Disney Adults: More Nightmare Than Fairytale?

Visitors swarm the Disney World Resort in search of a magical time with friends and family. Photo by Nicholas Fuentes on Unsplash

The infamous “Disney adults” phenomenon has reemerged in popularity upon the recent controversy regarding an obsessive fan. “Peter Pan Girl,” also known as Toni Kulusich, has blown up on TikTok over her continuous decade-long stalking of the various Disney park Peter Pan actors. 

In multiple videos, Kulusich is seen following the actors around the park to pose for pictures, insist they accept crocheted keychains and other small gifts from her and even hug and attempt to kiss the actors, stirring up uneasy feelings for fellow parkgoers. 

The altercation only continued to attract attention as Kulusich’s stalking grew more consistent and eerie. It was eventually revealed that Kulusich had been visiting the Disney park every week for a decade, mostly for the purpose of interacting with her favorite character, Peter Pan.

When interviewed by WIRED, Kulusich affirmed that she believes she has a deep connection with the character.

“I do think people know that Peter Pan and I have a special friendship,” Kulusich said. 

Spanning ten years of videos, Kulusich went so far as to ask the Peter Pan actor to attend a homecoming school dance with her, forcibly instructing him to dance with her even though he said he didn’t know how to dance. Kulusich’s repeated strange behaviors around the Disney park actors only sought to further the exhausted and ongoing stereotype of parasocial and obsessive behavior characterized by Disney-loving adults. 

When asked how they feel about Disney adults, Marist University students have rather mixed regards toward the demographic. 

“I think that Disney adults are like kids that haven’t grown up and they kind of go there to escape adulthood, in a way,” said Jadyn Castagna ‘30.

Ava Good ‘30 said, “I believe that Disney Adults are largely harmless, with some exceptions, but for the most part their biggest crime is being annoying.”

Unfortunately, cases of near-obsessive Disney fans lie not only with Toni Kulusich. Before her, there were many instances of Disney adults disregarding the privacy and safety of the character performers. After the recent Peter Pan situation, several actors have come forward with their own uncomfortable stories compiled over the last few years. 

Peter Pan character actor Andrey Lull recalled that certain visitors would learn his schedule and be the first one in line at every one of his events. 

Former Disney park actor Jennifer Herbert said that one park visitor would write love letters to the actors and another would attempt to kiss the female character actors, confirming that Disney adults didn’t gain their creepy and cringey reputation solely from Toni Kulusich. 

The situation regarding Kulusich raises the question of whether Disney will begin to implement better protection for its actors to prevent these future encounters from occurring or if Disney adults will be allowed to continue this behavior.

Sarah Daniels, another Disney park actor, said that there were character attendants available to take the attention off the character actors when they felt uncomfortable and in need of help. 

However, due to the recent concerns regarding Kulusich’s actions, the implementations Disney currently has in place to keep actors safe may not be sufficient. 

Whether future guidelines involve more developed security detail or stricter laws regarding guests’ contact with the actors, there’s no doubt that something needs to change at the park for the protection of the character actors.