Remember The Woman Who Went Viral On TikTok After Her Partner Fake Proposed At Disney World Over And Over? She Got Her Own Fairytale Ending

Happily Ever After fireworks at Magic Kingdom
(Image credit: Walt Disney World)

We’ve seen theme park videos go extremely viral in recent months. A clip blew up after some grandparents accidentally bought Disney+ gift cards instead of Disney parks cards for their family recently. One of TikTok’s most viral theme park videos ever showed a woman whose partner kept fake proposing to her over and over again at Disney World. A lot of fans had thoughts about the video, some thinking it was funny and others thinking it was a bit meanspirited toward the clearly mortified woman. She’s speaking out now, explaining what happened, why she wasn’t mad at her partner and how, in the end, she got her own fairytale ending.

@kelly_kirb

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The Viral Video Moments Did Give Her ‘Second-Hand Embarrassment”

It's been years since Dan Kirby fake proposed to his then-girlfriend Kelly multiple times. While it wasn't the first time a proposal has gone awry at Disney World, it may be a record for number of times someone has fake proposed.

However, the video, which depicts her getting embarrassed every time her partner would get down on one knee at the (supposedly) Happiest Place on Earth, was actually posted to the social media service by Kelly Levery herself long after the moments happened in real time. Yet, when looking back at the video, she says she still feels the raw emotions that coursed through her every time her husband teased her in this manner.

I feel second-hand embarrassment for that person. It makes me want to cry.

She knows the whole bit from her partner was one big joke, though, also helped along by her sister Brianna, who often filmed  the viral moments. At first, Kelly was mortified. Later, she was just annoyed. The viral TikTok is so great because viewers get to see her range of emotions over time. Sometimes she tried to escape the situation, other times she made sure no one was looking, and one time – “the worst one” as Kelly put it in the comments – she was proposed to whilst stuck in a queue and couldn’t go anywhere. 

Regardless, toward the end she was more on the “seriously Dan” train, blowing her man off when he pulled these hijinks. While the annoyance is apparent when watching, Kelly told Today that she knows the whole thing was one big joke.

It was annoying, but I wasn’t mad at him. That’s just Dan. I’d be sitting down and he would come up and sneak attack, and she’d take a picture. It was all in good fun. Some people have been commenting that Dan is such a jerk, but he's not. I want to be clear about that.

While The Disney Proposals Were Fakes, She Did Get A Real Proposal And A Happily Ever After

The videos were shot back in 2017, but only made it to TikTok years later when the couple had already been together for a long time. In fact, the TikTok star revealed they were already engaged when Dan kept doing his "down on one knee" bit every time they were checking out new and upcoming attractions at Disney World.

So, did the proposal happen at Disney World? Of course not. Kelly Lavery Kirby opened up about how Dan asked her to marry him in a much more private manner – exactly how she had hoped and envisioned it.

I was getting ready for work and he did it in our mudroom.There were no theatrics. It was perfect.

The two now share three children and live outside Boston, though the House of Mouse still plays a role in their day-to-day, as another recent TikTok Kirby shared also features none other than Elsa making an appearance at her kid’s birthday party only to find her kid knew it wasn't the real Disney parks Frozen experience. You can take a family out of Disney, but you can’t take Disney out of the family. 

Jessica Rawden
Managing Editor

Jessica Rawden is Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. She’s been kicking out news stories since 2007 and joined the full-time staff in 2014. She oversees news content, hiring and training for the site, and her areas of expertise include theme parks, rom-coms, Hallmark (particularly Christmas movie season), reality TV, celebrity interviews and primetime. She loves a good animated movie. Jessica has a Masters in Library Science degree from Indiana University, and used to be found behind a reference desk most definitely not shushing people. She now uses those skills in researching and tracking down information in very different ways.