I'm into the Disney Parks and the Disney Animated Classic films/characters/songs about equally, so I voted for "Disney fan".
The parks are what got me started, though. When I was a little kid in the 70's, this was before the era of home video or Disney Channel, so the only way you could see the Disney Animated Classic films was on their theatrical reissues once every several years. So my first exposure to the characters, stories, and songs from Animated Classics like Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Cinderella, Alice In Wonderland, and Peter Pan was in their corresponding park attractions in Fantasyland, which was, is, and always will be, my favorite park "land" due to its connection with these beloved classic films!
One attraction in particular - the late, great, Mickey Mouse Revue (
http://www.omniluxe.net/wyw/mmr.htm,
http://www.mouseplanet.com/9119/Mickey_Mouse_Revue), was a personal favorite in childhood and largely responsible for my interest in the characters and songs from the Disney Animated Classics long before I would get to see them!
I remember everytime an Animated Classic like Dumbo, Pinocchio, Peter Pan, etc, was re-released to theatres what a big event it was for me! I would look forward to it with almost as much anticipation as I would a Disney park trip, and go watch it in the theatre multiple times during its run. In 1977, I saw Animated Classics #22 and #23,
The Many Adventures Of Winnie the Pooh and
The Rescuers on their original theatrical runs. These are the first two that I saw on their initial theatrical runs, and have since seen EVERY subsequent DAC, all the way up to and including the most recent in the series, #49,
The Princess and the Frog, in theatres on their original theatrical releases. I've also seen all 11 Pixar films in theatres on their original theatrical releases.
As these films began appearing on home video, I began collecting them all on VHS tapes and eventually collected them ALL again on DVD! (I'm skipping blue ray though, because enough is enough!
)
To this day, all of my favorite Disney Park attractions are the Fantasyland classics based on the DACs, (Pooh, Peter Pan, Pinocchio, Snow White, Dumbo, etc); attractions outside of Fantasyland based on DACs (Splash Mountain); and original attractions that weren't based on DACs, but have a cute, toonish quality and catchy songs that COULD have been from a DAC (Small World, Country Bears, Tiki Birds, Figment).
Also, as a little kid in the 70's, I became interested in Walt's classic live action films, and I also became obsessed with watching the Disney anthology series (then known as The Wonderful World Of Disney) religiously every Sunday night! I loved the wide variety of programs that were made for this show, all providing the sense of fun, fantasy, escapism, adventure, and heart that I loved about Disney parks and films, and all were family-friendly and better than ANYTHING else on television, then or now!
When Michael Eisner "diversified" the brand to include things like R-rated Touchstone movies, and bought the ABC network, I no longer felt compelled to follow everything the company did, as those things did not interest me. Also, the Disney Channel no longer interests me as they no longer show any of Walt's classic programming, and the new tween/teen sitcoms that currently define the channel is not the sort of thing that would have interested me even when I WAS the target age and obsessed with watching Disney programs for the ESCAPISM they provided from the "real", modern, world.
But I stuck, and still stick, by the things within the company whose roots can be traced back to the departments started by Walt Disney himself - namely the Disney theme parks and Walt Disney Feature Animation department. I have never felt let down by these two divisions (other than when an attraction closes that I really love).
I think it's important to remember that the early Imagineers who played such a key role in creating the parks - including early park classics that were NOT based on Animated Classics - came from the Animation Department. For instance, everytime you laugh at the rhino chasing the safari up the pole on Jungle Cruise, the doggie holding the keys on Pirates, or the funny character designs of Country Bear Jamboree - you are enjoying the work of master Character Animator and Imagineer Marc Davis.
I think the qualities, level of detail, humor, and heart that make the parks great have their roots in the Disney Feature Animation department, and the two are very much "cut from the same cloth" as it were. Both being in-house divisions started by Walt Disney himself, including many of the same key personel in their early years, and representing the pinnicle of their respective fields.
I'd say I love the parks and the Animated Classic films about equally. The parks have the advantage of being able to immerse you in the world of the films, although the sense of storytelling is abreviated. The films, meanwhile, can go into more depth and thoroughness in their storytelling. So I think the two ENHANCE each other. Riding Peter Pan's Flight, for example, enhances my appreciation of the film, Peter Pan, and makes me long to watch it. Watching the film, likewise, enhances my appreciation of the ride, and makes me long to ride it.
By being into both the parks AND the films, I feel I have a deeper appreciation of both, than if I was just into one and not the other.
