The Surprise Mary Poppins Character Who Debuted at EPCOT’s Wine and Dine Half Marathon

A very small Mary Poppins role turned into an unexpected Disney Parks character debut at EPCOT. During the 2026 runDisney Wine & Dine Half Marathon, runners came across the Bird Woman, bringing one of the film’s most familiar lines into a new live setting.

The new character appearance happened during the Mary Poppins themed half marathon that served as the headline race of the 2026 Walt Disney World Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend. With that setup, it made sense for runners to see figures from the 1964 film along the course. What stood out was that one of them was not a usual parks regular, but the Bird Woman, also known as the Bird Lady.

The choice fits the event’s broader visual theme. Race art featured the penguin waiters from Mary Poppins, and the medal used a silhouette of Mary flying over the London skyline, with her umbrella worked into the border. Even with those nods already in place, the Bird Woman still read as a genuine surprise because this was presented as a brand new face character debut.

A tiny movie role, turned into a full character stop

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In the clip below, she is shown interacting with runners from her seat on a staircase set.

In the film, the Bird Woman is the seller of breadcrumbs and is remembered for a single line: “Feed the birds, tuppence a bag.” The role is brief, but it has long held a place in Mary Poppins history. Walt Disney personally chose Jane Darwell for the part. Darwell had won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for The Grapes of Wrath from 1940.

For this debut, Disney gave the character a detailed look that echoed the film’s image of her. She wore a floral dress under several layered pieces, including a lace doily, an open knit sweater, and a wool tartan shawl. The costume also included fingerless black gloves and a round brimmed black hat placed over a gray updo.

Her setting was just as specific. She sat on stairs with paper bags of breadcrumbs nearby, along with baskets and several blankets. Behind her was a digital London building backdrop with pigeons flying past. From that perch, she repeated her signature phrase, invited runners to sit beside her, smiled and waved, and remarked that she had never had so much attention in her life.

One interaction also leaned into the Mary Poppins theme in a more personal way. When a runner dressed as Mary Poppins stopped by, the Bird Woman mentioned a “handsome chap,” asked whether the “lad” was “one of her beaus,” and sent her off with the wish that the wind would bring her back again someday.

Why Disney fans may find the debut notable

For Disney fans, the appearance suggests that the Bird Woman is still very much part of how the company remembers Mary Poppins, despite how little screen time she has in the movie. That idea had already surfaced this year when the Disney Archives marked National Bird-Feeding Month with a post about Jane Darwell and her role as the Bird Woman.

The half marathon meet also arrived during a weekend that had already produced conversation about runDisney character stops for a very different reason. At the 2026 Wine & Dine 5K, runners who wanted photos with the Aristocats kittens instead ran into very long lines and the presence of the race-ending balloon ladies, something that had not previously occurred at runDisney 5Ks.

Against that backdrop, the Bird Woman’s first appearance gave the weekend another talking point, but a much quieter one. For a character whose entire movie dialogue boils down to a plea to feed the birds, that is a pretty notable way to make a first impression at Walt Disney World.