Inside the world of 'Disney adults' - The Saturday Story
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 4 April 2026
⏱️ 16 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
For millions of people, Disney was a huge part of their childhood. But, for a great number of people that love never went away, and today, it's those people who have become central to Disney’s bottom line. They are the so called “Disney adults”. But their world isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, it's a passionate subculture marked by competition, criticism - and high costs.
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Read by: Julia Webster and Sophie McNulty.
Producer: Dave Creasey.
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Read more: ‘Next-level scary’: inside the ultra-competitive world of Disney adults
Clips: Disney.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | From The Times and the Sunday Times, this is the story on Saturday. |
| 0:05.0 | I'm Rosie Wright. |
| 0:07.0 | The Magic of Disney. |
| 0:15.0 | Many of us grew up watching the films, listening to the music, loving the characters. |
| 0:24.7 | For some, that love never went away. And today, it's those people who've become central to Disney's |
| 0:32.5 | bottom line. They're so-called Disney adults. But their world isn't all sunshine and rainbows. |
| 0:40.0 | It is a passionate subculture marked by competition, criticism and high costs. |
| 0:51.8 | For the story on Saturday, we go inside the ultra-competitive world of the Disney adults. |
| 0:58.8 | It's been written by our US West Coast editor, Kieran Southern, |
| 1:02.3 | and read by two of our producers, Julia Webster and Sophie McNulty. |
| 1:28.2 | Music Disneyland is basking in a heat wave. |
| 1:30.0 | Main Street. |
| 1:35.6 | The nostalgia-soaked entrance to the park designed to evoke small-town America is packed with families enjoying spring break. |
| 1:40.0 | As star-struck children pose for pictures with Mickey Mouse, |
| 1:43.7 | a band plays an instrumental version of You've Got a Friend in Me, and bubbles drift through the air. |
| 2:10.0 | Music Many visitors are families. Their trips to California Park, costing at least $800 or 600 pounds, for parents with two children on the weekend are planned months |
| 2:20.6 | in advance and paid off slowly over time. For children, a visit to the happiest place on |
| 2:28.0 | earth is a memory treasured for a lifetime. |
| 2:42.3 | Others visit often, every other month, in some cases, several times a week. |
| 2:50.7 | They are the so-called Disney adults, Disneyland's most devoted and lucrative visitors. |
| 2:56.5 | Men and women who became hooked in childhood by watching the classic movies. |
| 3:04.2 | Now, the brand is central to their lives, and Disney ruthlessly monetizes their enthusiasm. |
... |
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