Ultimate Night of Adventure VIP tour at Animal Kingdom
- Thread starter bbahorik
- Start date
This was posted on another thread:
Newbie here who was able to take the tour a few nights ago.
I'm not a huge tour fan in general, but this one was great. The guides were fun, informative and well organized. We started off at Dinosaur which was having some technical difficulties so we moved over to Pandora. Rode the Navi River first which was okay. The shaman at the end was quite incredible though. Next was Flight of Passage which was such a cool experience!
After FoP we had a break for the snacks, drinks and dessert. I thought everything I had (vegetarian) tasted great. After the break, we headed over for a sunset Safari ride and then on to Everest. At this point, I was wondering if we'd have time to hit Dinosaur again before Rivers of Light and we did!
At the end of Dinosaur, our guides gave us three options. We could either 1) say goodbye and head out on our own 2) watch Rivers of Light in the VIP seating or 3) go ride FoP again. I'd say out of our group of 25, most of them elected to go ride FoP again, including us. We thought it was quite the treat to be able to ride it twice in one evening.
I asked for more details:
There was a guide in the front and the back. Both of them seemed pretty knowledgeable about the park and threw out some tidbits but they didn't go super in depth with park history. Had we asked during our walks, I'm sure they would've been happy to share.
We received a VIP lanyard with our table group assignment and a Rivers of Light lanyard that lights up to wear once it got dark. We were able to keep both.
The drink choices were wine, beer, soda, water (they also provided a bottle of water during the snack break), or a fruity juice drink which is what I chose. You also got a choice of dessert- blueberry or chocolate mousse cake.
HowVery, Today at 12:38 AMReport
#134Like+ QuoteReply
Newbie here who was able to take the tour a few nights ago.
I'm not a huge tour fan in general, but this one was great. The guides were fun, informative and well organized. We started off at Dinosaur which was having some technical difficulties so we moved over to Pandora. Rode the Navi River first which was okay. The shaman at the end was quite incredible though. Next was Flight of Passage which was such a cool experience!
After FoP we had a break for the snacks, drinks and dessert. I thought everything I had (vegetarian) tasted great. After the break, we headed over for a sunset Safari ride and then on to Everest. At this point, I was wondering if we'd have time to hit Dinosaur again before Rivers of Light and we did!
At the end of Dinosaur, our guides gave us three options. We could either 1) say goodbye and head out on our own 2) watch Rivers of Light in the VIP seating or 3) go ride FoP again. I'd say out of our group of 25, most of them elected to go ride FoP again, including us. We thought it was quite the treat to be able to ride it twice in one evening.
I asked for more details:
There was a guide in the front and the back. Both of them seemed pretty knowledgeable about the park and threw out some tidbits but they didn't go super in depth with park history. Had we asked during our walks, I'm sure they would've been happy to share.
We received a VIP lanyard with our table group assignment and a Rivers of Light lanyard that lights up to wear once it got dark. We were able to keep both.
The drink choices were wine, beer, soda, water (they also provided a bottle of water during the snack break), or a fruity juice drink which is what I chose. You also got a choice of dessert- blueberry or chocolate mousse cake.
HowVery, Today at 12:38 AMReport
#134Like+ QuoteReply
Thanks for posting this. I just booked us for January. If I have any luck on FP window I may cancel as I am a pretty savvy park tour'er however being there during such a busy week is giving me food for thought. So I booked! Would there have been any way to have rode FoP again and made it to Rivers of Light if I had a fast pass for that obtaining that fast pass on my own?
lvcourtneyy
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Sounds like a nice evening but I would expect way more for paying $250 a person 
Sounds like a nice evening but I would expect way more for paying $250 a person
Agreed Disney Visa, AP etc gets 15 percent discount FYI. I will certainly try for my own FP but if I don't at least this is my backup
bookbabe626
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- Aug 25, 2006
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Just booked for March 31. DH and I have a short stay with Easter crowds, so this seems like it would be worth it for us.
This is my thought too I hate stress and worrying about fast pass times and lining up an hour early during marathon week is not doing it for me. I think I'm keeping the VIP adventure but will book rol with fp on my own. Hopefully guide gives us iption for second ride and I use that after rol fp.
I thought I read originally you also got a popcorn bucket and surprises....but doesn’t sound like that’s really true...
bookbabe626
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For us, it's a straightforward time versus money thing. We're only there for the Easter weekend, for 2.5 park days. And what I've read here on the DIS is that FastPasses are hard to get for short stays due to the longer stay folks booking theirs ahead of you. And they're hard to get during peak times when there's more people booking them. So we're getting hit by a double whammy. If we had a longer stay, or if we were going at a slower time of year, then I'd probably do the rope drop lines and hope for the best. But we just don't have the time to spend in hours-long lines for the two Pandora rides. Yes, the VIP tour is brutally expensive, but I think it will be worth it if it means we can use our FastPasses in a different park that morning and maximize our touring time. We're already spending stupid amounts of money to travel on a peak weekend, what's a few hundred more?
Although I am still interested in hearing more people's experiences with the tour. We've got Universal as a backup plan for that weekend, since the crowds would impact us less there (express passes plus walking to the parks reduces crowd-related headaches) and if people are frequently missing out on the Pandora part of the tour due to breakdowns we might skip Disney and go with Plan B. The tour can be canceled up to 48 hours before, and we've got until February to cancel the room/tickets.
For us, it's a straightforward time versus money thing. We're only there for the Easter weekend, for 2.5 park days. And what I've read here on the DIS is that FastPasses are hard to get for short stays due to the longer stay folks booking theirs ahead of you. And they're hard to get during peak times when there's more people booking them. So we're getting hit by a double whammy. If we had a longer stay, or if we were going at a slower time of year, then I'd probably do the rope drop lines and hope for the best. But we just don't have the time to spend in hours-long lines for the two Pandora rides. Yes, the VIP tour is brutally expensive, but I think it will be worth it if it means we can use our FastPasses in a different park that morning and maximize our touring time. We're already spending stupid amounts of money to travel on a peak weekend, what's a few hundred more?
Although I am still interested in hearing more people's experiences with the tour. We've got Universal as a backup plan for that weekend, since the crowds would impact us less there (express passes plus walking to the parks reduces crowd-related headaches) and if people are frequently missing out on the Pandora part of the tour due to breakdowns we might skip Disney and go with Plan B. The tour can be canceled up to 48 hours before, and we've got until February to cancel the room/tickets.
This is pretty much my feeling as well. I didn't hear about the breakdowns though...is this impacting the tours? mine starts at a weird time I think like 2:30???
bookbabe626
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One of the reviews I read in another thread mentioned having to rearrange the order of the rides as one of the Pandora ones was down. Wish I could find that review again, since I think they also mentioned getting FastPasses as compensation...or maybe that was the review that had the safari rained out?
The start time is set for 4 hours before RoL, whenever that is on a given night. Mine's got a 4:45 start since RoL is at 8:45pm. They said to be there by 4:30 at the latest, and that you could check in as early as 4:15. They were also able to note my food allergy, so I'm assuming they'll accommodate that for the snacks.
I read that too. EE and Safari rained out and they got extra FoP ride and few sets of passes because ROL rained out too. FPs not usable at Pandora but good all week
Mine is also scheduled for 2:30 but I am assuming it gets dark earlier as the year goes on...
I assume so as well just funny name of ultimate nights of adventure and you wrap up at 6:30
I am planning to rope drop that day anyway and head straight to the the River ride and do a lot of AK prior to the tour and then enjoy re rides and a few new ones too.
Kaytie
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You don't have to assume this. It actually happens.
TeeKo
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- Oct 23, 2016
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I took the Ultimate Night of Adventure tour on Saturday November 4, 2017. My family enjoyed the tour but this is essentially a Fast Pass trip.
The tour begins at 3:30pm and we were asked to check in at the Dinosaur courtyard between 3pm to 3:15pm. There were two tour guides (the plaids) and one coordinator at the check in table.
Most of us received stickers to wear on our shirts. A few people received lanyards. The sticker identified us to be in the tour group and had our snack table assignment (Dragon, fox, dinosaur, etc).
At check in, we were asked to pre-select our drink and dessert for the snack. Options included wine, beer, and soft drinks, Pandoran Sunrise, or Grog Ale. The dessert options are the two offered at Satu'li Canteen: chocolate cake or blueberry cream cheese mousse.
Our group had 26 people. There were two large families which is how I think our group topped over 25. We were asked to all introduce ourselves and identify our home state. Then on to the rides.
The weather was perfect so I think my experience is probably the preferred order or events:
Dinosaur
Na'vi River
Flight of passage
Snack time
Kilamanjaro Safari
Expedition Everest
River of Light
We entered through the Fast Pass line at each ride. There were people with actual Fast Passes that would sometimes end up in the middle of our group. We would all wait at the exit until the entire group was out and then would move on to the next ride. There was a guide leading the group and a guide at the rear of our group. They were like sheperds herding us through the crowded park.
There was one piece of trivia shared at Dinosaur but otherwise, this was not a "behind the scenes" sort of tour.
There were several bathroom breaks over the 4 hours. There may have actually been 4 or 5 breaks. While I don't need that many breaks, I didn't find it cumbersome to stop that many times.
After Dinosaur, the group headed to Pandora. First up, Na'vi River journey.
From Na'vi River you go directly to Flight of Passage. There was 15 minutes of gift shop time after FOP.
Leaving the gift shop, we went to Satu'li Canteen for our snack break. Our tables were assigned and at your table, your actual seat was also designated by your drink and dessert choice. It wasn't a big deal to move your seat within your own table. My child was placed between two non-related adults so i just swapped seats/drink/dessert with him.
The snack is an ample sampler tray for the 6 or 7 people at each table to share. The sampler included tofu, fish, chicken, and beef. There was also rice, cole slaw, potato hash, and two green salads. There was enough food for everyone to have a serving of everything and seconds.
After the snack, we were each given our souvenir lanyard and then headed over to Safari.
Again, we went through the Fast Pass line. Our group had our crazy, light up lanyards on in the Fast Pass line and someone in the regular line asked if we had all won a race (the Food & Wine races were that weekend). The lanyards did sort of look like race medallions. A fellow in my tour explained to the observer that were were on a "VIP tour." He explained it as a "Fast pass" to all the popular rides. The observer asked how much it cost and there was some chatter in queue about the tour.
After Safari, on to Everest.
After Everest, our tour coordinator was waiting with coolers filled with water bottles for us. The coordinator announced that this was officially the end of the tour. For those who wanted to watch River of Light, we would have a reserved area. Otherwise, time to bid adieu!
Five or six people left our group at that point; they did not want to watch River of Light. The rest of us were ushered to a reserved front row seats.
River of Light started at 7:30pm. The tour took all of 4 hours to navigate the park and do the five rides (and snack and the multiple bathroom breaks)
The tour did not exceed any expectations but certainly met every expectation we had. There wasn't much time for socializing which seemed just fine for everyone.The fellow tour members were all very nice, courteous. It was a pretty smooth ensemble of random people.
The end.
The tour begins at 3:30pm and we were asked to check in at the Dinosaur courtyard between 3pm to 3:15pm. There were two tour guides (the plaids) and one coordinator at the check in table.
Most of us received stickers to wear on our shirts. A few people received lanyards. The sticker identified us to be in the tour group and had our snack table assignment (Dragon, fox, dinosaur, etc).
At check in, we were asked to pre-select our drink and dessert for the snack. Options included wine, beer, and soft drinks, Pandoran Sunrise, or Grog Ale. The dessert options are the two offered at Satu'li Canteen: chocolate cake or blueberry cream cheese mousse.
Our group had 26 people. There were two large families which is how I think our group topped over 25. We were asked to all introduce ourselves and identify our home state. Then on to the rides.
The weather was perfect so I think my experience is probably the preferred order or events:
Dinosaur
Na'vi River
Flight of passage
Snack time
Kilamanjaro Safari
Expedition Everest
River of Light
We entered through the Fast Pass line at each ride. There were people with actual Fast Passes that would sometimes end up in the middle of our group. We would all wait at the exit until the entire group was out and then would move on to the next ride. There was a guide leading the group and a guide at the rear of our group. They were like sheperds herding us through the crowded park.
There was one piece of trivia shared at Dinosaur but otherwise, this was not a "behind the scenes" sort of tour.
There were several bathroom breaks over the 4 hours. There may have actually been 4 or 5 breaks. While I don't need that many breaks, I didn't find it cumbersome to stop that many times.
After Dinosaur, the group headed to Pandora. First up, Na'vi River journey.
From Na'vi River you go directly to Flight of Passage. There was 15 minutes of gift shop time after FOP.
Leaving the gift shop, we went to Satu'li Canteen for our snack break. Our tables were assigned and at your table, your actual seat was also designated by your drink and dessert choice. It wasn't a big deal to move your seat within your own table. My child was placed between two non-related adults so i just swapped seats/drink/dessert with him.
The snack is an ample sampler tray for the 6 or 7 people at each table to share. The sampler included tofu, fish, chicken, and beef. There was also rice, cole slaw, potato hash, and two green salads. There was enough food for everyone to have a serving of everything and seconds.
After the snack, we were each given our souvenir lanyard and then headed over to Safari.
Again, we went through the Fast Pass line. Our group had our crazy, light up lanyards on in the Fast Pass line and someone in the regular line asked if we had all won a race (the Food & Wine races were that weekend). The lanyards did sort of look like race medallions. A fellow in my tour explained to the observer that were were on a "VIP tour." He explained it as a "Fast pass" to all the popular rides. The observer asked how much it cost and there was some chatter in queue about the tour.
After Safari, on to Everest.
After Everest, our tour coordinator was waiting with coolers filled with water bottles for us. The coordinator announced that this was officially the end of the tour. For those who wanted to watch River of Light, we would have a reserved area. Otherwise, time to bid adieu!
Five or six people left our group at that point; they did not want to watch River of Light. The rest of us were ushered to a reserved front row seats.
River of Light started at 7:30pm. The tour took all of 4 hours to navigate the park and do the five rides (and snack and the multiple bathroom breaks)
The tour did not exceed any expectations but certainly met every expectation we had. There wasn't much time for socializing which seemed just fine for everyone.The fellow tour members were all very nice, courteous. It was a pretty smooth ensemble of random people.
The end.
I just got back from Disney Sunday. I was able to do all the attractions but the Navi River ride. I did have a fast pass for FOP. I had originally booked this experience for myself when I go back in December but as soon as I got home I cancelled it. There was very little wait for expedition or dinasour or safari. It is a waste of money for ME to do this. I had THOUGHT it was an informative look at Animal Kingdom but clearly it is not. It is definetly a “pay for fast pass” experience. Those who are under a time constraint and want to do it all....this would be for them.
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