New VIP Tours

[BuzzinDownToDisney]

Why wouldn't you just do this yourself by using a combo of standby and FP?

Because you can only FP+ one park per day. So if you FP at the MK you are looking to do standby on TSMM, RoRC and ToT.

3 hours standing on line for 3 attractions.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I assume that 300 is on top of the park admission?

I'm sure it must be...

 

[boltfan]

And it doesn't even include EPCOT! Definitely not worth it in my opinion...

 

[ArwenMarie]

And it doesn't even include EPCOT! Definitely not worth it in my opinion...

Yeah, that's kind of crazy when you think about it, since that's the worst park in terms of rides and capacity and lines for the two big rides.

I also don't get why they are going to WL/WCC for lunch, that seems like it would take up a lot of time. I would rather do the Epcot rides with that time and grab a quick CS in one of the parks.

 

[Sammie]

I don't like it. Probably because I could never afford it. I think it is putting the average family on the bottom of their list. It is just another thing they are asking you to pay extra for. It also means that these people are going to cut to the front of the line. Disney is very expensive, and that would be 1200 more dollars for a family of 4. That's a lot of money to pay for a glorified fastpass. I guess if money is not a problem, and you were short on time, it could be worth it. I just think you are wasting a lot of time and money to ride 10 rides and have lunch.

If you go to Disney World, you do realize that thousands of people are not able to afford even one day there.

 

[MeanestMomEver]

I wonder if this is an option for celebrities or people who think they are celebrities and couldn't otherwise move through the parks without being "recognized." That would explain why it doesn't end at a park where you could stay and catch fireworks or a show with us commoners.

That said-what DO they do when a big-deal celebrity wants to come and do attractions with their children. I always wondered.

 

[kmb584]

I wonder if this is an option for celebrities or people who think they are celebrities and couldn't otherwise move through the parks without being "recognized." That would explain why it doesn't end at a park where you could stay and catch fireworks or a show with us commoners.

That said-what DO they do when a big-deal celebrity wants to come and do attractions with their children. I always wondered.

They're usually assigned a VIP tour guide. You can usually tell when it's an A-lister too as a CM will typically walk ahead of them and "clear" the common folk from the area/walkway that the celebrity and family will be walking through (if said A-lister makes such a request. I know Mariah Carey did this spring.).

 

[Networth]

I wonder if this is an option for celebrities or people who think they are celebrities and couldn't otherwise move through the parks without being "recognized." That would explain why it doesn't end at a park where you could stay and catch fireworks or a show with us commoners. That said-what DO they do when a big-deal celebrity wants to come and do attractions with their children. I always wondered.

Private Guides, back entrances, security if need be/wanted, no Disney public transit obviously, private meet and greets if desired or needed for security, if it is someone really important they may open a park early for them, or close down a section of a hotel/road/park etc. Most the time when you see a celebrity, politician, or mogul it's because they want to be seen.

Your average wealthy individual who is not in the public eye or not well known is someone that would use a service such as this. Or if a middle income family feels the urge to splurge I suppose. This is not built for the "1% of the 1%"

About 5 years ago I had to meet one of the Saudi princess in Orlando on behalf of my current employer (I lived in Orlando at the time). He had the entire top floor of the RPC reserved with guards at various points on the floor. He offered for me to join him to MK (via car, again no disney transit) I turned it down as I was their on behalf of my boss for business I felt it would of been out of line. Yet would of be interesting to see first hand how Disney handled MK durning the middle of the day while catering to him, his family, and entourage.

I won't name names but a certain CEO of a well know defense corporation was visiting the World one year, I was with him 2 days as an invitation. Trust me he was not buying a VIP tour available to the public, to put it lightly. We all "blended" in but were never waiting in lines or stuck in large crowds and again no monorail

 

[Sammie]

I wonder if this is an option for celebrities or people who think they are celebrities and couldn't otherwise move through the parks without being "recognized." That would explain why it doesn't end at a park where you could stay and catch fireworks or a show with us commoners.

That said-what DO they do when a big-deal celebrity wants to come and do attractions with their children. I always wondered.

There is a higher level tour that includes all attractions and all parks and seating for parades, fireworks etc. that is $315 per hour, minimum of 6 hours.

 

[Crl1817]

Wow. Well not for us, but I can see people who are very tight on time and have the money doing this. Why not?

 

[jade1]

There is a higher level tour that includes all attractions and all parks and seating for parades, fireworks etc. that is $315 per hour, minimum of 6 hours.

$1,890....$299 is a "steal" at $42 per hour.

 

[mom2AidanAndEli]

You do have to have park tickets as well, and they have to be hoppers. So thinking this through...

Let's say an average family is 4 people. Let's even assume both the kids are 9 or under. $300 per person plus single-day park hoppers would be over $1,700!!!!! That's a whole vacation for 4 in a lot of places! And we've only had one meal and no place to sleep that night!

Even if you only have one day to spend and want to see it all, that's just crazy! You could book a room and get park tickets for 2-3 days for that price and get to see everything!

No, I couldn't afford to do this. But even if I could, I can't imagine it. I couldn't throw money away like that.

 

[larryz]

This reminds me of the "E-Ticket Challenge" that the Florida chapter of ACE -- American Coaster Enthusiasts -- worked out in 2004... but that included Mission:Space at Epcot.


http://www.floridaace.com/verarchive/eticket.html

The first and only as it turned out. But Disney was never one to let a good idea languish...

 

[CarouselOfProgress4]

Only downside is no visit to Epcot. My family would probably never do this but I think it is a nice option for people to have.

 

[Altoqueenkelly]

We saw Kobe Bryant with his wife and kids in 2011. We were next in line to meet Ariel & Eric and the CM came over and asked my DD to wait back, she stood in front of us as another CM escorted the family out of some back entrance to the characters. There were body guards asking people not to take pictures (but I snabbed one anyways )

It was pretty cool. Looked like they got an escorted tour around the park. I assume celebrities can pay whatever the price and probably pay a lot more than this experience, they probably also get to custom pick what they want to do.

 

[Alice Royal]

I wonder if this is an option for celebrities or people who think they are celebrities and couldn't otherwise move through the parks without being "recognized." That would explain why it doesn't end at a park where you could stay and catch fireworks or a show with us commoners.

That said-what DO they do when a big-deal celebrity wants to come and do attractions with their children. I always wondered.

So saving $50 each paycheck until I have enough for this tour with my 15% AP discount so I can go over and have a freaking blast makes me a 'person who thinks they're a celebrity'?

Remember that many 'extras' are also geared towards locals who might want to 'mix it up' since we go so often...not saying that this tour in particular is for every local, but it's appealing to me as we often only go to ride a couple of headliners and not for many days at a time. This plus my AP is a fraction of the cost of a big ol' vacation. Not everyone's going to do a tour with 4-6 people, either.

 

[andyman8]

$299 is hefty. Like a PP mentioned, this would be good for someone with only one or two days at WDW (like a post-cruise) but wants to see a lot of it. Originally, I thought this might be beneficial for those who don't want to deal with the rope drop rush and waking up early, but looking at the start time (8:15am), that is clearly not the case. If you're going to be waking up that early, you can hit some of the headliners at MK in first two hours of park operation (7DMT, then Space, Splash, BTMRR, and HM is completely doable), then head over to DHS with FP+s for TSM!, Star Tours, and ToT and use the single rider at RnR. Finally, head over to DAK to get FP+ for EE, have a late-ish lunch, ride Dinosaur, and then use your EE FP+ (or you could just do single rider). The same thing for free basically though you may be waiting a bit more but not a huge amount.

What I wonder about is the admission situation. On The DIS's page, it says "park admission required" (which I wouldn't expect for $299), but how would that even work? Would guests need to have just a one-day MK ticket or need a Park Hopper?

To be honest, I've never done these VIP tours though I was listening to a podcast recently (recorded before these announcements by the way) that suggested dividing up the cost of the private VIP tours as the tours are for groups of ten.

So, in theory, three or four families/couples/friends could do something like this. Get to the park around 10am or so and have a big late breakfast in the park (so you can skip lunch", around noon, meet up with the VIP tour guide for six hours (min. allowed), then use FP+s for 3 rides you want to re-ride after 6pm. Finally, have dinner, see the nighttime entertainment, and take advantage of lower waits after that if the park's still open.

Considering the price of one tour is $315 per hour for resort guests in non-peak times for a minimum of six hours, that's a total of $1,890 for six hours (2,250 during peak), which averages to $189 (or $225 during peak) per person, which is actually cheaper than these new offerings. Still not pocket change by any standard but may be worth it if we (a family of four) go with two friend families (both of which are families of three) during Xmas/NYE. Unlikely, but still haven't decided as I'd have to start saving now!

 

[ArwenMarie]

I think this is a way for them to sell more VIP Tours.

The original $1800 tour was priced for up to ten people. Most families don't travel with ten people, so the per-person price would be very high for a small group. People could find families to combine with for it, but that's tricky.

This is a way for them to break the price down a bit and then let them combine families/groups. I don't think this means you will get your tour guide...I'm sure you will still be in a group of ten.

Because they'll be combining families, they need to make it a standardized tour instead of a personal tour.

 

[Altoqueenkelly]

$299 is hefty. Like a PP mentioned, this would be good for someone with only one or two days at WDW (like a post-cruise) but wants to see a lot of it. Originally, I thought this might be beneficial for those who don't want to deal with the rope drop rush and waking up early, but looking at the start time (8:15am), that is clearly not the case. If you're going to be waking up that early, you can hit some of the headliners at MK in first two hours of park operation (7DMT, then Space, Splash, BTMRR, and HM is completely doable), then head over to DHS with FP+s for TSM!, Star Tours, and ToT and use the single rider at RnR. Finally, head over to DAK to get FP+ for EE, have a late-ish lunch, ride Dinosaur, and then use your EE FP+ (or you could just do single rider). The same thing for free basically though you may be waiting a bit more but not a huge amount.

What I wonder about is the admission situation. On The DIS's page, it says "park admission required" (which I wouldn't expect for $299), but how would that even work? Would guests need to have just a one-day MK ticket or need a Park Hopper?

To be honest, I've never done these VIP tours though I was listening to a podcast recently (recorded before these announcements by the way) that suggested dividing up the cost of the private VIP tours as the tours are for groups of ten.

So, in theory, three or four families/couples/friends could do something like this. Get to the park around 10am or so and have a big late breakfast in the park (so you can skip lunch", around noon, meet up with the VIP tour guide for six hours (min. allowed), then use FP+s for 3 rides you want to re-ride after 6pm. Finally, have dinner, see the nighttime entertainment, and take advantage of lower waits after that if the park's still open.

Considering the price of one tour is $315 per hour for resort guests in non-peak times for a minimum of six hours, that's a total of $1,890 for six hours (2,250 during peak), which averages to $189 (or $225 during peak) per person, which is actually cheaper than these new offerings. Still not pocket change by any standard but may be worth it if we (a family of four) go with two friend families (both of which are families of three) during Xmas/NYE. Unlikely, but still haven't decided as I'd have to start saving now!

My understanding was that is was 315 per hour, per person!

 

[larryz]

My understanding was that is was 315 per hour, per person!

$315 per guide, for up to 10 people, per hour, minimum 6 hours.

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/events-tours/vip-tour-services/