What happend to Tinkerbell?

[goodferry]

We have never seen her.

 

[jltwdw]

Just curious, does Tink fly from the castle TO tomorrowland bridge area or FROM tomorrowland area to the castle?

 

[eeyore0062]

Also, my understanding with the new Wishes is that Tink doesn't fly at the beginnning, but sometime within the show.

 

[wright1baby]

Is the tink that flies before Wishes a "real" person?? Our first trip is in June and from hearing others talk about Tink flying, I just imagined/assumed it was a glowing light? Never imagined it was a person>

 

[NeverlandClub23]

I read in one of my Disney books a couple of years ago that this Tink that flew from the castle was actually a man! Something about they needed tink to be heavier to be able to make it all the way down or something. I wonder if this is still true? I guess men can be fairies too

 

[SammieG]

its a real person and she flies about a minute into it I guess.

She flies from the castle to just beyond tomorrowland. She is lit up and waving her wand.

It really is an amazingly magical experience!

 

[ophie]

SammieG's right. Tink's a real lady... she flies shortly after the start of the show... she flies from the castle to the top of the buildings attaching main st & tomorrowland. We were told some time last year by a CM that Tink is two different women, one 106lbs and one 118lbs. Reasons for her non-flight could be be wind or lightning. As Florida is the lightning capital of the world, it's not unusual at all for her flight to be called off for lightning.

 

[mking624]

Still doesn't explain why she doesn't fly even with perfect weather. Like I said, she's pretty sporadic. I've seen her fly with FITS in a lot worse conditions.

 

[wfloyd]

In addition to being too windy, she won't fly if it has rained recently either. The water speeds up the flight and could cause her to go too fast at the end.

 

[Aquagirl]

She flew last week when I was there. I believe we saw wishes on the 12th and definately the 13th.

Like Sammie stated, tink flies about a minute or 2 into the show, not at the beginning.

 

[live4christp1]

I'm thinking that the lightening rule is within a 15 mile radius, that is a pretty big area, might even be more than that. If it was me I sure wouldn't want to be up there with lightening anywhere nearby, Ben Franklin already discovered electricity, no need for Tink to do so. Also, the weather can be perfect outside and look normal to us but there can still be a great amount of static electricity in the air. I am sure they probably rely on some very sophisticated equipment as the CM who is Tink's safety is more important than the flight. We saw her fly when we were there in March on the 7th. Thought I got a great shot of her, but got home and it was to dark.

 

[mking624]

She was pretty reliable with FITS and even when things were windy or if a storm was *possible*, we'd see her fly. Seems like with Wishes, she's become more unreliable (and yes, I know she flies more into the show than before it). I don't know if that's because they've decided to stop taking chances or because they just don't put her out there every show anymore.

 

[SammieG]

I think in the past Mking624 you may just have been lucky... there were plenty of times we saw FITS when Tink didnt fly!

I think we have seen her every time we have seen Wishes.. but we have probably only seen it 5 or 6 times.

 

[Deesknee]

We so lucked out getting to see her two years ago. I didn't even know she flew - we were standing on the bridge to Tomorrowland and she flew right over us! It was so great!!!

ditto! DS (apprx 10yrs) said "mom, I guess dreams really can come true" My too cool kid! Don't ya just love the disney magic!

 

[MommytoMJM]

There are actually 4 tinkerbells.....if anyone wants more details, you can PM me......that way nothing is spoiled for anyone who doesn't want it to be....

 

[mking624]

I contacted some family who lives nearby WDW and since they're there all the time, I wanted to ask about their experiences with it....here's part of the response I got back:

I do agree with you that we have not seen Tink during Wishes as often as we did during Fantasy in the Sky. Like you, I'd be there during perfect weather conditions, not even a nearby storm, and there wouldn't be anyone flying down during Wishes. And also like you, we'd see worse conditions with Fantasy in the Sky, and Tink would come flying down. I do wonder if the ones in charge were simply taking a little more risk at her flying when Fantasy was still in operation and that they've decided to stop risks altogether. That aside, I'm thinking that it's not merely a factor of weather that comes into play, but also that of availability. The people who portray Tink are trained aerialists, so it's not just any random cast member who gets that opportunity. Since I doubt that Disney employs a great number of aerialists, I'm assuming that the availability becomes limited, and therefore the person(s) is unable to participate in every single show. I do have my doubts that weather is the only factor in the decision to not have her fly. If that were the only factor, we'd be seeing her fly more often. So there must also be more to it than just weather. Availability was the only thing that came to my mind, but there could be something else or something more.

I thought it was interesting...gives a new perspective to me at least.

 

[ophie]

Well, that's certainly something that didn't occur to me. But, then again, I don't recall missing Tink very much. In the past year (who knows how many Wishes showings), I only recall Tink not flying twice. Your family probably has a decent point about availability, but part of it is probably timing. There are times during the year here in Florida when the weather is less accommodating. During those times, it's probably much more likely for Tink to refrain from flying. Oddly enough... those are also some of the busier times of the year. In any case, it's certainly likely that weather isnt the only factor.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Last year we saw Tink fly at the beginning but this time is was a few minutes into the show. We have seen it twice with newbies to Disney which is wonderful. They are amazed that she is real. Yes, she is a she. My dad worked with the husband of a former Tink. That would be the coolest job in the world except you'd have to be careful who you tell. I wouldn't want to ruin the magic for the little ones.