When you wish upon a credit card.
Even with the cost of a trip to Walt Disney World and Disneyland soaring so high CEO Bob Iger can’t stomach the prices, a privileged few are shelling out still more money to avoid having to deal with post-pandemic crowds.
The House of Mouse has never been shy about laying on the extra magic for those with the extra fairy dust to sprinkle around.
From behind-the-scenes tours costing hundreds of dollars to the elites-only Club 33 where those lucky enough to be offered a spot pay $50,000 to access private spaces at the Orlando, Florida, and Anaheim, California, parks, the extremely rich have always been a wad of cash away from the ultimate, hassle-free, luxury Disney trip.
But with the patience of merely loaded moms and dads wearing thin with the increasing challenges of making their offspring’s dreams come true, there appears to be a growing number of highly trained Fairy Godmothers lined up to say “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo” to the array of problems that plague the Disney trips mere mortals are forced to endure.
“We say Disney is exciting for kids, but it’s exhausting for parents. So families will hire us to make their trip feel like an actual VIP vacation. They’re going to push your stroller, they’ll assist at meals and keep your child entertained,” said Shannon Albrecht, owner of Nanny Land, a child care agency that dispatches red-shirt-wearing Mickey-eared nannies to Disney parks in Orlando and Anaheim.
For a minimum of $180 ($45 an hour for a four-hour minimum), a Gold Crown Nanny — the highest tier the service provides — will show up eager to provide an array of services, from helping parents navigate the confusing, seemingly ever-changing line-jumping services to acting as a family’s own personal paparazzi, or even just as an extra pair of hands to serve Dole Whips to the kids while mom and dad drink their way around the world at Epcot.
In fact, Albrecht said, her employees can swing just about about everything one of Disney’s in-house VIP tour guides — which charge a whopping $450 to $900 per hour – might do, except go behind the scenes of rides and get into exclusive firework and parade viewing areas.
Alison FitzGibbon, founder of Theme Park Nannies, another Orlando child care service, said she personally charges $100 an hour, and that a lot of that time is spent keeping the kids engaged while mom gets a massage at the hotel or dad lounges at the pool, working on his tan.
She’s seen and done it all, from wrangling a presidential suite at a family’s desired resort to cleaning up a luxury hotel room covered in diarrhea while her 2-year-old charge’s parents went out drinking.
“These are people who probably work and do not want to watch their own children 24/7,” FitzGibbon said. “They have kids at day care or multiple nannies or a weekend baby sitter. When they’re around their own child in a confined space all week, they’re not going to have a good time.”
But just because they don’t want to be saddled with mommy and daddy duty during their entire Disney trip doesn’t mean wealthy parents don’t want the best for their littles.
Some have shelled out more than $1,000 for private character makeovers, a stylist at A Touch of Glam Princess & Character Makeovers told The Post, noting parents will often frantically call in begging for an assist after discovering the Magic Kingdom’s sought-after princess makeover services are solidly booked — a common problem.
“They just want to make their child’s experience as magical as possible — they’re sparing no expense because it’s a more personal service where someone is coming to you,” the stylist told The Post, asking to remain anonymous so as to stay under the radar while lugging her glam bag of glitter, colorful hair extensions and tiaras in and out of Disney’s many resorts.
The most in-demand looks are Rapunzel, Elsa, and Belle and, for a little added magic, she’ll add rhinestones and ribbons to a Cinderella updo and ice-blue hair extensions for an Elsa look.
The starting price for services is $280 without tip, the stylist said, noting that she’s currently been summoned to create a custom Darth Vader look with red hair extensions for a pint-size client.
Parents throwing money at an inconvenience with Mickey ears is nothing new.
“Regular people wait on lines. People who can afford it hire other people to wait on lines for them,” Wednesday Martin, Ph.D., a cultural critic specializing in anthropology and author of “Primates of Park Avenue,” told The Post.
“Name just about any activity of daily living that could leave you feeling drained and aggravated — being on the phone waiting for a customer service rep, booking your travel, speaking to your utility company, trying to land a reservation at the restaurant of the moment — and rich people have a hack for that,” Martin continued, noting the “lifestyle concierges” whom 1-percenters call on command to arrange Disney itineraries.
Atlanta attorney Leslie Dunn, 54, spared no expense on her recent trip to Disney World to celebrate her son’s 21st birthday, laying out the cash for one of Disney’s own VIP guides.
“I’m a huge Disney super fan — it was worth every penny,” Dunn told The Post of hiring a fixer to bring her party to the front of the lines on rides like Avatar Flight of Passage, Expedition Everest, and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and wait on her and her family hand and foot.
If anyone dared question her cutting to the front, she’d simply say: “I’m with the person who has the plaid vest on. I can do anything. That’s right.”
