VIP tour question

[SkyGuy]

Just curious, when you go rides with the VIP tour. Is it front of line or just LL? Some of those LL lines can eat up a lot of time.

I'm waiting to win a lottery before doing a tour.

Mostly it’s LL; there are a few where I’ve been taken in back doors and skipped LLs completely - Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Test Track, Soarin’, Dinosaur, those are some I remember.

 

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

Ok. That's just what my guide told me this past summer. On my first tour in 2021 at WDW , it didn't come up. But last summer at DL, the guide specifically said she couldn't wait at the exit with our 5 yr old, per policy. Which was fine, I could see they could be worried about legal issues. If you are ever at DL, Erica is a great guide. We had my 3 grandkids ages 5,7, and 9 with us and they loved her. They were disappointed on our day after our tour that she wasn't coming with us again!

It's possible DL's VIP Tours have different rules, but at WDW it is something that can be done.

Also, based on our experience, it depends on if the guide needs to go thru two checkpoints… many have two points, so the guide cannot wait out with kids. For us, the adults in the group took turns missing rides to hang with the 3 yr old.

There is a permitted work around for such a scenario. Your guide just has to go to the LL entrance with everyone and ask the CM there to manually approve each party member's ticket who will be riding, allowing you to make it through the second set of touchpoints without the guide.

If you do a vip tour in the beginning of the day, are you later able to go the vip tour viewing area for fireworks? Or does it have to overlap with your vip tour time to get the viewing area?

So I would have to try to book the Disney vip tour not the keys to the kingdom tour?

Yes, you would need to book a Disney VIP Tour if you want access to the VIP viewing area for fireworks. No other tour will grant you access to this area. And you must be dropped off at the VIP viewing area by your guide to be allowed to use it, so no, you wouldn't be allowed to start your tour at the beginning of the day and then use the VIP viewing area later. Currently guides are allowed to drop off their guests up to 30 minutes before the fireworks start, so keep that in mind when choosing a start time for your tour.

In addition, if you do the multiple parks in 1 day, do you need to buy passes for each park ahead of time?

You will need a park hopper ticket to be able to go to more than one park during your tour, and buying it in advance will save time and hassle during your tour if you know for sure that you are going to want to hop.

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

Pirates doesn't offer the alternate entrance anymore. My kids loved knocking on the door, so that was a bummer. Special viewing on fireworks was phenomenal though. We LOVED the show.

We did 2 this trip, one with our beloved guide and another with someone else because DD brought a friend later in the week. While the other guide was "fine" and did everything she was supposed to do, everyone agrees that we don't want to do VIP tours anymore if we can't get "our" guide. The magic was definitely missing the second time around.

 

[SkyGuy]

Pirates doesn't offer the alternate entrance anymore. My kids loved knocking on the door, so that was a bummer. Special viewing on fireworks was phenomenal though. We LOVED the show.

We did 2 this trip, one with our beloved guide and another with someone else because DD brought a friend later in the week. While the other guide was "fine" and did everything she was supposed to do, everyone agrees that we don't want to do VIP tours anymore if we can't get "our" guide. The magic was definitely missing the second time around.

We’ve done seven VIP Tours, two with the same guide (Jules). We’ve never had a bad guide. I guess we’ve been lucky. All have really vibed with us. Homer was our favorite. Jules was the most informative. Buddy was the most laid back - he was getting ready to retire, so that tracks .

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

We’ve done seven VIP Tours, two with the same guide (Jules). We’ve never had a bad guide. I guess we’ve been lucky. All have really vibed with us. Homer was our favorite. Jules was the most informative. Buddy was the most laid back - he was getting ready to retire, so that tracks .

We have done 3 in Cali, at least 6 in Florida, and my mom has done 2 more in Florida with my siblings.

Cali - the first time our guide was AWFUL. She spent the whole time criticizing Florida and telling us why Cali was better. We are primarily a Florida family so it was unpleasant to say the least. The second time we went we kept saying "anyone but her, anyone but her"...and of course was matched with her again. She was better the second time because we were a bigger group and she was very strict/no nonsense.

For our third Cali trip we asked for a male guide who would match well with my son (the trip was for him) to be sure not to get her again. Michael H was good, if young, and we would request him again if doing another Disneyland trip.

For Florida...we cheer when our guide pulls up in the morning, everyone gets a hug, and there are hugs and tears again when we say goodbye at the end of the day. We saw him multiple times this past trip and he always says hello and gives us a hug, even when he is with someone else. He even said he would be hurt if he didn't say hi, and we said the same thing. My kids think of him as a beloved uncle that they only get to see once/year. Every time we have been out with him he has seen someone else he has toured with in the parks and it's always a happy reunion for them as well. It's so great to see. For the other guide we said thank you and gave her a tip, but that was it. I doubt she'd know us if we walked by her in a day or two.

 

[SkyGuy]

We have done 3 in Cali, at least 6 in Florida, and my mom has done 2 more in Florida with my siblings.

Cali - the first time our guide was AWFUL. She spent the whole time criticizing Florida and telling us why Cali was better. We are primarily a Florida family so it was unpleasant to say the least. The second time we went we kept saying "anyone but her, anyone but her"...and of course was matched with her again. She was better the second time because we were a bigger group and she was very strict/no nonsense.

For our third Cali trip we asked for a male guide who would match well with my son (the trip was for him) to be sure not to get her again. Michael H was good, if young, and we would request him again if doing another Disneyland trip.

For Florida...we cheer when our guide pulls up in the morning, everyone gets a hug, and there are hugs and tears again when we say goodbye at the end of the day. We saw him multiple times this past trip and he always says hello and gives us a hug, even when he is with someone else. He even said he would be hurt if he didn't say hi, and we said the same thing. My kids think of him as a beloved uncle that they only get to see once/year. Every time we have been out with him he has seen someone else he has toured with in the parks and it's always a happy reunion for them as well. It's so great to see. For the other guide we said thank you and gave her a tip, but that was it. I doubt she'd know us if we walked by her in a day or two.

That’s too bad. I’m sorry you paid so much for someone to be so unprofessional!

 

[freshmanjs]

Tips are genuinely not expected or required and Disney actually makes it quite hard to tip; there is no receipt to sign with a tip line and no option to add a tip to your credit card payment. For those who do wish to tip, a percentage basis just does not make sense. For a seven hour tour at $700 per hour, a 20% tip would be $980, which would equate to the guide making well over $200,000 per year in tip income alone, on top of their Disney salary. I typically bring an envelope with $300 in cash to tip the guide at the end of the tour.

Wow - we tip $600-800 per day.

 

[GoingSince1990]

Wow - we tip $600-800 per day.

Wow- that equates to about $150,000 to $200,000 per annum of tip income alone for the tour guides, on top of their regular salary! Extremely generous and I’m sure they are absolutely thrilled by your generosity!

 

[freshmanjs]

Wow- that equates to about $150,000 to $200,000 per annum of tip income alone for the tour guides, on top of their regular salary! Extremely generous and I’m sure they are absolutely thrilled by your generosity!

It’s a high paying position. Not really sure why the equivalent of an annual salary is relevant. Do you do such calculations for servers at restaurants and haircut to what you deem is the “right” annual salary for them? How odd!

 

[jo-jo]

It’s a high paying position. Not really sure why the equivalent of an annual salary is relevant. Do you do such calculations for servers at restaurants and haircut to what you deem is the “right” annual salary for them? How odd!

But what other job would you tip $100 an hour?
Granted I'm amazed anyone could afford to do VIP tours. That's only on my "when I win the lottery" list.

 

[goin' again]

We did our tour on our last day. Started at Hollywood Studios around noon. We arrived at open, and did Mickeys Runaway Railway, Star Tours, The Frozen show, browsed a couple of shops, and had a snack, bathroom break and then met our guide,

Did the rides in Galaxy's Edge, took some cool photos, Did Toy Story area rides, Slinky Dog 2x back to back!, runaway railway again, then had a quick meal, while the guide and I talked about what else we wanted to do that day; some people only snack, but while we didn't do hour long huge meal, I needed a short break. My young gd didn't want to to TOT or Rocin Rollercoaster, so we moved on. When we went the Indiana Jones show and Fantasmic weren't running, so that wasn't in the plan, but I would have hopped over on a different day than tour for those anyway.

We decided to finish up our day doing things at MK, that were favorites or we didn't do on our MK time, but when my granddaughter expressed disappointment that test track had been down, we had a new plan.
Our guide drove us from HS to Epcot, parked in a back stage area near test track, we popped in and rode, then we went to MK for the rest of the day with rides ending with fireworks arriving at the reserved area about 8 minutes before they started. It's only sit on the grass, not chairs, we lots of space and a great view!

What my feet appreciated most at the end of the day, was the ride home! When the fireworks ended, we were whisked out of a close side door, walked only a few steps to her waiting car, and were driven back to the Dolphin, arriving probably before most of the people made it to their resort bus!

Our guide was great! She provided some waters along the way, and much needed tech help with mobile order, etc. Her name was Stephanie.

It was nice to do on the last day, it enabled us to do things we missed or loved, or might have been busy or down. The ability of the guide to park in different backstage areas, to maybe just do a couple of rides in another park was nice, as well as the ability of the guide to communicate with other guides about lines, crowds, etc was helpful to make the most of your day. And the best routes to avoid backtracking to conserve steps!

Make a list of your must dos, and they will do their best to make it happen. You can always adjust on the fly.

Did your tour time extend until the end of the fireworks? I'm reading a lot of people saying you tour guide drops you off at the VIP viewing area. But yours brought you back to the hotel? That sounds amazing!

 

[T.G.I.Friday]

Did your tour time extend until the end of the fireworks? I'm reading a lot of people saying you tour guide drops you off at the VIP viewing area. But yours brought you back to the hotel? That sounds amazing!

You are able to use 7-10 hours however you see fit. We really loved having our guide watch the fireworks with us, then navigate us through the crowds to her car and back to our resort, but it did add an extra 45 minutes to our bill. I joke that it was the most expensive Uber ride ever. We could have ended our tour at the viewing area and found our own way home.

 

[CeCe0906]

Did your tour time extend until the end of the fireworks? I'm reading a lot of people saying you tour guide drops you off at the VIP viewing area. But yours brought you back to the hotel? That sounds amazing!

It was part of our tour time, ended up being about 9 hr 45 min, I think. We were dropped off at the VIP area,, very close to start of fireworks, our guide came in part way through, with some bottled waters and some snacks. I think the fireworks were about 15 to 20 min long, and the walk to her car and drive to hotel was less than 10 minutes. I could have saved the money and stopped when we dropped off; but that was the summer of 2021, Delta was high, Disney had dropped the mask requirement, and I was traveling with my Granddaughter that was not vaccinated. I was primary caregiver of my 90 yr old mom in Memory Care. We were careful, wore masks in the queues, and on the busses, or in tight spots outside, and I felt like Monk's companion whipping the hand wipes out constantly. So at the time it was worth it to me to get out of the crowd quickly, and have a private ride to hotel. And my feet loved it!

Some people have the VIP tour guides pick them at their hotels also. But that is on the clock also.

 

[jgl130]

I did a VIP tour in January 2022 with 8 people (4, 6, 8, 39, 40, 45, 67, 68) and we got a ton accomplished, finishing at the VIP location for the fireworks.

Here’s the link to my post in another thread with everything we did:

https://www.disboards.com/threads/vip-tour-january-2022.3861688/post-63736136

I also did one in April with my parents and sister. We did a similar itinerary swapping in EPCOT instead of Animal Kingdom.

Both times we had Julian, who was great. He’s been doing VIP tours for over 10 years. He actually remembered me from the January tour. Also, once you enter the VIP fireworks section and they “know” who you are. You can go back out and get food/use the restroom. So we Mobile ordered both times from Casey’s and ate a “picnic” dinner while waiting for the fireworks to start.

For the questions about the littles, the four year old was tall enough for everything we did, but she didn’t want to do Rise or Millenium Falcon. Since I had done them both before I hung back with her. Julian told us where to stay, then he took the others through the lines.

We tipped $500 for January and $400 for April since we had less people and no kids.

It was a great time both times!

 

[rangerxenos]

Question, where is the VIP viewing area for the fireworks at MK?

 

[jgl130]

Question, where is the VIP viewing area for the fireworks at MK?

The “grassy” area in front of Casey’s Corner and Crystal Palace. It was a decent view!

 

[rangerxenos]

The “grassy” area in front of Casey’s Corner and Crystal Palace. It was a decent view!

Thanks, I was hoping it would be up on the train station platform, I've always wanted to view them from there!

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

You watch the parade from up on the train station. My son loved it.

 

[PinkPixel]

You watch the parade from up on the train station. My son loved it.

That's fun! Do you have a picture of the view? Is it a separate area from people waiting to board the train?

 

[twodogs]

We have done several VIP tours, and I highly recommend them. My advice based on some questions here:

• Don’t do anything the morning of your tour… just enjoy the later start time and no RD frenzy because every other day of our trip is early and RD frenzy. VIP day is lazy, get to the parks at 10am and enjoy…
• Starting later means you end later, so you can end with MK fireworks VIP seating. This is a MUST DO for us. We can make our way back to the BC so we don’t have the guide stay through fireworks and drive us home, though it would be really nice
• I would not take kids under 7-8 years old on a VIP because I think they get too tired and don’t get much out of it (IMO). My kids are ride junkies, so we waited until they were older, riding almost everything, to do the VIP
• Tell VIP services what you want to do and the “let it go” and a good guide will plan it out (and adjust on the fly)
• We tip $600+ for our family of 4-6. But we have the same guide every time, we text her regularly outside of trips because we have struck up a friendship with her. Sometimes we plan to see her on days we are not doing a VIP and she is always there to meet up and sprinkle a little pixie dust when she can!
• We only eat QS so we can save that valuable VIP time. Sometimes we have them get us a TS reservation for dinner at the end of the day, but the VIP fireworks are much more valuable to us.
• We love the parade viewing from the train station. Let VIP know well in advance that you want this and fireworks viewing.
• We usually skip EPCOT or only do Remy’s there. TT is such a time sink, so we do it on a non-VIP day. We DO repeat things like SDD and SDMT on the VIP since it is so hard to do that otherwise

Overall, we LOVE the VIP tour and have never had a bad experience. For holiday times, you had better be ready to dial in at exactly 8am EST at the 60 day mark to get a slot. They fill up very early and during those really busy times in the park, you get the most value from a VIP. Have fun!!!