VIP Tour Questions

[Okiemom]

We have never used the VIP Tours are were wanting to know if you think they are worth it if you are going during a busy time like Thanksgiving week. I noticed there was a Magic Kingdom tour, a Private VIP Tour, and I also saw that there was a new Animal Kingdom tour now too. Has anyone done that yet? Are you able to ride the rides via Fast Pass line more than once or is it a one time per ride thing? Any info or tips on any of the tours would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks so much!

 

[trivan]

We done 2 private VIP tours and doing another next week! For us it’s worth it but as always “worth it” is different for everyone. Our first, we share with another family, we had 10 in the group so it made the cost better. It was 2 days after Christmas and in 8 hours did all 4 parks, every major fast pass ride (yes you can ride as many times as you want) some multiple times. They pick you up and drive you using the back employee entrances to save walking and time. This would have been impossible to do in a few days let alone 1 given the crowd levels. The economic for us works as well. We typically stay at a deluxe resort, eat a sit down lunch and dinner at a Signiture restaurant. Our daily budget is about 1000-1200 after you account for hotel, park tickets, food,etc... we now go for 3 days, get everything thing we want to see and do. Offsetting the tour price with not staying as long. The other 2 days we get a few fast passes and just casually see the parks not worrying about having missed something. Yes, it’s expensive especially around the holiday times as prices fluctuate based upon how busy it’s it, but it’s a great way to do everything you want without stressing over anything except the bill when it comes

 

[trivan]

And if you have kids, they will be spoiled so bad they will never want to go with out a VIP tour!

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We have never used the VIP Tours are were wanting to know if you think they are worth it if you are going during a busy time like Thanksgiving week. I noticed there was a Magic Kingdom tour, a Private VIP Tour, and I also saw that there was a new Animal Kingdom tour now too. Has anyone done that yet? Are you able to ride the rides via Fast Pass line more than once or is it a one time per ride thing? Any info or tips on any of the tours would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks so much!

With the regular tours (Ultimate Thrills, AK, etc.), you will ride the rides included in the tour once. With the private VIP tour, you can get in the FP+ lines as many times as you'd like. The private VIP guide is, basically, your FP+.

 

[Okiemom]

We done 2 private VIP tours and doing another next week! For us it’s worth it but as always “worth it” is different for everyone. Our first, we share with another family, we had 10 in the group so it made the cost better. It was 2 days after Christmas and in 8 hours did all 4 parks, every major fast pass ride (yes you can ride as many times as you want) some multiple times. They pick you up and drive you using the back employee entrances to save walking and time. This would have been impossible to do in a few days let alone 1 given the crowd levels. The economic for us works as well. We typically stay at a deluxe resort, eat a sit down lunch and dinner at a Signiture restaurant. Our daily budget is about 1000-1200 after you account for hotel, park tickets, food,etc... we now go for 3 days, get everything thing we want to see and do. Offsetting the tour price with not staying as long. The other 2 days we get a few fast passes and just casually see the parks not worrying about having missed something. Yes, it’s expensive especially around the holiday times as prices fluctuate based upon how busy it’s it, but it’s a great way to do everything you want without stressing over anything except the bill when it comes

Thank you for your information. We are traveling with my daughter's family and the kids will be 6 & 8, so they will tire out easy. Thinking hard about doing this. Did the guide eat with you?

 

[Okiemom]

Thank you for your information. We are traveling with my daughter's family and the kids will be 6 & 8, so they will tire out easy. Thinking hard about doing this. Did the guide eat with you?

The guides take tips? On an older site, 2015 it said they weren't allowed to take tips

 

[supersnoop]

Keep in mind that the VIP rate is higher in the busier times. I think it goes up from $300/hour to $500/hour around the holidays, with a six hour minimum.

The guides take tips? On an older site, 2015 it said they weren't allowed to take tips

I hear they’re required to refuse any tip three times. If you insist, they’ll accept it.

 

[FastPasser.]

I hear they’re required to refuse any tip three times. If you insist, they’ll accept it.

It's a tipped position so the 3 times thing does not apply. They are allowed to accept tips outright and it's customary to do so.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Our guide ate with us. We ate at Columbia Harbour House to save time and when we did it, they had a special roped off section on the second floor for tour guests (I don't know if they still do this). You do not pay for the guide's lunch.

 

[holden]

We did the VIP Thrills Tour. It hits almost all the thrill rides in MK, EP and DHS. I’d highly recommend it! We ate at Sunshine Seasons and our guides ate too. We did tip the guides and they accepted.

 

[trivan]

Thank you for your information. We are traveling with my daughter's family and the kids will be 6 & 8, so they will tire out easy. Thinking hard about doing this. Did the guide eat with you?

When we do the tour, we sleep in and have a large lunch and start at 1:00 somewhere in a park and then the guide meets us as the resturant. The reason for this is so we can get prime locations for one of the evening shows. We schedule a late dinner after the tour and snack along the way.

 

[twodogs]

We’ve done the VIP tour for our family twice. Here is my review of it from two years ago. At that time our daughters were 7 and 9,so it might give an idea of how the day might go.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/ultimate-vip-tour-review-from-our-may-trip.3417420/

We did it again at WDW this March during a super busy spring break week. It was even more worth it then. So while the per hour cost will be high at thanksgiving, I think the value is much higher the more crowded it is when you go.

 

[NJlauren]

We’ve done the VIP tour for our family twice. Here is my review of it from two years ago. At that time our daughters were 7 and 9,so it might give an idea of how the day might go.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/ultimate-vip-tour-review-from-our-may-trip.3417420/

We did it again at WDW this March during a super busy spring break week. It was even more worth it then. So while the per hour cost will be high at thanksgiving, I think the value is much higher the more crowded it is when you go.

Thanks for this great review! Gave me a lot of information and some things to think about!

 

[Okiemom]

Thanks for this great review! Gave me a lot of information and some things to think about!

 

[Okiemom]

Follow up question. The ages will be 6 & 8. Do you think the VIP tour at just Magic Kingdom a good choice? Or even at Thanksgiving do you think it would be better use to use a another park too, to really get benefit?

Since Pandora is so popular, would doing it first at AK then go over to Magic Kingdom?

 

[trivan]

We just let the guide know our must do attractions and optional ones. Let them decide when to go to each one. They do this everyday and since they bring you into the parks via the back entrances, plans that we may do one our own don’t apply. We always are able to do all 4 parks in 1 day. And the best part, you can go on a ride and leave the kids with the guide!

 

[twodogs]

Agree that park hopping is so easy with the guide, I’d do at least 2 parks if not 3-4. We usually do 3 because we could knock out AK or DHS on another day. But these trips were pre-Pandora (it hadn’t opened this March when we did our most recent VIP). So I’d put AK on the must-do list with the guide these days!

We did the same as OP. Just emailed a list of our priority rides ahead of our trip and let the guide decide which parks and which rides in order based on their experience. For all of us Uber-planners, it does seem weird to “let it go” and let the guide have control, but that’s an added bonus of the VIP...you get to let them do the planning!

If your kids are pretty high energy, I think you could easily do 3 parks in one day. You do much less walking with the guide since you are driven through back entrances, sometimes parking several times within the same park to save walking. Now they offer free snacks and waters at the parking stops behind the scenes, which was new for us in March. That peps everyone up too. I also recommend the VIP on around Park day 2. This way you are not trying to do it late in the trip when you are tired. Also you get a lot of big tickets rides off your to do list on the VIP day early in your trip, so your other park days are more relaxed since you’ve already hit all the big rides on the VIP day. Have fun with it!!

 

[jca1216]

Thanks for asking this question and thank you for so many great answers. We have two younger kiddos (5,7) that we are taking at a busier time and were thinking of doing a Private VIP Tour and hitting Pandora at AK and then going to MK for the rest of the time. I want to make sure we have enough time for the kids to ride any of their favorites twice if they want. Is 2 parks to much if I am wanting that? Should we just stick to 1 park? Also, how long did some of you do the tour to hit more than 1 park? Did you stick to the 7hr minimum or bump it up? I was thinking we may need to add time if we are wanting to do 2 parks and ride some of the rides more than once. I love to know that they can park in the back to save you time! The snacks seem like a great addition too!!

 

[trivan]

Thanks for asking this question and thank you for so many great answers. We have two younger kiddos (5,7) that we are taking at a busier time and were thinking of doing a Private VIP Tour and hitting Pandora at AK and then going to MK for the rest of the time. I want to make sure we have enough time for the kids to ride any of their favorites twice if they want. Is 2 parks to much if I am wanting that? Should we just stick to 1 park? Also, how long did some of you do the tour to hit more than 1 park? Did you stick to the 7hr minimum or bump it up? I was thinking we may need to add time if we are wanting to do 2 parks and ride some of the rides more than once. I love to know that they can park in the back to save you time! The snacks seem like a great addition too!!

We typically do 8 hours. And always do some ride multiple times. Best thing about the tours is you pay for what you use w/no commitments other then the 7 hours. If you want to extend for an additional hour or more they just charge you afterwards. It’s very flexible. Our first tour we went during Christmas break, super crowded, mine train was still a 3 hour standby wait, we did that 2xs, plus the majority of other FP rides in MK, as well as the other 3 parks in about 8 1/2hours. Unless your planning a sit down meal or extended breaks, book 7 or 8 and then go from there. Everyone is different but if you basically go from one ride to the next, I think you’ll have plenty of time. Remember a lot of time when at Disney is getting from one park to another using the common means of transport. You have your own driver/car and the travel time is minimal. Eg. For Epcot Soaring, you park on that side of the park, do the ride, get into the car, drive to the other side of the park and do Test track. It’s pretty cool how much walking is saved, which means time riding rides! Also remember if there is no fast pass, the tour can’t skip the line so do those rides on your own time. We think seeing the parades are worth the time, not having to camp out of a good spot. You can also ask then to go get you snacks while you watch the parade. My girls always ask for a funnel cake, since the vip seating for the MK parade is close to Sleepy hallow.

 

[jca1216]

We typically do 8 hours. And always do some ride multiple times. Best thing about the tours is you pay for what you use w/no commitments other then the 7 hours. If you want to extend for an additional hour or more they just charge you afterwards. It’s very flexible. Our first tour we went during Christmas break, super crowded, mine train was still a 3 hour standby wait, we did that 2xs, plus the majority of other FP rides in MK, as well as the other 3 parks in about 8 1/2hours. Unless your planning a sit down meal or extended breaks, book 7 or 8 and then go from there. Everyone is different but if you basically go from one ride to the next, I think you’ll have plenty of time. Remember a lot of time when at Disney is getting from one park to another using the common means of transport. You have your own driver/car and the travel time is minimal. Eg. For Epcot Soaring, you park on that side of the park, do the ride, get into the car, drive to the other side of the park and do Test track. It’s pretty cool how much walking is saved, which means time riding rides! Also remember if there is no fast pass, the tour can’t skip the line so do those rides on your own time. We think seeing the parades are worth the time, not having to camp out of a good spot. You can also ask then to go get you snacks while you watch the parade. My girls always ask for a funnel cake, since the vip seating for the MK parade is close to Sleepy hallow.

This is very helpful, thank you! We were thinking of doing 8 hours and not taking a long break to eat at a table service place, but instead do a quick service type meal during our tour to allow more time to hit the rides. I did not even think of doing a parade during this time. I think my girls would love that! This is our first time taking our kids so we are still learning all the tricks and perks that are out there to make it not only fun, but easier too lol. I appreciate all of your info!