Tinkerbell In Tears: Disney World Forces Teen To Change Out Of Costume [Video]

April Spielman’s Tinkerbell costume wasn’t too revealing or too offensive, it was too good. The 15-year-old was forced to change out of her Tinkerbell costume at Disney World last week because officials feared that little kids may try to get an unauthorized autograph from an unlicensed Tinkerbell.

And what happens when you tell a teenager that she can’t wear a costume that she worked really really hard on? You get a life-sized Tinkerbell in tears.

Spielman said that she decided to dress up as the famous Disney character because she wanted to make her boyfriend’s first trip to Disney World special.

Spielman said:

“My makeup took two hours, my hair took another hour, and then I had to spray my body in glitter and paint my nails.”

Click Orlando reports that Spielman was able to enter Hollywood Studios without a problem. The young lady and her boyfriend were stopped, however, when they reached the Animal Kingdom.

“They said I looked too good… It just broke my heart. I didn’t want to take off the costume…. They were talking how the little girls, it ruins their dreams. But it ruined my dreams because I just want to be Tinker Bell.”

In Disney’s defense, the theme park does state in its guidelines that “adult costumes or clothing that can be viewed as representative of an actual Disney character… may result in refusal of admittance.”

Walt Disney World spokeswoman Kathleen Prihoda clarified, saying:

“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. The costumes were disruptive to our operation and possibly confusing to our other guests, as children were asking to take photos with them. To make up for any inconvenience, we provided them with replacement clothing and assisted them with the rest of their visit in our parks.”

Spielman and her boyfriend, who was dressed as Peter Pan, were given clothes by Disney World so that they could continue their time at the theme park sans costumes. Disney also gave them numerous FastPass tickets.

How do you think Disney World handled the situation? Do you Spielman should have been allowed to wear her costume? Or is an unofficial Tinker Bell a distraction at Disney World?