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Over Christmas, I had a conversation with a friend that really stuck with me. At one point, he laughed and said, “I just don’t get Disney Adults.”

And you know what I did? I laughed too!

Not because I was embarrassed or felt called out, but because I genuinely didn’t feel the need to explain myself. I’m very comfortable with who I am and what I enjoy. Being a Disney Adult isn’t something I need to justify to anyone.

What made the moment even funnier is that this same friend is a huge Warhammer fan. He spends hours painting tiny figures and hundreds of pounds on paint supplies. I don’t fully understand that hobby, but I would never question why it brings him joy. And that’s the part I find interesting. Someone with a very niche passion being baffled by someone else enjoying something they don’t personally connect with.

I’m absolutely fine being called a Disney Adult. The term often comes with an eye roll, as if it’s something negative or childish, but I don’t see it that way at all. I enjoy going to Disney. I like spending money on merchandise and clothing that makes me smile. I love watching the films I grew up with (and getting emotional over the new ones too!)

And here’s the thing. When someone says they don’t get Disney Adults, what they usually mean is that they think Disney is for children. And I think that’s a really narrow way of looking at it. Disney is storytelling, nostalgia, music, escapism, connection and emotion. Those things don’t magically stop being meaningful just because you grow up.

Coincidentally, I was gifted the book Disney Adults by AJ Wolfe for Christmas. AJ is the founder of Disney Food Blog and All Ears, and her book explores the often misunderstood culture of Disney Adults.

What I’ve loved about reading it is that it doesn’t try to justify or defend the joy. It simply acknowledges it. The timing felt funny, after the conversation I’d had over Christmas, because it reinforced something I already knew. This isn’t a strange or isolated thing. There are so many of us who find comfort, happiness and connection through Disney, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that!

In a world that often feels full of hatred, negativity and constant bad news, what is the harm in finding joy where you can? What is so wrong with smiling because a mouse hugged you, welling up at the first glimpse of the castle, crying with laughter as you’re whipped around Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind, or feeling ridiculously happy over your first bite of a Disney chicken tender?

If something brings comfort, happiness and a sense of wonder, why should age matter?

It’s completely fine to not understand Disney Adults. You don’t have to love it. You don’t even have to like it. But dismissing it as strange or baffling says far more about how we judge joy than about the people who embrace it.

So yes, I’m a Disney Adult. I’m happy. I’m unbothered. And I see no reason to explain myself.

But, you know what I don’t get?

People who don’t get Disney Adults!