Q: I recently came across the shirt in the pictures linked to below. I’m told it is a vintage 1980s cast member costume used in Epcot. Can you tell me any more details about it? I’m particularly interested in what attraction(s) or area(s) of the park it was used in and a more specific time frame of when it was in service.
Anonymous
A: The costume shirt you have from Epcot was one formerly used for cast members who worked in Future World Outdoor Foods (i.e. popcorn carts, etc.). According to Janice Jones, Costuming Manager at Walt Disney World, cast members nicknamed the costume “Barney,” after the purple dinosaur on television, because of its color. (Barney did not appear on television nationally until 1992.)