Exclusive Lounge Turns Family Away And Denies Entry To Them For Wearing Minnie Mouse T-Shirts

It is quite common for Disney fans to wear unique designs and even personalized T-shirts with the famous characters on them, but how does one turn away Minnie Mouse? That’s exactly what happened to a family at Manchester Airport as they attempted to enter the expensive and exclusive Aspire Lounge. As they tried to enter, the family was told they could not go into the lounge due to their personalized Minnie Mouse T-shirts.

The Aspire Lounge in Manchester Airport is exclusive and quite pricey, and entry begins at around $32 (£24.99) per adult. When in the lounge waiting for their flight, guests can enjoy great views, comfortable seating, food, and beverages while getting away from all the chaos in the rest of the airport.

That kind of peace and comfort is all that Emma Raikes wanted for her family as they traveled to Walt Disney World. Unfortunately, the peace and relaxation didn’t come quite so easily or stress-free, as their personalized Minnie Mouse T-shirts kept them from entering the lounge, according to the Manchester Evening News.

Most people wouldn’t think that the shirts would be a problem anywhere, but Raikes, her mother, her 2-year-old niece Quinn, and five other family members weren’t allowed in. This may not seem like a huge problem, but Raikes had paid close to $900 to enter, and she wasn’t just letting it go to waste.

Manchester Airport lounge turned away Minnie Mouse T-shirt family https://t.co/FskFVDefwK

— Sonia Juned (@sonia_juned) August 16, 2017

Upon being denied entry into the lounge, the family was originally told that it was due to the reservation being made in the name of Raikes’ mother. The rest of the family had been delayed at the security checkpoint, and Raikes said that “nothing was said about our clothes at this time.

Soon, he mother caught up, and this time, the family was turned away due to their Minnie Mouse T-shirts, Raikes and her family asked what was so bad about them. The staff at the Aspire Lounge said that the shirts actually did not fit their dress code, and therefore, they could not come in.

It wasn’t until the family put jackets and cardigans over their shirts that they were allowed in. Swissport, the operators of the Aspire Lounge, said their dress code does not allow “tour shirts, sportswear, and fancy dress.”

Raikes did not believe that they were enforcing the dress code for everyone, according to the BBC News.

“The fact a man and young boy walked straight in after us wearing Manchester United (football) tops made us feel like it was just us that had been pulled up, which made us feel targeted.

“This was not sportswear or T-shirts with offensive slogans. To me, tour shirts mean a group of people, maybe a stag/hen, with ‘lads on tour’ or something along those lines.”

Swissport issued a statement that said the staff member dealing with the situation with Raikes “was wrong to have asked them to” cover up their personalized Minnie Mouse T-shirts. It went on to say that the staff member had “misinterpreted” the dress code and that they were offering an apology to the Raikes family.

The staff of the lounge is also being retrained on how to properly interpret and enforce the dress code.

Walt Disney World is welcoming to everyone around the globe, and they allow virtually all sorts of clothing — within reason, of course. Minnie Mouse T-shirts may even seem like a requirement at the Disney theme parks, but the Aspire Lounge in Manchester Airport had a problem with them for a little while. After being denied entry, Emma Raikes wasn’t having it, and she made sure that her family and their Disney shirts were going into the lounge they paid for.

[Featured Image by Danny Cox]