Incase you were unaware, I *J. Essex Books*I am a Disney Adult. I know, I know. Hold your groans of disapproval.
But I’m not one of “those” Disney adults. I’m not one of the mega crazies. (Only a moderate amount of Mickey themed insanity)
And as such, I figured I’d take my knowledge of all things Walt Disney World and translate it for non Disney adults. The first foray into this world will be this article.
As Disney is a massive money pit, there are certain things that people *always* complain about. So, I’m going to show you my way of thinking on why some of these items are actually positives.
First up- *Order Ahead Dining. If you’re like me, you truly do not understand why anyone would complain about this. If you’re not, and you’re actually one of those people who rages at the thought of yet another task you need your phone to complete, fear not! I can help turn that frown upside down! Ya see, you are looking at order ahead dinding like it’s an inconvenience. You have to take time to stop what you’re doing, pick a place, look through their menu, yadda yadda. But you’re missing some key factors!
- It’s a HUGE time saver! You may think that the time you spend searching for where you want to eat, menu perusing, and order time is a waste but it’s actually so much faster in waiting in a long “quick service” (ironically named) line for your food. Realistically, you’d wait a longer amount of time to even order than you would to almost complete the whole order ahead process.
- Customizable! My Disney Experience’s menus are seemingly open to interpretation on many classic items. Don’t want pickles on your burger? There’s a button for that. Want ranch instead of bleu cheese? Click it! Nothing is getting lost in translation because it’s printed neatly for the food service staff.
The next gripe I hear so much about is *Genie Plus. Ya’ll, I know this is a topic of much ire. I get it. It used to be included in your resort stay and now it’s extra. And that I feel for! But I cannot abide by the people who complain about the service all together. Once again, I think you’re missing the positives here.
- “I don’t want to pay just to ride a ride.” Valid. BUT the more you go to Disney, the more you realize that Disney is structured in a way that pits your time versus your money. If you only have one park day to ride everything on your list, is it a realistic goal to accomplish if each line is at least a 45 minute wait? I’m not a numbers gal but the math aint mathing. Your time is better spent strategically choosing the longest lines to “genie plus” so that you are able to do the most!
- “I paid for it but is it worth it?” A RESOUNDING YES. Genie Plus (and individual ride selections) are as close to a guarantee as Disney is able to give you. That’s not to say that all bets aren’t off if a ride breaks down, closes, weather forces an outside ride to stop running, etc. But for the most part, a genie plus reservation means if the ride is a go, as is your ride. Whereas standing in line is NOT a guarantee, should the ride have an issue. You’re better off with the mostly sure thing!
The last big thing that people gripe about are the *prices. Let’s be real, there’s no cheat code to lower those! Disney is designed to separate consumers from wallets in the most magical way possible. If you want to do it and want to be less inconvenienced, there’s an upgrade for that. If you want fine dining, Disney’s got you! If you want this design on this short in this color, some shop on the property can handle that!
As far as options go, Disney is limitless. But how do you determine what you should pay for versus what you should skip? Well, for one, you don’t have to do it all in one shot! Disney trips are so expensive so of course you want to cram it all in at once. But that’s just not feasible! Odds are, some ride you like will be closed, a restaurant you heard good things about will have no open reservations, or you find out the hotel you booked doesn’t have any elevators! (Looking at you, Caribbean Beach. Forget that!!!)
The BEST thing you can do is make a list of absolutely non negotiables and plan those out. Consider anything else a happy bonus. REAL TALK, DIsney letdown after a trip is so real if you built the vacation up so much in your head that it couldn’t match the hype. And no one wants to look back on memories and realize they were miserable or worried about money the whole time.
Use this article as just a jumping off point. Things can always be modified on your trip!
Good luck and happy vacationing!
The Disney concepts I’ve talked about are not mine. I own nothing! Don’t sue me, Walt.
J. Essex Author 