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Distinction between "theme park enthusiast" and "Disney Adult"
- Thread starter Tom Morrow
- Start date
This, but "lives and breathes the Disney brand, which includes the Disney parks because of their ties to the Disney brand and not all the other qualities they stand/once stood for, and has no invested interest in other theme parks."
TrainsOfDisney
Well-Known Member
Disney shouldn’t cater to what the customer wants? Not sure what is screwing up the parks when it comes to Disney adults
Andrew C
You know what's funny?
I believe as Poseidon alluded to, if that customer (that Disney adult) has no taste and will jump for joy for anything with Mickey slapped on it...then no. Remember when Disney could deliver on things that people didn't even know they wanted? Now...lets go the shallow route.
Zootopia, Frozen ever after, Moana in Epcot and the new Epcot in general, Cars taking over Frontierland. Said before that the Disney adults eat this stuff up...so it will only continue.
^ Exactly. The average consumer doesn't really know what they want, but will enjoy anything that is done well. There is ample evidence to this, like the fact that WDW became the most popular resort in the world specifically by very much NOT doing what they're doing now. Before they told guests what they want, did it well, and guests liked it and kept coming back. They did things because they could, because it was cool. Today, their decisions are based on how marketable a new addition is, and the Disney Adults eat up that kind of stuff.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
What I think a DA is making a point to be in Disney parks constantly…theming themselves to the park…moving/sacrificing parts of their life to be near them…rejecting other offerings to repeat them…etc etc
Vloggers almost always fall into this basket…which is why they are clicked by them.
TrainsOfDisney
Well-Known Member
No…. That’s an IP / revenue obsessed management. Everything you mentioned except Epcot is one of the highest grossing movies / franchises of all time. It’s not Disney adults making that happen.
coffeefan
Well-Known Member
And many fans here argue that Star Wars, Marvel, and Fox-IPs are not true Disney. So what are those fans?
I say people who participate in forums regularly and keep up with park updates and history are more invested than people who just enjoy vacationing at Disney parks and maintain a surface-level engagement.
Not necessarily moving near the parks, but making them your sole option in travel. There's a FB group which sorta mocks the forums, and the term being "Tu Invested" (too invested) in Disney gets tossed around.
This sums it up accurately:
Andrew C
You know what's funny?
You misunderstand. It’s not the use of IP that is the single issue. It’s how the IP is being used.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
The girl from food blog did a big psychological dive in her book about this
But I think she presents it as a more “intellectual” choice than it is…almost like it’s therapy to treat longstanding trauma
I think it’s a rather immature movement that most often leads people to financial imbalance and a unhappiness…as the current trajectory points
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
Shoehorned roughshod where it doesn’t belong?
Agent H
Well-Known Member
You’re making a lot of assumptions about people.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
1. I read the book (she actually acknowledges a lot of that in the book…but glazes it)
2. I stated my opinion
3. I been around awhile…even a broken clock is right on occasion
DisneyHead123
Well-Known Member
Watched the Poseidon Entertainment video. I like their videos but I found it surprisingly off (imo) in several places. If I understood him correctly, he posits basically three types of Disney Adults:
1. Mindless sheeple who go because other people do or as a status symbol
2. Those for whom Disney has basically replaced religion
3. Mormons and ex-Mormons, as early Disney movies represent a conservative, patriarchal society
Group 1 - I object to him repeatedly calling people dumb, but other than that, sure, people are of course very prone to imitating others and brands can build on their own success that way. The point of having a designer purse is not that the purse is better at holding things, it's that there's some level of brand recognition. People wear certain clothes, eat at certain restaurants, buy certain electronics to complete a general "persona". This may be the most basic essence of what marketing even is, so I can't argue with that. I don't care a ton about branding but let's be honest, as a middle class, middle aged suburban mom I'm not likely to start shopping at Hot Topic. We all construct our vibe, to a certain extent.
Group 2 - I feel like this is incredibly vague. What is the similarity here other than "People used to be really focused on religion, and now they're really focused on Disney". It doesn't really explain why Disney would fill the proverbial God shaped hole more so than other things.
Group 3 - I mean maybe? But Mormonism is a pretty small religion, and Disney movies are all over the place in terms of messages about society (if you start at Snow White and go to present day.)
My take is that he's missing broader themes about how subjective experience has skyrocketed in prominence in developed nations. For a long time a person's subjective state was not really the be-all end-all, as there was much more focus on the whole not dying of starvation thing. Also your local community probably cast you out or beat you if you didn't help with building barns and such. But now, living in a world with supermarkets, central air, office jobs and curated everything, you see this in a lot of directions. Fandoms, experience culture, a focus on meditation and eastern religions (typically modified so that mostly the focus on subjective experience remains.) I also think an increase in neurodiversity and the ability to obsess about whatever you want by scrolling play a big part. I think it's like asking why those wacky agriculturists were so into planting things as the first farmers appeared in the hunter gatherer era. Because it was the next logical step, mostly.
That leads to the question of why Disney is a natural leader in the subjective experience market. I'm probably not the most qualified to answer that, but I think it's akin to asking "Why is some music really appealing while some music is like nails on a chalkboard?" A composer who knows what they're doing knows how to blend lulls and crescendos, build to an emotional peak but without boring everyone to death by plodding along too slowly to get there, combine the classic and the novel to make something interesting, and throughout it all, make sure that everything is in some kind of harmony and not discordant. Disney was somewhat "first to market" with this approach in the parks, with a few smaller scale exceptions. I think the idea of curating an emotional experience from start to finish in a 3D space like the parks is still in its infancy, but of what currently exists, Disney has been a leader.
1. Mindless sheeple who go because other people do or as a status symbol
2. Those for whom Disney has basically replaced religion
3. Mormons and ex-Mormons, as early Disney movies represent a conservative, patriarchal society
Group 1 - I object to him repeatedly calling people dumb, but other than that, sure, people are of course very prone to imitating others and brands can build on their own success that way. The point of having a designer purse is not that the purse is better at holding things, it's that there's some level of brand recognition. People wear certain clothes, eat at certain restaurants, buy certain electronics to complete a general "persona". This may be the most basic essence of what marketing even is, so I can't argue with that. I don't care a ton about branding but let's be honest, as a middle class, middle aged suburban mom I'm not likely to start shopping at Hot Topic. We all construct our vibe, to a certain extent.
Group 2 - I feel like this is incredibly vague. What is the similarity here other than "People used to be really focused on religion, and now they're really focused on Disney". It doesn't really explain why Disney would fill the proverbial God shaped hole more so than other things.
Group 3 - I mean maybe? But Mormonism is a pretty small religion, and Disney movies are all over the place in terms of messages about society (if you start at Snow White and go to present day.)
My take is that he's missing broader themes about how subjective experience has skyrocketed in prominence in developed nations. For a long time a person's subjective state was not really the be-all end-all, as there was much more focus on the whole not dying of starvation thing. Also your local community probably cast you out or beat you if you didn't help with building barns and such. But now, living in a world with supermarkets, central air, office jobs and curated everything, you see this in a lot of directions. Fandoms, experience culture, a focus on meditation and eastern religions (typically modified so that mostly the focus on subjective experience remains.) I also think an increase in neurodiversity and the ability to obsess about whatever you want by scrolling play a big part. I think it's like asking why those wacky agriculturists were so into planting things as the first farmers appeared in the hunter gatherer era. Because it was the next logical step, mostly.
That leads to the question of why Disney is a natural leader in the subjective experience market. I'm probably not the most qualified to answer that, but I think it's akin to asking "Why is some music really appealing while some music is like nails on a chalkboard?" A composer who knows what they're doing knows how to blend lulls and crescendos, build to an emotional peak but without boring everyone to death by plodding along too slowly to get there, combine the classic and the novel to make something interesting, and throughout it all, make sure that everything is in some kind of harmony and not discordant. Disney was somewhat "first to market" with this approach in the parks, with a few smaller scale exceptions. I think the idea of curating an emotional experience from start to finish in a 3D space like the parks is still in its infancy, but of what currently exists, Disney has been a leader.
That video was a follow up and I’m not sure I agree with it as some of the assumptions seem far fetched. The first video annualized the differences between someone who goes to Disney parks because they like theme parks and themed entertainment vs. someone who goes to Disney parks because they specifically like Disney, the brand, but don’t care about theme parks or themed entertainment outside of that.
Jrb1979
Well-Known Member
To go off of that, I can understand the love of Disney and the parks. But what I have never understood is why many Disney Adults don't like other theme parks at all?
That was the big discussion in that video is how Disney Adults are Disney fans only and aren't theme park fans.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
It’s very similar to Disney cruise line
Fans are zealots…and if any criticisms or alternatives options are mentioned…it’s “THEY’RE NOT THE SAME!!!”
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DisneyHead123
Well-Known Member
I think it depends on what you get out of theme parks. For example, the Disney fans I know have also been into Medieval Times (it’s on my wishlist of places to go when my son is older - two hour dinner would be pushing it.) Rarely King’s Dominion though. I feel like people assume that theme parks = rides, and that’s not the primary allure for some people. (And even if it is, other parks rarely have good dark rides.)