Are VIP tours hard to book?

[teawar]

Is there any idea of how long you will wait for a ride? I was thinking 1 hour per ride so not to rush getting to from ride to ride - is that too long? Wanting to do Rise, Slinky dog , TSM, MMRR, RNR and TOT at the Studios Columbus Day weekend - could do RNR and TOT at early entry so we could take that off the tour and go to Epcot for Test Track, Remy, GoG and Frozen Does anyone think that could be done in 8 hours?

I think you’ll be able to do more than that in 8 hours.

 

[john7994]

Is there any idea of how long you will wait for a ride? I was thinking 1 hour per ride so not to rush getting to from ride to ride - is that too long? Wanting to do Rise, Slinky dog , TSM, MMRR, RNR and TOT at the Studios Columbus Day weekend - could do RNR and TOT at early entry so we could take that off the tour and go to Epcot for Test Track, Remy, GoG and Frozen Does anyone think that could be done in 8 hours?

As mentioned in my response, you are typically entering through the LL for most rides you designate to the guide. In other cases, there are shortcuts used beyond the LL - wait times would vary as with anything - but we would have several rides within an hour completed depending on the park / mobility of the group / and how crowded it might be. I think an hour per ride would be very conservative unless you are zig-zagging across the park - which the guide will also help sort out for you as you provide your plan.

 

[twodogs]

Book right at the 60 day mark, if you are going at a busy time. We tried booking for Christmas time in 2021 and they were completely booked. Thankfully we had the direct contact for our prior plaid. She was not able to get us a tour; I called literally every day for a month until a tour cancelled about 2 weeks before. Then our plaid got one of her friends to be our guide (ours was already booked) and her friend had to come in on her day off (can you say “generous tip”?). The hold times were up to 2 hours to even talk to VIP services, so I would call at the stroke of 8am here (7am Florida) every day, and wait about 15 minutes. Sometimes I think they just gave me a tour because they were tired of me calling every day….

You should be able to do all 4 parks in one VIP day. We skip Test Track on the VIP since it takes so much time. Use your time wisely. We just tell VIP the parks and the main rides, and they figure out the rest. Make sure to book VIP fireworks and/or parade viewing. So worth it!! We used to have them pick us up at the resort when the kids were little, but now that they are older teens, we meet the guide at the first park to save time and money.

 

[Minnie1222]

Is there any idea of how long you will wait for a ride?

As long as they don't revert to the old Fast Pass system, I honestly think you can go on numerous rides at all 4 parks. The current queues for the Lightning Lanes are very short when compared to the FP lanes. Most rides using lightning lanes are walk-on. The longest wait is probably 15-20 minutes.

 

[john7994]

Book right at the 60 day mark, if you are going at a busy time. We tried booking for Christmas time in 2021 and they were completely booked. Thankfully we had the direct contact for our prior plaid. She was not able to get us a tour; I called literally every day for a month until a tour cancelled about 2 weeks before. Then our plaid got one of her friends to be our guide (ours was already booked) and her friend had to come in on her day off (can you say “generous tip”?). The hold times were up to 2 hours to even talk to VIP services, so I would call at the stroke of 8am here (7am Florida) every day, and wait about 15 minutes. Sometimes I think they just gave me a tour because they were tired of me calling every day….

You should be able to do all 4 parks in one VIP day. We skip Test Track on the VIP since it takes so much time. Use your time wisely. We just tell VIP the parks and the main rides, and they figure out the rest. Make sure to book VIP fireworks and/or parade viewing. So worth it!! We used to have them pick us up at the resort when the kids were little, but now that they are older teens, we meet the guide at the first park to save time and money.

Very good point on the viewings - we ended our last tour at HS and were able to get good seats for Fantasmic - but you need to let them know early on as those seats are harder to save (and not guaranteed) than for Fireworks. We did end one of our Tours with Fireworks at MK and the guide was able to get us out a side entrance and drop us off for a late dinner reservation. Probably not the best use of the tour time but we were out of MK in record time.

 

[mmouse50]

Thank you everyone for all the information- I have never booked a VIP tour (as you can tell) and at a total loss on all that can be done within 8 hours. My 60 day mark is next Sunday so hopefully I will be able to book and get all the dining and VIP tour reservations that I want.

 

[sophy1996]

Thank you everyone for all the information- I have never booked a VIP tour (as you can tell) and at a total loss on all that can be done within 8 hours. My 60 day mark is next Sunday so hopefully I will be able to book and get all the dining and VIP tour reservations that I want.

With two adults, able to move quickly, we did something like 18 rides in all four parks in 7 hours. To save time we didn’t do sit-down dining but instead ate at the Adventureland egg roll cart.

Here, to give you an idea of what can be fit in, I copied my report (from May 2021, so no fireworks or show availability)

DHS 10 am
MMRR
MFSR
SDD
TSMM x2

AK 11:30
Safari
Dinosaur

MK 1 pm
Snack at egg roll cart
Pirates
Splash
BTMRR x2
HM
Peter Pan
7DMT
Peoplemover

Epcot 3:45 pm
Test Track
Soarin
Frozen -dropped off at 5 pm

 

[TexanInTheMidwest]

If you book a VIP tour for 1 park (8 hours preferably 10-6) - do you have to give them a list of rides that you want to ride ahead of time or is basically do it on the fly like any another other day of touring? I know that they will pick you up at your resort if requested but would it be better to meet them at the park? What do you do about eating lunch - eat a big breakfast and pack a lot of snacks or plan on stopping to eat? Will eat a sit down dinner at the conclusion of the tour.

Just know that if you utilize the VIP tour in the mornings you will not get VIP viewing for fireworks. Your tour needs to end at 8:30 pm or 9 for this to happen.

And please don't forget to tip your tour guides. We try to tip $50 per person

 

[TexanInTheMidwest]

As long as they don't revert to the old Fast Pass system, I honestly think you can go on numerous rides at all 4 parks. The current queues for the Lightning Lanes are very short when compared to the FP lanes. Most rides using lightning lanes are walk-on. The longest wait is probably 15-20 minutes.

We went on a tour in June and there were 2 rides we did NOT get to do because the lightening lanes were so backed up: Frozen and 7 Dwarfs. I mean we COULD have but it would have been a huge waste of time and taken away from other rides.

 

[cdnSpinalTap]

I still struggle with making sure I am tipping enough. We are a family of 5, cost for 7 hours is $3,150. Is $300 enough for a tip (that's $50 per person, plus and extra $50).

 

[CeCe0906]

Our ViP tour day:
We slept in a bit, and got to HS about 930
We rode Star Tours and RRailway did some souvenir shopping and watched the Indiana Jones Stunt Show and Muppet shoe. Had lunch at Mama Melrose
Met our guide at 1:00. Did Skinky Dog Dash first, the LL slow due to one of the trains alarming. So they ran that one empty. Then Midway Mania, Rise. Smugglers Run, Tower of Terror, and Rocking Roller Coaster.
Guide drove us to MK, where we rode Tron. Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Seven Dwarves, Haunted Mansion and Jungle Cruise. Snacked on Turkey Legs and Churros on the go
Guide drove us to Epcot where we rode Ratatouille, made a quick stop at International Gateway to get our Epcot AH wrist bands, and then the guide took us to Guardians LL about 8:45 where we ended our tour. We stayed after the tour for the Epcot AH event, left around 12:30. A very full day, I was wiped. We took a Lyft back to our hotel (Dolphin), because I needed to get off my feet fast!

We had spent Monday at MK, so those rides were ones we missed or fav that someone in our group wanted to reride.
Originally wanted to do Slinky Dog twice as it's a favorite, but with the issues going on, didn't want to waste the time.

It rained during part of the day, for a couple of hours in the afternoon. Guide was ready with ponchos if we needed. We kept on moving. We were offered snacks from a basket by other CMs when we arrived backstage in the car at MK. Stopped at a few photopass locations along the way also.

 

[mmouse50]

I had read that you tip atleast 1 hour of tour cost, is that correct? My hourly cost is $900 but 20% is way more than 1 hour cost. Is there a going rate fee per tour hour cost?

 

[T.G.I.Friday]

I had read that you tip atleast 1 hour of tour cost, is that correct? My hourly cost is $900 but 20% is way more than 1 hour cost. Is there a going rate fee per tour hour cost?

You will see a lot of different answers so do what you are comfortable with. My personal approach is to tip an amount/person on tour. It is definitely less than 20% of the tour cost, but it is what I am comfortable doing and an amount of cash that I am comfortable carrying during travel and the tour day.

I should add we are pretty independent - no stroller or or EVC and no bags for the guide to carry - I would probably tip more if the guide had to help with that.

 

[mmouse50]

Sorry another question, I have the VIP tour book on Sunday 10/8 (Columbus Day weekend) wanting to all the rides at the Studios (ROR, Smugglers Run, Slinky Dog, TSM, MMRR, RNR, TOT) and at Epcot (Remy, Guardians,, Test Track, Frozen) Currently I have 7 hours booked starting at 10:00 because I could only get a dinner reservation for Space 220 at 4:30.

Not really wanting to start earlier because it will late nights / early mornings for the past 2 days so I thought 10 would early enough but now questioning myself. ROR is a must do for everyone so was trying to knock it out first since it is a long ride (do people with ILL ride it first thing or do they wait until later in the day?). Do you think that 10 is still doable? I know that unless my reservation for Space 220 can change I will be forfeiting 30 minutes of my tour time but I guess my question are my ride hopes still doable?

All I can see are the standby wait times and really can't judge how long the waits will be on the tour. Everyone says that you cna wipe out a lot of rides but these are my top priority rides - 7 people, no strollers, a 7 year old that will ride eveything with maybe the exception of RNR, but if she doesn't ride it we won't waste our time on doing child swap.

 

[T.G.I.Friday]

I think your list is manageable in 6 1/2 hours. But how do you plan to start at 10? Meeting your guide in HS? Or are they picking you up from your resort?

If you aren’t able to modify your Space 220 reservation and are willing to lose the 40 minutes of tour time, I would start at 9:45 and have them pick you up at your resort. At least that will keep you on the same schedule but have you lose less time at the end.

 

[mmouse50]

I was meeting the guide at BaseLine Tap House - that way we are already in the park and close to ROR. We will be doing skyliner from AOA

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

It's $600 - $900 now (maybe more). We had booked one for next week and the cheapest price was $600/hr. Had to cancel but we'll do one next year and hopefully they don't bump it higher. It is possible there are cheaper pricing later in the year but I doubt it at this point.

Plus tip.

VIP hosts (at any park) should be tipped.
Source: DD#2 is a VIP host at Legoland CA. Her lowest tip was $0; highest so far is $1100.

 

[mmouse50]

If you don't mind me asking - do you know what the hourly rate was for the $1100. tip? Still trying to gauge a good tip number - 1 hour rate or 20% of tour cost?

 

[SkyGuy]

If you don't mind me asking - do you know what the hourly rate was for the $1100. tip? Still trying to gauge a good tip number - 1 hour rate or 20% of tour cost?

We’ve always done one hour rate, but as another pointed out, we are easy - group of four, no younger kids, no strollers, no extra bags to lug, roll with the punches. I’ve seen guides standing with stacks of bags, strollers, surrounded by snacks, and I’ve seen them pushing sleeping kids back and forth by the exit to Splash (I don’t really think they’re supposed to watch kids, so clearly above and beyond). In those cases, my tip meter would rise.