpire, but Casey silences them, first with a raised hand and then with a stare. But in the end, Casey strikes out, losing the game for his team.
An image of Casey’s Corner at Magic Kingdom via Midway to Main Street YouTube
While the ending might seem grim, the poem has been cemented in American history, speaking of a time when baseball was seen as the national past time. It was such a part of Americana that Disney decided to theme a restaurant on Main Street USA after the tale of Mighty Casey, opening on April 12, 1992. Dubbed Casey’s Corner, the quick service eatery serves Hot Dogs, French Fries, and the fabled Magic Kingdom Corn Dog Nuggets.
The baseball theming was always a major part of the restaurant, from the statue of Casey outside to the signage within and the cast member costumes. Cast members once dressed in turn of the century baseball uniforms. This included a ball cap, pinstripe shirt, pinstripe baseball pants that go to the mid calf, high dark blue socks, black sneakers that resembled baseball cleats, and an apron made in the style of a catcher’s chest protector.
An image of Casey’s Corner at Magic Kingdom via 4K WDW YouTube
But all that changed this week.
Now, Cast members at Casey’s sport a minty green shirt, a red hat in place of the ball cap, a standard red and beige apron (with a few baseball stitches along the side), gray slacks, and black shoes.
Shout out to the cast members at Casey’s Corner who just got new uniforms! ⚾️🌭 pic.twitter.com/LJTbeHC4Nv
— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) September 4, 2024
Once more, Disney has sapped the fun, creativity, whimsy, and theming of one of its classic locations for a more modern streamlined look that lacks imagination or wonder. Longtime fans of Casey’s Corner took to X this week to voice their complaints.
YouTube personality LaReina Creole, a longtime Disney Parks attendee, blasted the company for this decision.
“This is a disgrace. Casey’s is supposed to have a Baseball theme, not this low-effort uniform,” she said. “Ya used to do better, Disney.”
This is a disgrace. Casey’s is supposed to have a Baseball theme, not this low-effort uniform.
Ya used to do better, # Disney https://t.co/7n9DsTxM3f
— La Reina🇺🇸Creole🇩🇴🇯🇲🇵🇷🇹🇹🇨🇺🇭🇹🇲🇽🇨🇴 (@LaReinaCreole) September 4, 2024
X user Jim Rittenhouse said: “Par for the course, it’s as boring as the re-themed hotel rooms. Bring back the baseball uniforms.”
Par for the course, it’s as boring as the rethemed hotel rooms. Bring back the baseball uniforms.
— Jim Rittenhouse (@jimmyritt33) September 5, 2024
An X user going by Corpse Bride also voiced her displeasure. “The story of Casey’s Corner was that we were players on Casey’s team from the cartoon, Casey at the Bat,” she said. “This is the Disney hill I’m dying on, we are losing story in the parks in favor of bland theming and I HATE IT.”
The story of Casey’s Corner was that we were players on Casey’s team from the cartoon, “Casey at the Bat.” This is the Disney hill I’m dying on, we are losing story in the parks in favor of bland theming and I HATE IT 😡😡😡 https://t.co/wOqIoQ5gaI
— 💍👰🏼 Corpse Bride 👰🏼💍 (@Disney_Sam728) September 5, 2024
READ: Walt Disney’s Granddaughter BEGS Disney To Stop Developing Walt Animatronic
To give you a sense of what these costumes mean to people and the overall Disney experience, X user Gina Baretela Thompson shared a photo of her family in themed Casey’s Corner costumes from Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party.
Making my costume outdated this past Monday night, lol pic.twitter.com/uO4BzrkoQm
— Gina Baretela-Thompson (@GinaBeez) September 5, 2024
While it might seem like the costumes worn by cast members in what is essentially a fast food restaurant shouldn’t matter so much to so many, it’s symptomatic of Disney’s ongoing quest to take the theme out of its theme parks. The company seems to no longer care about immersion and experience in favor of cost cutting and streamlining everything.
It started with the destruction of World of Disney in Disney Springs, removing whimsical theming and character in favor of a bland, traditional department store that more closely resembles a very nice Target. This was duplicated in Epcot when the popular Mouse Gear gift shop was gutted in place of the Creations Shop, a bland, unremarkable merchandise store.
The entrance to the Frontierland Station in Magic Kingdom. Photo Credit: Jackdude101, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
READ: Disney Cancels “Offensive” Country Bears Character After 50 Years
On a larger scale, Disney recently unveiled plans to fill in the Rivers of America in the Magic Kingdom to bring the Cars franchise to Frontierland. This utterly shatters the theming of a late 1800s frontier town that guests have enjoyed for more than five decades in Orlando.
But this could be the first sign of things to come on Main Street USA. It has been heavily rumored after the announcement that Disney would do away with Tom Sawyer Island that Liberty Square could be next on the chopping block. These are classic areas dedicated to American history. Main Street USA is also wrapped up in the patriotism of company founder Walt Disney. It’s a recreation of his childhood hometown of Marceline Missouri at the turn of the century.
A photo of Main Street USA in Walt Disney World via La Reina Creole YouTube
Just this year, Fourth of July decor on Main Street was severely lacking when compared to recent years, and now we’re sapping away the spirit of America’s past time from Casey’s Corner. Could this just be the beginning of the de-Americanization of Walt Disney World? Will Main Street USA one day become Mickey Avenue? Sound off in the comment section below and let us know!
Marvin The Movie Monster Montanaro is a YouTube commentator and personality specializing in movies, TV, video games, and professional wrestling. He can be found on his channels Tooney Town TV and Tooney Town Wrestling with daily content and weekly livestreams. He can also be found on That Game Place, the That Park Place video game channel.
NEXT: Will Disney DESTROY The Last Bit Of Jim Henson’s Legacy With Monsters Inc. At Hollywood Studios?
