Creating virtual homes during COVID-19: #HomemadeDisney and theme park fandom’s response to crisis

ABSTRACT

Theme parks are sites of popular imagination and cultural touchstones. What the COVID-19 pandemic taught is that they are also compelling when closed. This article focuses on fannish activities exemplified by imaginative posts and sweding videos from #HomemadeDisney and others during the period when global Disney theme parks were closed. This hashtag became a virtual communal space, the site of anxiety and brand loyalty but also invention and creation. Through a textual analysis of these posts, it is possible to grasp participatory culture’s role in contemporary life, the value of affinity groups, the power of social media in brand co-creation, the shifting of fan invention techniques, and the role of influential consumers in inspiring others through creative communication. #Homemade projects exemplified the process of creating virtual homes even as so many remained quarantined in physical homes, with the theme park part of the concept of home.

KEYWORDS:

• Theme parks
• fandom
• social media
• COVID-19
• online communities
• Disney
• sweding

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Carissa Baker

Carissa Baker, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Rosen College of Hospitality Management at the University of Central Florida. She received her Ph.D. in Texts and Technology at the University of Central Florida. Her primary research interest is narrative in the themed entertainment context.