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Credit: Disneyland ParisFor many Disney-loving adults, one of the biggest dreams is to have a Disney wedding. Getting married at your favorite Disney resort, or maybe even in the Magic Kingdom, would be an experience the couple and their guests would never forget.
Disney offers incredible wedding options that aren’t as expensive as many might think. Guests can get married at various locations in California, Florida, Hawaii, and even on the Disney Cruise Line!
Disney offers so much more than just stunning weddings. Couples who want Disney to be part of their love story can also book honeymoons and engagement celebrations with the Mouse House.
Related: Till Death Do Us Part: Host Your Dream Wedding at Disney’s Tower of Terror
Now, not every couple who loves Disney wants to travel all the way to the United States to tie the knot, and that’s when a place like Disneyland Paris offers a great alternative.
However, a very confusing and scary situation unfolded in front of cast members at a Disneyland Paris wedding. Things got so bad at this wedding that police were even called to the scene.
Disneyland Paris had been booked for a wedding that would take place in the early morning hours of June 21. A cake had been set up, musicians were playing, and chairs were set up to accommodate “hundreds” of guests.
That is when things took an incredibly odd turn.
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According to reports, the groom was 22 years old, but when his bride came out, she was only nine years old and was being carried by her mother. Shocked cast members immediately ended the event and called the police.
But that it when things get even weirder.
Multiple people were taken in for questioning, and it was revealed that the entire wedding had been one big social media prank. And the person organizing the prank had spent nearly $150,000 on the fake nuptials.
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Per a report from The Guardian:
“The event turned out to have been staged, the guests themselves were all actors,” the deputy local prosecutor told Agence France-Presse. “So it wasn’t a wedding but the staging of a wedding, which was filmed with around 100 extras. They had privately hired Disneyland Paris claiming it was a real wedding.”
They included a man said to have been the fake groom, who is alleged to have organised the event. He is 22 and thought to be British, AFP reported. A 24-year-old Latvian woman was also being questioned.
The young girl, who is Ukrainian, was not found to have suffered any “violence or constraint”, the prosecutor’s office said. Her mother, aged 41, was released from questioning, as was a 55-year-old Latvian man.
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Further reports indicate that the young girl’s mother, who was also Ukrainian, said that she wanted her daughter to feel like a Disney princess for the day. The mother also had to carry her daughter into the “wedding” because the girl couldn’t walk in her elaborate outfit.
The British man behind the prank allegedly paid 200 adults and 100 children £200 each to show up for what they thought was a “chic and elegant” rehearsal wedding.
The mother of the young girl claimed to be a friend of the fake groom, and the man pretending to be the girl’s father (a Latvian national) said he was paid £12,000. The man claimed he did not know the girl was only nine years old.
Thankfully, police confirmed that the young girl had not suffered any violence. The unidentified British man and the Latvian man were arrested and are being held on additional charges of fraud and money laundering. Two people have been charged with fraud and breach of trust against Disneyland Paris.
The extras reportedly had no idea that the entire thing was a prank, and they were shocked when the young girl was carried out by her mother. However, they praised Disneyland Paris cast members and security for quickly shutting everything down.
What do you think should happen to the British man who allegedly planned the entire “prank”? Should he go to jail for his actions? Should he be banned from all Disney parks and prevented from returning to France in the future? What about the mother who agreed to the prank? Should she also go to jail, and should her daughter be removed from her custody? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.