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It probably feels like a never ending express train of extreme highs and unexpected moments when you’re someone who plays a Disney princess at any of the Disney parks around the world. It’s just something that not a lot of us could even imagine. The internet has recently been divided when a video went viral of a Disney park Snow White in character who walked away from a child who clearly did not want to pose for a greeting or photo with her. Immediately, there has been a few content creators who have jumped to Snow White’s defense because they feel like she pretty much did all she could do in the situation. What are your thoughts?
A viral video of Snow White walking away from a crying child has gone viral.
An Orlando theme park goer with over 140k followers on TikTok, Peter Petrella, posted a clip sharing his observations of a viral video that shows a Disney park Snow White very quickly and rather politely walking away from a screaming and crying child.
Peter wanted to make it clear that he has no affiliation with Disney and does not speak for them, but he shared that it was quite clear from the interaction that the child had no desire to stop and pose for a photo with Snow White or even just meet her.
He also shared that the original poster of the viral clip shared that Snow White was actually on her way to somewhere else within the park, so she didn’t really have time to stop for long. So, when she saw that the child was not interested, she courteously kept it moving, which is completely understandable.
One person in the TikTok comments shared their thoughts about what went on here. “Snow [White] was respecting the child’s comfort more than the parents were,” they wrote. That’s certainly one way to look at things!
Most people in the comments are on Snow White’s side.
Peter shared in his observations that he felt frustrated to see the original poster in the viral video throw the term “unDisney” around when it came to Snow White’s interaction with their child because he feels that it really wasn’t fair.
Peter points out that it appears that this interaction took place in Epcot, which isn’t even the typical location where Snow White meets and greets with children and other folks, so it shows you how she was going out of her way while in a rush to make it somewhere else within the park.
One person in the Peter’s TikTok comments thought Snow White handled things perfectly well. “Characters are trained NOT to engage with a child that’s clearly afraid. She said her nice words and walked away,” they wrote. Another individual completely agreed and said, “She did the kindest thing possible by backing away from a child who was clearly terrified! I can’t believe anyone would be mad about this.” It is kind of weird that anyone would get mad about this.
There was one TikTok comment that found what Snow White said to be kind of flippant. They wrote, “I don’t care that she walked away but the snippy remark was unnecessary.” If you pay attention, and Peter kindly adding some captioning to the video, all Snow White says is “I think she’s a little too shy, my friends.” What exactly is so snippy about that?
A woman who played non-princess characters at Disney says we need to normalize walking away.
Another person with the handle @jenstopit who posts on TikTok couldn’t help but share her thoughts on the viral video. She actually comes from a unique angle here, as she has worked as a non-princess character at some Disney parks. She knows what these type of high-stress situations can be like from an insider’s perspective.
Jen’s whole stance is that Snow White did everything right in this instance. She noted that the child was crying and not wanting to interact with her. She kept using her the character’s voice the entire time, and she never stopped smiling even when she was walking away.
She also explained that she has had these types of situations happen to her — some with adults when it was certainly not as comfortable — and she’s unsure if she would have handled things as well.
One person in the TikTok comments agreed that things can get out of hand at the Disney parks with people just expecting the characters to put up with just about anything. “People are getting real comfortable being rude to these guys because they think that just because they’re at Disney, the cast members can’t do anything,” they wrote. Another individual in the comments agreed. “Some people forget the “characters” are real people who deserve respect while working,” they shared.
Do you think Snow White handled this particular interaction well or would you expect something a little different if you had a crying child with you?
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