Screen Free Saturday: The Mouse's House

by Carrie Jurney DVM DACVIM (Neuro)

I have a confession: I am a Disney nerd. 

​There, I said it. There is no twelve step program for this, I wish for no cure. 

I came by this obsession honestly. I married in to it really. My husband and his family LOVE Disney. By the time we were married Chris had been 20 times. I let him plan our honeymoon solo, and guess where we went- yup, Disney. 

At first this was something I merely tolerated, but eventually, likely out of self preservation, I found my happiness. 

You see, I love costuming. Love it. Halloween is my favorite holiday. I live in a place where there is a costumed event weekly (God Bless San Francisco), and I have a room full of costumes. Literally a room.  I started to enjoy Disney when I started getting different ears to wear every day... but then, I struck gold. 

Adults are not allowed to wear costumes at Disney parks. This is understandable. You can't have some random stranger confusing children. If you are a guest, and you show up in a ballgown and start signing autographs they will rightfully throw you out. 

However, there are many of us who have found a work around. It's called Disneybounding. 
Bounders wear street clothes that are inspired by their favorite characters. If you know we're there, you can spot lots of us in the park. And the best part is the cast members (aka the employees of Disney World and Land) play along. They'll speak to you and treat you as if you are in character.  We were on a backstage tour, and I was dressed as Elsa. Look at how the cast member wrote my nametag: 

Really, when as an adult are you ever encouraged to be this silly!? To pretend? To goof around. 

It is immensely fun. I don't think I laugh as hard all year. So I hope for all of you something in your life that allows you to play, to be silly, to just have fun for fun's sake. I'll leave you with a few pictures from our last trip. 

She totally stole my outfit!

A very handsome mouse.