What is Disney Depression?
What is Disney Depression?I know what Disney Depression is. It’s pure exhaustion. The crash of adrenaline that I feel within 72 hours of coming home from Disney World. No matter if it was the best or worst trip of my life.
It looks a lot like shell shock. The blank stare. The droopy eyes. The gray skin. The limbs that drag behind the body by a few seconds.
It feels like jumping from a high dive and hitting the water face-first. Stunned. Raw emotions. Pure, unadulterated exhaustion.
When I came home from a trip to Magic Kingdom and Island of Adventure in May of 2025, I couldn’t wait to tell my husband about the trip! The purpose of the trip was to get familiar with the parks and be able to tell future clients how to navigate them. My daughter joined me, and I had a great time! I learned so much! The first day back was great! My husband let me chatter on about all I had learned.
Then, on the second day, I came down from the adrenaline and crashed. I don’t remember ever being so exhausted in my life. Suddenly, I was furious at my husband. He could not do anything right. But he had done nothing wrong! I remember being so confused about my anger. Why was I so mad at him?
Finally, I went to the Facebook Disney groups I am a part of and asked why I felt so angry. That was when I learned about the reality of Disney Depression. It is a real thing, they told me. I researched Disney Depression and came across the term Post-Vacation Depression. It is a real issue many people face at the end of their vacation. But why? And how can we avoid it?
Knowing I had a family vacation to Disney and Universal in December, I decided to find out more about this phenomenon. What’s more, I wanted to know if there is a way to avoid the horrible feeling.
What Causes the Disney Blues?
Disney World sells itself as the most magical place on Earth. We buy the story, hook, line, and sinker. We want to believe there is a place on the planet
where war and bills don’t exist. We get to allow the child inside us to come out and play. Healing, if needed, happens inside the Disney Bubble.
The Disney creators, Imagineers, and designers have had many years to perfect the feeling of walking into the perfect dream. Colors, sounds, and smells are all used to draw the guest into the illusion. They even use words like ‘guest’ and ‘cast member’. We are all part of the production. To let you in on the secret, we love it!
We spend days at a time surrounded by the world Disney created. We eat breakfast at Gaston’s Tavern, lunch at Casey’s Corner, and dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern. We spend our non-park days at the resort, swimming, eating at the food court, and consuming soda by the gallon in our refillable mugs, which we can refill for free. Sleep is scarce. By day three, we are running on adrenaline, caffeine, and carbs.
After a week of this, we fly home. We have barely slept. We haven’t seen a real vegetable in five days. Oh, and we spent more money than we ever intended to. What could go wrong?
Musings From the Disney Blues
We came home on Dec 21st. Today is the 23rd. Just like last time, I have crashed. Last night I could not sleep. My anxiety was on overdrive. I truly felt like I was on speed. Today, I feel like I jumped from an airplane and hit a tree. The anger is not there, thank God! But I am so sad! I am sad about my normal family and their normal issues. Like, I just sat in Walmart parking lot and cried because I cannot save them from problems that everyone faces every day!
I am fully aware that it makes no sense. Now, I am not even sad anymore. I am just mind-blowingly numb. I bet I look like I have been through serious trauma. But I can finally say I know what Disney Depression is.
It’s that moment when your body comes down from the high of the trip. 
The adrenaline that has been buzzing through your body all week stops. You crash. Especially if you have had back-to-back days of amazing joy for over a week. Especially if you didn’t take any days off from the parks to allow your body to come down from the high. Especially, if you spend over a year planning this trip to the ninth detail. Now there is no more fun to be had on this trip. Nothing to look forward to. Only your photos, some souvenirs, and the bills.
Of course, I crashed! Of course, my body is saying, “What the heck!?”
My head is telling me I will never be happy again. Like some Dementor has taken residence in my brain. If I didn’t know what the heck is going on, I wouldn’t know I need to eject them the heck out of here. EXPECTO PATRONUM!
How to Fix the Disney Blues
What I need now is self-care. Seriously! Like, my body is in the emergency stage 3, and I need rest, a balanced meal, and then more rest. If you cannot rest because you have young children and that brought home the Disney bug, rest when you can. Eat several well-balanced meals. See your doctor if you think it’s necessary. And be kind to yourself. You are not going crazy. This crash is normal, and you will be ok. The sun will come out again as soon as the dementors go away.
If you haven’t made it to the third day yet, it’s not too late for you. Get some rest. Go somewhere that has no Disney music or bright colors. Eat a
vegetable. Sleep 8 hours. Allow your adrenaline to go back to a normal level before you enter another child-friendly location.
Epilogue…
It has been eight days since I wrote that post. Christmas has happened. Sleep has happened. I feel much more normal now.
How can you avoid the crash that is Disney Depression? Or, any Post-Vacation Depression, for that matter? Tell me how you avoid the Disney Blues in the comments. Or, tell me your Disney Blues story. We are all in this together.
