If you are reading these words, there’s a very good chance that you’re a Disney Parks superfan.
It’s not enough for you to visit Walt Disney World or Disneyland once in your lifetime, or even once every half-decade. Heck, it’s not even enough for you to visit a Disney Park once a year (if you’re lucky enough to be able to).
You’re reading articles about the Disney Parks, scouring the internet for rumors of coming attractions, or arguing with fellow fans on message boards, Twitter, Facebook, or Reddit.
You’re listening to podcasts about Disney Parks. You’re downloading soundtracks to your favorite rides and shows. You’re decorating your home with more and more Disney merch.
If you’re reading these words, you’re probably a superfan — but not all superfans are created equal.
There are different types of Disney Parks superfans, all of whom are drawn to these magical worlds for different reasons. Today, we’ll break down all those different types — and hopefully, you’ll find one you can slot into.
It’s ok if you fit into more than one category. We all contain multitudes.
1. Vacation Kings and Queens
For some Disney Parks fans, planning the vacation is half the fun. For a select few, planning the vacation is nearly all of the fun.
These are the Vacation Kings and Queens — those for whom the adrenaline-fueled high of scoring the perfect Fastpass+ reservation right when their window opens is that happiest they’ll be all year. The Vacation Kingdom needs its monarch, and these are those monarchs.
When not on vacation, they’re planning their next vacation — studying the newest trip-planning strategies online and memorizing the famed Unofficial Guide. In another life, perhaps they’d be an elite military strategist, but in this one, they’re content to put together the ultimate Disney touring plan — scheduled down to the minute.
If you’re a Vacation King or Queen, the only thing more exciting than riding Flight of Passage is the perfectly-timed Tiffin’s reservation you have scheduled for just after you disembark.
2. DIY Imagineers
The DIY Imagineers are easy to spot come October — they’re the ones who have put 100 hours of labor into creating the best Halloween decorations on the street. These Disney Parks fans are as interested in how things at Disney get done as they are in what those things are.
The dream of any DIY Imagineer is to of course go behind the scenes — to take a special tour of the Utilidors for example, or to see the inner-workings of The American Adventure. Or, failing that, they simply want to make their home feel like a Disney park too.
But the real holy grail for these fans — what keeps them up at night — are the hidden wonders that exist out in Glendale at Walt Disney Imagineering HQ.
They don’t need to see that famed Soarin’ erector set model, though — they’ve likely already built one themselves.
3. Disney Movie Obsessives
The parks are all well and good. Figment is OK. Splash Mountain is fine. Kilimanjaro Safaris is a nice diversion. But, for the Disney Movie Obsessives, it’s the movie characters and stories that really matter.
For these fans, a character meet and greet is more essential than a ride on Space Mountain. Peter Pan’s Flight is the most important Fastpass+ reservation to get. The highlight of the trip is Happily Ever After, or the parade, or Fantasmic.
Many of us found our way to Disney first by way of their films. Those animated masterpieces inspired us to think about the world in a new way.
The Lion King. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Frozen. Finding Nemo. That’s why these fans visit the Disney Parks. Everything else is just a bonus.
4. Instagram Pixie Dust Addicts
Let’s all be honest with ourselves: One of the best parts of a Disney vacation are the incredible photo ops.
The parks are all beautiful and full of magical and mysterious objects that are the perfect place for a well-angled selfie. And, for these Disney Parks fans, that’s as much fun as rides.
After making sure your mouse ears are appropriately applied, your outfit is subtly—but-charmingly Disney themed, and your eye-popping food item is ready to go, the Disney Parks are your ultimate playground.
Don’t judge these fans unless you’ve tried it yourself. There’s a unique kind of fun in exploring the parks this way — always on the lookout for the next great photo spot.
5. Disneyana Enthusiasts
For some of us, the best time to visit Walt Disney World is right now — when things are new, thrills are at a premium, and there’s always something exciting to try.
For others, the Disney of yesteryear will never be topped, and it is the stick against which all other Disney Parks are measured.
These superfans have filled their homes with 1980s Epcot memorabilia. They own the entire run of Walt Disney’s original “Disneyland” television show. At least once, they have made an account on a website specifically for the purpose of pointing out a factual error.
For Disneyana Enthusiasts, the ultimate question for any new Disney Parks development is this: “What would Walt think?” It’s an unanswerable question, and yet, it’s the one these fans want answered more than anything.
Some people obsess over Civil War history. Some obsess over New York City history. Some obsess over Disney history, and god love them for it.
6. The Art Critics
Disney isn’t just a fun vacation destination for these fans. It’s not an engineering marvel or a repository for American history. Disney is, at its core, art.
You can usually find these fans writing 10,000 word essays about the architectural inspirations for the Haunted Mansion, or arguing the popular artistic merit of something like Space Mountain. You’ll hear them suggest that maybe these attractions are something more than simple fun — maybe they’re important to our social fabric.
I count myself among this group, and because you’re reading this article, I’d imagine you’re at least sympathetic to this kind of Disney fandom. Because ultimately, for each of these groups of fans — which cross-pollenate and are ever changing — the unifying force is the idea that the Disney Parks are something worth taking seriously. They’re a part of our identities, for better and worse.
So whether your favorite part of visiting the Disney Parks is marveling at the attractions, popping a selfie in front of them, or already planning your next visit, being a Disney Parks superfan means you believe in one truth:
The Disney Parks are meant belong to us, and that is their greatest feature.
