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Disney Bound or Disneybound? - A Walt Disney World Planning Article
by Katie Cavendish

When people hear the term Disney bound they might think of that iconic after Super Bowl phrase that the MVP shouts after winning the game "We're going to Disney World!"

However recently it has begun to mean something else. It's even morphed into one word - "Disneybound." Now that single word refers to a style craze that is sweeping the Disney obsessed everywhere. Styling your outfits to resemble those of your favorite characters is becoming more and more popular. From the big cheese himself to the fish friends of Finding Nemo there is inspiration to be found everywhere. This isn't to say that you dress in costume but you can take the colors or the style of their outfits and place it in a modern context and all of a sudden you're disneybounding. One of the most famous Disneybounder's is the originator of the DisneyBound tumblr site, Leslie Kay. Leslie began the site in 2012 but according to her bio she has been designing her own outfits around Disney characters since she was young. A self proclaimed “social media freak” she's put her education in marketing and public relations to good use and really has become the face behind the craze. She has even launched her own line of designs called cakeworthy and has recently spoken at several Run-Disney conventions regarding disneybounding style. The tagline for her site is “Where Disney nerds and fashion geeks collide” and that describes Disneybounding completely.

My own Disneybound experience started almost a year ago. My family and I were planning our first trip to Disney after a several year forced hiatus. It would be my first trip down since I had graduated college and I wanted to get some advice on what to pack for my trip. As far back as I could remember all I had worn before were shorts and tank tops, but my style and my size have changed since then. I found several helpful sites that included packing lists and I had almost decided on what to bring when then I found one picture. It was someone disneybounding as Snow White, we looked about the same age and I had just bought a yellow skirt on clearance. Call it coincidence if you want but I like to think that my own fashion fairy godmother was looking after me that day.

There is something about the fact that I could show my Disney love in a new way that instantly appealed to me. As a plus size woman I couldn't really see myself in most of the clothes on the disneybound site so I used it as inspiration on turned my focus to what I know works on my body type. I like to think I was successful. While at the parks the cast and character reactions were priceless. Ariel loved the color of my “fin” aka skirt and was quite impressed that I swam all the way from Ohio to come and see her when I dressed inspired by her look. While walking around Epcot as Snow White even the merchandise cast members got in on the act, asking why I was in the wrong side of the park and who was looking after the wishing well while I was there. Tinkerbelle was not excited that I was dressed up as “the Wendy Bird” and gave my hair a pull for good measure, but gave me a reprieve when my mom stepped up as her. It certainly had the effect of breaking the ice with the characters but I have to admit I became slightly addicted to the smile that I saw on people's faces when they realized that I was bounding. Though it seems a little strange that my doing something like that could bring a little Disney sparkle to someone else's trip, I'd like to think that it did.

It's been history ever since. Now I wear my outfits outside of the park as well. I'm able to take a little bit of Disney magic with me to my office job the gals in my office have made it a game in trying to guess who I am that day and when I smile down at my polka dot, Minnie Mouse, skirt it always makes me think of my trip and never fails to bring a smile to my face. It's hard to be sad or frustrated with memories like those. So maybe that's the real reason why I love to disneybound. The fact that it helps me keep that “Disney pixie dust” feeling in my everyday life.

So I put it to all of you. Go to your closet and take a little peek. You'll be surprised how many characters you can imitate with what you already have in your closet. So go on! Bound on!

Added to PassPorter's Article Collection on 05-26-2015 10:05 AM

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