10/3/22

My Geek Runs Deep

October 3, 2022

I am going to make a shocking statement. We (the Disney parks fans) are weird.

What?

You say I’ve mentioned that in every article I’ve written?

Okay, fair point. But really, our lunacy cannot really be understated. I read articles and posts expressing outrage that the “real world” thinks we’re odd. I have no outrage or even consternation over these viewpoints. Any fandom community that you’re not a part of will look bizarre to you. Trekkies are fascinating to me. They are obsessed with William Shatner. They are beguiled by green women. They are fighting a legal battle to have Klingon added to Rosetta Stone. I don’t get it. However, the difference in my ignorance of the Trekkie lifestyle and those who hate on the Disney Adults is this: when I see a post or article written by or about Trekkies, I don’t stop to comment on it. I don’t write a scathing editorial declaring them wackadoos. I let them enjoy the things they enjoy. Life is stressful enough on its own without making people defend their hobbies. And let’s be honest. I am just like them.

I was a server for 18 years and I was dang good at what I did too! I was one of those servers that never wrote the order down and had over 98% accuracy, even with larger parties. When I finally obtained my degree and decided to get a Monday through Friday job, I stopped exercising that part of my brain as often. My memory was starting to slip a bit. So when I fell into the Disney fandom black hole, I started up some new memorization exercises that coincided with my new obsession. Today I can sit down and type out every table service, quick service, lounge, and pool bar on property by memory. The St Louis Cardinal pitcher Dizzy Dean used to say “It ain’t bragging if you can do it.” I do this to keep my mind sharp, but it also feeds into my Disney Nerdiness.

I’m also a music lover. I would stop short of calling myself an audiophile, but I am passionate about it. Music evokes emotion and transplants me to better times and happier places. Fridays are always the best work day for most of us that work the weekday grind, but my Fridays are even better because that is my Disney music day. (Subsequently, Fridays are probably the least favorite for my coworkers as I listen loud and proud.) I have an extensive Spotify playlist called “Disney Parks” and that is the soundtrack to my Fridays. Spaceship Earth with the full Dame Judi Dench narration? Yep. The Jungle Cruise AWOL Radio soundtrack with all the puns included? Naturally. The creepy Himalayan Anandapur chanting from Expedition Everest’s queue? One of my favorites.

A couple of months ago I even reversed engineered the Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto background loop and the Nomad Lounge background loop and hunted down each individual track with the help of Shazam and Soundhound. I now have separate playlists of that those loops with with each artist and song individually. It was hours of work. And it made me happy. Some of those tracks were so obscure that neither Spotify, Apple Music, nor YouTube even had them. I had to purchase those tracks from some shady looking online site that made me pay with euros. But I’m a completionist, and I wasn’t stopping until I had them all. Why? Because when I hear the drums of Adventureland pouring out of my laptop speakers, I can TASTE Dole Whip! When I hear that corny banjo from the Big Thunder Mountain queue, I start yelling out in my old prospector voice “BEST REMOVE ‘EM!” because it brings me right back to Frontierland.

Non-Disney people don’t get it (Muggles never do, amirite?), but it gives me joy. That is also the reason that I only publicize these articles in Disney groups. There are trolls everywhere of course, but at least I have the confidence that these groups, I can always find readers who feel much the same way. Disney fans may never agree upon everything, but we’re a community that is consistently encouraging, caring, and kind. We’re not perfect, but we seem to understand the concept of letting people enjoy the things they enjoy. There are no wrong answers.

Except Rainforest Café. Seriously, stop rationalizing that place. Ugh.