We just got back yesterday, & had a great time. We are exhausted though as we packed so much into the long weekend we had planned. Thursday (5/21) we did SW H&V dinner. Friday we did MK 24hr day. Saturday I got to meet
@yulilin3 & Steph, as always...very helpful & informative. Saturday we also did Rebel Hangar (awesome), D-Tech Me, & JTA. Sunday was our VIP day.
Here's the summary of our day:
We met the VIP tour group at about 6:30AM. The meeting spot is all the way to the left just after the walk-up ticket counters. The tour guides arrived (4 I believe), introduced themselves, & handed out water or juice. They checked everyone in & passed out ship-to-room slips that people could fill out ahead of time before getting to Darth's Maul. We all got plain lanyards with a VIP tag on them. The VIP tag was nothing special, just plaid & white with "VIP" on it. This was a bit disappointing since the Deluxe tags were specifically SW themed & far better. Shortly after we were let in & we walked down Hollywood Blvd to the Brown Derby. We were met at the front by a Marketing guy. He was very excited & explained how the day would go. We were asked to sit on the wall in front of the Derby while he went through everything. A guide handed out granola bars & they also had coffee available inside. We were then led under the arch going to the Little Mermaid & Art of Animation, making a hard left & down past Toy Story to get to the brick building across from High Octane Refreshments. Darth Vader was there waiting for us for pictures. We were told he would not sign at the Derby, however when we got there the guide said Vader was in a good mood & was willing to sign, so I'm guessing that's not always the case. We got through about 6-8 people before Darth took a break & left. There was no replacement, we had to wait. This was a bit aggravating since we all knew we were on the clock to get to Darth's Mall before park opening & now we were stuck in the line waiting. This could definitely be improved. Finally Darth came back out & we got through. They took about 1/2 of us down to the Mall while the remainder finished with pictures. We had already done our shopping in the Mall the day before so we didn't spend a lot of time in there. The Marketing guy was very clear to explain the more time you spend in the Mall, the less time you have to eat after & we had to meet the guides to continue the tour by a certain time. Aurasma didn't work on any of the big wall posters for us. The only 1 I got to work was the Darth Maul picture at the main Mall entrance.
We headed back to the Derby & had breakfast. It was buffet style & included scrambled eggs, french toast, sausage, bacon, juice, & possibly some pastries (I'm not sure about that). The food was very good, however I'd change the timing on breakfast if I could. By the time we ate it was about 8:30-8:45. We knew we'd be doing rides immediately after, then have lunch at 11:30-11:45. Eating a large breakfast wasn't wise & therefore we really couldn't take full advantage of the included breakfast as we would have wanted, while not being too full for rides & leaving room for lunch only 3 hrs away. The guides came around to our tables & took our lunch orders for Mama Melrose. We were given a drink, appetizer & entree. There were 2-3 appetizer choices, & 4-5 entree choices. After breakfast we were told to wait out front of the Derby again. The guides said they were going to break up into a group that would do kids rides & groups that would do adult rides. The kids group would go first. The kids rides were Toy Story, Star Tours, Disney Jr., & Voyage of the Little Mermaid. We had a handful of kids in the group, but none of them wanted to do the kids group. The adult rides were Toy Story, Star Tours, Tower of Terror, & Rockin Roller Coaster. These were the only options for kids & adults. No substitutions. No riding twice if you didn't want to do 1 of the others that were included. You moved as a group & if you didn't want to ride or couldn't ride (in 1 case a child was a 1/2 an inch to short & he couldn't go on), you were instructed to meet the group at the exit. The guides went on the ride with us.
After rides, we headed to the parade viewing section. It was nice that we were up front, but it was in the direct sun. Guides handed out large umbrellas but didn't have enough to go around so there were about 6-8 of us that had none. They handed out frozen towels, water, & a choice of a Mickey ice cream or strawberry popsicle. The parade was great, but the roped are wasn't large enough. There wasn't enough room for everyone to be in front & we often had obstructed views because of other VIP members. The Marketing guy came by & explained at the end of the parade they'd take down the rope & we could join the rest of the crowd by going close to the stage if we wanted but that it would be very crowded & we had to meet at the film strip across the street by a certain time. Across the street was the Deluxe or Premium viewing area in the shade. Personally, I think the VIP & Deluxe/Premium should have been swapped. If VIP dropped a bunch more money, we should have been able to be in the shade IMHO.
We then met at the filmstrip & headed over to Mam Melrose. We got in very quickly & it was assigned seating. You had to find your name tag & sit in that spot. Within 5 minutes of sitting, the food came out. The portion was huge & very good. We were then given the option to explore on our own in the area for about 30 mins before meeting back in the front of Mama Melrose to head over for the 1st show. The shows were great, didn't disappoint. The VIP seating is not in the 1st row. VIP is 3rd & 4th rows. 1st row is handicapped/
scooter & accompanying guests seating. 2nd row was roped off & we later found out it was for "other" VIPs. People came in with different VIP tags on, only they were SWW themed. Later we found out they were friends & family of JAT & possibly some of the other celebrity guests. Again, why the paying VIPs couldn't have SW tags is beyond me. Clearly they made SW specific tags for every group except the paying VIP group. While waiting for the shows to start there were interactive polls being displayed on the monitors. You texted your answer & the results displayed on the screen. After the 2nd show we were on our own. We were told to go back to the Theater of the Stars & show the VIP tag for the last 2 shows. You were not allowed to just remain in the theater. VIP lined up to the right of the rope, FP on the left. By the last show, our rear ends were sore from the metal stadium seating. Glad to not have to sit on it any longer. We had bit of time to kill before the Dessert Party. Dessert Party check-in was right outside the entrance to the Derby. They would not let us in early. We were let in at 8:45PM. The desserts were plenty & all very good. Both alcoholic & non-alcoholic drinks were available. No seating, standing tables only. The dance party started around 8:30 I think. The DJ was very good. The finale show was great, all the characters made an appearance. The fireworks were excellent too, just wish the top of the staging didn't obstruct the view. We were all the way tot he rope closest to Hollywood Blvd & the 2nd to last table back. We received no goody bags as I heard some of the other groups may have gotten.
Overall the VIP was great. You definitely get your money's worth. However there is a lot of waiting around throughout the day & small perks that were given to the Premium &/or Deluxe groups should have all been given to the VIP. There was a bunch of things that could have been done a lot more efficiently & allowed for more options/perks for VIPs at no additional cost, but then again I'm a Project Manager by trade so that stands out to me. Would I do it again? Yes, probably. The only thing i don't feel we got 100% of was the food simply because it was too much food scheduled too close together.
Sorry I can't be of more help
