Tell me about recent VIP Tours

[XoxoAmy]

We have a VIP tour booked at the end of Feb - 3 adults, 3 kids ages 9, 10, 13. It will be the 10yo's first trip to WDW. His mom has only been once in 2014 and it was just 2 parks in 2 days. My fam has been a bunch. The day we have the tour will be day 9 of my fam's trip (our longest trip ever! 3 hotels! ). Safe to say we will have done all the things, so we are focused on making this a special tour for my SIL and nephew. They will have 2 days in the parks with us before the tour day. We plan to do 4 half park days in those 2 days so they see everything at least once in advance, and tour can focus on what they love and what we didn't get to do.

Our plan is to meet the guide at HS at 12:45pm, do ROTR and as many other big rides as we can; head to Epcot, do 2-3 rides and dinner at 4pm at Space 220 (hopefully an hour or less, but we are a group that will want the break (and a "grownup drink"!). Plus, I got us an ADR at Space 220! Gotta do it); then we head to MK, hit as many rides as we can and end tour in VIP fireworks area at 7:45. This is the last day of our trip.

Any tips or tricks we should know in advance? I am a WDW veteran but never done a VIP tour before. Grateful for any wisdom anyone can share - esp. about post-pandemic tours.

Thanks!

 

[SkyGuy]

Space 220 will take more than an hour. You’re likely not to be seated on time. You can tell your server you’d like it to be quick as possible, but it’s mainly up to how fast the kitchen can prep things. If you’re doing the restaurant as opposed to the lounge, it’s a three course meal. We were in there at least 90 minutes as a group of two after waiting 10ish to launch into space. I’ve done several VIPs, and I (personally) would not do a TS and pay the hourly rate to sit and eat. There are grownup drinks all over Epcot if that’s an end goal! We generally do QS to give the guide a break - we’d text when finished and meet up at the next ride. Even without a sit-down, we tend to always be pushing it by the end, rushing to our last ride, skipping something not so high on our list, or adding another hour on the fly because even though the guides get priority access, they can’t control when Rise breaks down or when it sprinkles on Test Track or when something is loading slowly.

 

[holden]

We've done a few VIP tours and never stop to eat. We'll grab some snacks along the way, but I'd hate to pay that kind of money to sit down and eat. That time could be used to ride a few attractions.

Of course it's up to you how you spend your money.

 

[GoofyDad_4427]

I'm going to agree with the 2 previous posters. We have done 2 VIP tours over the years and having a table service meal is a huge mistake and waste of valuable time.

 

[twodogs]

We have done multiple VIP tours, and I agree with everyone that there is no way I would spend 90 minutes doing a TS meal (that is almost $1000 of VIP time, depending on the rate when you go) unless I was doing a 10-12 hour VIP day (and I think now the longest is 10 hours). You could call VIP services (or email them to avoid the 2 hour phone hold), and ask if they can secure you a Space 220 reservation either after your tour and fireworks that night or on another night. Not sure if this is even possible, but our guide has helped us get a TS reservation at the end of the tour day in the past.

 

[Marthasor]

I think this is overly ambitious. Keep in mind, in addition to waiting in LL lines, you also still have to walk across the parks to access some of the rides and the driving takes time as well. We did a tour in December and did 7 rides plus QS in DHS and that took almost 5 hours. If you really want to do 3 parks, I would pick your must-do’s and I would try to reschedule Space 220. Or try to get some rides done in DHS before you meet the guide.

 

[gregskellington]

Your plan is way too ambitious with the TS. Omg just thinking about that hurts...like 1400 dollars on top of whatever the meal actually costs!

 

[WIll C]

We fretted the 30 minutes of downtime eating quick service (that was a $250 meal). I'd would not suggest a table service meal of any sort but it is your money!

We were able to fit 3 parks in 7 hours without stress (as we had someone in a wheelchair). We started in AK for Pandora, did HS and ended in MK at the fireworks. Skipped Epcot as it's too spread out and takes too much time.

We did a bunch of prep work at AK before we started out tour at 12:45. Got popcorn and any snacks/stuff we needed beforehand to not waste too much time doing non-ride things. The tour is a ton of fun, we lucked out with our guide and he gave us so much information as we went through the parks. We'll certainly do it again.

 

[SkyGuy]

We fretted the 30 minutes of downtime eating quick service (that was a $250 meal). I'd would not suggest a table service meal of any sort but it is your money!

We were able to fit 3 parks in 7 hours without stress (as we had someone in a wheelchair). We started in AK for Pandora, did HS and ended in MK at the fireworks. Skipped Epcot as it's too spread out and takes too much time.

We did a bunch of prep work at AK before we started out tour at 12:45. Got popcorn and any snacks/stuff we needed beforehand to not waste too much time doing non-ride things. The tour is a ton of fun, we lucked out with our guide and he gave us so much information as we went through the parks. We'll certainly do it again.

The advent of mobile order made it so much easier. Our last two tours we’d place an order while getting on a ride (both time MF:SR), then push “we’re here” as soon as we got off. By the time we got to Ronto Roasters, our food was ready, and it only took us about 15 minutes to eat and have a quick rest. Our guide had our time in the FP line and ride, as well as our eating time for his break. It worked out great! Before mobile order, it was a race to find the shortest snack or QS line and the easiest thing to eat quickly! Some changes are for the better.

 

[WIll C]

The advent of mobile order made it so much easier. Our last two tours we’d place an order while getting on a ride (both time MF:SR), then push “we’re here” as soon as we got off. By the time we got to Ronto Roasters, our food was ready, and it only took us about 15 minutes to eat and have a quick rest. Our guide had our time in the FP line and ride, as well as our eating time for his break. It worked out great! Before mobile order, it was a race to find the shortest snack or QS line and the easiest thing to eat quickly! Some changes are for the better.

Oh yes, mobile ordering is a must. We ordered while in line for MMRR and it was ready when we finished. Still needed some rest (pushing a wheelchair is work) but that was as much as we wanted to block out of our time. Less is more!

 

[DisneyHomework]

Agree with all of that. Would not ever do TS on the clock with a guide. I also would have a list of rides for the guide and let them suggest how you do it. For example, they are watching which rides are up and down etc. I am amazed at how quickly they get you between parks. We were on the fence about Epcot and had first timers with us, so he literally drove us backstage to the back door of test track, we got back in the van and drove to the back door of frozen, then were at HS and in line for TOT in literal minutes, again parked right outside of TOT. So my point is logical progression to us between rides and parks can be really efficient and faster than we are used to when directed by the guide.
Sadly we didn’t luck out with a “fun” guide. He was polite and served as the ultimate “fast pass” but I can’t say our most recent VIP tour was much more than a pass to the front of the line- which is super cool- just nothing “extra” or any pixie dust and you feel it at that price point.

 

[Eastern]

I love reading VIP threads, it's exciting. I would never do it, I'm too thrifty.

 

[jgl130]

I agree with the previous posters about TS during the tour. We just snacked along the way and got dinner at the end. Space 220 is up and down with eating times. My best friend’s parents went the day before us and they were in the lounge, they were in and out in 45 minutes. My friends, me and the kids were also in the lounge the next day and it took almost 2 hours. Service was slow, not necessarily because we had more people. We all did the lounge menu, so weren’t waiting for three courses.

Here’s the link to my VIP tour report from mid-January.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/vip-tour-january-2022.3861688/post-63736136

 

[Tasmen]

Just chiming in to agree with all the other folks that stated they would not book meal time while doing a tour. I haven't done one yet at WDW but whenever we do them at DL, I make sure to book RIGHT after lunch so that we can fuel up before we assail the parks with our guide. We do squeeze some snack time in for the kids, though. We keep it as short as possible. Time = money after all.