Toni Kulusich, a 27-year-old Los Angeles native and Disneyland annual pass holder, has become the target of online harassment after a viral video of her gifting a crocheted duck keychain to the Peter Pan character at the park drew accusations that she is a stalker. The video’s views grew from 10,000 to a million by August 2, and negative comments followed, with some suggesting she had hidden a tracking device in the gift and others calling her a creep. The backlash, which has spread across TikTok and Instagram, has more than doubled her following from about 50,000 to 125,000, but it has also led to threats and a petition to ban her from the parks.
Kulusich, who uses her middle name online for privacy, says the criticism has taken a toll on her mental health, as she has faced thousands of comments calling her a “crazy stalker lady.” The situation escalated when someone posted the address of her workplace, prompting her manager to change her hours for security reasons. She refutes the idea that her Disney fandom is unhealthy, noting that she has a husband of four years and a full-time job as a manager at a big-box retail store, and that she only makes Disney content as a hobby.
The internet’s reaction to Kulusich, now known worldwide as “Peter Pan Girl,” taps into existing online culture flash points, including the rapid spread of misinformation and the widespread loathing of “Disney adults.” She is not the first content creator accused of overstepping boundaries with “face” characters - non-masked performers like Peter Pan - as a similar fandom around a performer named “Spieling Peter” emerged in the mid-2010s. In recent years, social media discourse has increasingly focused on whether Disney influencers make these actors uncomfortable, potentially risking their jobs by encouraging them to break character.
Kulusich, who uses Disney-approved terminology like “friend of Peter” to refer to the performer, maintains that she would never put the actor in a situation that could harm his role or career. She showed a “Disney Unwrapped” post, similar to Spotify Unwrapped, indicating she met Peter Pan only seven times out of her past 30 park visits, to counter claims that she chases him constantly. Still, she acknowledges that the actors playing Peter Pan recognize her and remember her previous gifts and interactions, describing their connection as a “special friendship.”
The harassment has led Kulusich to question her own behavior, asking herself why she goes out of her way to meet the character. She has concluded that seeing Peter Pan makes her happy and that she is not doing anything wrong, vowing not to let the hate stop her. After being too scared to return to the parks for a few weeks, she recently went back with the support of her husband and fellow Disney content creators, who have defended her against trolls. When she saw Peter Pan on the carousel, he waved and asked her to ride beside him, telling her never to stop visiting Neverland - a message she says she needed to hear.
