Disney Has NOT Removed Tinker Bell From Parks Yet: 'Here To Stay' (2024)

After several reports and fans speculated that Disney has removed its popular character Tinker Bell from meet and greet duties at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, TMZ cited an official to confirm that the company has not. Disney has, however, not issued a formal statement about the claims yet.

The reports emerged after website Inside The Magic claimed that Tinker Bell's official signage has been 'removed from Town Square Theater'. The New York Times had done a detailed study on Disney in 2022 analyzing which of their characters didn't hold up to modern-day standards. The Peter Pan character was identified as one.

Fans and Disneyland goers posted about Tinker Bell's alleged absence from the Parks. However, TMZ quoted a rep to debunk all rumors. "Tinker Bell is a beloved character, and she continues to appear in all of our parks around the world."

However, nothing has been said on the character's future.

It looks like the character from Disney's 1953 release 'Peter Pan' still greet guests at the resort's Town Square Theater in the Magic Kingdom.

While responding to a question asked back in February, a Disney representative confirmed that the meet and greet characters change time-to-time in Disney parks.

“Disney character ‘meet and greets’ do change in the Disney Parks,” the representative wrote. “It’s always a good idea to keep an eye on the Walt Disney World Resort website for character updates.”

A 2022 report by the New York Times had revealed that Disney's Story Matter Team - a group dedicated to promoting diversity, inclusion and authentic representation in the company's content, had flagged the character as 'potentially problematic' back in 2019, prior to the launch of Disney+. The team claimed that the character is 'body conscious' and 'jealous of Peter Pan’s attention.'