- A woman says she purposefully broke Disney World’s dress code to get a free shirt.
- She shared her experience on TikTok and said she was inspired by other viral videos.
- In 2021, multiple women shared videos of themselves getting free shirts to cover string-bikini tops.
This story originally appeared on Business Insider.
Amanda Krause/Insider
A woman who tried to get a free shirt at Disney World by breaking the theme park’s dress code says her plan backfired.
Helèni, who goes by @heleniofficial on TikTok, posted a video on October 17 that shows her in Disney World’s Epcot parking lot. She’s originally seen wearing a tank top tied beneath her chest, but she removes it to reveal a small string bikini.
“Trying the TikTok hack for a free shirt at Disney World Orlando,” she wrote on the clip, before showing herself walking to the entrance gate.
It was there that Helèni claims she was stopped by employees who tried to “force” her to buy a Disney T-shirt that would cover her bikini. It appears that she denied their request, and instead put her tank top back on to enter the park.
Her video has been viewed more than 6.4 million times as of Friday. Helèni did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
@heleniofficial free shirt hack at Disney World!? #fypシ #disneyworldorlandoflorida #fyp #disneyhacksguide #disneyhacks2022 original sound – Heleni
The “TikTok hack” Helèni references in her video wasn’t originally meant to be a hack.
In May 2021, a woman named Amanda DiMeo posted a TikTok in which she said she’d entered Disney World wearing a shirt that showed her underboob. She said she was approached by an employee and was given a voucher for a free shirt to change into.
DiMeo told Insider that she wasn’t aware she was breaking Disney World’s dress code, which requires shoes, shirts, tops without ties, and “casual, family-oriented” outfits to be worn. She also said she’d worn the same shirt at Disney World once before.
But she also told Insider that she was “happy” to get a free shirt out of the situation, and in her TikTok, DiMeo displayed her mistake as an opportunity for others to take advantage of. Her video has more than 31.2 million views as of Friday.
@amandaaadimeo Free Disney shirt hack #fyp #disneyworld #disney Castaways – The Backyardigans
Then in June 2021, a woman named Alyssa Schueller posted a TikTok video about experiencing almost the same situation in Epcot, where she wore a bikini-style top. Her video has been viewed more than 6.2 million times as of Friday.
In an email to Insider, Schueller said that she “wasn’t aware” of Disney’s dress code before visiting, and had worn the shirt for hours before being approached by employees. The situation, she said, made her feel “embarrassed.”
“I was with both of my parents and my older sister, and we were late to our 2:15 p.m. dinner reservation,” she said. “We had to sit and wait until 4 p.m. to eat, wasting the majority of our day for a romper that showed nothing but a torso and shoulders.”
@alyssaschueller #disney #epcot #freeshirt #disneyworld Castaways – The Backyardigans
Eventually, after more women started to document themselves getting free shirts, other parkgoers in similar situations said they were instructed to buy a new top or wear something else they’d brought with them.
People who say they work for Disney have commented on numerous TikTok videos claiming that the company has stopped giving free shirts to people who break its dress code after too many videos went viral.
Representatives for Disney World did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
