Redeem now - According to INSIDER's Micaela Garber, an Orlando native who spent a summer working at Disney World, cast members must always point with two fingers or their entire hand.
- The gesture is known as "The Disney Point."
- In some cultures, pointing with one finger is considered rude.
- Since Disney World hosts guests from all over the world, the resort makes sure to train its employees to be sensitive to these cultural differences.
If you're a die-hard fan of Disney World, you probably already know a secret or two about the iconic resort.
You may have already heard about the secret tunnels underneath the Magic Kingdom, for example, or the hidden water park that's been abandoned for years.
But unless you're particularly observant, or a former Disney World employee, you most likely haven't noticed that the resort's cast members never point with one finger. It seems strange at first, but it turns out there's an important reason for the tradition.
According to INSIDER's Micaela Garber, an Orlando native who spent a summer working at Disney World, cast members must always point with two fingers or their entire hand — a gesture known as "The Disney Point."
In some cultures, Garber explained, pointing with one finger is considered rude. As professional keynote speaker Gayle Cotton wrote in the Huffington Post in 2013, pointing with your index finger is an offensive gesture in China, Japan, Indonesia, and Latin America. According to Cotton, who is an expert in cross-cultural communication, pointing with your index finger is also considered impolite in Europe. And in many African countries, the gesture is reserved for pointing at inanimate objects, and never at people.
Since Disney World hosts guests from all over the world, the resort makes sure to train its employees to be sensitive to these cultural differences.
"The Disney Point" may have also originated from Walt Disney himself — at least according to local legend. "Disney was often pictured pointing with two fingers as he walked around an unfinished Disneyland," Garber wrote.
Some attribute Disney's two-finger point to the fact that he was a smoker, but a quick glance at photos of the acclaimed entrepreneur would prove otherwise. However, it's long been rumored that Disney's public relations department Photoshopped pictures of Disney to remove the cigarettes he held between his index and middle fingers.
And if you ask any cast member, Garber wrote, they'll likely tell you "Walt Disney was simply a polite man."
For more secrets about Disney World, read Micaela Garber's story about her summer as an employee at the resort.
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