I don't know if you've heard the term "Disney Adult," but it's hard not to nowadays. It's become something of an odd phenomenon happening here in America.
For those who haven't heard the term, it refers to adults who are so obsessed with Disney that they treat going to its parks like a holy pilgrimage, willing to fling themselves into debt to do so. Their emotional connection to these parks is such that they're known to break into tears at the sight of a character or a famous structure.
My good friend Sydney Watson recently covered them and their weird and awkward behavior, in a video that you should definitely watch to get the full idea of what I'm talking about here. What she shows you, even within the first 30 seconds of the video, is not normal behavior.
Watching Sydney's video, it's clear that a lot of this is performative for the clicks. A woman breaking down into tears because she hasn't seen the Disney castle since COVID is over the top, to the point where it's clear it was set up. However, not all of these people are just doin' it for the 'gram. As Sydney highlights, some people go into debt by thousands of dollars for season passes to the parks.
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What causes this kind of person to become so obsessed with a mega-corporation whose primary product is children's entertainment?
I can't say for sure, but I can make a pretty educated guess.
For starters, the people who seem to be "Disney Adults" age around younger Millennials and older Gen-Z. If you were still in your formative years when the internet came about, it seems this is the primary age range that falls into that nostalgia pit. This is the generation that got to experience Disney at its height in the 90s through the early aughts. Aladdin, The Lion King, Toy Story, Beauty and the Beast, Mulan, A Goofy Movie, Hercules, and more. Disney effectively defined their childhood with one major hit after another.
I should know. I was there.
This is the same age range that, frankly, got a really bad hand dealt to them. They grew up to not be able to afford a house, they're drowning in student debt, and a career no longer means working hard at a place and climbing the ladder; it means doing enough to jump from one company to another for higher pay and a better job title. If you're not in the corporate structure, you're probably stuck in the hustle loop and participating in the gig economy. The culture shifted dramatically after 9/11, and nobody knew quite how it would go on to affect the country. While everyone was still figuring it out, that age group was brought up in that unsure world.
Something in Sydney's video also got my attention. It's a man in a podcast, peeved that there are children at Disney parks, and telling people to keep their kids out of it because it's an adult playground.
Based on the info available to me, I think I can piece together what creates a "Disney Adult."
For starters, you have a severe case of arrested development. The culture is overly serious and severely corporate nowadays. Terrorism and riots seem to be a feature of the modern era, not a bug. Pandemics, job insecurity, and uncertainty about ever owning a home have put something of a pause on younger millennials and Gen-Z in terms of adulthood. In fact, you've probably heard the phrase "adulting" being used by this age group, which indicates they feel like they're acting like adults and doing adult things, but that they are not adults.
While having to live in an unstable world that isn't exactly giving them the best deal on an economic and emotional level, the "Disney Adults" cling to something that they feel is pure and without complication. Now that they're adults, they can relive that "magic" at will, and when they do, they become possessive of it. As if this is something special for them. Oddly, they become protective of it against children, the audience this is actually for.
They're children in grown bodies, but seem to have a hard time acknowledging that they've moved on. They're stuck in a state of adolescence, not because they have to be, but because tackling the real world is overwhelming and intimidating. They retreat from it every chance they get, and they can think of no safer place than the arms of Mickey Mouse.
Or that's my theory, at least.
