What Really Happened During the Viral Disney Proposal Gone Wrong?

A viral video of a Disney park proposal gone wrong has been popping up all over the internet. In case you missed it, the video out of Disneyland Paris shows a couple in the midst of a proposal on a stage in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland Paris who are interrupted as a Cast Member not only runs between the pair but swipes the ring in the process while directing the Guests out of the off-limits area.

The video was originally posted on Reddit by a user who claimed to be a friend of the couple:

This takes the cake.. (Ring🤔) A Disney employee snatches a ring mid proposal
byu/zR0B3ry2VAiH inweddingshaming

In the clip, you can hear a couple of seconds of the interaction between the Guest and the Cast Member as the couple is directed off the stage. And, in the now-deleted Reddit post, the friend of the couple in question claimed that the two had permission to be on the stage even though it is typically a restricted area for Guests.

Since the incident initially took place, and perhaps even more likely because it blew up on social media, Disneyland Paris has issued an apology with a spokesperson from the resort telling Newsweek, “We regret how this was handled. We have apologized to the couple involved and offered to make it right.”

Fans online seem divided as to whose “side” they are taking with the video, with some believing the Cast Member was right and the Guests should be escorted away from off-limits areas asap, even during their engagement, while others think the Cast Member could have at least let them finished.

There are also mixed opinions out there regarding whether or not the couple truly had been given permission to stand on the stage in the first place as the friend of the couple originally mentioned, and some fans have pointed out how there appear to be Cast Members much closer to the stage than the one who swiped the ring, which even has some people wondering, was this incident staged?

We can confirm that Cast Members are indeed not allowed to take Guests or their belongings, even if it is temporary like it was in this instance. And while this “rule” may be broken in an instance like helping a Guest pick up their merchandise, it surely seems unacceptable to grab a presumably valuable engagement ring.

It is also widely known that Guests in all Disney parks do seem to make their way (whether knowingly or not) onto restricted areas as long as those areas are accessible. And, any Disney Cast Member will tell you that safety is the number one priority that all Cast must follow when interacting with Guests, which begs the question of, why is this stage off-limits in the first place?

In this instance, it is possible that the Cast Member in question was acting with a safety-first mentality, as the stage the couple was standing on is used during the park’s 30th-anniversary shows and it does contain pyrotechnic effects. Assuming this was the case, and it was important for Guest safety to get them off the stage, was the Cast Member in the video in the wrong?

It is certainly a complicated situation, and while at the very least grabbing a ring from a Guest seems inappropriate, the rest of this situation is a grey area.

In any case, if you are planning to propose at Disneyland Paris or any other Disney Park, be sure to note that the area you are planning your magical moment in is intended to be accessible to Guests. A great option for a castle proposal is to take to one knee while posing for photos with a Disney photographer, that way you know the location is acceptable, and you will capture some truly memorable photos.