Australians travelling to Disneyland - is VIP worth it???

[Hawkeye83]

Hi our family are travelling to Disneyland in September. Does anyone have any advice on which character restaurants to eat at?
We have a 10day pass but will only go for 8days as 2 days we are at Legoland
Our children are 6yrs and 4yrs old.
Does anyone have an experience with the VIP tours? I know they are crazy expensive but just trying to work out if they would add to our trip experience as my Inlaws are also coming so the cost is split over 6 people (4adults / 2 children).
Thanks so much!

 

[Westcoastwild]

8 days is a TON of time for DLR. I wouldn't pay for a VIP tour in that case.

You could tour the parks at a very slow pace and still see everything in 8 days. I'm no speed demon, and I don't spend the whole day at the parks, and I could still cover everything in 4 days. It might take you longer with rider swap and a larger party, but still, I would think you could easily cover both parks in 6.

 

[BecAus]

Goofy' Kitchen at D/L Hotel was ok - we went for dinner but it's too far for me to be bothered walking but many like it & don't mind the walk. You will only see ~ 4 characters there though.

We prefer Minnie's B/F at Plaza Inn in D/L - loads of characters (the most of any character meal).
We usually schedule it on our Magic Morning - go in at rope drop, get 2-3hrs of rides done while the park is at its quietest then sit down to a relaxed B/F at 10 - 10.30am

We haven't done Legoland but it's supposed to be great for kids your age.

I don't think the VIP tour is worth it but hey, if you can afford the cost and want to do it why not : )

In AUD it's something like 4 K from memory? (You have to factor in a tip on top of the quoted price - I think I read on here recently that can be a few hundred USD but I guess that comes down to the individual- I'm not certain what the correct or proper protocol is)
To me personally it's not worth it.
We use a planning program (Ridemax) to work out our days - at least a guide/ or start to the day - don't always stick to it, just gives you an idea of the best way to go about it.
After 6 trips we really shouldn't need to use it but I can't help myself : )

We did do a VIP tour of Universal Studios Hollywood last year - whilst it was ok & lunch was really lovely - no way was it worth the cost. It isn't priced anywhere near D/L's but still pretty $$$. We'd been several times before and mostly bought express pass & I would definitely do that again but not the VIP.
D/L is much bigger than Universal however hence it's more $$$.

My son & I will be back again in Sept - we too have the 10day ticket - we will be there for 8 days in Anaheim, we are only doing Disneyland / DCA this trip - so many things we still haven't done.
Also going to a couple of the Mickey's Halloween Parties (end of Sept)
We will likely do the WOC Dessert Party again and the Fantasmic Dining Pkg at Blue Bayou.

Best of luck with whatever you decide - I'm sure you would like the VIP tour but to me personally it's not worth the cost.

 

[cruisehopeful]

I agree that with 8 days in the parks, you don't need the VIP tour. The tour is great for getting to lots of rides and having a seated area at one of the night shows, but since you have 8 days, you'll have no problem getting to all of the rides. You can get seated areas for the night shows by booking World of Color dessert party ($79.USD/person) and by reserving a Fantasmic dinner package (only some of those have seated areas).

 

[BriannaRuth]

I agree; I've done the VIP tour and with 8 days would probably save my $$ for something else, unless you just have the $$ to spend and it won't make a difference. For that much money you could do the dining packages for F! and WOC dessert party and rent a cabana at the pool for a couple half days if you're staying onsite.

 

[ParkHopper1]

I have done the VIP Tour and it is an amazing experience...you can get more done in 6 hours than most people do in three days and it can be well worth the cost. With that said, I agree with others...on an 8 day trip you do not really need it.

I would take that money and instead do all of the premium experiences that you can spread out over the 8 days like WOC Dessert Seating, MSEP dining package, Dining Package for Fantasmic, Frozen package, Skyline Lounge, nice table service meal like Carthay Circle etc.

If you were only going for a few days...I would say VIP tour day...but with 8 days on site, splurge elsewhere and spread that value over the duration of your whole trip IMO.

 

[Hawkeye83]

Thank you so much everyone for replying! The VIP thing is really expensive so we aren't going to do it and instead we are going to follow everyone's advice and do lots of character meals / WOC / F! Over our stay we have been saving for many many years now so trying to balance cost of activities vs missing out because it's so expensive for us to fly over again!

 

[Is This Real]

Thank you so much everyone for replying! The VIP thing is really expensive so we aren't going to do it and instead we are going to follow everyone's advice and do lots of character meals / WOC / F! Over our stay we have been saving for many many years now so trying to balance cost of activities vs missing out because it's so expensive for us to fly over again!

We have been here for 5 days and done just about everything. You won't need a VIP.

We did the Dessert Party at World of Color last night and I would highly recommend it.

 

[LYSE]

That's a long stay at DLR, you should have plenty of time to hang out and relax..hope you have a great time.

Are you staying on site? If not I would put the money towards switching hotels if you can.

 

[Hawkeye83]

We are doing the first 4 days at Courtyard Marriott and then off to Legoland for 2 nights, then our last 4 days at Disneyland hotel
I'm hoping the Disneyland hotel is ok

 

[Staceycs]

Hi our family are travelling to Disneyland in September. Does anyone have any advice on which character restaurants to eat at?

Hi Hawkeye83, September is absolutely our most favourite time to visit DL from Oz. In terms of Character Meals, I have to say that Minnie's is our favourite, as it's usually where we've seen our favourite characters and the most 'traditional' characters too. I love the energy at Goofy's Kitchen as well and there are some really different and fun food selections. I know it's not everyone's opinion, but we just found Storyteller's to be a little dull. We are doing the breakfast at PCH Grill in our next trip and I'm sure our kids (2&4) will love it.

A side note too just to say that I love, love, love the 10-Day ticket...of course we don't spend all-day everyday in the parks, but knowing that we have the ability to come and go as much or as little as we please for the entire trip is really magical.

Happy planning

 

[Nonsuch]

We are doing the first 4 days at Courtyard Marriott and then off to Legoland for 2 nights, then our last 4 days at Disneyland hotel
I'm hoping the Disneyland hotel is ok

Much better than "ok"

You are a party of 6, so you must have 2 rooms or a suite.
You might consider a Signature Suite. These include some some special amenities, which may allow booking preferred viewing (like a VIP tour).

 

[Montanabel]

Hi Hawkeye83

Seeing your saving some money on not doing the VIP Tour, have you thought about doing one of the Disney Halloween parties? We went last year and it was great - we don't have anything like here in Oz. The kids might enjoy dressing up and trick and treating?

 

[LYSE]

We are doing the first 4 days at Courtyard Marriott and then off to Legoland for 2 nights, then our last 4 days at Disneyland hotel
I'm hoping the Disneyland hotel is ok

We are always torn between the DisneyLand Hotel and Grand Californian you'll have a great time.

 

[Hawkeye83]

Thank you so much for everyones advice! My husband is happy for us to do a few character meals just trying to now work out the timing of them.
Ive booked PCH Grill for breakfast and then Goofys Kitchen on the 1st full day we have as we will start our Disneyland 10day pass the next day and these restaurants are off site.

I'm now just trying to work out what time would be best for Ariels Grotto - either late breakfast or early lunch? any advice?
Then the next day do a late breakfast at Plaza Inn.

Any advice on dinner packages for Fantasmic?
Thanks so much again!

 

[Aurora_Australis]

We did an early is lunch at AG, 11am I think? We had a large party with 4 kids and we're more than ready to sit down and relax by that time. It is a longer meal I think, by the time all courses and princesses come out. We had a birthday cake too so that added time. You've got plenty of days to check out DCA so I wouldn't worry too much about missing out on those quieter am hours. Grab some FPS before you head in and wait in peace.


Also, the late brekkie at Plaza is awesome! The food was so yummy! (Although I would go back at lunch another day just for the fried chicken!).