Disney Resorts like Disneyland and Disney World are supposed to be the most magical place on Earth, and they are for thousands of families. But, it can also be a place that exists like many others for women across the United States—a place where their boundaries get pushed and a single moment ruins the entire trip.
TikToker Sam Kelly (@sam.kelly977) shared a situation where that happened to her. A fun Disney trip became marred by a horrifying and scary encounter with a man while waiting for a ride. Kelly shared that she was “s.a’d at Disney and attacked in less than an hour apart,” during her most recent trip.
The experience shocked and completely rattled her. As she was heading home in her car, she shared what happened in a TikTok video that’s now amassed 91,000 views.
What happened at Disney?
Kelly was standing in line with a particularly long wait time when she met a group of people who were from the same area as her. They shared that they had traveled from Utah to one of the Disney resorts where Kelly was, which made it easy for her to connect with them at first.
The entire group was wearing identical, matching t-shirts, leading Kelly to believe they were part of a family. She noticed that one of the people in the group was slightly older and holding a cane. Kelly quickly realized that he had some mobility struggles based on the way he walked and the fact that he was off-balance.
When she finally got to the front of the long line, she told a Disney crew member how many people were in her group—1. That’s when the larger party next to her asked if she could go with the older man. Apparently, they had been waiting in line with him because he was the only one in the group who wanted to go on this particular ride. So, they asked if Kelly would be willing to go with him.
She had been chatting with them for around 30 minutes at this point, so she agreed. At the time, she didn’t notice any particular red flags.
She gets on the ride
As soon as she and the man buckled up for the ride, she noticed that he was scooting closer to her. At first, she thought it was nothing. But, as they were turning inside the ride to the next “queen,” the man put his full hand on her chest.
Kelly took his hand and pulled it away from her body, clearly telling him “no.” Later, when the ride ended, the man tried to excuse the behavior by saying that the ride’s twisting and turning must have led him to accidentally grab her.
When they got off the ride, other members of the man’s family asked whether or not Kelly was OK. They could see that she wasn’t fine at the time. She didn’t say anything to them and instead opted to find a cast member and share her experience with them. But when she did, they didn’t do anything.
“She didn’t do anything, and at least I don’t think so,” Kelly recalled. “[The Disney crew member] didn’t call anyone on the radio. She didn’t ask if I was OK.”
Kelly tries to move on—then she gets shoved by someone else
Kelly decided after that point to buy something to chill and relax at the park. She waited in another line next to a mother and her two children. Kelly noticed that the kids were heavier than she was, which ended up impacting her later during the wait.
The two kids were arguing with each other and shoving each other in line. Eventually, the younger child shoved the older one directly into Kelly, who fell to the floor immediately.
“ The big one got shoved into me and I fell to the ground. Meanwhile, the mom did not look up from her phone. She did not help me up,” she said. The people behind Kelly ended up helping her up, and she tried to settle back into the line.
Kelly tries to relax, only to get into an altercation
At this point, she was cautious in line, as the mother and two kids were still in front of her. When the kid inevitably ran into her again, she had her hands up to push him back. The mother instantly noticed this and started questioning Kelly in line. Kelly responded by saying that, at that point, her child had run into her and shoved her more than once. Before that, the child had fully shoved her to the ground.
Despite this, the woman accused her of “lying on her kid.” The people behind Kelly defended her, but it did little to stop the encounter.
“I was sitting there and the people behind me, thank God for them. Beautiful souls. They said ‘That is not what happened, ma’am. Literally your kids shoved her on the ground.’ This mother went ape [expletive] and I was getting triggered. I was getting over sensitized… And I was shutting off because it sucks,” Kelly said.
Eventually, she just made the decision to go home. She drove three hours back in the desert while thinking about the day’s events and feeling terrible about everything that happened to her.
Kelly gives an update
After posting her video, Kelly got in contact with Disney officials again and was able to take the next steps regarding her situation. But, while she received a number of positive comments that were supportive of her situation, she also received some comments that were less than positive.
Viewers told her that her tank top was the reason why the man grabbed her on the ride. Kelly vehemently refuted this, calling out some of the people who made similar comments directly.
In a follow-up video, for instance, she directly spoke to @twistedbunn after they left a comment that read, “Why did you let him get that close to you?”
@sam.kelly977 just got s.a'd at disney and attacked in less than an hour apart #sa #sad #victim #trauma #disney ♬ original sound – Sam Kelly
Then, she received a message that apparently came from a family member related to the elderly man who grabbed Kelly in line. The family member wrote, “I saw your video, and I think it’s quite frankly really disgusting that you would go after a man who is elderly.” The family member admitted that the man gets “handsy” but excused it as he was elderly. They then requested that Kelly take down the video.
Kelly refused to do this. She filed a police report instead and posted a video discussing the response she received, adding that she thought it was disgusting for them to try and call her out for sharing her experience. Commenters there, too, told her it was her fault. But she refused to take blame for something that was completely out of control and happened to her—not the other way around.
The Mary Sue reached out to Kelly via TikTok direct message. We’ve also sent an email to Disney for more information.
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