US4 min(s) read
The woman at the centre of the Disneyland Peter Pan controversy has broken her silence, saying the internet has taken something small and 'turned it into something big without even knowing what it's truly about'.
Toni Kulusich, 27, who posts as @babytoni99 on TikTok, spoke to USA Today in her first interview since becoming one of the most talked-about people on the internet over the past three weeks.
She said it has been 'a little rough'.
"I've never expected to, like, blow up this much," she said.
"Of like, the entire internet to know I exist."
Kulusich confirmed that she has been going to Disneyland every week since at least 2015, when she bought an annual pass.
Before that, she visited regularly with her family. She first interacted with a Peter Pan actor more than a decade ago and has been documenting her visits ever since.
She pushed back against the idea that she is obsessed or that she follows the actors around relentlessly.
"I don't even always meet him," she said.
"I held a crochet dinosaur for nine weeks 'cause we didn't see each other. I wouldn't have had it for nine weeks if I was that crazy trying to find him."
She also confirmed she has not been banned from the park, contradicting one of the most widely shared claims about her online.
"I actually was there yesterday."
One of the biggest criticisms thrown at Kulusich was that she made performers uncomfortable by getting physically close without warning. She said she always asks first.
"I strongly believe that because I'm someone who has worked for Disney, when I go there, I always ask them, 'Can I hug you?'" she told USA Today.
"I allow them to lead the interactions. So I'll wait for him to be like, 'Let's go take a walk.' I'm not gonna initiate the walk."
The detail that she herself used to work for Disney had not been widely known before this interview.
It reframes the whole thing slightly. She is not just a fan who turns up every week. She is someone who has been on the other side of the costume and understands the rules the actors work under.
Whether that changes anything for the critics is another question.
The core tension remains the same: Disney actors cannot break character, which means even if they are uncomfortable, they cannot walk away or tell a guest to stop.
Kulusich asking 'can I hug you?' before making contact does not eliminate the power imbalance, but it does suggest she is more aware of the boundary than the viral clips made her appear.
Kulusich said it started with a childhood visit to Disneyland with her family. Meeting Peter Pan for the first time left an impression she never shook.
"He just made a really magical experience for me the first time," she said.
She has been chasing that feeling ever since.
Though here is an irony that undercuts the entire narrative the internet built around her: Peter Pan is not even her favourite thing at the park - the Astro Blasters game.
She described being a Disney adult as meaning 'letting out your inner child'.
For Kulusich, the weekly visits are not about the character so much as what he represents, a connection to a specific feeling from when she was young that she does not want to let go of.
A former Disney World employee who says he played Peter Pan claimed he was fired after breaking character because Kulusich's behaviour 'became so annoying'.
A separate Disneyland influencer claimed Kulusich 'knows' the current Peter Pan actor outside the park.
A former character actor from another Disney role said he had a similar experience with a different guest who learned his schedule and showed up at every one of his sets.
Kulusich's videos have been edited into horror film trailers.
Memes comparing her to various movie villains have gone viral.
One former actor said Disney instructors specifically warn performers about adult patrons who may figure out their real names, home addresses, and social media accounts.
Through all of it, Kulusich has continued posting Disney content.
She has 118,000 followers on TikTok and is still going to Disneyland meeting characters.
