VIPTours for extra help and reduced wait time

[Betty Rohrer]

Aside from Peter Pan, I don't know of a single attraction where a moving walkway cannot be stopped in Disney World. They may not like to do it, but it is a reasonable accommodation to ask for a moving walkway to be stopped, as I said aside from at Peter Pan where doing so would literally cause the ride to shut down (poor design on that one).

from what I have found People Mover also can not be stopped

 

[SueM in MN]

from what I have found People Mover also can not be stopped

That is correct.
Stopping the PeopleMover (AKA - Tommorowland Transit Authority) means the ride stops. There have been incidents where guests climbed out of the ride cars when it stopped and were walking on the track or space between the 2 tracks where they pass. Very dangerous!

The moving walkway for loading and unloading on that attraction is metal (think of the stair tread on escalators). It’s somewhat slippery when stopped.
I have been on the attraction when the moving ramp to get up and down from the ground to the elevated load/unload station has stopped. It is quite slippery.

 

[Bete]

The money saved not using a VIP tour service should allow you to add two days at a hotel and park tickets. As you add days the park tickets become cheaper each day.

 

[mamabunny]

Thanks for the replies all! Unfortunately I'm not scheduling or paying for the trip so I have no say regarding how long we stay. Ditto for getting my parents to use any kind of accommodation like a scooter or a wheelchair - my mom has slipped two discs already and been immobilized for weeks at a time but heaven forbid she use a scooter - those are for old people, lol! Going to give me a heart attack one of these days, she is paying me back for my teenage years, I think.

LOL, yeah she's probably paying you back! Just wait... LOL

Seriously, please tell your mom this for me: personal mobility devices are *NOT* just for "old" people. They are a *TOOL* that she can use to make the most of her time at Disney World.

Does she refuse to use a calculator, if she needs to do some math quickly & accurately? That's a tool.

Does she refuse to use glasses, or hearing aids, if she needs them? Both of those are tools.

Even your smartphone is a tool - it is a machine that is used to accomplish a specific task.

The ECV (or "scooter" or wheelchair or personal mobility device) lets the user go further, and allows them (typically) to have a "normal" day in the park. And just like you don't use a hammer to sign a check at the bank, you don't have to use a personal mobility device anywhere else; many, many of the people you will see at Disney World using devices only use them during their time at WDW.

And if she is worried about someone seeing her use the device? Here's a couple of numbers for her: Last year, more than 72 million people visited Orlando - that's the 2017 figure. That means, on any given day, there's about 197,000 people visiting Orlando. I don't know about you, but I figure that stretches the odds of actually seeing anyone you know (besides the people you travel with) to almost zero.

Last, but not least is this: She can limp along, and slow everyone else down, and be in pain, and be miserable - and by extension, cause everyone else to be miserable - or she can use one of the tools at her disposal to enjoy her time at WDW. What good does it do her to try and power through a trip at Disney World, only to be in such poor shape by (if not before) the end of the trip? The average Guest at WDW walks 3 to 10 miles PER DAY.

I'm *not* an "old woman", and I have to use a personal mobility device every day now. I don't have to like it, but the alternative for me is to sit on the sidelines, and wish I was part of the fun. I choose to use the tools I need to do what I want. I don't know about your family, but our family goes to WDW to have fun, not to limp from bench to bench, or spend our nights with ice packs and heating pads.

Tell your Mama I'll be the one waving like a princess as I sail on by on my personal scooter, having a great time!

 

[DisneyOma]

And if she is worried about someone seeing her use the device? Here's a couple of numbers for her: Last year, more than 72 million people visited Orlando - that's the 2017 figure. That means, on any given day, there's about 197,000 people visiting Orlando. I don't know about you, but I figure that stretches the odds of actually seeing anyone you know (besides the people you travel with) to almost zero.

Actually, that makes it more probable that you will run in to someone you know. The more people, the more chances that it will be someone you know, KWIM? But the big point is who cares if you are on a scooter? I think someone dragging around, trying to walk when in pain, etc, is going to look much older than a refreshed person who has saved energy by being on a scooter OP, you can tell your mother I said that

 

[Bete]

Scooters give you more time in the parks. You don't get as tired; because, you don't have to walk. Same is true with a wheelchair.

Park time is precious and you want as much as you can get.

 

[DisneyAuntie12]

Lol, I very much appreciate the validation on the scooter / wheelchair issue! Unfortunately my mom is just - a character. She wouldn't even change her routine when she had the slipped discs, she would literally just scoot across the room with her arms doing laundry and such like it was all business as usual. I realize at this point that this is a battle I'm just not going to win!

Regarding the tour service - at this point I feel fairly confident that I'll be ok without them, although my family now thinks I'm speaking a foreign language when I say "Ok, so what are we thinking about Magic Your Way if we score a free dining plan, will those credits cover our character meals? Also, I'll need everyone on the app so we can FastPass+ and also schedule rope drops for all the headliners, and then we need to think about evening shows..." I feel like Disney does require a lot of research for a vacation! My family is still like "What's a dining plan? How the heck do you do a FastPass? Rope what?". Still, for the price that a guide or agent costs, I think the extra research time on the intrawebz is totally worth it!

 

[DisneyOma]

Still, for the price that a guide or agent costs, I think the extra research time on the intrawebz is totally worth it!

Agent? Do you mean travel agent? I've never paid a travel agent for anything - are there agents you have to pay?

 

[kamik86]

Yeah my understanding on those tours is they were much more useful back in the days of paper passes. Then while you were on a ride the guide could go and get you another fast pass. It gave you a built in runner which espeically for a group that can't move as fast could save alot of time.

 

[anonymousegirl]

Agent? Do you mean travel agent? I've never paid a travel agent for anything - are there agents you have to pay?

Now days many travel agents have to charge fees because the industry doesn't pay them very much. Airlines used to give commission, now only for business and first class tickets--and who can afford to pay for those?
Hotels used to pay commission--now they have dropped their commission to under 10%--so if you are paying $200 for that room-the agent gets $20-before tax!
Many travel agencies do not pay salaries--the agent is paid by commissions earned. And some agencies take half of the commissions as their fees, so remember that $20 from that hotel--it's really $15 or even $10-again, before tax.
Then if an agent creates a custom itinerary, that's hours and hours of work researching and booking hotels, tours, car, trains etc. With very little commission coming in to pay for those hours of work.
Not every travel agent has fees. But more and more of them do because that's the only way for them to get paid.

 

[Allison]

Very, very few Disney specialist travel agents charge fees to the client.

 

[MacMama0930]

I know that this is an older thread but I wanted to add my take on the outside VIP company. I have recently booked them for 2, maybe 3 days, and I understand what I’m paying for. They can’t magically whisk you into every fast pass line. But I don’t expect that. Disney can do that but that’s why they’re $500-$600 per hour and My VIP Tour is $175/hr. It’s bananas to think that for the fraction of the price you would get the same perk.

HOWEVER, from everything I’ve read (and experienced), Disney simply acts like a human fast pass, which is NOT what I’m looking for. In fact, I’m doing the club level FP so I actually 6 FPs on those days. What I want, and what I understand they do for you, is GUIDE you. For first timers, who don’t know our way around the parks? That’s awesome. Someone to stand in line for a character meet while I eat a dole whip? Amazing. Someone else to look down at their phone and book extra fast passes or check wait times? Fantastic. Waiting in a line and feel like an iced coffee from Starbucks? Ya, they have runners in the park that will hand deliver. Worth its weight in gold. Once I got over the ethical issues that I was him-hawying about, I realized what a no brainer it was for us.

 

[DisneyOma]

I know that this is an older thread but I wanted to add my take on the outside VIP company. I have recently booked them for 2, maybe 3 days, and I understand what I’m paying for. They can’t magically whisk you into every fast pass line. But I don’t expect that. Disney can do that but that’s why they’re $500-$600 per hour and My VIP Tour is $175/hr. It’s bananas to think that for the fraction of the price you would get the same perk.

HOWEVER, from everything I’ve read (and experienced), Disney simply acts like a human fast pass, which is NOT what I’m looking for. In fact, I’m doing the club level FP so I actually 6 FPs on those days. What I want, and what I understand they do for you, is GUIDE you. For first timers, who don’t know our way around the parks? That’s awesome. Someone to stand in line for a character meet while I eat a dole whip? Amazing. Someone else to look down at their phone and book extra fast passes or check wait times? Fantastic. Waiting in a line and feel like an iced coffee from Starbucks? Ya, they have runners in the park that will hand deliver. Worth its weight in gold. Once I got over the ethical issues that I was him-hawying about, I realized what a no brainer it was for us.

Some of what you describe involves line-cutting, which is not allowed at WDW.

 

[MacMama0930]

Some of what you describe involves line-cutting, which is not allowed at WDW.

I’ve seen just about every single poster talk about one parent waiting in line for a meet and greet while the other takes the kids on a ride. There’s no difference.

 

[DisneyOma]

Waiting in a line and feel like an iced coffee from Starbucks? Ya, they have runners in the park that will hand deliver. Worth its weight in gold. Once I got over the ethical issues that I was him-hawying about, I realized what a no brainer it was for us.

This part above is line cutting.

 

[MacMama0930]

How is someone bringing you a coffee line cutting?

 

[DisneyOma]

How is someone bringing you a coffee line cutting?

They have to cut past people, don't they? How do they get past the FP+ checkpoint in the first place? Or are you not talking about being in the queue?

 

[MacMama0930]

To me, this

They have to cut past people, don't they? How do they get past the FP+ checkpoint in the first place? Or are you not talking about being in the queue?

Well in CA, a lot of our queues are outside and easily accessible for people to simply hand someone a coffee. Besides, in line or being greeted with coffee as you step off a ride = worth it's weight in gold. It's like having a personal assistant/nanny in the park with you, which to me, sounds absolutely heavenly.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

Someone to stand in line for a character meet while I eat a dole whip? Amazing. QUOTE]

And this is the part that REALLY sounds like line-cutting! Not cool. Eat your Dole Whip while you stand in line thank you very much.

 

[MacMama0930]

And this is the part that REALLY sounds like line-cutting! Not cool. Eat your Dole Whip while you stand in line thank you very much.

mmmk