A teen claims she was denied entry to Disney’s Animal Kingdom because of her Tinker Bell costume. April Speilman, 15, says she wanted to make her boyfriend’s first visit to Walt Disney World special. She put together costumes so they could dress as Peter Pan and Tinkerbell. She says they had no problems at Disney’s Hollywood Studios but they were stopped before entering the Animal Kingdom and asked to change out of the costumes. Speilman says park officials told her she looked too much like the real Tinker Bell, “They just said, You look too good, so you’re going to have to take off the costume.” Disney did give the couple free clothes so they could stay at the park.
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Disney’s Dress Policy says:
That they do reserve the right to exclude guests that wear clothing that could create a distraction. Unacceptable attire includes adults in costumes or in clothing that can be viewed as a costume. The only exclusions are for children under the age of 10. Adult guests can wear costumes to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween party but guests dressed as Disney characters are not allowed to sign autographs or pose for photos so that they are not confused with Cast Members.
What do you think? Should adults be allowed to dress up for the parks or no?
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Definitely agree with Disney’s policy. Who wants to be explaining to their young children why there are so many Tinkerbells? Also some of the costumes could even prove to be dangerous to the wearer on some rides were they to get caught in some mechanical part. And yes to the poster above in regards to stranger danger/abductions. What a nightmare not to be able to trust a costumed Disney character if the parks were overflowing with them.
What if it were pedophiles trying to lure children away by dressing in costume? I definitely think Disney did the right thing!
Saw them on Sunday and she did look beautiful.
Does she think Disney will change their policy and allow it just because of media involvement? Doubtful. The rules are in place for a reason. A simple search of Disney’s theme park website would have prevented this. I personally would be more embarrassed than anything and wouldn’t want the media attention!
There is a great website by Leslie Kay called DisneyBound. It’s a great way to dress as the Disney characters all the time without being costumey. If you look at the costumes Disney sells they go up to a size for about a 10/11 year old. I think it is their right to protect themselves. I kind of like it being special to kids and the cast members in the parks.
I’m trying to wrap my brain about the fact she got a 15-yr-old boy to dress as Peter Pan. It’s hard to even get them to wear normal pants.
I agree with the decision. Disney has a responsibility to protect their brand.
And they got free clothes too! Bonus!
I think it is perfectly acceptable for them to set the rules in their own parks. The character visits are what makes Disney so special and if there were dozens of Tinks or Belles it would be confusing and definitely not as special.