I love Disney. Point blank. Disney fills my life with happiness and I love everything about it. The movies, Pixar, Disney World, and Marvel too. I even watch Disney channel when I can’t get enough.
Disney bounding is a bit like cosplay, but takes a much subtler approach. There are days I Disney bound to school, and no one knows! It’s kinda fun to have that little secret to myself, and a total fun and confidence booster to be resembling my favorite characters.
Disney bounding follows color schemes. If you were to Disney bound Ariel, you may wear green jeans and a purple top. Accessorize with sea creatures and shells, it could be as simple as starfish earrings, and there you go! You’re Disney bounding Ariel. A blue and yellow outfit could make you Dory. Switch the blue with red and suddenly you’re Winnie the Pooh! A blue top with jeans and a red belt or headband with gold shoes and a black choker? Genie. Simply following the color scheme of the character and accessorize with symbols from their story has you on your way to Disney bounding success.
Dedicated bounders will even dress as minor characters, rides, parks, restaurants, and match characters seasonal costumes that you may see in the parks!
Why do people Disney bound?
You may be wondering why someone would go through all of this trouble when they could simply buy a costume from a party store. After all, there are some really great costumes available!
In the Disney parks you aren’t allowed to dress in costume if you are over the age of 12. Now don’t get mad at Disney just yet! There are perfectly reasonable explanations for this, and here are two:
1. Mixing up other park goers with the actual characters – picture this: a six year old girl sees her absolute FAVORITE princess and runs up to her. Except that princess isn’t a princess. That princess is a girl dressed in a costume. Disney has no control over what the “princess” says to the girl, the results of the situation could vary drastically. By keeping park goers out of costume, there are no awkward conversations or confrontations, and everyone has the best experience possible.
2. Two character in one space – Disney World works extremely hard to make sure that no character can be found in two places at once in each park. Imagine that same six year olds face if she saw TWO Mickeys, or TWO Tinkerbells. Do you want to be the person to tell her that the Tink she just met isn’t the real one? Nope. You don’t want to be the one to ruin the magic either! And that is another reason why this rule is in place.
Disney bounding is also something you can do with what you have in your closet – you can ask anyone I took art with and they will tell you that I know the corresponding Disney character to every color. It’s not light blue, it’s Cinderella blue (and I seem to have a knack for mixing the perfect Cinderella blue). There’s a difference between Ariel clamshell bra purple and Figment’s scales purple; you can bet that if you show me any piece of clothing I can match it to a Disney character. But you don’t need to have this ability to find a Disney bound in your closet! The possibilities are limitless and that is part of what makes it so fun.
If you follow me on Instagram (if you don’t go do it now! @theygavemeacamera), then you are probably aware that I was just in Disney! I brought quite a few bounds with me on this trip, which include Mickey, Gaston, Mr. Smee, Prince Eric, and Flynn Rider. It was so much fun to be in Magic Kingdom in my Mickey bound, it only added to the excitement! My sister did a Minnie bound and we have some super cute pictures of the two of us. Getting to meet Belle while Disney bounding Gaston was also really fun. These are little moments and memories that I have that make the trip feel that much more special; all it took was a little extra thought in planning my outfits. Definitely worth it.
Hopefully I’ve inspired you to try out Disney bounding for yourself; I would love to see pictures of what you come up with! You can reach me on Instagram, which I mentioned above, and if you scroll down a bit you can find the contact me form! This is if you are on a mobile device, if you’re on a desktop you’ll find this little form on the right side bar.
Happy bounding!
