VIP tour - worth it? Shareable with another family?

[crowls]

HI everyone!

Looks like our first trip to WDW will be the week following Easter 2015! (I know, I know.....it will be crazy busy.....but at least my over-planning will be worth it then? Ha ha)

The busy season is making me consider a VIP tour. Opinions welcome - is it worth it? We are a family of 4, given that the tour is for a max of 10 people is this something you would recommend sharing? Are the DIS boards the best place to find a VIP sharing/partner family? Does anyone have experience setting up a shared VIP day?

As I want to make this the best trip ever for my family I am open to all suggestions! All advice welcome!!

 

[monique5]

HI everyone!

Looks like our first trip to WDW will be the week following Easter 2015! (I know, I know.....it will be crazy busy.....but at least my over-planning will be worth it then? Ha ha)

The busy season is making me consider a VIP tour. Opinions welcome - is it worth it? We are a family of 4, given that the tour is for a max of 10 people is this something you would recommend sharing? Are the DIS boards the best place to find a VIP sharing/partner family? Does anyone have experience setting up a shared VIP day?

As I want to make this the best trip ever for my family I am open to all suggestions! All advice welcome!!

Following thread. My thoughts exactly for busy times. Our trip is Christmas week.
I had posted on another thread, but no replies. Hopefully, PP will respond here.

 

[dzneelvr]

We've done tours over the years--KttK in MK and Segway in EPCOT twice--thoroughly enjoyed them and the price point was acceptable. The VIP tour price seems excessive to me so I'm not interested. I'd rather have additional day overall.

 

[JeJecm]

HI everyone! Looks like our first trip to WDW will be the week following Easter 2015! (I know, I know.....it will be crazy busy.....but at least my over-planning will be worth it then? Ha ha) The busy season is making me consider a VIP tour. Opinions welcome - is it worth it? We are a family of 4, given that the tour is for a max of 10 people is this something you would recommend sharing? Are the DIS boards the best place to find a VIP sharing/partner family? Does anyone have experience setting up a shared VIP day? As I want to make this the best trip ever for my family I am open to all suggestions! All advice welcome!!

We did a VIP Tour today. It was GREAT!!! Yes it was expensive but if you want to splurge and have an extra special day I highly recommend it!!

 

[Networth]

Considering doing this and taking my younger brother as a grad gift. If we enjoy it will probably add it as a regular to one of our trips. I do wish they offered the plan without having to share the tour guide. They offer private guides for other things but not for this specific tour.

 

[dmunsil]

The "classic" VIP tour is just a private escort who is there to expedite things and maximize your time in the park. The primary benefit is that he/she can get you into the FastPass+ line on almost any attraction that has one, and can pick a good time to do the other attractions that don't have FP+ (or that they aren't allowed to use the FP+ line for). They can get reserved seating for most parades and shows, and will get you into the park through a back entrance. At some point during the day, they'll take your MagicBands or tickets to the front gate to scan them while you have a snack or take in a show or something.

Is it worth it? I would say maybe. You can get on a lot of rides with a VIP guide in a very short time. It's basically designed for busy people with lots of money (business execs, celebs, etc.) It's crazy expensive ($360+ per hour, with a 6-hour minimum). We dug deep and got a VIP tour for our party of 9 (one extended family group) and we all enjoyed it immensely. However, I kind of think we could have gotten about 70% of the value just via normal touring plan optimization. However, there's no way we could have on our own left MK at 10:30AM and headed over to DHS to ride Toy Story and Star Tours, and been back to MK by noon. Which we did.

There are some newer VIP tours that have a fixed set of rides and cost only $300 per person and last about 7 hours. If that set of rides appeals to you, it's a good way to knock them out quickly and have time for other stuff.

 

[DisPrincessDec2014]

Did you tip your VIP guide?

Dmunsil, thanks for the info ... question: what made you decide to go MK >> DHS >> MK instead of starting at one and ending at the other?

Thanks!