‘But What About My Dreams!’ Teen Who Threw Disney World Tantrum Needs To Grow Up
While the world is busy singing Disney’s praises for leading the battle to combat childhood obesity, there’s one teen who wants you to know that the Magic Kingdom isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
April Spielman wanted to make her boyfriend’s trip to DisneyWorld special, so she created Peter Pan and Tinkerbell costumes for the couple to wear when they visited the theme park. Unfortunately, the costume weren’t allowed in the Magic Kingdom and park officials made them change into different clothes.
Apparently, adults aren’t supposed to dress up like the characters because it can confuse children who believe that they are meeting the “real” Ariel or Tinkerbell when they visit the park. Honestly, my daughter has seen pictures of DisneyWorld. She really believes that Mickey Mouse, Cinderella and every other character under the sun lives there year round. If she met two different Tinkerbells with slightly different outfits, she would not be amused. So while I wasn’t aware that this rule was in existence, I can understand it.
What I can’t understand about this situation is the 15-year-old’s reaction. I could understand her being bummed, disappointed even. But April took it just a step further. Through her tears, April told reporters, “They were talking how the little girls, it ruins their dreams. But it ruined my dream because I just want to be Tinker Bell.”
My dream is to be J.K. Rowling but I don’t get to walk around spending her money. Disney never said that April can never dress up like Tinkerbell again. They asked her not to confuse the young children at the park who believe the fantasy that Disney creates. April is old enough to know that this a fantasy, and therefore she needs to act accordingly within the park. That is not unreasonable. And it doesn’t make Disney the villain of the story.
In fact, the theme park didn’t make April and her boyfriend leave. They gave them free clothes to change into. But this teen didn’t want to visit the park as a commoner, she wanted to feel special. “It just broke my heart. I really wanted to be them. I didn’t want to take off the costume.”
I’m sorry, but if this were my teen daughter, there would be very little sympathy here. I realize that she was just trying to have fun, but Disney was trying to keep the day magical for all of its guests, and that can mean keeping the ones old enough to know better from spoiling it for the little guys.
I don’t think this teen was wrong for showing up in a Tinkerbell costume. I wouldn’t have known about Disney’s costumes rule either. But I think that whining about her ruined dreams pushes it just a bit too far. The Magic Kingdom has more than just one person’s dreams to worry about. If April wants to be play Tink, she can apply for the position just like anyone else.
Watch the video and tell me what you think.
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