Tinker Bell 'too real' for Disney. Screen capture via NBC News.
Disney World is a place full of magic. Last weekend, April Spielman, 15, wanted to make her boyfriend’s first visit to Disney World magical. The pair dressed up as Peter Pan and Tinker Bell to hit the parks. Both had worked odd jobs in order to pay for their costumes and purchase a ticket for April’s boyfriend, Clayton Covey, to fly in from Arizona.
April pulled out all of the stops to make the day special. She woke up at 4 AM to begin getting ready for their day in Disney World. She told WKMG in Orlando, “My make-up took 2 hours, my hair took another hour, and then I had to spray my body in glitter and paint my nails.”
The pair was able to visit Hollywood Studios with no problem. However, they were stopped while in the Animal Kingdom because Disney security felt that April’s costume looked too much like the park’s own Tinker Bell.
April told NBC News, “They were just, like mean, like they were talking to us like we were shoplifting. And they were like, you’re never gonna wear this costume again. It’s definitely not allowed on you and you just look too good for this park.”
A Disney representative released a statement explaining that April’s costume was deemed to be disruptive and that park staff thought that children would confuse her with the park’s Tinker Bell.
April was told that she would need to change her clothing in order to continue her day at the park. NBC News reports that the family was detained for 3 hours while sorting out the matter. April was offered free clothing and FastPasses for the family.
With April’s dreams of a magical day smashed, the family opted to leave the parks.
The Disney website does specify prohibition of “[a]dult costumes or clothing that can be viewed as representative of an actual Disney character.”
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