Non Disney VIP & Concierge Services

[CBMom01]

I see these advertised online. Are they a scam?

 

[quandrea]

I see these advertised online. Are they a scam?

I’ll be watching this thread. I’ve been looking at them too all weekend, as we have a big friends and family trip coming up. I had planned a vip tour, but we have too many people now. The one I’ve looked at looks legit.

 

[ChanaC]

A friend of mine worked for Suntastic Tours. Talking to her and following her on social media it looked like a legit company (at least I hope - she's a very nice person who I doubt would want to do anything to scam anyone!). She was there when FastPass+ was just starting up, and I believe what her company did was plan a vacation for people who didn't necessarily want to deal with booking FastPasses and dining reservations on their own. In the parks she would walk them around following the itinerary while also giving them fun facts about the parks as they went on. She had also been a Cast Member so she was also really familiar with the parks. One advantage she had was that she also worked at SeaWorld in the education department, so when she was booked for a SeaWorld tour she was basically a walking encyclopedia of all animals in the park. She was able to really speak on and on at each exhibit as well as answer any questions people might have had about the animals.

Idk, I never used that service before, so really all I can say is that one person who used to work for them was legit, which probably isn't the glowing review you were looking for, but hopefully that somewhat helps!

 

[DisneyOma]

Are they basically acting like a travel agent and booking ADRs for you? What else could they do? They really don't have VIP touring access, how could they?

 

[lanejudy]

They won't have unfettered access to the LL the way an official WDW VIP Tour does. I believe the off-site ones typically just have the leader working FP+ for the group. How that will work now with Genie+ and the single-purchase rides is anyone's guess at this point.

 

[Marionnette]

Are they basically acting like a travel agent and booking ADRs for you? What else could they do? They really don't have VIP touring access, how could they?

From what I read about one agency, the guide fills the guests in on little tidbits of history as they walk the park. They will run for snacks and beverages while the family rides an attraction and meet them at the exit with their stroller. They will assist in mobile ordering, grabbing and cleaning a table at QS, help with navigating the transportation system, etc.

No, they don't have backstage access or immediate LL access, but they will probably include Genie+ and ILL$ charges in their fee and just buy them for the guests.

The agency that I saw online actually wanted the guest's MDE username and password! I suppose for the purpose of handling Genie+, ILL$ and mobile ordering.

 

[quandrea]

I just received preliminary info from one of these companies. They have almost all 5 star reviews on trip advisor and nearly 1000 reviews. I think it falls into a thanks but no thanks for me. My group of 13 would come in at $450 per hour, with a six hour minimum. We all need to buy the Genie. They made no mention of buying the IAS. Start early philosophy. We probably couldn’t park hop, so I’d need them for two days.

I have to run the numbers, but I think I’d do better with a real VIP guide, no need to buy genie+ and I’d only need a day. Will report back once I run the numbers.

 

[F.R.I.D.A.Y.]

I would strongly caution against using a third-party service. What the outside tour companies do is against Disney's property rules, as they break the rules against unauthorized commercial activities and the sale of goods and services by outside parties on property. If caught operating one of their 3rd party tours, the "guide" would likely be trespassed from property. Many of these companies tell guests that they have an agreement and partnership with WDW to be allowed to operate, but none of them do. Many of them also have historically used a lot of very deceptive practices to get attraction access for their guests.

 

[DisneyOma]

I just received preliminary info from one of these companies. They have almost all 5 star reviews on trip advisor and nearly 1000 reviews. I think it falls into a thanks but no thanks for me. My group of 13 would come in at $450 per hour, with a six hour minimum. We all need to buy the Genie. They made no mention of buying the IAS. Start early philosophy. We probably couldn’t park hop, so I’d need them for two days.

I have to run the numbers, but I think I’d do better with a real VIP guide, no need to buy genie+ and I’d only need a day. Will report back once I run the numbers.

$450 an hour to do what? On offsite company has no access to any of the VIP perks of a real Disney VIP tour - no backstage transportation/entrance, no quick access to rides. You basically get someone who knows his/her way around the parks and manages your stuff. That is not worth $45 an hour in my book, never mind 10X that amount. Beware of these "tour guides", IMO.

 

[quandrea]

$450 an hour to do what? On offsite company has no access to any of the VIP perks of a real Disney VIP tour - no backstage transportation/entrance, no quick access to rides. You basically get someone who knows his/her way around the parks and manages your stuff. That is not worth $45 an hour in my book, never mind 10X that amount. Beware of these "tour guides", IMO.

Completely agree. They offer nothing I can’t do myself, save perhaps waiting in the coffee line or lunch line. I solve that issue by having breakfast in my villa and making an ADR for lunch. I’m having a milestone birthday next year and I’ll probably splurge for a day of the real vip tour.

 

[quandrea]

Just ran comparable costs for each option. The third party pricing for two days, six hours per day, covering just two parks came in at $5945. That includes the hourly rate, the concierge fee and the cost to buy Genie+. Does not factor in any IAS costs.

Disney’s VIP tour came in at $5950 for one day, seven hour minimum. That allows park hopping, and would include private transportation between parks and even from the hotel if desired.

My group would require two guides. If you were a group of ten or fewer, you’d need only one guide. This would cut your cost by half.

I figure the Disney vip guide would only be required for one day, given what I’ve seen others accomplish. The third party tour would only get to two parks, missing the other two entirely.

Still extremely expensive, but I think Disney’s vip tour wins here.

 

[DisneyDadBama]

Just curious if anyone has ever used a private company for a VIP tour at Walt Disney World? I can’t quite figure out how they can claim 0 to 10 minute wait on all the rides!

 

[coasternut22]

Just curious if anyone has ever used a private company for a VIP tour at Walt Disney World? I can’t quite figure out how they can claim 0 to 10 minute wait on all the rides!

Probably use a DAS pass. As mentioned above, some use unethical practices.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Just curious if anyone has ever used a private company for a VIP tour at Walt Disney World? I can’t quite figure out how they can claim 0 to 10 minute wait on all the rides!

Your post has been merged with an existing thread from earlier this week covering this subject. Hope the information already shared is helpful to you.

 

[gfx1213]

I would strongly caution against using a third-party service. What the outside tour companies do is against Disney's property rules, as they break the rules against unauthorized commercial activities and the sale of goods and services by outside parties on property. If caught operating one of their 3rd party tours, the "guide" would likely be trespassed from property. Many of these companies tell guests that they have an agreement and partnership with WDW to be allowed to operate, but none of them do. Many of them also have historically used a lot of very deceptive practices to get attraction access for their guests.

I wanted to chime in on this because my husband and I are visiting Magic Kingdom in late July and we contacted a 3rd party VIP tour service that our friends had used and recommended to us and when we called the company, they said that they have been around for over 10 years and hadn’t had any issues operating in Disney. They also have over 1,000 5-Star reviews on TripAdvisor, so I am very confused in what we should do. Our friends said that their guide was amazing and they did just about every good ride at the park, then again that was over a year ago. Did something recently change in the park to where the 3rd party companies are banned?

 

[Mrs.AMC]

I wanted to chime in on this because my husband and I are visiting Magic Kingdom in late July and we contacted a 3rd party VIP tour service that our friends had used and recommended to us and when we called the company, they said that they have been around for over 10 years and hadn’t had any issues operating in Disney. They also have over 1,000 5-Star reviews on TripAdvisor, so I am very confused in what we should do. Our friends said that their guide was amazing and they did just about every good ride at the park, then again that was over a year ago. Did something recently change in the park to where the 3rd party companies are banned?

No, nothing changed in regards to their authorizations (Disney has never been good at sharing anything) but I do have to wonder how they can operate with Genie+/ILL rules and offer their guests much of any special services.

5 star reviews on TA have nothing to do with that Disney approves of

 

[F.R.I.D.A.Y.]

I wanted to chime in on this because my husband and I are visiting Magic Kingdom in late July and we contacted a 3rd party VIP tour service that our friends had used and recommended to us and when we called the company, they said that they have been around for over 10 years and hadn’t had any issues operating in Disney. They also have over 1,000 5-Star reviews on TripAdvisor, so I am very confused in what we should do. Our friends said that their guide was amazing and they did just about every good ride at the park, then again that was over a year ago. Did something recently change in the park to where the 3rd party companies are banned?

Nope, this is not a recent change. 3rd party tour guide services have been against Disney rules for a long time. None of these companies will tell you that what they are doing is a violation of Disney property rules or will disclose any issues they've had operating, and as I said before, many will go so far as to lie and tell guests that they have an agreement with Disney.

 

[DisneyOma]

Probably use a DAS pass. As mentioned above, some use unethical practices.

DAS does not give immediate access, just an alternate place to wait, and you can only have one DAS return time at a time (excluding the two you may book if you do online registration, which are only good for a certain hour of the day) So, not sure how a DAS user would be of any use to someone looking for VIP access, and anyone fraudulently using DAS would be banned forever from the parks, I think? Also, Disney would notice the frequent, random names added to a DAS holder's MDE. That would be a huge red flag.

 

[lanejudy]

I don't know how they are working now. Pre-covid most just worked the FP+ system really well. I suggest asking plenty of questions about their current procedures to be sure they can do what you expect.