VIP Touring at Disney World -- anyone done it?

[Mommy to Kayla]

We have a two-week trip to Orlando coming up next month, we are actually venturing outside of Magic Kingdom and spending one day at Sea World and three at Universal. The rest of the time we are at Disney World (where I want to be!).

My girlfriend and her two daughters are meeting my family (DH, DD turning 9 while there, DS 6 months and my mom) there and staying a week. She decided to pay for the VIP touring (???) and invited us along for free! She said we will have a guide for 6 hours on three of our days there. It's terribly expensive, I would never pay for it, but I'm glad she did and invited us along! Anyway, she said they will pick us up and that we get to basically ride anything we want and that we can even watch shows, parades, etc.

Has anyone ever done this or know anyone who has? She's not a big Disney planner and she hasn't given me much info about it except that we have it those three days from 12-6:00.

Anyway, just looking for info from anyone who has done this. I'm SO excited.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

I'm gonna look but someone posted a thread a bit back if you look that was very detailed about the experience - to me it seemed like a total waste of money but your not paying so enjoy! I'll try to find it for you - there was nothing at all though that screamed value or unique experience.

 

[Mommy to Kayla]

Really? Ok, I will search for it. Wow, it's costing her several thousand so I would hope it would be unique! lol But you're right, I'm not paying for it so I will go with the flow.

 

[JaxDad]

There are at least a couple threads on VIP tours if you do a search. I recall a relatively recent one (2 months or so ago) that was basically a mini trip report. I remember it sounded awesome!

 

[minnie mum]

Holy disposable income, Batman! 18 hours of VIP tours? At $315/hr. That's $5670. Plus tip. In addition to the park tickets. No way I'd pay that just for unlimited FPs, which is essentially what you're getting.

This is what you get on the tour:https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/events-tours/vip-tour-services/

 

[JaxDad]

Value is all in the eye of the beholder! Most people would not see value in the amount of time and money the average DISer spends on Disney every year!

 

[Mommy to Kayla]

Value is all in the eye of the beholder! Most people would not see value in the amount of time and money the average DISer spends on Disney every year!

Agree!

I found the thread, it still sounds great to me. I thought you get front of the line access, it sounds like you basically get to walk right up to the fast pass line at any ride you want. Which, while not the absolute best, is still pretty cool because we don't have to wait for a window, mess around with the app, or any of those things. Again, my family gets to tag along, I'm just happy to be invited. I'll see if it is anything I would want to purchase on my own in the future. (Probably not, but you never know)

 

[Jadyreen1282]

I went on wild Africa trek. Does that count?

 

[Lisaloo]

Really want to hear about your VIP tour experience. We have booked it for 2 days in July.

 

[Wendybird55]

I just recently did the Ultimate Star Wars Weekend VIP tour..I know it is different from the VIP experience you're doing, but if the service is anything similar you will love it. Without getting into details about the actual SWW VIP Tour what I can say is that the CM Tour Guides were wonderful! They did everything they could to make our experience hassle free and totally enjoyable despite the 90+ temperatures and crowds. My impression is when it comes to VIP tours, Disney makes sure every detail is addressed and everything that can be done to make it the best experience possible will be. It was just so wonderful to have someone else worry about getting spots for shows and parades and to and from rides...they do know the best routes from point A to B. We paid over $300 per person for this tour and we all agree it was worth it.

 

[antman]

I've read a lot about the ultimate star wars weekend vip tour and plan to do it in 2016. Already have BW booked 5/19 - 5/22, just need SWW to be officially announced and the VIP packages to be available. I'm not a very patient person, the wait is killing me.

 

[Aurora0427]

One of my friends just did it and their guide was able to get them into several hard to get restaurants with the exception of BOG.

 

[Lisaloo]

Our experience was wonderful. We toured MK for 6 hours one day and AK and HS for 7 hours another day. We had chickens (including me) and thrill seekers in our family (DH, myself, DS17, DS15, DS13 and DD12) and Stephanie was great at dividing us up and making the most of our time. We did quite a few meet and greets including Anna and Elsa and we got VIP seating for the sing along while the teen boys were on ToT and Aerosmith. We met her at 9am both days and had CS lunches. We would definitely splurge on this service again.

 

[Tondee]

Wow! How lucky! I know you will enjoy it.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We had a VIP tour guide for one day about 2 years ago. The guide will pick you up in a private SUV at your hotel and take you to whatever park you want to go to. You will park in a backstage area and be escorted into the park by the guide. If you want to hop, you will simply get back in the SUV and the guide will take you to the next park and will park as close to the first attraction you want to experience as they can. The guide basically works as an instant and unlimited FP+. You will have immediate access to any FP+ line you want to join (with, I believe, the exception of ETWB). They also have access to private viewing areas at all of the shows, parades and fireworks. So, for example, we were in MK and my DS wanted to go back to DHS and see Indiana Jones, so the guide got on the phone, arranged our seats, we got in the SUV and off we went. The only thing our guide couldn't walk us into was the Jedi Training sign-ups. If you want to do Jedi Training, you still have to wait in the regular line. We didn't ask our guide to get us any ADR's, but he would have tried if we had asked. He suggested, for time's sake, that we eat QS so we could maximize his time with us, so we ate at Columbia Harbour House in MK where they had a private room roped off for VIP tour guests.

You will see and do A LOT by having a VIP guide for 3 days. One thing I would suggest, if you want priority seating at any of the nighttime shows (Wishes, Illuminations, MSEP, Fantasmic) you may want to do one later day with the VIP guide (3 pm to 9 pm for example), so they can arrange priority seating at the nighttime shows.

 

[Accident]

Anyway, just looking for info from anyone who has done this. I'm SO excited.

They are your guide through the park, you tell them what you want to do when, they make it happen and get you there. You will have unlimited fast pass and anywhere you want to eat they will get you a reservation for the perfect time, at the best tables. They even provide private transportation if your park hopping (skipping main entrances).

Some interesting things to request: Some rides like space mountain have 2 tracks, ask to do both and usually you do them back to back...

 

[Grandma G]

Given that there are no FP lines between 7:00 PM and 12:00 AM, does anyone happen to know if it's possible to book a VIP Guide/Tour during Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party (for instance, from 6:00 PM to 12:00 AM) that would provide your group, in essence, front-of-the-line access to a menu of rides plus VIP viewing of its Parade, Stage Show and Fireworks?

 

[soniam]

I've read a lot about the ultimate star wars weekend vip tour and plan to do it in 2016. Already have BW booked 5/19 - 5/22, just need SWW to be officially announced and the VIP packages to be available. I'm not a very patient person, the wait is killing me.

We are planning on doing the SWW VIP package too, assuming it's offered. They didn't announce it last year until late March or early April though.

As for VIP tours, I haven't done one before. However, I just finished reading the Ride Delegate, written by a previous WDW VIP tour guide. It's a really good read and not too long. I think it was very useful for understanding how the VIP thing works and to help get the most out of your day.

 

[DisneyPrince1982]

If you get a VIP Tour, can you request to have dinner at BOG even without an ADR?

 

[DisneyWishes14]

If you get a VIP Tour, can you request to have dinner at BOG even without an ADR?

We asked our tour guide this very question and his response was, they will try their best but their is no guarantee they can get you into any TS restaurant or hard to get experience, such as BBB. He did say he was once able to get day-of reservations for a client at BBB, but it was a rare occasion. It was also my understanding that once the time you paid for is up, you are on your own. Meaning, if you have a guide from 12 pm - 6 pm, let's say, he's not going to get you into BOG at 7 pm. For us, anyway, it wasn't worth paying $300+ an hour to go, sit and eat at a TS when we could be hitting all the top rides and hopping to other parks with little to no wait.