My day with a "Plaid" (VIP guide)

[jason41483]

My team at Disney Interactive (160+ people) was fortunate enough to partake in an all day scavenger hunt at Disneyland and DCA last week. Our teams of 10 people were paired up with a Disneyland VIP guide, or "Plaid" as they are sometimes know due to their dapper vests and attire.

Things I learned from our "Plaid"
- Their going rate is around $350 an hour, minimum 6 hours, and max 10 people. They get paid standard hourly rates... sad right?
- They act as a virtual FastPass, meaning you skip Standby and you can enter a FastPass line at will regardless of the time of day
- Many of them were placed in these roles through the Disney College Program
- If you ask nicely, they can get you access to special areas such as the Lilly Belle or the Club 33 Lobby.
- They know a TON of history, park facts, hidden easter eggs
- They get crazy high Astro Blaster and TSMM scores! On Astro Blasters, there is a circular target below Zurg's armor that is worth 100K per shot!
- They are on their feet for anywhere between 6-15 hours per day, and can be booked back to back for 7 days straight, especially in summer or holiday
- They have escorted many celebrities
- They love to join you on your rides if space allows

They're all around amazing people!

 

[DarthMole]

- Their going rate is around $350 an hour, minimum 6 hours, and max 10 people. They get paid standard hourly rates... sad right?

It's not "their rate", it is Disney's rate for providing you this service. As for what the employees are paid, did they mention what they earn in tips or just their hourly rate? Even so, I've never understood what is so sad about the pay simply because of the hourly charge. Should a maid at GCH make more than one at PPH simply because the rooms are almost twice as much? If the pay is too low, they'd have trouble finding and retaining VIP guides.

 

[MyWndrlnd]

That is so cool! I have always dreamed of using this service one day but the $350/hour price is just too much to swallow at this point. It is nice to hear that your experience was so wonderful with them! Of course, what else could be expected from Disney

 

[Nonsuch]

- Their going rate is around $350 an hour, minimum 6 hours, and max 10 people. They get paid standard hourly rates... sad right?

Unlike many jobs at DLR, tipping VIP guides is allowed

...If the pay is too low, they'd have trouble finding and retaining VIP guides.

According to one VIP guide, Disney does have difficulty staffing

 

[MommyJKM]

We did our VIP Tour this past Sunday (The 25th) and it was $385/hour with a 6 hour minimum - We did 8 hours from 10-6pm.

We were our guide's 3rd VIP tour in 3 days. It was amazing.I would do a trip report but it would take forever. Here is a pic of us with our guide who was great! We tipped $150 (about $20 per person). She had us booked for the VIP Reserved sections for the fireworks and Fantasmic and we got to sit in great seats. For Fantasmic we just walked into the area 5 minutes before the show and were the only ones there in a huge area.

We also got to tour the Lilly Belle and got tickets to be able to ride it next time as well!

 

[MommyJKM]

P.S. Our guide went on some rides with us because we wanted her in funny pics..and she got 429,000 points on TSMM which was the high of the day so far at around 2pm!

 

[DizMe]

Ok, it really does sound awesome, but holy cow!!! Including tip, that 8 hours came to $3230!! Whew. Makes the Fairytale Suite seem cheap . What makes it worth that much money?

 

[Malcon10t]

Ok, it really does sound awesome, but holy cow!!! Including tip, that 8 hours came to $3230!! Whew. Makes the Fairytale Suite seem cheap . What makes it worth that much money?

For us, it is worth it during very busy times, for example NYE. You basically walk on most rides, very little wait. They are extremely helpful. It is sort of like having a concierge with you at all times. They also plan out things for after your 8 hours, and in our case, they will get us on 1 ride, and while we ride, they will secure tables for the next meal or go ahead to be sure a reserved table is ready and waiting for us. They can also (if available) get you things that can't be done normally, easily... For example, we've done Lilly Belle, Walt's Apt, the Dream Suite, entered the park when fire marshal has closed it (VIP tours are classified as never leaving the park.) We enter parks through exits so we don't stand in even that line. We've done VIP tours since about 2004, and except for once, have always found them a great value.

 

[Epek]

OP, were you there last Wed? Was your group wearing navy blue shirts with a colorful graphic on the front? I saw 2-3 of these groups around the Matterhorn while I stopped at the benches to nurse my DD as the rest of the family rode the teacups. I was wondering who the group was!

 

[DizMe]

For us, it is worth it during very busy times, for example NYE. You basically walk on most rides, very little wait. They are extremely helpful. It is sort of like having a concierge with you at all times. They also plan out things for after your 8 hours, and in our case, they will get us on 1 ride, and while we ride, they will secure tables for the next meal or go ahead to be sure a reserved table is ready and waiting for us. They can also (if available) get you things that can't be done normally, easily... For example, we've done Lilly Belle, Walt's Apt, the Dream Suite, entered the park when fire marshal has closed it (VIP tours are classified as never leaving the park.) We enter parks through exits so we don't stand in even that line. We've done VIP tours since about 2004, and except for once, have always found them a great value.

That sure does sound great, but I couldn't do it by myself. If there were, say, 5 adults and you split the cost, maybe. I could totally see the value of that on NYE or similar. Can they cut you through the crowds? I've heard you can barely even walk around on NYE.

 

[Malcon10t]

If the pay is too low, they'd have trouble finding and retaining VIP guides.

They do have difficulty keeping guides. It takes a level of seniority and testing to become a VIP guide. It would be nice if they could retain guides better. I know during the peak times, I book 2 months. I have friends who have tried booking at 2 weeks, and been told they were out of guides.

P.S. Our guide went on some rides with us because we wanted her in funny pics..and she got 429,000 points on TSMM which was the high of the day so far at around 2pm!

Most of the guides will ride all the rides (except Grizzly, they aren't allowed due to how wet they get.)

They are great at poses for ToT and Screamin'!

Our first tour back in 2005

 

[MommyJKM]

They do have difficulty keeping guides. It takes a level of seniority and testing to become a VIP guide. It would be nice if they could retain guides better. I know during the peak times, I book 2 months. I have friends who have tried booking at 2 weeks, and been told they were out of guides.

Most of the guides will ride all the rides (except Grizzly, they aren't allowed due to how wet they get.)

OMG Malcon10 You got Plaid Chris that one trip! I LOVE him! He always finds my daughter and pretends she's a queen...it's the cutest thing! He was at Fantasmic the night we went and he opens the ropes and says "Here comes THE QUEEN" and my 3-yr old holds her head up high and strolls in. THAT is worth the $3500 to me ;-) (He wasn't our guide this time sadly, but we did love our girl all the same).

 

[Viva Las Disney]

I have a friend who worked as a plaid after her DCP ended and she said she loved it because she was basically paid to play in the parks and talk about Disney without having to wait in any lines.

She quit to go back to college but dreams of working for Disney again.

I was surprised when she told me what she was paid vs what the service cost per hour but she said it was the best job she's ever had and the paycheck was just a bonus. She did say if it paid more she'd probably still be there but she couldn't afford to stay in LA on what she was making no matter how much she loved her job.

 

[Malcon10t]

OMG Malcon10 You got Plaid Chris that one trip! I LOVE him! He always finds my daughter and pretends she's a queen...it's the cutest thing! He was at Fantasmic the night we went and he opens the ropes and says "Here comes THE QUEEN" and my 3-yr old holds her head up high and strolls in. THAT is worth the $3500 to me ;-) (He wasn't our guide this time sadly, but we did love our girl all the same).

Yes, we love Chris. As you can tell form our pics, we usually have him or our favorite female guide. When we request our guide, we generally request one of the 2 of them (or both when it is a full family trip.) Once when our other guide wasn't available (she was headed to visit family)the 2 of them got together to choose our alternate guide (we needed 2, so Chris was lead and Emily backed him up.)

Chris is GREAT with kids. My nieces always fall in love with him (note hte 2nd form bottom pic...) I highly recommend him when others ask for a guide. He is just a big kid!!

 

[rentayenta]

Ok, it really does sound awesome, but holy cow!!! Including tip, that 8 hours came to $3230!! Whew. Makes the Fairytale Suite seem cheap . What makes it worth that much money?

Holy cow is right. What an amazing treat though.

 

[MommyJKM]

I forgot the best part is you can re-ride rides as much as you want. So my cousin and I rode RSR 6 times in a row because we were doing funny Photo Pass Pics for our Mom's, then rode BTMRR four times in a row.

And while they don't technically have Meet & Greet privileges, if they know someone working the M&G, you can get special treatment - like not waiting FOUR hours for Anna & Elsa (Ahem!). And premium seats in the front by the exit for Aladdin where he comes and kisses your kids hands. And being chosen as the "Rebel Spy" on Star Tours...it's just a super cool way to do DL and DCA

 

[sherilaine]

Ok, it really does sound awesome, but holy cow!!! Including tip, that 8 hours came to $3230!! Whew. Makes the Fairytale Suite seem cheap . What makes it worth that much money?

I believe this does not include cost of admission - so you have to consider this is above and beyond just getting into the parks.

I am actually glad it costs this much money as the average person can not even come close to affording this type of over the top experience. That means few do it so it is likely not much of an overall disruption to lines.

I can't imagine someone saying this is 'worth it' if they were not able to easily pay for this. There are people who have LOTS of money and something like this is a like an average person spending $100 at a restaurant. I just think it is well outside the norm for this board - since most people on here are complaining of price increases and asking for ways to save on tickets - so the idea of throwing thousands of dollars on this type of treatment is far outside their imagination even.

WORTH holds a different meaning to almost everyone - just look at the threads about staying onsite vs. offsite, getting an AP vs. the limit of only 5 day passes now - everyone has their own spin. I have to say though I think spending $3200 on a day such as this, for several people, is worth more than a handbag!! If I had money to burn, I'd be all over this, but for now, we do not have that much excess income....but maybe someday...

Also, I do believe I read the OPs original thread that they were 'gifted' this tour - so I am not sure what, if anything, they paid out of pocket, so perhaps asking them if it was worth it is not as accurate as someone who actually paid full price out of pocket, that is if I remember correctly as I remember thinking that was a pretty great gift!

 

[Disney Dreams]

I believe this does not include cost of admission - so you have to consider this is above and beyond just getting into the parks.

I am actually glad it costs this much money as the average person can not even come close to affording this type of over the top experience. That means few do it so it is likely not much of an overall disruption to lines.

I can't imagine someone saying this is 'worth it' if they were not able to easily pay for this. There are people who have LOTS of money and something like this is a like an average person spending $100 at a restaurant. I just think it is well outside the norm for this board - since most people on here are complaining of price increases and asking for ways to save on tickets - so the idea of throwing thousands of dollars on this type of treatment is far outside their imagination even.

WORTH holds a different meaning to almost everyone - just look at the threads about staying onsite vs. offsite, getting an AP vs. the limit of only 5 day passes now - everyone has their own spin. I have to say though I think spending $3200 on a day such as this, for several people, is worth more than a handbag!! If I had money to burn, I'd be all over this, but for now, we do not have that much excess income....but maybe someday...

Also, I do believe I read the OPs original thread that they were 'gifted' this tour - so I am not sure what, if anything, they paid out of pocket, so perhaps asking them if it was worth it is not as accurate as someone who actually paid full price out of pocket, that is if I remember correctly as I remember thinking that was a pretty great gift!

I'm going to steer clear of the "worth" debate, but the OP stated that s/he works for Disney Interactive, that this was a team scavenger hunt, and each team was paired with a guide.

So my take, which could be wrong, is that no one paid for the guides in the OP's situation or perhaps the Company did by one department paying another.

- Dreams

 

[whoopsiedoodle]

WOW! What a great experience! Perhaps some day we will have that kind of disposable income but for right now the cost of this is more than our ENTIRE vacation for our family of 4!

 

[smiles33]

Thanks for sharing photos! It does seem like a really luxurious and enjoyable way to experience DLR. Yet I don't think I could ever personally spend that much given my other priorities. Thus, I'm with Sherilaine--I am glad it's not cheaper as then more people would be doing it. Still, I totally think it's fun to hear about and imagine doing it!