Disneyland Paris came under fire last week after a video surfaced of a theme park employee interrupting a marriage proposal. The worker ushered the couple off a platform where the proposal was taking place, but not without snatching the engagement ring from the guest’s hands.
A spokesperson for Disney has since apologised for the incident.
The viral video was initially shared to Reddit on Thursday with the caption: “POS [piece of sh*t] destroyed my best friend’s moment. He asked for permission beforehand.”
In the 21-second clip, a man is seen bending down on one knee to propose to his girlfriend at the Disneyland attraction in Paris, France. Seconds later, a male employee rushes in between them and grabs the engagement ring box out of his hands. The park employee then guided the couple off the platform – which had a perfect view of the Sleeping Beauty’s castle – and towards a metal gate.
Both the newly engaged couple and onlookers seemed confused by the Disneyland worker’s orders. The male partner is seen telling the employee, “She said yes,” and pointing to the female theme park worker who granted him permission to propose on the platform.
The male Disneyland worker replied, “Yes, that’s great but over here will be even better,” followed by boos from the crowd.
The Reddit user who posted the video clarified in the comments that their friend asked a female coworker who gave him permission to propose on the platform prior to the viral incident.
Now, the German man whose proposal was ruined has spoken up about the shocking moment. In an interview with the New York Times, Ante said he and his fiancée were “saddened” after the proposal was interrupted by the Disneyland Paris employee.
“Disneyland stands for dreams,” he told the NYTimes. “Our moment was destroyed.”
Ante, 31, explained how the magic of Disney has played an important role in the four years he’s been with his now fiancée, 26. He said he had been planning the proposal for five months, ever since his fiancée gifted him Disneyland tickets for Christmas.
Disney has not yet commented on whether the theme park employee faced disciplined action.
“We regret how this was handled,” a Disney spokesperson told Newsweek. “We have apologised to the couple involved and offered to make it right.”
Ante revealed that Disney reached out by phone and email to offer the couple a free weekend in a Disneyland park and hotel of their choosing, but they refused the offer.
“I don’t want to visit Disneyland any more,” he said. “They can’t give us the moment back and that’s the only thing I want — to get a second chance.”
The shocking moment received many comments online from Reddit users who were appalled by the employee’s interruption.
“I wanna see the extended version where they all boo him because you can hear the beginning of it,” said one person.
“Their admission pass didn’t include the $149 optional ‘Proposal Photograph’ fee,” joked someone else.
“Hall monitor energy,” said another Reddit user.
Some people wondered if the Disneyland Paris employee had been fired by the company for disrupting the guests’ special moment.
“Disney does not joke around with any employee who ruins a visitor’s time,” said one person, while another user wrote: “There’s no way Disney can have a guy working for them who doesn’t understand a wedding ring is not something to be snatched away mid-proposal.”
Others simply couldn’t believe that the worker had grabbed the engagement ring from the man’s hands in the middle of his proposal.
“Even if you think you’re doing the right thing enforcing some policy or other, you DO NOT snatch an expensive engagement ring out of someone’s f**king hand,” a Reddit user commented.
“If some stranger ran up and snatched a diamond ring out of my hand, more than the moment would be ruined,” another person said.
The Independent has contacted Disney for comment.
