VIP tour tipping

[MEC004]

No. They’re discussing private VIP tours here, not group activity “VIP tours” like the safari. The guides on the private tours have a lot more interaction and time working with just the guests than on the group tours.

Thank you! I was going to get cash and now that’s one less thing to worry about.

 

[Eeyore's the Best]

I'm doing a tour on Nov 16th and our group is planning to do $50 tip. I joined a tour share so we have 10 people and we will all tip $50 each.

 

[jo-jo]

I'm doing a tour on Nov 16th and our group is planning to do $50 tip. I joined a tour share so we have 10 people and we will all tip $50 each.

Curious how you will tour? Are there "tour shares" listed like big rides only, kids rides only????? If I did a tour even with my own family, we'd be going in three different directions. Some kids like the big rides, some are too little, some are chickens for the big rides. etc.

 

[Eeyore's the Best]

Yes, we joined an adults only “headliners” tour. We used an planning spreadsheet to figure out everyone’s top rides, the organizer used a travel agent that did everything for us. We started a Facebook group and have been getting to know each other over the last couple of months. Very excited to do this tour at a fraction of the cost.

 

[CaptainRogers2021]

Can I join your family? I'm a wonderful grandma, I'll have my grandkids all write resumes if needed.


Please write a TR when you return. I've never heard of anyone doing a VIP tour for several days. Are you staying longer than four days? Knowing me, I'd want to do Tour day, rest day, Tour day, rest day, etc

Have a wonderful trip.

Yep we have a week long stay, and thank you my family and I are excited for this upcoming adventure!

 

[foodiddiedoo]

Resurrecting this thread since I'm signed up for my first (and only probably) VIP tour for Mid Feb. It's a busy week (after President's Day Weekend) so the price is 750 dollars an hour. I don't want to be disappointing to the tour guide and was pondering a 10% tip (600 dollars). We're a group of 7, my group was originally thinking 50 dollars per person, but I feel bad because it's a very expensive week so I suggested the 10%. Any suggestions if that's going to be well received or is that too low?

 

[holden]

Resurrecting this thread since I'm signed up for my first (and only probably) VIP tour for Mid Feb. It's a busy week (after President's Day Weekend) so the price is 750 dollars an hour. I don't want to be disappointing to the tour guide and was pondering a 10% tip (600 dollars). We're a group of 7, my group was originally thinking 50 dollars per person, but I feel bad because it's a very expensive week so I suggested the 10%. Any suggestions if that's going to be well received or is that too low?

I'd tip at least $100pp. It's a lot of work for the guides and they are hustling and doing your bidding for 7hrs.

 

[foodiddiedoo]

I'd tip at least $100pp. It's a lot of work for the guides and they are hustling and doing your bidding for 7hrs.

I was thinking that, 5 of us are adults (100 each for us) and two are kids so 50 for them added up to 600 for me. Or do you count children as a full person ?

 

[holden]

I was thinking that, 5 of us are adults (100 each for us) and two are kids so 50 for them added up to 600 for me. Or do you count children as a full person ?

I'd count a kid as a full person lol. I know it's hard to give a big tip like that, but I look at it this way...if I can afford the tour, I can afford to reward for a job well done.

We've never had a bad guide. In fact our first guide is one of the most wonderful, positive people in the world! I'm talking about you, Raevon!!! (Not sure if he's on here). He went on to become a Walt Disney World ambassador. A truly wonderful guy!

If you have a great tour guide, you actually won't mind giving a generous tip a the end of the day. That's how special this experience is.

 

[foodiddiedoo]

I'd count a kid as a full person lol. I know it's hard to give a big tip like that, but I look at it this way...if I can afford the tour, I can afford to reward for a job well done.

We've never had a bad guide. In fact our first guide is one of the most wonderful, positive people in the world! I'm talking about you, Raevon!!! (Not sure if he's on here). He went on to become a Walt Disney World ambassador. A truly wonderful guy!

If you have a great tour guide, you actually won't mind giving a generous tip a the end of the day. That's how special this experience is.

I met Raevon at the Destination D23 event last year! All the ambassadors seem amazing.

 

[T.G.I.Friday]

I was thinking that, 5 of us are adults (100 each for us) and two are kids so 50 for them added up to 600 for me. Or do you count children as a full person ?

$50 for them seems pretty fair, assuming the kids are mobile and the guide isn’t needing to maneuver a stroller.

We tip a per person rate, but since there are only 3 of us, it doesn’t really come out to a lot in total. Our guide has always seemed grateful and appreciative and never made us feel like it wasn’t enough or it should have been more.

We used Venmo this time, and it was perfect. I don’t like traveling or going to the parks with a lot of cash.

I think $600 for your group - assuming not a lot of extenuating circumstances like strollers and ECVs or very specific needs/requests - is fine.

 

[foodiddiedoo]

$50 for them seems pretty fair, assuming the kids are mobile and the guide isn’t needing to maneuver a stroller.

We tip a per person rate, but since there are only 3 of us, it doesn’t really come out to a lot in total. Our guide has always seemed grateful and appreciative and never made us feel like it wasn’t enough or it should have been more.

We used Venmo this time, and it was perfect. I don’t like traveling or going to the parks with a lot of cash.

I think $600 for your group - assuming not a lot of extenuating circumstances like strollers and ECVs or very specific needs/requests - is fine.

Group makeup is:
3 Adults 38-40 years old with no extenuating situations.
My parents both mid 60s but fully mobile.
7 year old and 9 year old no strollers or any mobility issues.

I think the only “special” requests we might make would be if there were any rides we could stay on without getting off since that always feels so special.
Looking to meet the guide at Epcot and do GoTG and Test Track, then head to Magic Kingdom for the rest of our day ending with being escorted to Fireworks. We’re planning on eating lunch before we meet our guide at 11:45, and doing quick service for dinner to not waste too much of our time. Does this plan seem good? Everyone wants to ride Tron, and all the regular headliners for MK (Pirates, BTMRR, 7DMT, Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, Jungle Cruise). Can they support getting to stay on the ride for Haunted Mansion (I’ve ALWAYS wanted to know if the Doom Buggies just go straight back into the hallway where regular loading occurs). I’m not a demanding person by any means, and I’m just beyond excited to get to do this for my 40th birthday! I also am the one footing almost all of the bill to get to do it since it was sort of a surprise for my parents/my best friend/our kiddos.

 

[T.G.I.Friday]

Group makeup is:
3 Adults 38-40 years old with no extenuating situations.
My parents both mid 60s but fully mobile.
7 year old and 9 year old no strollers or any mobility issues.

I think the only “special” requests we might make would be if there were any rides we could stay on without getting off since that always feels so special.
Looking to meet the guide at Epcot and do GoTG and Test Track, then head to Magic Kingdom for the rest of our day ending with being escorted to Fireworks. We’re planning on eating lunch before we meet our guide at 11:45, and doing quick service for dinner to not waste too much of our time. Does this plan seem good? Everyone wants to ride Tron, and all the regular headliners for MK (Pirates, BTMRR, 7DMT, Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, Jungle Cruise). Can they support getting to stay on the ride for Haunted Mansion (I’ve ALWAYS wanted to know if the Doom Buggies just go straight back into the hallway where regular loading occurs). I’m not a demanding person by any means, and I’m just beyond excited to get to do this for my 40th birthday! I also am the one footing almost all of the bill to get to do it since it was sort of a surprise for my parents/my best friend/our kiddos.

You are going to have an amazing time! What a great way to celebrate your birthday!

My opinion is that you should add something at HS. Only doing those 2 rides in Epcot will leave you with a lot of time in MK - maybe a little too much. And with where you park, HS is a cool experience. Maybe add TOT or TSMM or Slinky to your list. Meet at Epcot, go to HS and then to MK.

Not sure about staying on the ride, but at the Haunted Mansion, ask to see one of the least seen hidden Mickeys.

 

[foodiddiedoo]

You are going to have an amazing time! What a great way to celebrate your birthday!

My opinion is that you should add something at HS. Only doing those 2 rides in Epcot will leave you with a lot of time in MK - maybe a little too much. And with where you park, HS is a cool experience. Maybe add TOT or TSMM or Slinky to your list. Meet at Epcot, go to HS and then to MK.

Not sure about staying on the ride, but at the Haunted Mansion, ask to see one of the least seen hidden Mickeys.

So we’re (insanely) probably buying tickets for the HS After Hours that night for just me, my husband, and my bestie. I love your idea though (half my group won’t ride ToT, basically the only thing other than Mission Space puke side that people refuse), but Slinky is a great idea. If Frozen Ever After wasn’t a super long walk from Test Track and Guardians, I would have thrown that in there. My plan was to try and take the kids on Frozen before lunch and the meet with the tour guide. Surprisingly my group wanted to do the whole day at MK and thought I was “wasting our time” with the transport from Epcot to MK. I wanted the special experience of getting transported between the parks. Where do they drop you off at MK and HS?

 

[foodiddiedoo]

You are going to have an amazing time! What a great way to celebrate your birthday!

My opinion is that you should add something at HS. Only doing those 2 rides in Epcot will leave you with a lot of time in MK - maybe a little too much. And with where you park, HS is a cool experience. Maybe add TOT or TSMM or Slinky to your list. Meet at Epcot, go to HS and then to MK.

Not sure about staying on the ride, but at the Haunted Mansion, ask to see one of the least seen hidden Mickeys.

Since you seem to know a lot, if we did Test Track, would we be able to ride again without having to go through the entire design a car room process a second time?

 

[GoingSince1990]

Resurrecting this thread since I'm signed up for my first (and only probably) VIP tour for Mid Feb. It's a busy week (after President's Day Weekend) so the price is 750 dollars an hour. I don't want to be disappointing to the tour guide and was pondering a 10% tip (600 dollars). We're a group of 7, my group was originally thinking 50 dollars per person, but I feel bad because it's a very expensive week so I suggested the 10%. Any suggestions if that's going to be well received or is that too low?

The guide would be absolutely thrilled with $600, and would honestly have been more than happy with the $350. Tipping tour guides is genuinely not expected, is not mentioned on the website, is never brought up by Disney during the planning, and Disney makes it quite hard to do by not providing the option to add a tip to the credit card used to pay for the tour. Moreover, basing the tip as a percentage of the extremely high cost of a tour is like calculating a hotel maid’s tip as a percentage of the nightly room rate. We generally tip around $300 (total) for a VIP tour.

 

[T.G.I.Friday]

So we’re (insanely) probably buying tickets for the HS After Hours that night for just me, my husband, and my bestie. I love your idea though (half my group won’t ride ToT, basically the only thing other than Mission Space puke side that people refuse), but Slinky is a great idea. If Frozen Ever After wasn’t a super long walk from Test Track and Guardians, I would have thrown that in there. My plan was to try and take the kids on Frozen before lunch and the meet with the tour guide. Surprisingly my group wanted to do the whole day at MK and thought I was “wasting our time” with the transport from Epcot to MK. I wanted the special experience of getting transported between the parks. Where do they drop you off at MK and HS?

You are smart to skip Frozen! They park behind America for WS or they park behind Test Track, so there’s no quick and easy way to get to Norway.

I’m not sure, because we’ve never done it on tour, but I thought I read it posted here that you could now bypass most of the line for test track if you wanted and essentially meet up by the single riders. So you could probably build a car once and then ride it without a second time. Or just skip the building both times if you wanted. We asked our guide if there was a building trick that they knew, but they said there wasn’t, so we skipped it. Haha

In HS, they park behind ToT and MK is by where they open up the alternate exit after fireworks - by the Plaza.

The kids might like riding TSMM with the guide - they can give all of the tips to get the high scores.

 

[snowwite]

I was thinking that, 5 of us are adults (100 each for us) and two are kids so 50 for them added up to 600 for me. Or do you count children as a full person ?

My DD was a VIP guide for years. She left during Covid. She was very good, had many repeat tours who requested her and ones who had been recommended by friends. Some of the families still kept in touch and she just went on a VIP tour as a guest with one of those families recently. So I can tell you from experience what happened.
First of all there is no gratuity required. The CM is super grateful for it but it’s not a requirement. Over the years she got anywhere from 0-$600. A celeb invited her into her villa for some home made cake and coffee post tour, a jewelry designer gave her several pieces and they keep in touch, a country singer invited her and 4 pals to a concert and to come back stage, a repeat celebrity gave two guides each a coach leather handbag and one who saw she ordered gluten free asked for her address and shipped a box of GF treats. Most people invited her to join the family for meal and gave around $100 cash in total. The amount you are talking is extremely generous and if it’s no burden then go ahead buy don’t go breaking the bank if you really can’t afford it. The CM will be just as happy to help you have the best experience either way!

 

[holden]

You mentioned doing the HS after hours that same night. Is there another night you could do that? Just suggesting because if you're anything like us, you'll be exhausted after the tour. If you have the energy for the after hours you are in way better shape than me lol!

 

[foodiddiedoo]

You mentioned doing the HS after hours that same night. Is there another night you could do that? Just suggesting because if you're anything like us, you'll be exhausted after the tour. If you have the energy for the after hours you are in way better shape than me lol!

The only After Hours event during our whole trip is that day. I wish there was another choice but we haven't bought tickets yet so it's easy to play that by ear.