(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) A video of a Disney employee preventing a child from hugging Winnie the Pooh at Disney has gone viral.
The video, which has been viewed over 2.5 million times, was initially posted to TikTok by Dani Reeves.
They ruined everything. pic.twitter.com/wHOed2M7DO
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) March 2, 2022
“There’s Pooh!” said Reeves in the background, holding the camera. Her daughter ran towards the character to give him a big hug.
Before she reaches him, a Disney “cast member” cuts in, preventing the girl from getting to Pooh.
“You can’t hug, you can’t hug!” said her mom.
Pooh blows the child a kiss, which she returns, saying “bye Pooh!” before turning to her mom.
“[COVID] Sucks!” Reeves captioned the video. “My daughter was so embarrassed and upset after this.”
In an interview with Newsweek, Reeves said this was the first time her daughter, who is 4, had seen a character walking freely. Reeves said if the incident was because of COVID, then she felt as if the rules at the Disney park were contradictory.
She explained that her recent visit was filled with contradictions, such as advising crowds to fill “dead space,” and then seating strangers together on rides with no sanitation between trips.
Disney’s website explained that character greetings are currently on hold due to COVID, and the characters are in the park in “new ways.”
Responses to the video shared the Reeves daughter’s dismay.
These kids are being denied their childhoods because adults are scared of the common cold!
— Mike (@MaGiC_CiTy_305) March 2, 2022
Why aren’t we mocking and shaming people for this nonsense.
— Johnny (@milllk_man) March 2, 2022
What’s the point of going then, poor kid
— 🖖dizzy_hogan🖖 (@Dizzy_Hogan) March 2, 2022
Probably better to not have characters walking about. Just all day of setting up for failure & disappointment.
— Where No One Has Gone Before (@Jcmnow) March 2, 2022
