Private VIP Tours have access to RotR

[ktak08]

There is also the World of Dreams private tour that most definitely does include ROTR. I wonder if they backtracked on the regular private tours to keep this exclusive?

 

[Marthasor]

There is also the World of Dreams private tour that most definitely does include ROTR. I wonder if they backtracked on the regular private tours to keep this exclusive?

Is that even being offered right now?

 

[SDKMom]

Also, can’t you cancel up to two days before the tour? So for people who only want the tour if RotR is included they can just cancel, right?

Yes, the cancellation policy is 48 hours in advance.

 

[luv2cheer92]

That’s this thread, no?

Threads were merged.

 

[PalmettoPath]

Well, BlogMickey just reported that the VIP's privilege for RotR boarding group has been revoked. It is so strange and wierd, just LOKI's story's line.

Yes, the TVA TimeKeepers corrected the timeline, lol.

 

[taramesu]

Threads were merged.

Ah, gotcha. Thank you.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

I think I saw a post somewhere saying there is roughly 64 tour guides currently. Assuming not all work every day and there are backups and whatnot, as well as multiple guides on a single tour if there are celebs, there probably isn’t more than 50 tours going at one time and likely less on any given day. Not all tours are ten people either. For instance we only have six in our party. I just don’t know if I see it just being a volume logistics thing. The conspiracy theorist in me thinks it must be something more but who knows. At first I thought maybe fast pass was coming back so they were looking to add this to keep interest high in tours after that announcement.

I know in precovid times the number of VIP tour guides could get up over 100 at busy times like Christmas week because they pulled guides from the other tours to do it but they can’t even do that now because nothing else is running. It just doesn’t seem like it should be a numbers issue. Its really a bummer

Side track, but I had NO IDEA there were so many! They were so expensive I had assumed that there were like under a dozen tours a week as no one would pay that. I had considered myself rare that I was eyeing it and thinking about spending that much. (Always kinda assumed they were reserved for celebrities and stuff). I know the group tours were more common - I had taken a number of them myself.

It's mind blowing how much money Disney must rack in on those things. If they had 100 going at an average of 5K a pop, that's $50,000 a day or 18 MILLION dollars a year. And the expense is just a CM making average pay.

 

[trivan]

It's mind blowing how much money Disney must rack in on those things. If they had 100 going at an average of 5K a pop, that's $50,000 a day or 18 MILLION dollars a year. And the expense is just a CM making average pay.

Need to add a zero. 100*5000 = $500,000/day
If you assume they on average get that every day its = $182 million.

Maybe the RotR operation group is annoyed they don't get a share of the tips the Plaids pull in. LOL

The expense is also the vehicle cost and the snacks and water they provide. hahaha The profit margin is probably huge for the VIP group.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

Need to add a zero. 100*5000 = $500,000/day
If you assume they on average get that every day its = $182 million.

Maybe the RotR operation group is annoyed they don't get a share of the tips the Plaids pull in. LOL

The expense is also the vehicle cost and the snacks and water they provide. hahaha The profit margin is probably huge for the VIP group.

Oops. You're right! That's significantly more profitable! The whole program probably costs less than 5 million a year even with the backend supporting cast.

 

[Beckyb3]

Oops. You're right! That's significantly more profitable! The whole program probably costs less than 5 million a year even with the backend supporting cast.

The 100+ tours is only in peak times though which is probably about four weeks a year. On average I think it’s probably more like fifty. Though I will say they seemed to have vastly upped the prices particularly for peak times from pre covid because the range used to be $325-$525 per hour and now it’s $426 to $700 something if memory serves me. They are also not giving snacks and drinks from what I have read because of covid. They definitely do well on those tours! It’s such a fun experience though. Our guide was awesome. She was so interesting to chat with. Even the older people in our party that skipped many of the rides had a great time just chatting with her.

 

[PalmettoPath]

The 100+ tours is only in peak times though which is probably about four weeks a year. On average I think it’s probably more like fifty. Though I will say they seemed to have vastly upped the prices particularly for peak times from pre covid because the range used to be $325-$525 per hour and now it’s $426 to $700 something if memory serves me. They are also not giving snacks and drinks from what I have read because of covid. They definitely do well on those tours! It’s such a fun experience though. Our guide was awesome. She was so interesting to chat with. Even the older people in our party that skipped many of the rides had a great time just chatting with her.

We've done a few VIP Tours (trying to book one in August but they're sold out) and we have never been given snacks or drinks. In fact, we bought lunch for our guide(!) I've heard both ways from others as well. Interesting how it's not a consistent experience. For the price we pay, you'd think we wouldn't have to buy our own pretzels and soft drinks :0 You get more on a far less expensive tour or even at something like Boo Bash. I've also seen some guests get a pin after their tour, we've never had that either (and this is for VIP Tours at DLR and WDW in our case). Maybe we just have bad luck with our plaids.

 

[justdoip]

If the VIP tours are being booked solid anyway, WDW has no incentive to include RotR. It's just like with anything else. Why offer more when people are already paying whatever you ask?

 

[trivan]

Done 5 tours in the past (4 pre covid), snacks were definitely not a norm pre-covid, it was typically at MK where someone with a basket of chips, cookies, etc... My last tour I did get a Pin!! haha.

While RotR will be nice, it didn't really matter the last time. We got our BG in the morning and toured around that. Was perfectly acceptable.

 

[Beckyb3]

We've done a few VIP Tours (trying to book one in August but they're sold out) and we have never been given snacks or drinks. In fact, we bought lunch for our guide(!) I've heard both ways from others as well. Interesting how it's not a consistent experience. For the price we pay, you'd think we wouldn't have to buy our own pretzels and soft drinks :0 You get more on a far less expensive tour or even at something like Boo Bash. I've also seen some guests get a pin after their tour, we've never had that either (and this is for VIP Tours at DLR and WDW in our case). Maybe we just have bad luck with our plaids.

Wow! That's kind of crazy! We only did one tour and it was pre-covid (Sept 2019). They offered drinks and snacks whenever we were moving locations and going out to the van though I have heard they can't do it anymore because masks have to be worn in the vans. I think it was just water, candy, and maybe little snack bags of chips or pretzels. I always thought it was a nice touch though. You definitely shouldn't have had to pay for your tour guide! They have a way to charge it back to their department if they get anything (and they are supposed to!) but I know at the snack stand we stopped at the person ringing up our tour guide didn't know how to do it and she had to walk her through the process. I wonder if the tour guides you had were less experienced with the private tours and didn't know these things. I know ours was a fairly experienced one (she was actually pictured in the brochure for awhile) and we talked to her a lot about how it worked and she only did the VIP tours with the exception of one time she did a Day of Thrills Tour as a fill in for a tour guide who called out sick. I guess the tour guides who do those are other tours will sometimes do the Private tours at high demand times but may not have the same training as the team who only does the Private tours. I hope you get your date in August! We are booked for the 25th but wanted 22nd or 23rd but both were sold out. Oh and you 100% should have gotten the pins! I can't believe you never have! We got them on the VIP tour but also on the Day of thrills and Night of Thrills when they offered those. It does make me nervous about the tours now and if they lost a lot of their seasoned guides. Our guide was just so amazing and knew so much about Disney.

 

[Beckyb3]

If the VIP tours are being booked solid anyway, WDW has no incentive to include RotR. It's just like with anything else. Why offer more when people are already paying whatever you ask?

I don't really disagree with this. That's kind of why I thought that maybe them offering access was a sign that Fast Pass was returning because they wanted to keep interest up. The one thing I will say though is that if you pay a lot of money and have a bad experience, you are less likely to be willing to pay a lot of money to do it again and it can be shortsighted to concentrate on only what you can get away with because current demand is high. I suspect current demand is higher than normal because there is no fast pass. Part of what makes me want to do a tour again despite the high price tag was that we had such a good time and our tour guide was so great the first time (and not going to lie because there is no fast pass). If it doesn't disrupt the flow of the ride currently, there is no harm in offering access is there?

 

[justdoip]

I don't really disagree with this. That's kind of why I thought that maybe them offering access was a sign that Fast Pass was returning because they wanted to keep interest up. The one thing I will say though is that if you pay a lot of money and have a bad experience, you are less likely to be willing to pay a lot of money to do it again and it can be shortsighted to concentrate on only what you can get away with because current demand is high. I suspect current demand is higher than normal because there is no fast pass. Part of what makes me want to do a tour again despite the high price tag was that we had such a good time and our tour guide was so great the first time (and not going to lie because there is no fast pass). If it doesn't disrupt the flow of the ride currently, there is no harm in offering access is there?

This is all true. It also applies to the entire WDW experience, from people staying in suites at deluxe resorts and paying for VIP tours to people staying at value resorts (or offsite) and visiting as cheaply as possible. All of those people are paying what seems like a lot of money to them and are probably less likely to do it again if they have what feels like a bad experience. Right now, WDW is content to take the money. History shows that, when demand falls off, they will offer discounts and other incentives and people will probably come back regardless. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[TiggerBouncy]

We've done a few VIP Tours (trying to book one in August but they're sold out) and we have never been given snacks or drinks. In fact, we bought lunch for our guide(!) I've heard both ways from others as well. Interesting how it's not a consistent experience. For the price we pay, you'd think we wouldn't have to buy our own pretzels and soft drinks :0 You get more on a far less expensive tour or even at something like Boo Bash. I've also seen some guests get a pin after their tour, we've never had that either (and this is for VIP Tours at DLR and WDW in our case). Maybe we just have bad luck with our plaids.

See, this was an issue for one and one reason I did not want to do the tour during the Pandemic. I looked at getting one in October last year, but they told me that the guide doesn't ride with us and leaves us for lunch do to covid. IF I were to do the VIP tour, I am in it for the guide. I know the rides. I am not there to get past a few lines. I want to talk to the guide and get to know the things I do not know. The guide is the reason for paying - not the ability to skip a few lines.

I still plan on doing it, but at the time the restrictions were too much.

 

[PalmettoPath]

Wow! That's kind of crazy! We only did one tour and it was pre-covid (Sept 2019). They offered drinks and snacks whenever we were moving locations and going out to the van though I have heard they can't do it anymore because masks have to be worn in the vans. I think it was just water, candy, and maybe little snack bags of chips or pretzels. I always thought it was a nice touch though. You definitely shouldn't have had to pay for your tour guide! They have a way to charge it back to their department if they get anything (and they are supposed to!) but I know at the snack stand we stopped at the person ringing up our tour guide didn't know how to do it and she had to walk her through the process. I wonder if the tour guides you had were less experienced with the private tours and didn't know these things. I know ours was a fairly experienced one (she was actually pictured in the brochure for awhile) and we talked to her a lot about how it worked and she only did the VIP tours with the exception of one time she did a Day of Thrills Tour as a fill in for a tour guide who called out sick. I guess the tour guides who do those are other tours will sometimes do the Private tours at high demand times but may not have the same training as the team who only does the Private tours. I hope you get your date in August! We are booked for the 25th but wanted 22nd or 23rd but both were sold out. Oh and you 100% should have gotten the pins! I can't believe you never have! We got them on the VIP tour but also on the Day of thrills and Night of Thrills when they offered those. It does make me nervous about the tours now and if they lost a lot of their seasoned guides. Our guide was just so amazing and knew so much about Disney.

I know, crazy heh? We even once reached out to Disney VIP Tours asking what was their policy -- because we have had to pay for drinks and snacks while the even basic non-VIP tours that we do even include snacks and a lunch/dinner. Plus other guests have a different experience. I did not get a straight answer. Then I sent a written inquiry asking about their policy, just out of curiosity. They never responded. It's all a bit odd.

 

[R&RsMom]

Yet another uplate. per vip tour booking agent this morning, Rotr is included again as of now. The agent said the situation was fluid, which i took to mean it will keep changing.

 

[rockinrollercoasters]

Yet another uplate. per vip tour booking agent this morning, Rotr is included again as of now. The agent said the situation was fluid, which i took to mean it will keep changing.

That is so crazy! How do they change what they offer every other day?