Group VIP Tour Experiences?

[MamaBear58]

I'd love to hear from anyone who has done this. We are considering this for our family of 4 (DS15 and DD11) for a day the 3rd week of June. It would be of both Parks (not only to save time and money but because it appears they are no longer offering the Single Park VIP Tour--there is literally no availability on line for any date from now through the end of June?).

I feel (naively maybe?) as though this would allow us to see a lot without having to plan too much (the part I HATE about Disney and crowded parks in general and something I actually have no time to do before this particular trip). Hopefully it will also give us a sense of what we want to do (or do again) later on our own? On the other hand, current plan is to stay onsite, so we've already paid for the Unlimited EP that we'd use for the rest of the day, and we do have another day that we could use to do the parks and/or hang out by the pool so we don't HAVE to get 2 parks done in 1 day. So, questions:

Is the start time I select the start of the tour itself, or is that when the continental breakfast is first available?

Did you find that they paired you with others with similar interest?

Did you find that the lunch was a nice break (and decent food) or did it seem to take up too much time?

If we don't do this tour is it unreasonable to think that we'd get 2 parks done in 1 day during the third week of June--or should we plan on needing that 2nd day?

Thanks for all your insight.

 

[macraven]

They don’t group you with others of the same interest
In the public day tours

 

[tink2424]

If you already have Express Pass then the ViP tour in Orlando doesn't give you much better. In Hollywood it is very much worth it... In Orlando, I doubt it. You can definitely do both parks in 1 day with EP. And since you have multiple days you will be fine.

 

[Kit Jackson]

The great thing about Universal is that you do not have to do a ton of advance planing. The night before you visit the park you could do most of your planning based off the Universal Orlando website/app. If you start each day with a list of things you want to do, you'll be fine. It could be as simple as thinking about which franchises the people in your family like, and doing the things based on those franchises (but skip Fast and the Furious unless someone is an absolute total superfan of the movies. The ride is a bit of a dissapointment).

 

[okamy]

We did this tour between Christmas and New Year. I'll try to answer your questions:

I can't remember exactly when the tour started. We got there before the "start" time, and breakfast was already available.

I do not believe they paired us with others of similar interest. The people in our group were fine, but we didn't particularly bond with anyone.

Lunch was actually pretty good and a nice break. We are big fans of Disney Cruise Line, and the food reminded us of Cabanas. But you do have to sit with others in your group, when we would have preferred a private table.

The group size was our biggest complaint. When we booked the tour in August, we were told the tours were limited to groups of 12. We had 6 in our group, so we were fine with the idea of spending the day with up to 6 others. When we got there, we were placed in a group of 20! One of the tour guides said that they were short on guides that day and had to combine groups. We were not provided any compensation for this bait & switch, though touring with 20 is definitely a different (and slower) experience than going with 12. I absolutely would not have paid for the "VIP tour" if I'd known it would have 20 people. Our travel agent asked Universal to refund part of the price, but all they offered were passes for a future visit. Since I never want to go to Universal again, the passes are worthless to us. We're still fighting with Universal about it.

I know other people love Universal, but it just wasn't for us--even aside from the bait & switch on the tour group size. We found the rides to be too rough/aggressive, and the whole experience to be sensory overload. We're definitely "one & done" on Universal.

 

[jormom1030]

If you already have Express Pass then the ViP tour in Orlando doesn't give you much better. In Hollywood it is very much worth it... In Orlando, I doubt it. You can definitely do both parks in 1 day with EP. And since you have multiple days you will be fine.

How is not waiting in any lines the same as waiting the express lines?

 

[tink2424]

How is not waiting in any lines the same as waiting the express lines?

While true that you do get front of the line access with the VIP tour you have to go with the group everywhere & when the tour ends your VIP pass just becomes an express pass. So you don't get much more with the VIP in my opinion in Orlando. If you have the money and want to do it, great. But I would rather spend the money elsewhere in Orlando.

As I stated Hollywood is a different story since there is a unique part of the VIP tour where you go behind the scenes, to the prop house & get to get off the tram in the backlot area. Those are worth the cost of the tour as it isn't just a front of the line pass in Hollywood.

 

[reck]

Tour starts at 9. Lunch is in a private restaurant for VIP only tours, buffet style, mix of everything. You do sit with your group. The guide takes you in through the exits to get on to the rides, little to no wait. All tours check in at Universal entrance, not Islands anymore. If you are doing 2 park 1 day tour, you will start in Universal Studio side rides, have lunch there, and then take Hogwarts Express to the Islands side and finish day there. As others have said, once tour is over your vip lanyard becomes an express pass for rest of day.

 

[jormom1030]

We did the group VIP tour today and it was awesome. It was NOTHING like having an express pass especially since you can’t even use an express pass at Hagrid’s and Velocicoaster. We did 13 rides and had a delicious breakfast and lunch from 9:00-4:00. Our guide PJ was great. We had 12 people in our group. If someone didn’t want to do a ride, they just sat out. The guide either held our bags or we left them with the nonriders. We were given water bottles and rain ponchos. It was so nice not to have to wait more than 3 minutes to get on a ride. We also were taken in several elevators instead of having to go up stairs. We had a special cordoned off spot to watch the Mardi Gras parade. My kids got so many beads because the spot was right at the beginning of the parade. It was so nice to have the valet parking at the close of park.

 

[skipper]

We did the group VIP tour today and it was awesome. It was NOTHING like having an express pass especially since you can’t even use an express pass at Hagrid’s and Velocicoaster. We did 13 rides and had a delicious breakfast and lunch from 9:00-4:00. Our guide PJ was great. We had 12 people in our group. If someone didn’t want to do a ride, they just sat out. The guide either held our bags or we left them with the nonriders. We were given water bottles and rain ponchos. It was so nice not to have to wait more than 3 minutes to get on a ride. We also were taken in several elevators instead of having to go up stairs. We had a special cordoned off spot to watch the Mardi Gras parade. My kids got so many beads because the spot was right at the beginning of the parade. It was so nice to have the valet parking at the close of park.

What’s the price they hit you with for the group VIP tour?

Called and spoke with Universal and in early Oct none HHN night it was $279 pp Max party size of 6. If you have a family of more than 6 it’s two groups and he said they WILL separate you into two separate VIP groups...I was like huh?

Anyway to keep families of 8-10 together with the group VIP option?
Will have at least one that needs to get around in a scooter. And daughter will bring a 2 year old, stroller etc. probably need some baby swaps

Asked about the private VIP and we’re talking $3900 for up to 5 and then $400 each additional. Not happening.

 

[leiaorgana]

What’s the price they hit you with for the group VIP tour?

Called and spoke with Universal and in early Oct none HHN night it was $279 pp Max party size of 6. If you have a family of more than 6 it’s two groups and he said they WILL separate you into two separate VIP groups...I was like huh?

Anyway to keep families of 8-10 together with the group VIP option?
Will have at least one that needs to get around in a scooter. And daughter will bring a 2 year old, stroller etc. probably need some baby swaps

Asked about the private VIP and we’re talking $3900 for up to 5 and then $400 each additional. Not happening.

It’s because the group VIP tours are normally made up of only 12 spots/people in total (multiple groups put together) and so the max party size rule is in place to stop big families/groups from essentially taking over the group tour and turning into a private one for their party.

If you’re a group size of 8 - 10 then you’re only leaving either 2 or 4 spots open for another family or 2 couples to join you on the group VIP tour and they don’t want one large group turning it into a majority rules kind of deal and making it awkward for the other people you’re with that aren’t part of your family.

The private VIP tour is your only option, I’m afraid with a group size that big unless you are willing to separate but obviously you’re not able to based on what you’ve said about the make up of your group. I know it sounds strange but it’s Universal’s way of keeping things fair for everyone on the group tour and not have other guests feeling like one big group that they’re put with is dominating the tour.

 

[skipper]

I would pay a higher rate but 5G’s no freaking way!

Can you show up at 8:30am and buy the group VIP day of? Show up with my group of 5 and daughters family with her 3. If they won’t have us in the same group, then we’ll stick to Family Express.

When I watch the youtubers it looks like they got their own private tour and they didn’t pay no 4 grand plus for a small group.

 

[macraven]

If the 2 yo goes on the hhn public tour, there are no discounts.

Everyone in the tour also must buy the hhn park ticket

 

[dez1978]

How much is the group tour?

 

[macraven]

Public or private tour are you asking about?

Tour prices vary based on the date you have booked

Saturday usually has the highest tour costs

 

[skipper]

How much is the group tour?

Price varies from Bend over to Lean forward LOL. For private the rep mentioned $7k for some dates

 

[leiaorgana]

It’s a private VIP experience with immediate front of the line access that can be repeated as many times as you want, valet parking for the day, private lounge access and meals included, what do you expect? Of course they’re going to make you pay through the nose for it on busier days.

 

[buzlite]

Does anyone know how likely the group tour would be to go on Hagrids+Velocicoarter+Hulk+Ripriderocket?
These are our big four but I'm not sure if they skip a couple if you have kids in your group