Disney has issued an apology after a Cast Member who ruined a Disney wedding proposal between a young man and woman in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland Paris.
In a video which has made the rounds online, a young man and his girlfriend are seen standing on a concrete space with Sleeping Beauty Castle in the background. The man drops to his knee and extends an engagement ring to his girlfriend, but just before she takes the ring from him, a Cast Member races up from behind the couple, runs between them and snatches the ring away from the groom-to-be.
The Cast Member says nothing but motions for the couple to follow him.
“She said yes,” the man says to the Cast Member, who replies with “Yes, that’s great; over here will be even better.”
Immediately, the crowd that gathered to witness the momentous occasion began jeering, shouting “boo” to the Cast Member.
The Redditor who posted the video of his best friend’s proposal says the Cast Member “ruined” the couple’s moment and claims his friend “asked for permission beforehand” to be in that location near Sleeping Beauty‘s beautiful castle.
Comments from other Redditors online ranged from disbelief to anger over the Cast Member’s actions.
The Redditor who posted the video wrote, “The woman [Cast Member] gave him permission, [then] this he ran up to him and [grabbed] the ring.” Many who commented online raised questions about whether the involved Cast Member was at risk of losing his employment at the Disney Park.
One comment came from someone who claimed to know a Cast Member at Disney who told him that Walt Disney Company employees are “explicitly told that we never touch a Guest without their clear permission, given either verbally or through body language.” The Redditor further stated he was told that Cast Members are “not allowed to take their property under any circumstances and doing so results in termination.”
The comment went on to say that the Cast Member also said the following:
“We’re also trained to do anything we can to keep our Guests happy and continue to sell the image of ‘Most Magical Place on Earth.’This employee will be terminated pretty swiftly should this video make it to the right people. All he had to do was wait 10 seconds. Get it out there and he’s a goner.”
Though we don’t know whether the Cast Member is a “goner,” we do know that a spokesperson for Disney has addressed the situation, saying “we regret how this was handled.” The spokesperson went on to say that Disney has apologized to the couple attempting to experience a magical Disney wedding proposal. Disney has reportedly even offered to make the situation “right,” according to Newsweek.
Disney Park wedding proposals are so common that PlanDisney has devoted time to answering Guests’ Disney wedding questions, as well as Disney wedding proposal questions.
One particular response online is very thorough and reads in part as follows:
“A proposal at the Disneyland Resort can be as simple as popping the question in front of the castle or as elaborate as a grand gesture involving Cast Members. Either way, your next journey with your partner will start in the most magical way! It’ll be a memory to last a lifetime. While you are not required to contact Disney in order to propose, you may want to if you’d like to plan something more elaborate. You’ll want to reach out to Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings and Honeymoons. These specialists can provide support and ideas to make sure everything goes smoothly.
If you are looking for something more simple, you can simply work with Disney PhotoPass photographers to help capture the moment. It helps if you give them a little heads up that you are planning to propose. But, I’ve seen them spring into action without warning and capture beautiful proposal pictures. They are true professionals!”