No beard policy??

"Santa" Carl stopped by my office on Monday. He was once a Harbour Belle captain, but now teaches here at UM-Duh! and plays Santa during the Christmas season.

He has a long white beard and looks so much like Santa, even during the summer he is set upon by little kids wanting to tell him what they want for Christmas.

I mentioned Cedar Fair looking for a Santa for Castaway Bay and was surprised he hadn't applied for the position. Apparently he did last year but policy is no one at CP can have a beard. They told him he'd have to shave off his current beard and wear a fake beard if he wanted to play Santa.

How ironic is that? Someone who looks like the genuwine article isn't allowed to play Santa because he has a real santa beard!

Of course, my question is, why do certain parks (including Cedar Point) prohibit beards at all? Have they not considered that there are people who actually look a lot better with beards than without?

--Dave Althoff, Jr.
(who grew his beard because he was tired of people complaining that he looked unshaven...)

My guess is it's one of the only ways to make someone either shower or at least clean their face daily. Some don't believe in that stuff.

You're not allowed to have beards? Now that's going over the line with rules.

Off topic, but OldCPer GO BUCKS!!

I can understand CP's policy on beards and facial hair for their regular employees. But to make someone who looks like santa shave his beard and then wear a fake one. That is just plain wrong. This is yet another showing of how management doesn't know how to bend their own rules to accomodate to their employees.

Bend the rules for one employee, you must bend them for all otherwise face the lawsuits!

The only place that I'm aware of where having beards, long hair, piercings, and other things like that is allowed is in Screamsters. Although it would certainly seem like playing Santa would fall into that same sort of category since you are dressing up as an actor.

us regular employees should be allowed to have at least a nicely trimmed beard and facial hair. i remember i had to cut my side burns and they were very neatly trimmed every week

I can see where they could make the rules position specific. If you are a ride op then no, you can't have a beard. If you are hired to play Santa Clause, and you have a role appropriate beard, then fine, you don't have to shave. The only reason that a lawsuit would be brought is because somebody's mommy and daddy didn't teach them a very important lesson -- Life's not fair, and nobody said it has to be.

Oh, and I hate Six Flags.....get used to hearing this song, you'll hear it a lot on Jan. 2nd.

Cheer, cheer for Old Notre Dame
Wake up the echoes cheering her name,
Send the volley cheer on high,
Shake down the thunder from the sky,
What tho the odds be great or small
Old Notre Dame will win over all,
While her loyal sons are marching Onward to Victory.

RideMan said:

--Dave Althoff, Jr.
(who grew his beard because he was tired of people complaining that he looked unshaven...)

I'm 17 and have to shave about every 3 days. I have extremely sensitive skin and whenever I shave (whether it be with shaving cream and razor or an electric shaver) I break out horribly and get rashes. I've tried different razors and I tried an electric razor but I still break out. My solution has been to use my dads moustash trimmer and that leaves about 1/8 of an inch of stubble.

That's a shame for your friend...

But the best Santas get sat upon.

I "wear" a beard and find this policy totally stupid, especially stupid when considering this is Santa Clause.

MrScott

Agreed.

It's similar to when Walt Disney wanted no employee to have a beard or mustache at Disneyland, when he had a mustache himself.

What about people who wear a beard for religious reasons?

My theory is that it all comes from Disney not allowing facial hair, and my pet theory is that THAT policy comes from a desire to have all the employees look like children. After all, children don't have beards and mustaches.

But Disney has exceptions for certain people, and they make exceptions for people whose hair is already grown in when they are hired. Examples are given in their policy (I can't remember where I read it) for certain people who play certain roles; examples such as railroad conductors, for instance.

At the other extreme is Herschend. Clearly Herschend allows facial hair, at least at Dollywood. I started to wonder if there was a rule that all male employees over the age of 19 are required to have facial hair. :) But then, that's Tennessee.

Everything else aside, though, the Santa Claus thing is just plain stupid. It sounds to me like the park needs to get its head screwed on straight and rewrite their rules to provide appropriate exceptions (Santa Claus, for instance) and replace a beard ban with a well-written set of standards for the proper maintenance of facial hair.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Dollywood tries to support the mountain heritage,but they do have a policy about beards.Most of their employees are a lot older than cedar point's so you can't really compare those two parks,there is as much difference as night and day.

In my day the full timers could wear a "neatly groomed" beard during the off season. The one exception to the rule was Jack Foster, the CP&LE's first superintendent. He was permitted to wear a beard year round, if he desired. Apparently it was written into his emplyment contract when the Point bought the RR from George Roose.
*** Edited 12/18/2005 4:22:59 PM UTC by Dutchman***

I never could understand the " No beard policy" for anywhere except maybe working with food products. I have a very neatly trimmed beard and everybody I know thinks I look better with it. I think as long as it's trimmed neatly and not working with food that it should be allowed anywhere. WHat will be next, the eyebrows?

I have extremely sensitive skin and whenever I shave (whether it be with shaving cream and razor or an electric shaver) I break out horribly and get rashes.

Vince: try this stuff. A good friend in college had the same problem, and he swore by it.