Disney theme parks have played host to a number of memorable (and emotional Goofy-related) moments over the years. Many of them arguably involve wedding parties or marriage proposals. Recently though, one of the latter went a bit sideways at a park. At Disneyland Paris, a guest attempted to pop the question to his lady, though things took an unexpected turn when a cast member snatched the ring mid-proposal. The incident was captured in a video that’s now gone viral, and folks across the Internet weren’t exactly pleased with how things went down. On the heels of the blowback, Disney has issued an official response.
It sounds like Disney Parks would’ve liked things to have played out differently with the dashed proposal. In a statement shared with Newsweek, a spokesperson expressed the company’s remorse for the incident. They also revealed that it has reached out to the couple at the center of the controversy:
We regret how this was handled. We have apologized to the couple involved and offered to make it right.
The would-be marriage proposal at Disneyland Paris reportedly took place on a platform, where Sleeping Beauty’s Castle was in clear sight in the background. On the surface, it definitely seemed like the perfect place to get down on one knee but, as the video showed, the two partners (and onlookers, for that matter) were not expecting the employee to jump in. You can check out the Reddit-captured clip, which has been upvoted over 95,000 times as of this writing, for yourself down below:
pos_destroyed_my_best_friends_moment_he_asked_for from r/iamatotalpieceofshit
Of course, the awkward moment begs the question of whether the apparently upbeat cast member should receive some kind of disciplinary action, including a potential dismissal. A 2016 employee handbook stipulates that termination can occur if conduct towards “the employee's managers, co-workers, or anyone with whom the employee comes in contact while performing work for the Company that is unprofessional, discourteous or disrespectful.” As of right now, the company has not formally confirmed whether said worker has been released.
This is far from the first time that a marriage proposal didn’t go off without a hitch at a Disney theme park. Earlier this year, a Disney World guest attempted to propose to his girlfriend but was ultimately escorted from the park for reasons unknown at the time. In another instance, a Magic Kingdom attendee got down on one knee, but the proposal failed due to his girlfriend not turning around to face him. The TikTok proposal had a happy ending, though, as she finally seemed to notice when he tried again.
This latest situation more than likely won’t be the last time that someone tries to ask for their partner’s hand in marriage at one of the parks, especially now that places like Disneyland are starting to get “back to normal” after COVID. With this, one would think that Disney will take steps to better handle such instances in order to avoid any further proposal-related snafus that could possibly go viral.
