And Uhhh, fly

And Uhhhh….Fly..

August 31, 2023

It is no secret that Walt Disney World likes their upcharges. Most of the time those upcharges are super irritating. You’re already paying three months’ worth of mortgage payments to be there, and they want to sneak in a bit more.

Here’s your Annual Pass. Oh, you want photos too? $100 more please.

Your buffet at Cape May is $46. Crab legs? Haha, no. But you can add them on for $30 a pound. 😀

Here’s your park ticket. $125 isn’t bad right? Visit another park on the same day? Don’t be ridiculous. But if you want to have that option: $60 more.

Free Magic Bands? How archaic! At least $15, but possibly more if you want the fancy one.

And then of course there is Disney Genie+. While I do not think this add-on is the greatest thing since Amazon Prime shipping, I also do not think it is the blatant money grab that many from our community do. I think the problem is: we used to get it for free with Fast Passes. However, almost all theme parks have a variation of “skip the line” add-ons and almost all of them are significantly more expensive than Genie+. Granted they may be more efficient and easier to use, but the price difference is substantial.

My family is going to Six Flags St Louis this weekend. They have three different tiers of ticket add-ons. The Flash Pass holds your place in line while you do other things - $30/ea. The Flash Pass Gold reduces your wait time up to 50% - $40/ea. The Flash Pass Platinum reduces your wait time up to 90% - $105/ea! This is for Six Flags. Yikes.

The Express Unlimited Pass at Universal is crazy expensive per day as well. It starts at $99 and can climb to absurd prices. Busch Gardens Quick Queue starts at $30 and can reach over $100 on weekends days. Dollywood has the Dollywood TimeSaver add-on that starts at $60/day and that is only for a maximum of five select attractions.

So Disney Genie+ isn’t nearly as offensive as what some make it out to be. Yes it used to be a free perk, but free things are going away at a pretty rapid pace in this entire industry. Is Genie+ necessary? No, but it can certainly help you knock out a lot of attractions and this is pretty important if you not a “multiple visits a year” type of guest. When you only get one trip every year or two, you definitely want to maximize your time and Genie+ is helpful for that.

I’m almost 500 words into this article and haven’t even got to my subject yet, but I needed to lay some groundwork. I would like to suggest an additional add-on for Genie+. I know, I know. I have been complaining about getting nickeled and dimed and now I want to see another upcharge? I do. And I feel like it would not only make Disney a lot of money, but it would make many of us frequent flyer Disney fans pretty happy.

I want an add-on Genie+ lightning lane selections where I can skip the pre-show.

While I believe that the pre-shows at WDW are essential and even necessary for first time guests, I am done with them. As thrilling at I find Flight of Passage, I don’t think I would want to do it more than twice a trip because of the pre-show. Is it petty? Yes. Is it a ridiculous complaint? Maybe. However, I do not believe that I am alone in this. If the individual Lightning Lane for FOP is $12, I would pay $15 to skip standing on my number and moving my arms a bit. If Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind ILL is $17, I pay $20 to not hear Drax say “That is a big man.”  

These pre-shows were great the first time. They weren’t awful the next handful of times. But now? I would rather color-code my dryer lint than sit through Dr Seeker’s spiel. It is just where I am in my Disney journey. Just like any other Disney add-on, it isn’t required. For the majority of people, it wouldn’t even be a temptation. The logistics of separating LL guests would probably make it completely unfeasible. But if you’re listening Disney, I would pay that fee and do it with a smile on my face.