In the desperation of finding ways to cope with Covid lockdown I reached for things that could provide quick and easy comfort. Food, naps, and comfy clothes definitely topped my list. Nostalgia, though, was my biggest crutch. 

I’ve always been a nostalgic person. I can appreciate the present for sure, but when the present feels crushing comforts and happy memories of the past provide a nice respite. I’m very very close with friends I’ve had going back all the way to kindergarten, middle, and high school and when we group text (another pandemic lifeline) or get together in person we regularly reminisce about teenage inside jokes or shit talk folks we haven’t seen since senior prom. There were definitely terrible times in my past that I can see clearly, but they’re not as fun and easy to use when trying to transport myself mentally. 

Pandemic nostalgia shopping is also a big deal for me. I also have a penchant for collecting. These things go hand in hand. During lockdown I used eBay, Facebook Marketplace, and Mercari to acquire American Girl dolls and magazines from the mid-1990s, a Bullets-era Chris Webber enamel pin, Hard Candy nail polish with the gummy rings, and Babysitters Club books. I think my true low point was buying a replacement pair of shiny burgundy high heeled Steve Madden loafers that I owned and wore to many a bar and bat mitzvah in seventh grade off Poshmark. At the beginning of the pandemic I was pregnant with swelled feet so I kept the shoes in my closet until post-pregnancy. When I went to try them on for an outdoor dining moment not only were the shoes too small and narrow but I decided my almost 40-year-old flat feet no longer feel the need to force themselves into an unnatural arch. I resold the shoes, put on my Birkenstocks and found easier comforts. 

The pandemic comfort that truly took me down a rabbit hole and only increased my obsession is Disney. I was a big Disney kid. I came of age in the Disney animation renaissance and dreamed of becoming an animator. Unfortunately my artistic skill could not match my fandom. 

While I adored the movies, I only went to Disney World twice in my youth—once when I was around six and once during high school senior year spring break. My memories of both trips are fuzzy. I remember hugging my first crush, Robin Hood. In high school I remember my friends and I faking British accents at Epcot in an attempt to acquire margaritas (obviously was a fail). They were both good trips but nothing that would build an obsession. When I lived in Los Angeles in my twenties, I went to Disneyland about once a year (pro-tip: go on Super Bowl Sunday). Those are some of my fondest park memories because they were always a great mix of simultaneously being stoned and getting to frolic around like a kid: eating junk food, taking silly pictures with characters, and feeling in awe riding all the rides (the weed certainly helped with that sensation). 

But the pandemic helped that Disneyland love grow into something much larger—seeking out a community that, like me, needed to feel the fun, easy joy of running around a Disney park—if not in reality, then in my mind. 

Perhaps it all began with the fact that literally a week before lockdown I went to Disneyland. I was taking a solo pregnant last hurrah trip to Los Angeles to see friends at the end of February. With my doctor’s approval to go on some rides, I’d slotted a visit to Disneyland with a good friend who’d never been before. We went on March 3, 2020 and had a carefree blast. It was the California Food & Wine Festival at California Adventure, so even though I couldn’t drink or ride the Incredicoaster, I still ate my face off with so many delicious things. I walked an insane amount because the parks are so sprawling and when you’re childless at Disney you can just meander around, purposeless and without structure to your visit. It was such a great day and a week later when we all went indoors I mentally feasted on that visit. 

I could wax poetic about each and every Disney adjacent thing that’s allowed me to feel a bit more careless and young and free these past 18 or so months but I’ll give a quick rundown of some Disney Park-centric things that have solidified my proud stance as a Disney adult.

PODCAST THE RIDE

This podcast by three Los Angeles-based comedians is all about theme parks. Episodes span topics like dissecting the Haunted Mansion room by room to having a massive multi-episode arc on Universal City Walk. Just typing it out it sounds very dry, but it’s the self deprecating humor and the earnest adoration of these three hosts that draw me in and bring a similar feeling of joy listening to them as being at a theme park with your best friends. 

CARLYE WISEL

She’s a theme park journalist with a great, whimsical sense of fashion (and obviously a great Instagram) and a goofy, bubbly personality. She too hosts a podcast, Very Amusing, where she discusses theme park news, but it’s really her Instagram videos and her Facebook community she’s created (The Foamily) where her magic resides. There are so many Disney Park influencers out there but she’s more than that, because she has the intelligence, journalistic cred, and access many of the Mickey Eared wearing photogenic folks just don’t possess. She also has been to the Parks and cruises and Disney destinations around the world and loves the important things like food, fashion, and the Muppets so she brings really special content. 

ICONIC EATS

This YouTube series from the food blog and publication Delish is hosted by the sardonic and very charming Tess Koman who eats her way through theme parks. She’s got a very dry wit and a shockingly big appetite and it’s incredibly fun to live vicariously through her as she drinks her way around Epcot and masters consuming turkey legs at almost every single park. 

WISHABLES

OK, this is where the fandom and collecting habits of mine get a bit weird; but by admitting my silly obsessions I feel free. Disney started releasing for a limited time a couple years ago these mystery pack small, very squishy, and very cute plushes that celebrate different Disney park rides. My collecting obsession began during pandemic once stores reopened and I went with my daughter to the Disney Store to bribe her for Zoom school with some Disney princess dolls and I stumbled upon the Aladdin wishables. Not only were the purchase of them a donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation but they were so cute. We bought a bunch of bags and soon I fell down a Facebook group path of trading wishables. Unfortunately each series is released for a limited time so now some of the really cute series (like Nemo and Little Mermaid) are very rare and stupid expensive. 

SWEET FROG

Did you know that the slightly uncomfortably religiously affiliated frozen yogurt chain has authentic Dole Whip? Well they do and it’s delicious. I try to block out the fact that according to the t-shirts they sell FROG stands for “Forever Rely on God” while I eat my sweet, sweet Dole Whip just like at a Disney Park. Thanks, God. 

YOUTUBE RIDE ALONG VIDEOS

Yes, I watch these. First I used the excuse that I was preparing my seven-year-old for rides for when I can finally post-pandemic take her to Disney World but truly I watch them by myself because when I’ve swabbed my seven-year-old’s nose for a Covid test I really need to “ride” Slinky Dog Dash as a chaser. 

THE IMAGINEERING STORY

I have watched this multi-part documentary on Disney+ so many times over lockdown. It tells a really full picture of the creation of all the Disney Parks and some of the most iconic rides. Not only does Angela Bassett’s confident and soothing voice provide narration, viewers also get to meet the imagineers that created the rides and some of them are very magnetic. Don’t believe me, just check out Joe Rohde—he’s truly an icon and a character. Also they get into the America-themed park that almost but absolutely didn’t happen in Virginia and as much as I would have loved (and let’s be real probably be working at) a Disney park in my area, I don’t think a patriotic theme park would be a good look now, especially seeing how much of a cringe Disney World’s Hall of Presidents can be. 

There are so many more Disney-centric things I love that have mentally kept me joyful and afloat through Covid and I’m happy to continue the conversation with anyone who’s willing to stand up and say “My name is ___ and I’m a Disney Adult.” Just don’t start buying back issues of Disney Adventures magazine off eBay… that’s honing in on my current mission.