Man's Man Disney Addict Support Thread

[Kick Save]

Back on Show 18 Lou read an email from a gentleman who was looking for those men like him who love Disney even though it doesn't feel all that manly at times. Well, say it loud, say it proud...

I AM ONE OF THOSE GUYS!

I fit the mold almost perfectly. I'm an avid beer league hockey player, hold season tickets to the local NHL team (Go Jackets ), coach hockey in the winter, attend numerous baseball, football, and soccer games throughout any given year, and still set aside vacation time to sit on the backstretch at the Little Brown Jug every September to drink beer and watch the ponies with my dad.

But in addition to all that, I spend the 12 months prior to any Disney vacation planning that vacation. Actually, it's a rarity to only have one vacation in the planning stages. I own an iPod that plays Disney podcasts much more often than it plays music. I'm a tech guy and the Disney podcasts get listened to before the tech and hockey ones every week. (I've got a huge backlog of .Net Rocks because of Lou, Len, Mike, Ricky, etc.) I'll watch The Godfather, Goodfellas, and Stripes as much as the next guy, but will also sit back and watch Beauty and the Beast and Finding Nemo just as easily.

I don't hide from my Disney love, but I don't outwardly proclaim it, either. It's somewhat common knowledge among a number of my buddies, but not much is made of it. When we recently went to Alaska for a week, one of the guys on my hockey team asked, "Oh, they have a Disney World up there now?" So, I'm sorta open with it, but still not that subject you bring up with Moose and Rocko over cold ones.

My apologies to the gentleman that sent the email to Lou for not recalling his name, but I believe he's a poster here. Hopefully this thread will show him he's not alone.

[Disney05]

I am one of those guys! And proud of it!

[hgraber]

I'm a "man's woman." Does that count?

[BWDave]

Kick Save, sign me up !!! I will not repeat your words because I agree 100% with your thoughts. Well said. And yes, the e-mail that Lou read on that show hit home big time. I'm glad you started this thread.

I'll pass along one other tidbit that I wonder if you guys experience. I've been reading various disney fan message boards since that late 90's. To give some background, my wife (& kids) are absolutely excited to visit WDW every year which seems par for the course, no issue there. However, I can't count the times that I have read posts from women who have to beg, beg & beg to get their husbands to step foot on WDW property. (Please ladies don't flame me, I don't mean to paint all men with a broad brush since most husbands/dads enjoy family vacations) I've just read many stories how women have to bribe their husband with golf or numerous visits to the ESPN club to get them to agree to another WDW trip. Don't get me wrong, I love to play golf and could sit for hours drinking Sam Adams, eating nachos & wings and watching baseball at the BW's ESPN club. However, I can also spend hours walking around the parks or weeks planning our next trip. Recently, I met a new female co-worker who told me her family just came back from WDW and had a great time (their second visit). However, her husband told her on the way home that this would absolutely be their last visit to WDW. He had enough. I sat there listening and thinking, "Not only can I give your family a VIP tour of the parks, I can probably (thanks to people like Lou) tell you what the parks used to look like and cool rumors on what the future might hold. Of course, like you guys, I conceal my Disney passion the same way a super hero conceals his identity and just walk way.

Here's another thought, every time I go to a party, cookout or get together with family where some strangers are present (you know, those obligatory parties that get old after 30 minutes), I dream of running into a guy who says, "Oh yea, my family and I go to WDW every year, we love it. Especially me, you too? Hey, you think they'll ever put a roller coaster in Spaceship Earth or, You think Bob Iger is doing a good job?".

Oh well, Back to the Bat Cave (Although I do feel better getting that off my chest)

Dave from Paramus

[SamIAm717]

However, I can't count the times that I have read posts from women who have to beg, beg & beg to get their husbands to step foot on WDW property. (Please ladies don't flame me, I don't mean to paint all men with a broad brush since most husbands/dads enjoy family vacations) I've just read many stories how women have to bribe their husband with golf or numerous visits to the ESPN club to get them to agree to another WDW trip. Don't get me wrong, I love to play golf and could sit for hours drinking Sam Adams, eating nachos & wings and watching baseball at the BW's ESPN club. However, I can also spend hours walking around the parks or weeks planning our next trip. Recently, I met a new female co-worker who told me her family just came back from WDW and had a great time (their second visit). However, her husband told her on the way home that this would absolutely be their last visit to WDW. He had enough.

Dave from Paramus

Oh, so you've met my husband. The guy who thinks if you go to Disney once, why would you want to go back? He's a been there, done that, kind of guy. He really dislikes the whole Disney thing, but for some odd reason, he's agreed to take a Disney cruise with me this November? Hmmm?? He's a big outdoorsy kind of guy and likes fishing and hunting. I told him that Chip & Dale were off limits and out of season and tried to sign him up for the BASS fishing tours at the Contemporary marina, but he said if he went fishing, he'd never come back to the parks. Sheesh!

We are trying to get him acclimated to the Disney cruise by taking him to the Disney Store every once in a while and making him stand in there for longer and longer periods of time...

[the7thAve]

I, too, am one of these guys.

[Contemporary05]

I'm one of these guys too. I'm a fan of the big, bad bruisers of the NFL NFC North, the Chicago Bears. I've been an avid off-roader who did all my own work on my Jeep Wrangler and then proceeded to thrash the heck out of it offroad. I am an avid gearhead. I work on other cars and love to see the reaction of my mother when I come in from the garage with oil stains, dust, dirt, and grit coating me. I have my pilot's license. I build things and know how to use way too many tools for my own good. I go to a Big 10 university and attend sporting events there (Go Illini!). I have my favorite pair of worn jeans with the hole in the knee and my baseball hat that hasn't been washed since it was new (5-6 years ago). Seems pretty normal for a guy in his 20s...right?

Then it gets funny. My friends from back home just laugh when they see my iTunes library that's filled with Disney park music and my external harddrive that has over 40 gigs of video related to Walt Disney World/Disneyland/DLP/etc. I have more Disney books on my shelf then textbooks. I have two copies of The Unofficial Guide to WDW (06/07 and *ding* for Len) in order to loan out the older edition to anybody who wants to borrow it. I stayed up late during the school year when new copies of the guide come out and I go through them page by page, highlighting important information for future trips. I order the Disney vacation planning dvd yearly. And the biggest confession of all, I get emotional when I hear the Year of a Million Dreams song/see the commercials for it.

That's my story.

[Conceited Ape]

Ah, once again, a small group of American males brave enough to roger up our devotion to the Mouse; in defiance of everything that constitutes that fragile shell we have to maintain of all that is "masculine" in society.

Almost from the age when we can remember being told to be or do anything, it's usually the classic "Be a man!" shtick, but the purveyors of this advice never seemed to be anything but vague with what exactly that was supposed to mean. From your old man knockin' you around a little rougher than he probably should have to the taunts of the coaches on the field, "toughness" and "meanness" were virtues--openly loving Disney was probably mutually exclusive. At the very least, admitting that you kinda like The Little Mermaid was probably going to tarnish your rep in front of the other stags; regardless of being tough enough to floss with barbed wire, or mean enough to wipe your heinie with intercepted letters to Santa Claus (then again, I dare say that most women who are attracted to men based solely on their "toughness" are missing some crucial sunflower seeds from their trail mix, and I regard males who aspire only to be "tough" to frankly be somewhat mentally retarded).

[BWDave]

Then it gets funny. My friends from back home just laugh when they see my iTunes library that's filled with Disney park music and my external harddrive that has over 40 gigs of video related to Walt Disney World/Disneyland/DLP/etc. That's my story.

You too !! I play park music on two little speakers next to my pc praying no one but me hears what's playing. When someone comes in my office, I quickly hit pause or shuffle quick to Led Zepplin. Let's not even talk about the gym and my iPod. I always wondered if any of these Gold's gym guys know I'm listening to WDW related podcasts or the Illuminations pre-show.


Dave

[Disney05]

[quote=BWDave;491913]You too !! I play park music on two little speakers next to my pc praying no one but me hears what's playing. When someone comes in my office, I quickly hit pause or shuffle quick to Led Zepplin. Let's not even talk about the gym and my iPod. I always wondered if any of these Gold's gym guys know I'm listening to WDW related podcasts or the Illuminations pre-show.


Wow! We all have more in common than I thought. I can't remember the last time I even played anything in my home, car or mp3 other than Disney music. My kids even bust my chops about all the Disney stuff I play. My sisters kids call me Uncle Mickey. I have a friend who works part time at WDW and she's amazed I find out more about Disney rumors and news than her. It's almost a way of life. I also have a sister in law who can't get my brother to go to WDW. His attitude is like many, been there done that. I think I saw a bumper sticker that reads - Been there, done that, going back- or something like that.

[Justin M]

I am one of those guys and I'm proud of it. My story is awfully similar to all of yours, so I'll spare you the details. Suffice it to say that Disney World isn't a common topic at the bar league softball games, but when we got our butt's kicked yesterday, my Lion King CD was waiting for me in my car to make the ride home a much more pleasant experience!

[Justin M]

One question, though . . . I just got an iPod a few weeks ago and I'm not very familiar with podcasts and such yet. Where do I find all of this music from the parks that you guys are referring to so that I can add it to my playlist?

Thanks!

[Disney05]

It's amazing what a good Disney song can do for you after a tough day. Makes the comute better.

[ohiodisneydad]

Count me as one of those Manly men Disney Fans who is a Cleveland Browns fan who has cried like a baby while holding his two little girls on the monorail as they clapped and cheered when they saw the Castle! I had my sunglasses on but you could see the tears as they ran down my face

[jacketsfan683]

I agree also. We go to WDW every year. We are going down this Saturday as a matter of fact. Every year as we are leaving we start to plan for the following years trip, and I don't ever really see that changing anytime soon.