Disney Monorail Crawl: Learn how fans can slip through the resort
Below are three of Walt Disney World’s unofficial bar crawl tops:
- Disney Adults are a subculture of fans who find community and connection through Disney.
- While some criticize Disney adults for enjoying activities related to children, author AJ Wolfe argues Disney is always on the way to adults too.
- Wolfe’s book, Disney Adults, explores the pros and cons of this subculture, including positive aspects of community and negative aspects of consumerism and exclusiveness.
Swifty. Gamer. Backpacker. foodie.
While all these labels recall vivid images, one group elicits particularly strong emotions from fans and observers: Disney adults.
Whatever you think about when you hear the term, Disney expert AJ Wolfe, owner of Disneyfoodblog.com and Allears.net, wants to try it out with a new book with the same name, “Disney Adults.”
“There’s a reason for stereotypes, but what’s the reason people are attacking this particular subculture? She asked.
Wolfe spoke with USA Today about what she discovered and her own experiences as an adult at Disney.
This interview has been compiled for length and clarity.
Question: Disney has been popular with adults from the start. It’s not a new phenomenon. Can you tell me about that?
Wolf: Since Walt Disney began the entire empire in the 1920s, there have been Disney adults for 100 years. Walt has a very famous quote that says, “If you’re only aiming for children, you’re dead. Adults are only growing up just by children.” From the start, he knew that he had to ensure that people who had wallet ties had to seduce them.
It is online subculture that Disney adults are evolving. Although mostly online, things are beginning to put tendrils in face-to-face meetups and communities.
People have this idea of what Disney adults are. What do you want people to know about them?
Stereotypes come from truth, right? There are some of us obsessed, uncomfortable, selfish and problematic, but every fandom has those people. It is called humanity. That’s us, and generally as a culture.
I think that in many subcultures, especially in Disney adults, what people don’t actually see is under the water when it comes to icebergs.
Online, what the algorithms are pushing is what people see. You don’t see reality.
All cultures, all subcultures, most of what’s going on are things you don’t see, things you don’t know, so that’s what we’re doing in the book. It’s really kind of thing that shows how extensive and widespread this subculture is, and the pros and cons of it.
Let’s talk about some of those pros.
The great thing about this particular fandom is that people are finally finding tribes. I don’t think many Disney adults fit anywhere else, and this is where they fit perfectly. They find their best friend. They find a partner. You can find people you’ve never found in your usual community, your workplace, or in your school.
Many of us don’t fit anywhere, so we’re very open and happy to be very happy to find any comfort here or welcome everyone who finds Disney interesting, persuasive or curious. I’ll talk about that. We are happy to bring you where you are.
We also want to help each other, so we see a lot of positive positivity within the Disney community of people who are fundraising, charity, helping others in our community and outreaching outside our community.
But most importantly, especially personally, you find your tribe and your community. Honestly, you are not healthy without it.
For many fans, Disney brings back the memories of the core and the deep emotional connections you feel when you go to the places Disney created.
This is something I really wanted to understand while writing this book. How does Disney do this? For example, we line up to give them more money. How did they get us such a hold?
It’s all coming back for us as Disney adults are emotional connections with their families. Our parents and grandparents bring us to Disney movies, bring us to Disney World and blame us 1000% for having a great time while they were there.
And now, as the world is doing what it is, people are just feeling high anxiety and stressed, just feeling normal life, you’ll want to try and try to return to that sense of safety and predictability and warmth and caring, and in many cases people go back to Disney.
As you grow up with these things, you want to pass them on to your kids, so they have the same experience and it raises fans of another generation, so it’s a cycle.
that’s right. What’s interesting about that is, when I was raising my now 11 year old son, we might have gone to Europe for a holiday. You may have been to Costa Rica, but Disney is so easy, it’s harder than going to Disney. They speak English and they take dollars, but that’s this experience you have. That’s an easier choice.
It can be really difficult to try and figure out a completely different city that speaks another language. And when you have a small child, I think sometimes it’s just “we’re going to Disney for a while because we know what to expect.”
Not only do you want your child to experience what you have experienced, it’s also the demon you know.
Can you talk about the feeling of Fomo that many Disney adults have about the latest snacks, the latest products?
Marketing is incredible and I’m not going to lie. The entire Disney adult community is doing this marketing for free.
Disney has now become a 24-hour news cycle. Hungry is the perfect word for information, details, and hot goth in their happy place, and that’s exactly what they’re trying to lock up.
“How much do you know and do you know more than others? Do you have this pin? Do you have that lounge fry bag? Have you tried that snack? Are you on that ride?” It’s just one upmanship and this wild subculture of FOMO, and “I have to book this trip now because I have to be on that new ride.” It’s attractive. I’m all involved in that too.
Can you talk about some of the cons and address some of the criticism people have about Disney adults?
Absolutely, we have an entire chapter in a book about it.
The two main points of sorts are first of all, that people love something that the general society thinks is for the sake of their children. It doesn’t seem to allow you to like what’s built and created for your child.
I heard Walt’s quote. We know it’s not built and created for kids, but people say, “Disney is for kids. Why do you like something for kids? It’s weird.” And it’s encouraged by many other strange things that people can be uncomfortable.
Disney adults may be on others towards other theme parks.
As far as I’m concerned, rising tides lift all boats. Universal is getting better, so Disney will get better. Universal will be better as Disney is getting better. I find this to be great for all of us. Can we just be cool?
We are willing to open up, so when it comes to thematic experiences, I think we shoot a lot in the foot.
Of course, you can love something for free, but many experiences cost money. Please tell us about the role of money with Disney adults.
What Disney has definitely done is interesting to say that over the past few years we can love something even more.
Can I go to Disney cheap? Certainly, but not that cheap. These tickets cost at least $100, so I think Disney is priced a lot of people among Disney adults, and not only is it a gorgeous item, at least for the park, but I think it feels like you can’t afford to go there anymore.
I think we’re beginning to see, “Yeah, only the rich can go to Disney. Only the rich can have these experiences.” And Disney has created many amenities that have once been free to pay amenities over the past five years. It’s an evolving space, as you can’t get them anymore unless you pay them.
People will still pay for it. That’s what it means.
teeth Is there anything else you would like people to know?
Most importantly, this particular subculture and general books are talking about humanity here. It’s the group, community, or subculture aspect you’re looking at.
You’ll see more and more subcultures appearing online, and you’ll see more friends and connections from our friends and connections and more friends and connections from those we’ve never met before.
So, how do you understand these communities just by thinking about it? How do you engage with these communities? Why are we not afraid of these communities? Understand that these groups have far more to do than you think. Give it time to really explore.
