Disney theme park fans are one of the roughest and most toxic groups sharing outrage online I've seen. Fed by similarly angry and entitled bloggers and vloggers, a number of Disneyland fan groups I've joined on Facebook are jam-packed with folks ready to explain exactly how you, Disney, and everyone you ever knew are Disney'ing it wrong!
These folks constantly decry the loss of "the magic." MDMA, kids. Make Disney Magic Again.
SF Gate shares a fantastic article on just how outrageous the many facets, from Disney Cruises to the parks, shopping, movies, and animation, all have their own fascinatingly awful cesspools.
Academics studying the phenomenon can see any number of examples themselves. "On Facebook, I'm in groups for Disney cruises, and it's amazing how somebody will ask the most innocent question and just get destroyed," said Dan Wann, professor of psychology at Murray State University in Kentucky. "I'm like, man, some people don't have near the magic you should probably have."
Wann studies the psychology of sports fandom, how groups of people interact over their love of sports and how they react when their team is losing. What he sees is that fandom is a deeply ingrained form of self-identification. "Fans take this stuff personal, right? If you are a diehard Disney fan, or a diehard Giants fan, or a diehard 'Star Wars' fan, or a diehard fill-in-the-blank fan," he said, "it's a part of their identity. It is literally a part of who they are."
While all these folks proclaim to love Disney, they seem to spend more time hating on it and each other than enjoying the parks or films.
