VIP Tour on busy days

[whiporee]

We're headed back to Orlando, but we're limiting Disney to one day this trip. Since my brother and his brood and my Mom will be there, that brings us to 10 for a Disney day. It'll be the week before Easter this year.

My wife and I are thinking about splurging for the VIP tour because we're saving a lot of money by just keeping Disney to one day this time. Plus, my wife kind of hates Disney and hates waiting in line and is sort of spoiled. So it goes.

I'm wondering if anyone has done a VIP tour on a really busy day, which I assume that week will be. Does the tour guide make the park a lot more manageable -- are the FP lines packed during those times, or are Fps pretty consistently keep-walking (if not walk on) during the busy weeks.

It's a bunch of money and I'd hate to waste it if it's not going to be a huge advantage for touring the parks.

Also, while I'm at it, it's a 7-hour minimum (and for my budget sanity, maximum). If you did a tour, did you think it was worthwhile to hit all the parks -- can you get seven wait-free hours out of MK -- and is that worth eh extra cost of a park hopper? One more question -- I'm thinking of setting it up for 1-8 because we'd get VIP seating for the fireworks and parades. Does anyone know whether VIP seating is the same thing as FP+ seating. If so, because we all still get our 3 Fps with the admission ticket, would it make more sense to start the day earlier and use the Fps for the parades and fireworks. Or do the Fps for those really not make a lot go sense?

Thanks for any input. I appreciate it.

 

[Accident]

VIP tour has unlimted fastpass+ and it is not a front of line perk. I have seen some fastpass lines be 10-20 minutes on crowded days, especially if the ride was down a lot that day. It will be better than waiting in lines and most of the time it's pretty close to a walk on so it might be a good way to do you 1 and only disney day.

Are you looking at switching parks? I know they can quickly get you between parks with a private van/coach but you still need valid tickets to hop.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We did the VIP tour a few years ago and, honestly, I don't know if I would do it without park hopping. That is definitely one of the biggest perks. They literally drive as close as they can to the RIDE you want to start with in each park. We hopped from DHS to MK and he literally parked his car basically right next to the Buzz Lightyear ride. If you only want to do MK, I would just go at rope drop, get FP+ for some of the biggies (granted, if you are staying offsite, chances of getting 7DMT are slim, but do you really want to spend $2K plus to get on 7DMT?) and, perhaps spend your money on doing the Wishes Dessert Party (instant VIP view WITH treats!) and maybe even doing a pre-park opening breakfast at BOG to get quicker access to 7DMT at rope drop. I think you could come up with a pretty solid MK touring plan, with FP+ to keep your waits down. Again, I think I would only do the VIP thing again if we were hopping - with our guide, we got rides in three parks in in 6 hours and that was with stopping for lunch at Columbia Harbor House.

 

[kmb584]

We do the VIP tour every trip (a new addition as of three trips ago) and book our guide for two days. We split one day between Epcot and DHS and spend another solely at MK. While the minimum amount of time may seem like a lot to spend in one park, I often find that it's not enough time as my daughter likes to ride her favorites multiple times and we also stop for a QS lunch. It's much more manageable hopping between EP/DHS, for us anyway, because the number of attractions is less (we ride: Star Tours, TSMM, RnRC, TT, Soarin', SE, and MS) compared to the number in MK (we do the park in almost its entirety, only skipping shows).