I don’t think there’s a need to explain what Disney is at this point, but you might be wondering what an adult of said noun would be. Urban Dictionary describes a Disney Adult as a grown-up millennial, whether with or without kids, who just can’t seem to stop talking about Disney.

In good Urban Dictionary fashion, it also discloses some other details about Disney Adults. Namely that their obsession with all things Disney often surpasses that of their kids (or maybe even all kids), despite it being a predominantly a kids’ thing; they partake in Disneybounding, which is aesthetically coordinating your clothes to mimic those of Disney characters, and making sure they visit Disneyland at least once a year with their car that, at the very least, has a Mickey Mouse bumper sticker on it.

The idea of Disney Adults exists as a cultural internet phenomenon. And if you google it, you’ll find articles discussing it and memes… memeing it. In fact, one of the main sources of information that you’ll find about Disney Adults is Know Your Meme.

According to the site, Disney Adults as a concept has been developing since the early ’90s along with the Millennials and Gen Z who grew up with a strong Disney influence in the media. And so these individuals grew up with Disney, and the nostalgia they experience now only strengthens the bond and the subsequent expression thereof. And the internet thinks it's obnoxious.

While the site attributes the formation of the concept of Disney Adults (to a noticeable degree) to the early ’10s, it wasn’t until 2017 when a viral College Humor video popularized the term and so the meme officially had a name now.

Another location where Disney Adults are discussed at length is r/DisneyAdults.

Unlike many other meme-oriented subreddits, r/DisneyAdults also encourages debates, discussions, and just overall opinion and Q&A style posts. Speaking of posts, the community is currently in “restricted” mode, which means only approved accounts can actually post there. This is to ensure order and peace in the online community. Also, probably, so that actual Disney Adults wouldn’t come barging in, trashing the place.

As for themes, topics, and content, it ranges from talking about Disney engagements to Disney crushes to personal and not-so-personal stories. Besides memes, the subreddit includes various Disney artwork, videos discussions, crossposts and the like.

An article in the Rolling Stone pinpoints the reason for the notorious reputation of Disney Adults. The key factor here is cringe. It just makes you feel completely uneasy seeing and hearing an adult fanboy (or fangirl, or fanpeople) about something that is fundamentally for kids. Sure, Disney is technically for people of all ages, but, among adults, it just comes off as escapism.

This is besides the fact that no matter how authentic Disney’s take on making magic happen might look, at the end of the day, it’s a huge corporation that has invested an insane amount of money into providing a product and experience that seems authentic, but in reality is tailor-made and optimized to bring in profit to them, and nothing else. Because business. And knowing that fact, yet still deciding to live naively as if this is all truly magical, is at the very least concerning.

We won’t even start with TikTok.

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