A surprisingly thoughtful and insightful examination of Disney fandom among adults.

Full disclosure: I am not a Disney Adult, though I do enjoy the Disney parks and movies. We take our kids to WDW every few years, but I don’t know if/how often we would go on an adults-only trip.

I mostly came to this book because I’m very interested in the psychology of fandom, both among those in the fanbase and how that fanbase is viewed by others.

I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting this book to be, but I was surprised how well the author did tackling that issue from both inside and out. The research here is really thorough and intuitive.

Wolfe often uses sports fans as a point of comparison, and frequently laments that the oft-loathed Disney Adults are treated differently (in a negative sense) than sports fans essentially displaying the same behaviors. Having worked in sports media for much of my adult life, I would argue that sports fans are actually decidedly worse, particularly in terms of aggression toward others.

This is true in terms of how segments of the sports super-fandoms interact with both those in the fanbase with them and those outside it, and it’s sort of strange how these people get a pass and everyone goes after far more harmless groups like Disney Adults.

While it’s true that every fandom has bad apples, I mostly don’t understand the animosity toward this particular group. I see nothing wrong with adults enjoying something that many believe to be for kids, and these folks are for the most part pretty inoffensive in how their fandom manifests.

While obsessive fandom always has negatives no matter what the subject of any group’s admiration is, I think for most people being part of something like that is a net positive, and this group in particular seems to have created a sense of community and belonging for a lot of people.

Obviously, anything taken too far can become problematic (I cringed every time Wolfe mentioned someone maxing out their credit cards to pay for a Disney trip), but on the whole I walked away from reading this feeling like I understood this fandom much better than I had previously, and that for most people, it’s kind of a great thing that this exists.

I will start off by saying that I do consider myself a Disney adult. It is just one of my happy places. It’s somewhere that you can leave your worries behind and immerse yourself in all things Disney. From staying at one of their hotels to walking around a park for the day.

Before my Disney trips, I usually watch a few Disney YouTubers to check in on any changes and to just get myself excited for the upcoming trip. One staple YouTuber that I have always watched is the Disney Food Blog. They have everything you need to know about Disney World from new snacks to ranking all the restaurants. So once I heard that AJ from the Disney Food Blog wrote a book, I just knew I needed to read it.

It, of course, did not disappoint. It dives deep into the Disney fandom and culture from a psychological perspective to a business perspective. I found it all to be really interesting.

Do you consider yourself a Disney adult? / Who is your favorite Disney character?

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

A fascinating and expertly reported and in-depth look at the Disney Adult phenomenon, "Disney Adults" explores the lives of the long-time Disney fanatics who grew up ... sort of. As adults, this subset of fans is shameless in their passion for collecting, displaying, and experiencing all things Disney - something they are not only passionate about, but also extremely thankful to embrace.

AJ Wolfe combines data, interviews, and personal experience to craft a historical study of the internet's influence on Disney culture - as well as how Disney has turned many of its fans into influencers and life-long loyalists to the large company's parks, media, merchendise, and more. A judgment-free account of why Disney matters so much to so many people ... and why no one should be afraid to "never" grow up.

I really enjoyed this discussion of the inner workings of Disney Adults and why they (we) are perceived as inherently worse than other passionate fans of other media. I also loved the inner workings of the influencer economy. I was less into the interviews with self-identified Disney Adults since it felt like they were all kind of saying similar things.