Our $1.5k Day Visiting Disney World Parks

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Despite living in central Florida, we rarely take our kids to Disney World. The reasons are cost+ insane crowds. But since the opening of Galaxy’s Edge (Star Wars themed section in Hollywood Studios), my son has been begging us to take him.

The Covid pandemic has derailed that plan, but since he got vaccinated, we simply ran out of excuses not to go. Normally, Disney offers discounted deals to Florida residents in the winter, and this year is no exception. Unfortunately, the deal I was interested in was only valid on weekdays, and that wasn’t going to work with the school schedule.

So, reluctantly, I went ahead and bought 1-day tickets for just my son and husband for $143 per person. Me and my daughter were supposed to stay behind  in Holiday Inn Vacation Club Orange Lake resort (see my review) and enjoy their lazy river. This place is a great value when it comes to using renewal certificates from IHG credit card.

Anyway, when my son found out his sister would not be coming, he got very sad. He told me he always dreamed of going to Disney as a family. In fact, he offered to work off the cost of our tickets. So, as you can imagine, I’ve decided that me and my daughter would join them after all. And no, he will not have to work for it!

I went ahead and added a park hopper option to all four tickets, since my daughter really wanted to spend some time in Animal Kingdom. I figured my husband would drop us off, and then we would meet up in Hollywood Studios after 2 PM.

Plus, we booked a lightsaber and droid building  experiences for my son, and only one adult was allowed to accompany him. I was also able to snag a morning reservation in Oga’s Cantina restaurant for my two guys.

When you add up our Disney tickets and these extras, we are already at $1k in overall cost. And it would get much, much worse…

My overall impressions on Disney Genie app

So, if you decide to go to Disney, you need to familiarize yourself with Disney Genie app: In my opinion, it’s not very intuitive. Either that, or I’m an idiot. It did take me a bit to figure my way around it, something I should have done ahead of time. For example, I didn’t realize that to purchase Genie + (more on it later), I needed to go to “Tip board” section.

Overall, once you figure it out, the app is quite helpful. In fact, it can make or break your day in Disney. Be aware that you still need park reservations, so make sure to buy your  tickets ahead of time and connect them to Genie app.

The app itself is free, but there is an option to purchase Genie +, which allows you to skip lines at certain attractions. It costs $15 per person/per day, and in my opinion is definitely worth it. Keep in mind that not all rides are eligible.

Avatar Flight of Passage, Rise of the Resistance and a few others need to be purchased separately. It’s called “individual lightning lane”. And it can cost  up to $15 per person/per ride. That’s right, you pay for tickets only to pay again a la carte once you are are the park.

And believe it or not, people pay it. In fact, I paid $28 so me and my daughter wouldn’t have to spend 90 minutes in line waiting  to ride Avatar Flight of Passage. I also got Genie+ app so we could skip a 60 minute line for Animal Kingdom Safari. BTW, you don’t have to purchase Genie + in order to book these premium “a la carte” rides.

Throughout the day, I kept trying to book individual lightning lane for Rise of the Resistance ride, with no luck. Unfortunately, there are only so many slots available, and they get booked up within minutes once they are released each morning. In addition, those who stay on Disney property are eligible to book them an hour earlier.

I have mixed feelings on this obvious money grab. On the one hand, I hate to pay for something that is supposed to be all-inclusive only to pay more later. On the other hand, it’s a simple  issue of supply vs. demand. Disney is a private company, and it’s their right to set prices however they wish. Nobody has to go to Disney parks. Plus, if you don’t want to pay extra, you can simply stand in line like all the other peasants.

And we did do just that for several rides. But I have to say, the time we have saved in Animal Kingdom was worth the extra expense. It allowed me and my daughter to do what we wanted to do, and meet the other half of the family in Hollywood Studios around 3 pm. We took a bus there, which was super easy.

My thoughts on Galaxy’s Edge 

This section was the whole reason we went to Disney in the first place. In short, it’s an incredible/immersive experience. If you don’t want any spoilers, skip the photos below.

The amount of detail that went into planning this whimsical Disney section is impressive. Even drinks are designed to go with the overall theme.

Both my husband and son are huge Star Wars fans, so this visit was a very special treat.

I even got my boy a Darth Vader outfit for the occasion. I wasn’t crazy about him pretending to choke passerby Disney guests, but oh well.

On top of it, my husband bought him yet another Darth Vader outfit, and he changed into it before we went to Epcot for their nightly 50th anniversary fireworks special called Harmonious (thumbs up).

We also had dinner in Japan section, and let our daughter shop there to her heart’s content. This is probably as close as we will get to visiting Japan for some time.

Since this whole thing was a big fat splurge (and hopefully a one-time thing), we decided to go big. That’s why I also booked a lightsaber building experience for $230.

It seemed overpriced, but my husband said it was worth every penny. He was very impressed by the whole thing and said he wished he also booked it for himself instead of just watching my son. Umm, another $230?

They also both enjoyed a Droid building experience ($175), but he said if you can only pick one, do the lightsaber. On top of it, my husband bought a bunch of Star Wars-themed junk, including a Jedi outfit…for himself.

So, when it came time to get in line for Star Wars Rise of the Resistance ride, we had several heavy bags to carry with us. This ride is reportedly the most popular in Disney World, and I can see why. Our wait was a bit more than one hour, and it was worth it, hands down. I won’t spoil it too much, but will share this one picture:

You have to go on this ride, regardless of the wait time. It’s spectacular! My son kept saying over and over again that his mind is blown.

We actually almost skipped it because everyone was so tired, and the thought of standing in the afternoon sun seemed like torture. But if you are a Star Wars fan, you simply must do it. Plus, in our case the wait ended up closer to 60 minutes despite projected 100.

Was it worth it?

By the time we were done, we have spent around $1.5k in one day, which is nuts. Despite this ridiculous price tag, I have to say that yes, it was worth it. Sure, it was a bit hot, and the parks were crowded despite capacity controls.

But it really was a priceless experience you can’t get anywhere else. The Star Wars section really brought out a kid in my middle-aged husband. As far as the real kid (my son), he had an absolute blast, and still keeps talking about it days later.

Is it something I’m looking to repeat? Man, I hope not. Though it certainly helped with meeting minimum spending requirements on my Capital One Venture X card (see Nancy’s post on this offer ending in a near future).

Disney is expensive, and you have to prepare your mind ahead of time. Want cold water? That’s $5 per bottle. Don’t want to stand 90 minutes in line to do an Avatar ride? Pay $15 per person and you will get your wish.

But where else can you get the same experience? Nowhere. And Disney corporation knows it, and charges accordingly. So, I think it’s something every family should do at least once, if the budget allows it. Just don’t go during the summer. You have been warned.

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