If you have ever been to a Disney park, you might know that there are a few rules about what you can and cannot wear. One important rule is that adults are not allowed to wear costumes.

This is to prevent park guests from getting confused about who the real characters are and who the park guests are.

In this story, one older couple was following the no costumes rule at EPCOT, but that didn’t stop a complete stranger from wanting to take their picture.

It was pretty awkward and completely against the rules. Here’s what happened.

“No Ma’am, I’m Just Disney Bounding…”

So this happened a couple weekends ago at EPCOT, and I’m still cringing.

My husband and I were Disney Bounding, as a refresher, Disney Bounding is when fans wear regular clothes inspired by a Disney character’s color palette or aesthetic.

It’s a way to express your love for a character without violating Disney’s very strict rules about impersonation (because adults are absolutely not allowed to wear costumes in the parks, especially ones that might confuse guests into thinking you’re a cast member or character performer).

These sound like really cute and well thought out outfits.

I was channeling Snow White: yellow tennis skirt, blue tee, red cardigan, red belt, and a cute apple-shaped purse.

My husband was Grumpy: red shirt that read “I didn’t think I would become a grumpy old man, but here I am, nailing it!”, brown shorts, and a floppy brown bucket hat.

It might be important to say here, we are in our 50s.

In NO WAY could anyone mistake us for being the actual Disney employed cast members who are playing Snow White or Grumpy.

This is a weird request from a park guest, and exactly why adults aren’t allowed to wear costumes.

We were walking past the German Pavillion, on our way to our dinner reservation at Garden Grill, when a woman with two little girls flagged us down.

She didn’t ask, she told us that her kids wanted pictures with “Snow White and Grumpy.”

I politely explained we were just guests, not characters, and actually late for a dining reservation.

She immediately got huffy, saying she didn’t want to “wait in that ridiculous line” to see the real Snow White, and her kids were “already excited.”

That mom was not taking no for an answer!

I tried to say no again, but she waved us off and literally pushed her kids toward us while pulling out her phone.

Cue awkward frozen smiles while my husband (bless his grumpy soul) muttered, “This is why I don’t go to Magic Kingdom.”

We finally had to excuse ourselves and make a break for it.

Disney isn’t joking around!

For those wondering: yes, this could 100% get you kicked out of the park or have your annual passes revoked.

Disney takes “character integrity” VERY seriously, even if you’re just a fan in a color-coordinated outfit.

Moral of the story: Just because someone looks Disney-adjacent doesn’t mean they’re on the payroll. We were just two nerds trying to get to our Mickey-shaped waffles in peace.

That mom really should’ve just waited in line to take her kids’ picture with the “real” Snow White…or booked a character dining meal where the characters come to you without having to wait in line.

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story.

This is funny but probably what will really happen.

Here’s a story about meeting Mickey Mouse at Disney World.

Yes, at Halloween the rules are more relaxed.

This isn’t a bad idea, but I’d hate for the little girls to suffer consequences because of their mom’s mistake.

Awe! This is so sweet!

It’s not that hard to tell a guest from an employee at EPCOT.

If you enjoyed that story, read this one about a mom who was forced to bring her three kids with her to apply for government benefits, but ended up getting the job of her dreams.