DISNEY PREMIUM VIP TOUR REVIEW

[jmchic]

This was really interesting, thank you.

Does anyone know if they do something like this for the Make a Wish kids? When we were there last, I found myself thinking that I hope Disney gives them something like unlimited FPs or something to make seeing the park easier for them.

Make a Wish is an amazing organization and I would hope Disney would accommodate as many of those requests as possible but I can't say for sure or that I've heard how they handle those requests. Thanks for reading.

 

[jmchic]

OP- You said you had the guide all day for two days. Did you decide on what time the tour started? Do you tell them when making your reservation how long you want the tour to last or can you stop anytime after the 6hr. min.?

Sorry for late reply. You decide at the time of your booking about what time you want the tour to start and where you meet your guide. Just remember there is a 6 hr minimum charge regardless if you use them the whole time or not (can't imagine you wouldn't) but "YES" you can end tour anytime you want after that. At WDW you can meet the VIP guide in the park or they can come pick you up in a private vehicle at your hotel and drive your group around to all the parks and secret back entrances to avoid the long front gate lines. (this private transportation is included in the price of the tour and NOT an additional charge if you choose to use it) Would recommend this way at WDW because of its size (Parks much more spread out than DL California) and it maximizes your time especially if you are park hopping. If you are just staying in one park just meet them inside the park somewhere you designate or have them pick you up to avoid parking and that headache. At DL would recommend meeting inside park. We were told at time of booking that guide cannot get you through main entrance any faster than general line so why pay to have him/her wait with you to get in park. There is an area just inside gate near City Hall at DL where most VIP guides meet their clients. We chose to get through front gate ourselves, shop Main Street at our leisure and met our guide to start tour shortly after that to hit the attractions. Would recommend doing major shopping and browsing on your own time.

 

[jmchic]

Fascinating review! I can't imagine that I'll ever be able to afford this, but I could see the benefit of it during the busiest seasons. Then again, we try not to plan any trips during the busiest seasons.

Sorry for late reply, but yes Disney seems to only be getting busier despite price hikes and new ticket pricing based on crowded times. They almost don't have an off-season anymore. Just "busy" season and "ludicrous" season!

 

[jmchic]

Interesting review. However, it seems like it would be much cheaper to just buy yourself an extra 3-4 one day tickets and then be able to schedule 12-15 fast passes for the day, if you set up the extra tickets correctly.

Does the guide provide any additional touring beyond just taking you on all the rides?

Sorry for late reply. Can't say your multiple ticket option for same day and same person would work being that the FP reservations are linked to each individual ticket number and I don't see you being able to use 3 or 4 different tickets at the front gate with the cast member just to let one person in. Only the ticket that gets you in and recorded at gate has active Fast passes to use. Don't see any way to set up tickets "correctly" since you have to link each ticket to a person in your party and only that ticket used to gain entry is activated in the FP system. Rides are a big part but they are also DISNEY historians and can fill you in on all kind of interesting park facts and history. I can see them also being great at just prioritizing visits for people not familiar with the parks or first time visitors. Veterans of the parks and frequent fliers know where they want to go so ride access is usually a big perk for them. Thanks for reading.

 

[jmchic]

Thank you for a very informative review. You're right. This is not information that you can find easily anywhere, so it's worth it's weight in gold.

Sorry for late reply, Thank you for the feedback. I agree. I could find nothing but several year old reviews and way out of date pricing ($300/hr several years ago. NOT any more!) Pricing is now $400-600/hr and slightly higher if you are not staying in a Disney property. Thanks again for reading!

 

[jmchic]

Thanks for the review, very helpful!

We're heading out to Disneyland in September, and we'd actually just looked at the VIP tour this past weekend. You're right in that there is very little information out there about this tour, you really have to research to find info.

I do have a question, just to clarify what you said about Fantasyland in DL. My son is 3, and we'll have a 6-month old baby with us, so rides in Fantastyland are definitely the favorites. When you say there is no premium access, do you mean that for the rides you mentioned (Peter Pan, etc) we would still have to stand in the regular line to ride those rides? The 'big' rides aren't really what we're going for (since we'd have to ride one at a time so someone could stay with the kids) so I'm now wondering if, for the price, it would be worth it.

Sorry for late reply, But yes, unfortunately at DL, many of the smaller kiddie rides you would enjoy are not able to get you in. Regular long lines for those. This was a big let down for us too just because we like the classics. At WDW we were able to hit all of these without a wait. You may want to consider going to WDW in Orlando unless you're just trying out DL for the first time like us or you'll be in California anyway. I would suggest calling the DL VIP tour line and ask if this is still the case. Can't imagine they changed it from December but it is a bummer for the rates you are paying. Hope that helps.

 

[jmchic]

Thanks for the review. Very interesting. So you did two days of the VIP tour? Did you do two days at WDW too?

I would love to buy a Golden Fastpass for a day, but the thought of hoofing it around with a guide doesn't appeal to me at all.

 

[jmchic]

Sorry for late reply, Having been our first trip to DL (long overdue) We did a 12 hr tour at DL and about a 8 hr tour at Disney California Adventure park on separate days. DCA doesn't take near as long to get through with guide. DCA was not overly crowded even at Christmas but I am comparing that to WDW resort in Orlando which is insane at Christmas. 4hr standby line at TestTrack when we did our tour. (yes you read that right 240 mins. at 6 pm when the park closes at 10pm.) Your one and only ride that entire night? That's ridiculous. We did a one day tour at WDW because we have gone so many times, we did a park hopping attraction riding fest with our guide driving us in the private vehicle through all the back entrances. A real time saver and included with the tour. thanks for reading.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Thanks for sharing the review -- definitely not a lot out there on these tours! We've not done this, but did do the VIP Star Wars Wknd tour last year -- this sounds quite similar. We thought that day was well worth it for our group on a short trip... and what turned out to be the LAST SWW! Glad we did it.

 

[mmafan]

THANKS!!!!!! I was looking into doing one at UNIVERISAL to see all the harry potter stuff in one day and it would be $3700...but you can all pics included and breakfast lunch and dinner and a few other things that we don't get with a Disney vip.....

 

[whiporee]

HANKS!!!!!! I was looking into doing one at UNIVERISAL to see all the harry potter stuff in one day and it would be $3700...but you can all pics included and breakfast lunch and dinner and a few other things that we don't get with a Disney vip.....

It depends on the size of your group. Since Disney lets your group be up to 10 people (which is what we had) and Universal is per person, When I was plotting one this summer Universal came out about $1000 higher. But if you've got a smaller group, it probably is cheaper.

 

[jmchic]

I can't say the one at Disney and Universal is comparable. Universal has gradually been increasing the VIP experiences and what they include following in the footsteps of Disney. Universal definitely seems to be catching on and now offer much better experiences than in the past and definitely a better value for what you get. I would just make sure they offer the private VIP tours during high season times. I recall an email saying they were not offered during peak times for private but could be wrong. Sounds fun either way especially given the increased attendance due to Harry Potter world. Thanks again for reading.

 

[saxguy71]

We did the VIP Private Tour at WDW a few years ago. The one thing that anyone considering the tour should do is have a plan for exactly what you want to do before you start the tour. Yes, the tour can take you between the parks behind the scenes, but traveling takes time - as does trying to figure out what to do next. There's nothing worse than going across the park and then having to go back across the other way to do something you added at the last minute to eat up valuable time.

 

[whiporee]

I recall an email saying they were not offered during peak times for private but could be wrong

I was there last week and it was about as crowded as it could be, and they offered tours. Talked to a couple of them while waiting at Olivanders. It's an eight-hour day with them, as opposed to hourly with WDW.

One thing that is good about them compared to WDW is that Universal's is pure FOL -- they take you into the exit line and load you into the next car that comes along. WDW's just gives you unlimited FPs. According to my kids, Universal's Express Pass leads to longer waits than FPs do, but if you're doing the tour you bypass everything and end up in the very front.

 

[magicjojo]

First thing I'll say is that if I could comfortably afford this (meaning, I don't even think it's very expensive and I'm not a bit worried about "getting my money's worth") then I'd do it at least once. Alas that is not the case. If this were even a little bit of a stretch financially my personal feeling is, based on what you've described, it's not worth it.

I was just at WDW last week, so very high crowd time. We didn't wait in long lines. We made fastpass + reservations, including one for a good spot to view the parade. I also utilized extra magic bands for an extra set of fastpasses for my family (I know some disagree with this, but we purchased the bands and used them for same day fast passes so it felt morally ok to me, YMMV). We made rope drop each day (including one day with an early morning reservation at BOG and felt the park was ours alone...we even got to watch a little ceremony where they opened the castle doors for the first time with about 6 other people). Getting there early (which we'd do anyway) enabled us to ride preferred rides multiple times (BTTMR twice and Splash MT twice on the same morning plus several other rides in Fantasyland...Peter Pan, IASW, Winnie the Pooh, Mad tea party, and Dumbo...all in one morning and without waiting longer than 10 min for each ride). We needed a little break after that anyway for a cinnamon roll and Le Fous brew and a meet and greet with Gaston (which we were third in line for due to knowing when Gaston comes out).

I guess what I'm saying is that if you enjoy planning a WDW vacation and you plan the vacation you can essentially have the same or even better experience than you'd have with a guide. Now what the guide really buys you is the opportunity to be more spontaneous and to spend less time planning. I have also heard, although you didn't cover this, that they help you with quicker trasportation to and from your resort and/or between parks (driving you)? That might be nice...although we got UBER several mornings to get to the park before the busses were running and from the POP to the Contemporary we paid (my family of 4) $7.00 and waited under 5 min to get picked up that morning after requesting a ride on the app.

Honestly, for $500 bucks an hour I think you should get more. A really cool special goody bag, a special character meet and greet, access to something the rest of us can't get access to etc.... And no way shape or form is it appropriate in my opinion for the guide to allow/need you to buytheir meal! What the heck! They should be eating on Disney for crying out loud. A $700 tip is enough!

 

[mmafan]

It depends on the size of your group. Since Disney lets your group be up to 10 people (which is what we had) and Universal is per person, When I was plotting one this summer Universal came out about $1000 higher. But if you've got a smaller group, it probably is cheaper.

its for up to 5 people.........

 

[Laz]

A number of years ago, I believe we did the DL Walk in Walt's footsteps tour. It included a visit to Walt's apartment above the firehouse, a stop inside club 33 by the elevator, and lunch in what was an art gallery above Pirates of the Caribbean. We were told that at one time it was going to be a larger apartment for Walt and his family with a patio view of the river and Tom Sawyer island. We ate in an open air patio area in the middle of the gallery. Is this gallery now the Suite that you all are talking about?

Whenever my adult DD decides to get married, she wants a honeymoon at WDW. I want to give her a VIP experience like what was mentioned as a gift.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Sorry for late reply. Can't say your multiple ticket option for same day and same person would work being that the FP reservations are linked to each individual ticket number and I don't see you being able to use 3 or 4 different tickets at the front gate with the cast member just to let one person in. Only the ticket that gets you in and recorded at gate has active Fast passes to use. Don't see any way to set up tickets "correctly" since you have to link each ticket to a person in your party and only that ticket used to gain entry is activated in the FP system.

This actually isn't true. You do not have to "activate" a ticket at the gate in order to access FP+ reservations or even make them in the park. There are a number of ways to make multiple FP+ reservations using different tickets, MDE accounts and MB's.

 

[5kidsmommy]

Thanks for this review. This is something I would like to do at least once, maybe next time I can take a trip with all my kids. I definitely think it would be worth it for the experience.

 

[21stamps]

Thank you for this review. I am considering it for the Christmas season this year. Do you know if there is an advantage at Epcot, with the storytellers?