It’s Pi Day – the one date per year that the calendar aligns with the numerical Pi, 3.14. Walt Disney World Resort is celebrating with an exclusive Muppets PhotoPass Lens, available for Disney Genie+ users on the My Disney Experience app at Disney’s Hollywood Studios starting March 15. When users open their camera, they get “pied” by Fozzie Bear:
A salute to all #DisneyPhotoPassLenses, but mostly this one 🥧 Just in time for Pie Day tomorrow, March 14, step into the lab and enjoy our Muppet*Vision 3D Lens — available for select users to experience in the My Disney Experience app!
A salute to all #DisneyPhotoPassLenses, but mostly this one 🥧 Just in time for Pie Day tomorrow, March 14, step into the lab and enjoy our Muppet*Vision 3D Lens — available for select users to experience in the My Disney Experience app! pic.twitter.com/55ZxlMc220
— DisneyPhotoPass (@DisneyPhotoPass) March 13, 2023
But this Disney Genie “Magic Shot” has made its way around the Internet before it even premieres. It bears striking similarities to the “dripping” Disney100 ears released at D23 Expo in September of 2022, which were quickly pulled from the shelves until the product description could be rewritten. “Minnie is dripping with excitement as she celebrates the centenary of The Walt Disney Company in her typically fashionable style with this ear headband,” it once read.
Months later, shopDisney re-released the ears with an all-new, clean description, free of any potential innuendos: “Celebrate the centenary of The Walt Disney Company with this Minnie Mouse ear headband. Part of the Disney 100 Platinum Celebration, this limited release commemorative ear headband has been designed by Disney artists for a special reflective platinum-dipped effect and includes a coordinating padded bow, all presented in a special keepsake box.”
Related: How Memory Maker and PhotoPass Photographers Work at Disney World
And yet, The Walt Disney Company’s products and experiences department hasn’t learned its lesson… Like the Mickey Ears, the Disney PhotoPass lens has become a social media laughingstock.
“Y’all did not think this one through…” said @sunsetlwtt:
y’all did not think this one through… https://t.co/0uhBn47GA5
— Meg (@sunsetlwtt) March 14, 2023
“FINALLY I can get a cream pie from Fozzie! 😋,” @AWHereItGoess joked:
FINALLY I can get a cream pie from Fozzie! 😋 https://t.co/YokYXtazS5
— 🔥Aaron🔥 (@AWHereItGoess) March 14, 2023
“The person who approved this could not for the life of him figure out why so many people were snickering during this meeting,” @childe_dirk wrote.
The person who approved this could not for the life of him figure out why so many people were snickering during this meeting. https://t.co/zoTDzVzsc3
— Stephen "Dirk" Libbey (@childe_dirk) March 14, 2023
Unlike the Mickey Mouse ears, Walt Disney World Resort stood firm after its announcement. The Disney Park has not commented further on the PhotoPass Lens, and it’s expected to premiere on schedule on Wednesday.
Share your thoughts on the Disney PhotoPass lens with Inside the Magic in the comments!