How I Started Disneybounding

My love of costumes feels like it’s always been a part of me. I have this picture of me when I was three and dressed as a clown with a full face of makeup that I requested because clowns have makeup and I wanted to be accurate. This was at three, folks! I even started cosplaying at a fairly young age. I still remember being 6 or 7 and hyper focused on making screen accurate costumes for Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz or Tinkerbell from Peter Pan. I didn’t really understand at the time that this was what people call cosplay and instead just felt a calling to do my very best to really embody a character. That love of cosplay continued through my teens and into my 20s. Disney characters, sci-fi characters, Star Wars characters, original characters. It was always so much fun to work on even the smallest details.

Fast forward to 2008 or so and my focus shifted quite a bit. I started caring more about representing my love of these characters within my everyday fashion. Additionally, as an avid convention goer, it was so much more comfortable to do what I called “Casual Cosplay”. Why not represent my favorite characters but in a more casual way? It made sense, too, since the spirit of the character was always what drew me in. This way, I could take my love of fashion and combine it with my personal style and create my own interpretation of the character. It’s funny, because you’d think that this style of cosplay was easier but in some ways, it was harder. Instead of copying something existing, you create something brand new. There was wit and nuance and your own personal narrative woven into this outfit. It became so much more personal in a way. 

My mom and some of my other relatives would eventually work at Disney which would make frequent visits much more possible. With my love of casual cosplay, it only made sense that would extend to park hopping, too. Back then, we didn’t really have a name for going to the parks in an everyday outfit inspired by your favorite character. Now, we call it Disneybounding.

Disneybounding combines so many things I absolutely love: casual cosplay, fashion, individual expression, photography, and Disney. Over the years, as Disneybounding has grown in popularity, my outfits have become easier to recognize, too. In part because I think I push to really lean into “casual cosplay” a bit more so that it’s not just color-blocking, but pieces you feel like these characters would wear if they went to Disney. And also, people have grown to expect it a bit more, too.