Reflective Post: Obsessive Disney Fans

Recently, Disney decided to expand their wedding options for those looking to spend a defining moment in their relationship in a theme park surrounded by characters created to excite children. In this article, I learned how Disney now allows you to get married at the castle after the park closes, for a more intimate setting I suppose. According to the article, Disney hosts more than 1,200 weddings a year, and the change in the wedding policy at the park came from couple's requests for more options. There are several reasons for this high demand, including the overwhelming amount of resorts and things to do for guests as well as the special couple. If you are going to make people travel for the wedding, why not give them plenty to do? Couples pay good money for this experience, as discussed in the article: "You can book a wedding with four guests on the beach of the Polynesian Village Resort, with a solo violinist and an hour's worth of photography, for less than $3,000. More elaborate events can go well into six figures." Personally, the idea of getting married at Disney World does not appeal to me, but obviously it is very popular. In fact, the fact that people want to kickstart their adult life with someone by celebrating at a kid theme park baffles me. I decided to look in to why Disney is so popular amongst adults and what creates their obsession. After all. it is the most magical place in the world.

So, why are adults still obsessed with a company whose target audience is children? In this PopSugar analysis of why adult women love Disney, it is argued not only that the target audience of Disney is not just children, but also that adults still obsessed with the franchise are not immature nor silly, but rather just nostalgic and comfortable admitting how happy Disney makes them. In a study done by the creator of the article of people who ranked their love for Disney as at least a four on a scale of one to five, the author found these statistics:

What that tells us about the obsessed population is not much, however what stands out to me is how many of them do not have kids. You would think that someone so in love with Disney would want to share this love with a tiny human, but the numbers do not lie. Then, I thought, this could be because these Disney lovers have not actually grow up yet, but it turns out that most of these adults love Disney because of the happiness and nostalgia that surrounds it, rather than any of the reasons kids love Disney. In search of more specific reasons why adult women love Disney, I came across this list of reasons why the movies still appeal to adults. In said list, the six reasons given are adult humor, grown up themes, adult messages, education, soundtracks, and escapism. It is true that much of Disney humor does in fact go over the heads of many children, so the movie could be a cause of laughter for more mature audiences. The soundtracks are also understandable because the songs are made to be catchy. These songs remind adults of the "good ole days" and often can spark other good memories as well. As the list points out as well, many of these movies have grown up themes and messages. Disney movies that suggest how hard it is to grow up are popular for these adults because they identify in feeling this way. The idea of escapism agrees with the other article in that many of these adults use Disney as a way to remember their happy childhood and forget about their adult problems for a little while. This seems like a healthy way to cope, and if Disney movies and attire helps you get through the day then go for it! Disney fanatics come in many different forms, from wearing Disney, to traveling to Disney, to even decorating their houses like Disney. The idea of magic is something that people love to hold on to when confronted with real world adult problems and I admire those who turn to something healthy like Disney to bring happiness in their lives rather than choosing an unhealthy path. Besides, what's so wrong with being a kid at heart anyway?