One of the comical things about super fans is that, in many cases, they seem to hate the thing that they love. Nowhere is this more true than among Disney theme park fans, which is part of the reason I think that I wouldn't typically self-identify with them. Sure, I've seen plenty of this phenomenon among roller coaster enthusiasts for the 20+ years I've been fostering those communities, but it's nothing like the Disney people. The bloggers are the worst. Everything is a tragedy that would cause Walt to spin in his grave. They're very change averse, which is ironic since Disney himself said nothing would ever be "done" at the parks, but they also scrutinize every little thing and find a way to make it a travesty.
The tech personalities on blogs and review sites and YouTube are often just as bad. This is the time of year where you can reliably learn all of the reasons that the latest iPhone or Pixel or Galaxy is the worst thing ever. I see it among Tesla fans. Same with video and photography enthusiasts and the latest gear. It can be exhausting.
I think that there's some value in some criticism from people who are very plugged in to a particular product, provided that it's constructive, but what it often lacks is any grounding in what the average consumer would see and understand. Diana's phone, for example, was fairly inexpensive, and as such not top of the line, but I think you'd be hard pressed to find any typical consumer who didn't find it to be an excellent product. Meanwhile, at Walt Disney World, all of the cut backs and changes in the last year, most of which were made in response to the pandemic, are cause to expect the end of days. And now that they're charging for premium queueing, that's the end.
Not only do these folks not represent John Q. Public, but you know they will be first in line to renew their annual passes, get the next phone, spend the next dollar on the thing they seem to despise so much. I don't get it.
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