Tinkerbell Costume at Disney World, Girl Treated Like A 'Murderer'
A teen in Florida was paying tribute to her favorite fantasy character when she took a trip to Disney World, but her dreams were dashed when security denied her access to the park.
April Spielman, 15, had been saving up for a trip to Disney World with her boyfriend for about a year and a half. The couple had wanted to go to the park along with the family, only dressed as Peter Pan and Tinkerbell.
The family had not even made it to their first ride when they noticed that they were drawing a large group of followers and a few park-goers had asked to have their picture taken with Tinkerbell.
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"We walked to the first ride and looked behind us and there were a lot of people following us," Rich Spielman, April's father, told TBO.com. "One came up and said, 'You can't be wearing that.'"
They had just started enjoying their time in the theme park when they were approached by security and escorted off the park to an administrative office.
"They escorted us with a full security detail; it was like escorting out a murderer," he said. "My daughter was bawling. It was like a parade coming through,'' Spielman said.
Representatives from the park told the family that the Tinkerbell costume was too good and that it caused a disruption to others in the park. The family said they would leave but were informed that they could stay in the park if she would change out of the costume.
"My daughter wanted to go home … then they told us we couldn't leave with the costume on and told us to go to the gift shop and pick out T-shirt and shorts," Spielman said.
Disney gave the teen a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and the family was allowed to stay in the park and enjoy themselves. As compensation for their troubles the family was given passes that allowed the family to go the head of the line for all rides.
"The guests were asked to change because costumes that could be viewed as representative of an actual Disney character are not appropriate attire for our theme parks," Kathleen Prihoda, Disney World's manager of media relations, said in a statement.
Disney has a strict dress code for patrons which is posted on Disney's website.
