VIP Tours and RotR Discussion

[GADisneyDad14]

We only have one day of park touring on this trip, so I've sort of resigned myself to the fact that we are going to switch to the early morning and do RoTR. It will be ok! I was actually able to switch our Oga's time to the morning and I'm kind of excited to see SWGE in the early am now! I was outvoted on the RoTR vs. EP Forever vote in my house, LOL! But that's ok! My DH and DS12 would much rather use a back entrance to DHS that morning to avoid that gigantic early morning line at the main entrance. I figure I can take a nap in the afternoon and maybe venture over to EP on my own in the evening to see EP Forever

Question if you don’t mind - are you planning on arranging the VIP guide to meet you super early and then enter the park (via whatever backstage method they use) and time it as such so you can join the boarding group when the park opens (which has been around 6:30 am)?

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

Thanks for the info! Would you mind going into detail a little more about how your day played out? We have a tour on Dec. 29 and I'm not sure if we should now start the tour super early and go to DHS with our guide or go to DHS on our own in the morning, join a boarding group and keep our tour as-is with a late afternoon start so we can do the VIP viewing of EP Forever. My inclination right now is to start the tour early as we will have to be up early regardless to get in a boarding group, but, dang, I wanted to see EP Forever!

ok so Monday we arrived at HS around 6am, there was a posted opening of 8am but gates opened around 6:30 with boarding groups open immediately. Got boarding group 23 and rode around 7:30. Our VIP tour was scheduled for 1:30 so we met up, started at AK, moved to HS, went on SR, SDD, TSMM, dinner, ToT, RNR, Met Chewbacca are and watched fireworks. We only did MK ok day 2. We did talk to him about how one should approach ROTR with a VIP tour and it seemed best to get there early, get a boarding group, then ideally have your tour start shortly thereafter. He said if you had a boarding group they would still escort you through once your group was called but he hasn’t had it happen yet so he wasn’t certain. Of course this would extend your tour timr beyond the 7 hours if you stayed for Epcot forever

 

[taramesu]

We have a VIP tour scheduled on Dec 27 and had planned for it to start at 2 PM at HS & end at MK with VIP fireworks viewing. If we change it to start in the morning at HS, I'm wondering what time would be best. We will have DAS also but will need a boarding group for RotR regardless.

 

[trivan]

I will lose the vote for the fireworks at MK. Seems as we’ll have a bunch of strategies after Dec. will be interesting to hear everyone’s experience as this is new territory for those up of us who book tours.
As @DisneyWishes14 said didn’t we all sign up for the Tours to avoid this level of headache?? Lol In 3 days, the tours post here on the 27,28,29 Disney is pulling in some serious revenue, you think they can figure something out.

 

[Marknj22]

He said if you had a boarding group they would still escort you through once your group was called but he hasn’t had it happen yet so he wasn’t certain. Of course this would extend your tour timr beyond the 7 hours if you stayed for Epcot forever

I'm curious what "escorting you through" would entail? This seems to suggest there may be benefits to VIP after you have a boarding pass. Less waiting in queues, for example? Or does "escorting" simply mean they'll come along with you like everyone else in line?

 

[Hieatt]

We have a VIP tour scheduled for 12/29 and I am really struggling with what to do with ROTR... thinking that maybe we try to ride ROTR on our only other park day on 12/30 so we don't have to get up early on our VIP tour day. But right now I think we are planning to go ahead with ROTR on 12/29 and plan to get to DHS around 5:30 am. I am really hoping that between now and then the VIP folks figure something out to avoid such a crazy early start... for $750/hour you'd like to think you should be able avoid a stressful morning waking up at 4 am...

 

[Marknj22]

We have a VIP tour scheduled for 12/29 and I am really struggling with what to do with ROTR... thinking that maybe we try to ride ROTR on our only other park day on 12/30 so we don't have to get up early on our VIP tour day. But right now I think we are planning to go ahead with ROTR on 12/29 and plan to get to DHS around 5:30 am. I am really hoping that between now and then the VIP folks figure something out to avoid such a crazy early start... for $750/hour you'd like to think you should be able avoid a stressful morning waking up at 4 am...

I agree. They can clearly create a ”Fastpass” when the ride breaks down or they don’t call your queue. The tech is in place. Why not, at the very least, secure a boarding group for VIPs? Or, at the end of the VIP tour at Hollywood Studios, upon request, offer a RotR FastPass for the next day? Of course, I’m sure operations has other concerns but one would think they’d make a little more effort for people spending over $5,000 plus tickets plus gratuities (and likely plus hotel) in a single day. Heck, even charge an extra hour for the privilege to weed out the real fans.

I completely appreciate that it’s a new ride and I’m sure they’d love to offer it if allowed, but I feel like there’s a solution or compromise that shouldn’t involve getting up at 4am on a vacation specifically selected for convenience.

 

[trivan]

Maybe if enough people call the VIP planners to express our unhappiness with the change they will take action. it can’t hurt as all they can do is leave it as is. I’ll call this afternoon.

 

[Nycraig79]

Maybe if enough people call the VIP planners to express our unhappiness with the change they will take action. it can’t hurt as all they can do is leave it as is. I’ll call this afternoon.

I emailed last night asking for an update on access. My hopes are not too high, but can’t hurt

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Question if you don’t mind - are you planning on arranging the VIP guide to meet you super early and then enter the park (via whatever backstage method they use) and time it as such so you can join the boarding group when the park opens (which has been around 6:30 am)?

Yes, that's my current plan. If the pattern continues that they open the park around 6:30 am (we are going on an 8:00 am opening day, but I suppose that could change), I was thinking of asking the VIP guide to pick us up at 6:00 am (if that's even possible) and use the backstage entrance to DHS. This is what my friend did on Dec. 5. She said as soon as they scanned in for the park, the VIP guide helped them get a BG on the app. They then rode everything in TSL and Smuggler's Run before their BG was called. Other than having to adjust their start time, it worked out well for them. I feel like that really is the only VIP advantage right now - private transportation to DHS, entering the park away from the huge line and scanning quickly when the park opens. For us, that totally beats having to wait at the main park entrance with a huge crowd during Christmas week.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Yes, that's my current plan. If the pattern continues that they open the park around 6:30 am (we are going on an 8:00 am opening day, but I suppose that could change), I was thinking of asking the VIP guide to pick us up at 6:00 am (if that's even possible) and use the backstage entrance to DHS. This is what my friend did on Dec. 5. She said as soon as they scanned in for the park, the VIP guide helped them get a BG on the app. They then rode everything in TSL and Smuggler's Run before their BG was called. Other than having to adjust their start time, it worked out well for them. I feel like that really is the only VIP advantage right now - private transportation to DHS, entering the park away from the huge line and scanning quickly when the park opens. For us, that totally beats having to wait at the main park entrance with a huge crowd during Christmas week.

Got it. Yeah, if you can time it as such that you can get picked up that early and then be backstage / ready to scan your admission as soon as the park opens (and hoping they have it timed right!), I guess that will work. Wonder if they have the ability to tap in your park admission any earlier than the front gates, or if it only all ‘turns on’ at once?

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We have a VIP tour scheduled for 12/29 and I am really struggling with what to do with ROTR... thinking that maybe we try to ride ROTR on our only other park day on 12/30 so we don't have to get up early on our VIP tour day. But right now I think we are planning to go ahead with ROTR on 12/29 and plan to get to DHS around 5:30 am. I am really hoping that between now and then the VIP folks figure something out to avoid such a crazy early start... for $750/hour you'd like to think you should be able avoid a stressful morning waking up at 4 am...

Yeah. I just realized that our tour day is scheduled the day after a fairly early travel day. I may have to see if we can switch to the day after and that means trying to rearrange every other plan I made (dining reservations, movie tickets, etc.). I'm trying to stay positive about this, but this ride is really curtailing every other plan I made for our trip. argh. When I spoke to the VIP tour group yesterday, they told me to call them the DAY BEFORE the tour to get an update. I'm kind of assuming we should know around Dec. 22 or Dec. 23 if they are changing this policy for the holiday season? ugh, who knows.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Got it. Yeah, if you can time it as such that you can get picked up that early and then be backstage / ready to scan your admission as soon as the park opens (and hoping they have it timed right!), I guess that will work. Wonder if they have the ability to tap in your park admission any earlier than the front gates, or if it only all ‘turns on’ at once?

I'm going to call and ask!!!

 

[Hieatt]

I'm going to call and ask!!!

Please report back! This could end up being the silver lining... possibly saving an hour of standing outside the park with throngs of people waiting for the gates to open and being stressed about getting in fast and getting a boarding number.

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

I'm curious what "escorting you through" would entail? This seems to suggest there may be benefits to VIP after you have a boarding pass. Less waiting in queues, for example? Or does "escorting" simply mean they'll come along with you like everyone else in line?

I think what he was saying is his job is to make sure you get on the ride. Typically they walk through the fast pass line with you and often times skip part of even the fast pass line for faster boarding. They don’t have any instruction for ROTR yet so I think it would probably just be walking you through it, perhaps riding with you and maybe even getting to skip part of the queue but even he did not know for sure.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Please report back! This could end up being the silver lining... possibly saving an hour of standing outside the park with throngs of people waiting for the gates to open and being stressed about getting in fast and getting a boarding number.

I was going to wait and call on Monday, but now that they changed the DHS opening time to 6:00 am on our VIP day, I think I'm going to call today to try to get some more info. I am probably, now, going to reschedule our tour for 5:30 am or even 5:15 am to get to the backstage entrance just before 6:00 am so we can tap in as soon as the park opens (or earlier if possible). If we can get an early boarding group, it means we can knock out all of DHS (we are only interested in SWGE and TSL) before, maybe, 9:30 am and then head over to AK. I know this means our tour would end at 12:15/12:30 pm, but that would actually mean we could nap and go to the pool (pending weather) in the afternoon (which is what we had originally planned to do in the AM prior to the tour) and still make it to EP in the evening to go to our Takumi-Tei ADR. So, while it's a bit of re-configuring, it's not a complete bust. The only downside is this will be the second day in a row we have to wake up early, but I, personally, think it will be worth it. Haven't asked DH and DS12's opinion on that one yet, LOL! It's kind of funny, part of my plan was to see SWGE at night, but, I figure, if we get there before sunrise, it might have the same lighting effects?!

 

[Hieatt]

Uggh, 5:30 am departure is not going to be popular with our crew - that includes 6 kids ages 11-17!! I’m holding out hope that Disney will come up with a solution in the next 12 days for VIP tours to ride without arriving by 6 am.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Haven't asked DH and DS12's opinion on that one yet, LOL!

Yeah, good luck with that.

 

[Nycraig79]

Uggh, 5:30 am departure is not going to be popular with our crew - that includes 6 kids ages 11-17!! I’m holding out hope that Disney will come up with a solution in the next 12 days for VIP tours to ride without arriving by 6 am.

I feel like the only way they are going to make these changes is by continuing to hear from guests. I would keep calling. I just keep getting the generic reply about no guaranties.

 

[Nycraig79]

I just spoke with Signature Services and they told me that they would not be able to enter the park before the official opening time of 7am. They seemed unaware that the park was opening earlier. It just feels like nobody put any thought into these tours and you just have to wait and see.