Never Grow Up: 42 Percent of People Who Waited in Line To Meet Characters at Disney Parks Last Year Were Childless Adults

There are worlds out there you have no idea about. We've all heard about the Disney adults, but they are apparently growing more powerful in numbers than we could have ever imagined.

It seems pretty evident that the Disney adult trend has been spreading in recent years, but I would have never guessed that nearly half of all people willing to spend time waiting in line to meet a college student dressed as Buzz Lightyear would be adults without children. AJ Wolfe, the podcast guest who has just released a book on Disney adults, said Buzz Lightyear had the highest percentage of childless adults, but that other characters ranged from 25 percent upwards.

As I have said before, there is absolutely a good time to be had at Disney World as a normal adult. There are awesome rides and plenty of other stuff to do even if you aren't huge into the theme parks. But waiting in line to meet characters made for kids — or watching YouTube videos about the latest snack at EPCOT or spending thousands on merch — is where you lose me.

Those characters are there because small children think Mickey and Minnie Mouse are real. When they meet those characters, they actually believe they are meeting a gigantic rat couple who can understand English, but just not speak it. As a 34-year-old, you understand it's a person dressed up in a costume. I just don't get it.

It also can't be overlooked that these people are waiting in line in 100-degree heat for the chance to meet Buzz Lightyear. You've spent $200 on just the ticket alone to be at Disney World that day and instead of using the precious time you have to get on as many rides as possible or whatever else, you're standing in line sweating your ass off for the opportunity to meet a mute version of an animated character from 1995. But whatever floats your boat, man.

I'm definitely going to be checking out this book. It's a culture that fascinates me.