VIP Tour Guide Definitely Worth It!

[ali2000]

With our guide, we did kinda get front of the line treatment on some rides. For instance, on the Dino "Dumbo" ride (I think in Animal Kingdom), he took us up to the lady letting people in and she opened the gate next to her for the next ride and let us on through that. There was a line to get on, but I'm not sure if this one was fast pass or not. So, I felt like that was a "front of the line" ride that he got us on. She allowed us to stay on, so we just stayed on that one and rode it twice.
On space mountain, we did one side and then went through a back way to get on the other side of the ride to ride that one right after that one.

Another "back door" treatment that we got was that instead of walking across a park to get to one ride we wanted on the other side, he would park in the back behind which ride we were going on and then when we were finished, we would go out the back door (those little sectioned off places behind the bathrooms or next to a show entrance), hop in the van, and zip across back lots to get to the next ride. That saved a lot of time as we avoided the crowds.

Our guide would also tell us about hidden mickeys, various details about rides, parks, restaurants, etc.
I had told him that I had been trying to get ressies at Chef Mickey's and hadn't been able to. He made a few calls and we had reservations for that night!

 

[DaniB]

It sounds heavenly!

Unfortunately we could not do this as a family of 4. Sounds like it is best (money-wise) for large groups.

Now... if I could just convince the powers-that-be to let us win the lotto... just once!

 

[ali2000]

It's definitely not for everyone's budget - it wouldn't be for ours if my step-dad hadn't paid for it all.
However, my husband and I both said that we would try and save to do that next time and go with other families to cut the cost down - at least for one park day.
The only downside to the tour guide is that you do miss a lot of the little stuff around the parks - the little play areas, silly stuff going on in the streets, and just the general atmosphere. But if you do this for one day and then do all the other stuff the other days, I think it would be a good use of money as long as it was split with other families to cut down cost.

 

[justskip70003]

OMG this is amazing! i wish i would have know this 2 months ago i would have gone premium vip for our trip april 19th - 23rd.

 

[rie'smom]

OMG this is amazing! i wish i would have know this 2 months ago i would have gone premium vip for our trip april 19th - 23rd.

You can still book it. I booked mine after arriving last year. Call 407-560-4033.

 

[iwrbnd]

I'll bet it's fun but I like exploring at my own pace.

 

[ali2000]

You can definitely book it now or even closer to your trip in April. If you call the VIP tour guide # on Disney's site, ask for Trent and see if he can set you up with Raymond during that time to be your guide (tell him Ali told you about it - I get no perks, just recommending a great tour guide). Like I mentioned in my original post, we didn't have Raymond officially scheduled for our 2nd day, but we he had us tentatively on his schedule for that day and we were able to use him.

 

[mydisneykids]

Got a premium VIP guide for my 40th birthday from my husband last year. Yes he is the best husband in the world and yes it was a big splurge.
We had Pete and he was great. It was Good Friday and the parks were crazy busy.
We started at DS as the kids said they wanted to ride tower as many times as they could. He brought us in the back entrance right by RRC and went right over to tower. We rode it 4 times throught the fast pass line and got little stories about the decor inside each time we went through. He would meet us at the exit as that is the one ride he doesnt like. The last time we got off he was talking to a friend of his that works there and she took us up an elevator from the exit right back to the loading area. The kids LOVED that.
Got to ride TSM twice, RRC twice and had front row seats to Indy as my son missed seeing it last trip and really wanted to see it again.
We only had 3 days this trip since it was a pre cruise stop so EPCOT was the only park we weren't at at rope drop. He took us in behind Test track and we rode that and soarin, the only 2 we couldn't do coming in an afternoon.
We THEN took a quick ride over to magic kingdom so we could ride buzz. After Toy Story he and my husband started talking about all the hidden high scores and had to go try them out.
It was a perfect way to end the trip and THE BEST birthday gift. Not something we could do every trip or even every few but would really love to do it again. he was engaging with the kids and gave us so many little bits of Disney info along the way. And we went at our pace.

 

[disneyholic family]

this sounds absolutely perfect....
i'm taking my sister and mom to WDW in June...
my sister isn't well (3 different kinds of cancer - ovarian, breast and lung), so she really can't hang around in lines...

this sounds like just what i've been looking for....

i wonder if we could manage all 4 parks in one day? and then on the other days we're there, to just wander around on our own and enjoy the street stuff, relaxing and not even bothering with rides and lines...

there are a few things that i absolutely have to take them to - Finding Nemo the musical and Festival of the Lion King at AK, TSM at DHS, Soaring and wimpy Mission Space at epcot and pirates and haunted mansion at the MK...

i wonder if the guide would take us into the utilidors....i think my sister would enjoy that..

i'm so happy i found this post...

 

[SOnotLayuh]

This does sound absolutely heavenly. Maybe one day we will strike oil or something

 

[mirandag819]

I think it depends on the park and the day and how busy it is..... We did this last year (lots of details in my TR), I found MK not to be worth it, except for the VIP Parade seating, even though it was August the parks weren't as busy as I thought, and we could have accomplished everything on our own..... but I found HS much more worth it, the front row seating for all the shows was handy and allowed us to do more by arriving to the show at the last minute and still having a front row seat.

In our case, we used the FP line over and over without FPs but on the rides that didn't have FP we were taken through the exit lines.

We also got to see backstage areas and stuff (but only when my daughter was doing something different then some of us, because she is 4 and they don't want to ruin the magic for the little ones.)

 

[disneyholic family]

I think it depends on the park and the day and how busy it is..... We did this last year (lots of details in my TR), I found MK not to be worth it, except for the VIP Parade seating, even though it was August the parks weren't as busy as I thought, and we could have accomplished everything on our own..... but I found HS much more worth it, the front row seating for all the shows was handy and allowed us to do more by arriving to the show at the last minute and still having a front row seat.

In our case, we used the FP line over and over without FPs but on the rides that didn't have FP we were taken through the exit lines.

We also got to see backstage areas and stuff (but only when my daughter was doing something different then some of us, because she is 4 and they don't want to ruin the magic for the little ones.)

thanks, i'm going to read your trip report now...

 

[goodferry]

Hmmm so families are getting together on the Dis to share photopass CDs, maybe we should be getting together to share the cost of a VIP tour! I agree that it's not something I would want to do for everyday of our trip, as part of the fun is in walking around the parks, but it would be great for a couple of days!

 

[disneyholic family]

I think it depends on the park and the day and how busy it is..... We did this last year (lots of details in my TR), I found MK not to be worth it, except for the VIP Parade seating, even though it was August the parks weren't as busy as I thought, and we could have accomplished everything on our own..... but I found HS much more worth it, the front row seating for all the shows was handy and allowed us to do more by arriving to the show at the last minute and still having a front row seat.

In our case, we used the FP line over and over without FPs but on the rides that didn't have FP we were taken through the exit lines.

We also got to see backstage areas and stuff (but only when my daughter was doing something different then some of us, because she is 4 and they don't want to ruin the magic for the little ones.)

started reading your TR!! i'm in the middle of dinner at 1900 park fare...
how fun!!!!!

 

[maitlynn]

What a wonderful trip. i'm in the middle of your AK day I've been reading all morning.

Bless you and your family for your service to our country. Loving all of her outfits and can't believe you just learned to sew, I sew with a hot glue gun! LOL

 

[TimeforMe]

It would really be worth it to me too if someone else was paying!

ITA!

 

[disneyholic family]

i see from your report on DHS that i should schedule a TS meal at some point during the day...
i won't have a chance to make any ADRs beforehand...
do the VIP guides have any pull with ADRs?

 

[cannp123165]

Sounds great! I would it but would never be able to afford it!

 

[mirandag819]

i see from your report on DHS that i should schedule a TS meal at some point during the day...
i won't have a chance to make any ADRs beforehand...
do the VIP guides have any pull with ADRs?

You don't need to schedule one at all..... the guides will get you into any where you want without an ADR, in our case we had our own ADRs for breakfast and dinner, and at lunch we just weren't hungry enough to sit down (which I think was a mistake, but counter service just took too long with the guide and we could have easily gone to any table service with her without waiting)

 

[disneyholic family]

You don't need to schedule one at all..... the guides will get you into any where you want without an ADR, in our case we had our own ADRs for breakfast and dinner, and at lunch we just weren't hungry enough to sit down (which I think was a mistake, but counter service just took too long with the guide and we could have easily gone to any table service with her without waiting)

by the way, all of the outfits you made are ADORABLE!!!
and of course, your gorgeous daughter is the PERFECT model!!!!

and about your sister's outfit (when she 'borrowed' Taylor's), i thought she looked wonderful in it....if i had her body, i would wear it too...especially to play along with Taylor....what a good aunt..

take a look at pictures from tokyo disney resort - you'll see lots of japanese go all out in what they wear when they visit the tokyo disney parks...
Morgan would fit right in!! and they would have also thought she looked great (and wouldn't have given her the evil eye).

and you keep saying how dreadful you look in pictures, but you look beautiful!!!....i didn't see any bad pictures of you!!...

you really invest time and effort into your trips!!! i always thought i was a planner, but i don't hold a candle to you...

as for the counter service, i would also have been terribly annoyed by that...sort of adding insult to injury - paying a fortune for the VIP and then wasting time in a food line when you weren't even hungry, just to satisfy the requirement...

can you have a VIP guide any day of the week? sundays too?
if so, i'll take one on sunday to see AK and DHS....

i am so thrilled about this....
i was so worried about how i would be able to get my sister around....she doesn't walk very well any more (due to all the many many rounds of chemo), but she refuses to use a walker or wheelchair....so if we can go through backways that will help...
i'm so excited about this now...i was really worried about how it woudl work out..
i'm the disney psycho and they're not exactly haters, but just not anywhere near me......they're sort of indifferent to disney and make a lot of fun of me...

but my sister wants to do everything with me now (while she still can)...
but i don't want it to be a trial for her...and disney can be difficult even for healthy people...

(by the way, i think i'm your mom's age - judging by the picture - you can see pictures of me on my facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/batshevalerner?ref=profile