We booked a Plaid! Need your thoughts please (itinerary)

Well sure, I know it's per hour, but for two of us are we looking at $425/hr or $$850/hr is the question?

Matt

It's in the link but:

  • All Private VIP Tours have a minimum duration of 7 continuous hours, and your party may include up to 10 Guests.
  • Parties larger than 10 Guests will require more than one VIP Tour Guide at the current rate. Please be aware that all party members—including infants—count toward the total number of Guests in your group.
I took that to mean that whether it's one person or 10 that it is $425 an hour.
 
It's in the link but:

  • All Private VIP Tours have a minimum duration of 7 continuous hours, and your party may include up to 10 Guests.
  • Parties larger than 10 Guests will require more than one VIP Tour Guide at the current rate. Please be aware that all party members—including infants—count toward the total number of Guests in your group.
I took that to mean that whether it's one person or 10 that it is $425 an hour.

Ahh I missed that! Thank you!

Matt
 


Since there is nothing reasonable about the price, there would be nothing reasonable about my plans! If I were putting out that kind of bucks, I would have a "you can sleep when you're dead" attitude and squeeze in every possible thing I could, regardless of how busy the day would be!

Hope you and your family have an absolutely AMAZING time!! pixiedust:
 


Will a VIP tour get you front off line access to SWGE rides in. Dec? (no FP AFAIK for these.)

Also, is a VIP tour wasted if you want to take it slow and easy with a toddler? What do you think?
 
Will a VIP tour get you front off line access to SWGE rides in. Dec? (no FP AFAIK for these.)

Also, is a VIP tour wasted if you want to take it slow and easy with a toddler? What do you think?

Well, as we know, you can get a different answer each time you ask, but today (Monday), I asked a CM doing my room reservation if he heard about any possible changes coming to the current SW Tour or if SW:GE could be part of a VIP tour. He noted that his division isn't the expert, but the clear impression CMs have been given is that GE demand is going to be so high and there will be no tours or other ways to get special access in the foreseeable future.
So again, DLR got the best of this opening. 😜
 
For the DIS Veterans, could you tell me: If I had a private VIP tour booked, can the Plaid provide me fast-pass access to Fantasmic at HS without requiring me to have a Fantasmic dining package earlier in the same day? I ask because there does seem to be some things that they don't seem to give access to. Additionally, how do those of you who have split VIP tours handle that logistically? I can see how that could be difficult to organize. I'd love to get your thoughts.
 
For the DIS Veterans, could you tell me: If I had a private VIP tour booked, can the Plaid provide me fast-pass access to Fantasmic at HS without requiring me to have a Fantasmic dining package earlier in the same day? I ask because there does seem to be some things that they don't seem to give access to. Additionally, how do those of you who have split VIP tours handle that logistically? I can see how that could be difficult to organize. I'd love to get your thoughts.
We have our tour ending at MK with priority seating for Happily Ever After. Our guide will get us set up with our seating and that will conclude our tour. I’d imagine you could do that with Fantasmic too.
 
We have our tour ending at MK with priority seating for Happily Ever After. Our guide will get us set up with our seating and that will conclude our tour. I’d imagine you could do that with Fantasmic too.
Thanks for the reply. Where does the plaid place you for the fireworks at Magic kingdom?
 
I may or may not have been a plaid in a former life...

Honestly, as long as you have an idea of where you want to start and a list of MUST do's... feel free to leave everything else up in the air. You'll have to meet that seven hour minimum, but after that, you can keep going as long as you want to (or are willing to pay for), and you can decide that day. If you finish MK and DHS and feel up for DAK, go for it! If you feel tired, you can end there. You can even decide to split up if some people want to go back to the resort and rest and some want to stay out and continue riding things. Hitting every ride in MK used to take around 5 hours, with kids, including stops for restrooms, snacks and lunch. Just to give you an idea of your timing :)

What I would say, is if you think you MIGHT want to see any entertainment (fireworks, parade, stage shows, etc), make sure you let them know ASAP. It is much easier to cancel a viewing if you decide not to use it than to book one same-day with little notice. Same with any dining reservations.

Also, be prepared to be more tired than usual. I know it seems counter-intuitive, but a day of not standing in line can be exhausting. A line gives you time to slow down and relax a bit. With a tour, you'll be on the go from the minute you meet your guide. I always recommended a table service lunch or dinner if the family was planning to stay out all day, just for a chance for some down time.

How do you let them know in advance? At what point will we get assigned to our tour guide to let them know what we want to do?
 
Hey There GeneralTso! I booked a VIP Tour experience that was similar to your circumstances this apst August; we had 8 adults, and one teenager in our party, started off at Animal Kingdom Lodge - Jambo House, and did close to your 7 hours, with 8 hours total with our guide. If you want to see how it went down, please take a look at my post in another thread at the following link:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/has-anyone-done-a-private-tour-of-disney.3701285/#post-59636939

As you'll read in my post, we were able to visit all 4 parks on a hot August day. When you consider the fact that most of the the set-itinerary VIP tours are close to $300/person, the bigger your group -the better the value. I read that you're interested in booking a sit-down meal. While that is a nice idea, perhaps it would increase the value of your tour time to maybe have that sit down meal before/after your tour? We did a Boma breakfast and had our pick up point be at Jambo House. The buffet breakfast kept us full almost the entirety of our tour time (we only stopped twice, once for churros and drinks, and the other for ice cream and drinks). Being picked up at the same resort as breakfast made things easier and we were ready to go. After the tour, we were dropped off at our resort and had a QSR dinner, a little later than the typical time you would expect (around 10pm). Eating while on your tour can take up a substantial amount of time that could be used riding attractions. You'd basically be spending about $500 for a meal you're already spending out of pocket for. Light snacks and waters were offered to us twice during the tour, so that may also hold you over even more between food purchases. This paragraph is a suggestion, and do with it what you will.

Having your cast member drive you between attractions saves you a ton of time, and it's surprising how being able to cut through backstage areas suddenly makes certain attractions that much closer. Not having to worry about going through security multiple times and waiting in bus/boat/monorail lines felt like a luxury.

While your cast member is willing to work with you on what you want to do, (sometimes at a moment's notice) it's great to allow flexibility as well. Weather, and an attraction going down happened during our time with our guide, she was able to move things originally planned, and seamlessly work in spontaneous attraction decisions. We almost had a stagnant amount of free time towards the end of our planned tour time, and before going to our reserved Happily Ever After viewing area that was arranged by our guide... we had accomplished everything we wanted and then some during our time. Your mileage and needs may vary, bvut it is very possible to get quite a few headliners done in 7 hours.

If you want more specific insight, and know who our cast member guide was; feel free to message me. You can put in a preference to see if a specific cast member is available when making/updating your reservation, and well our cast member was amazing and perfect for our group in our 20s. She was high energy, yet easy going. I would have no problem recommending her. Having her with us for the day made her feel like the 10th family member of our group, and a great bond was made.

In any case, I hope you have the best time during your tour. Also, be persistent with the Fastpasses for your large group... we were a group of 9, and between FP+ and our guided tour; we were able to do Flight of Passage 3 times during our week-long stay without having to wait in standby once.

I would like to know who you recommend as we have one booked for Sept
 
We have done this several times, and I have a review somewhere that I will link when I have more time. I definitely agree with no sit down meal during your tour since you sound high energy. We do CS lunch, but I do not want to pay that much per hour to eat a sit down TS meal.

We usually skip EPCOT because the rides there tend to have long FP lines (TT for example), and there are so few rides, it doesn’t seem worth the driving time to get there, even through the back entrance. We have done EPCOT on a tour once, but we have cut it out on subsequent tours for the reasons above. We just get FPs for EPCOT another day. If the VIP day is your only day, then you might do all 4 parks.

We usually just give the Plaid team our wish list of rides and meet and greets, and let them pick the order of rides and parks. Sometimes we have to change our plan on the fly due to weather/ride closures, but the plaid can talk to other plaids at the other parks to get the real low down on what is happening there to decide to redirect or not.

I would say ride what you want more than once if you want to. We did FOP twice in a row, and SDMT 3 times in a row one year. Don’t feel like it is one ride and then on to the next. If you want to perfect your scoring on TSSM, ride it 4 times in a row (and get ready for a hand cramp!).

To repeat what OP said, tell them if you want priority parade or show viewing ahead of time (weeks ahead if you know) and you will need to make sure you start in the “right” park so you end up in the correct park at roughly the time of the parade or show you are wanting. The guide can help with this. Note that they can’t get you VIP seating for a parade or show unless they are still on the clock with you at the time of the event. So if you want VIP fireworks seating, plan your start time so that they are still with you at that time of night. The VIP viewing for the Festival of Fantasy parade was from the train station and was awesome this summer.

Try to carry the minimum that day, as you will really be moving. I left my backpack in the van several times, but do make sure that the van is the same one you will be in all day if you do that.

If you want certain rows on rides like Soarin’, be sure to let the guilde know and they can usually make that happen. Ask for scoring tips on Buzz and TSSM, as they have all the tricks!

Bring cash for the tip (usually at least 10-20%), as this is the only way to tip the guide who makes very little of what you actually pay for the tour.

We usually have them pick us up at our resort around 9am (only day we don’t have to RD!), and then plan to finish in a park and stay on at that park for the rest of the night (I book our FPs at the last park for evening, so we have some FPs to use after the guide is done for the day). We generally use 8-9 hours for 3 parks. It is much cheaper to Uber/Lyft back to your resort than have them drive you there at $500/hour!

Most importantly, you are paying gobs of money so just let them plan it. I am a super planner and this was hard for me to do at first. But they do a great job, so just let it go, and you will have a blast! PM those of us who have done the tour for guide recommendations, though you will want to look for guides that are good with your age group. Have fun!


When you want to ride something several times in a row do you have to get off and go all the way back around to the FP que or do you get to stay on?

And, if you want Parade viewing or fireworks shows, do you have to have them prebooked and prepaid or do you just tell them you want it and they include it as part of your hourly fee?
 
Thanks for the reply. Where does the plaid place you for the fireworks at Magic kingdom?

Magic Kingdom fireworks viewing is currently on the sidewalk beneath the trees on the right side of the Hub

How do you let them know in advance? At what point will we get assigned to our tour guide to let them know what we want to do?

Call or email DSS with your wish list. You won't know who your guide is until they come to meet you, but DSS will be able to pass along your must do list to your guide in advance.

When you want to ride something several times in a row do you have to get off and go all the way back around to the FP que or do you get to stay on?

And, if you want Parade viewing or fireworks shows, do you have to have them prebooked and prepaid or do you just tell them you want it and they include it as part of your hourly fee?

You'll have to exit and re-enter the FP queue if you want to re-ride anything. There are also occasionally attractions that ask that you limit or space out re-riding.

There's no additional fee for parade or fireworks or any other kind of reserved viewing. If you know you'll want it in advance, let DSS know so they can get you booked, since it's first-come, first-served and can fill to capacity. Otherwise, you can let your guide know day of and they can try to get you booked. Do note, though, that your guide will have to either be with you during or drop you in the viewing area beforehand. You can't book it for after they have left you, so if you're limiting your hours, plan accordingly.
 

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