VIP tour

[Steven G]

malcon, I‘m glad you had a good experience. My group of 8 wanted to do almost all thrill rides, and I had a tour guide who felt the need to tell me that they were constrained from doing what they used to be able to do when needed (he told us without even us asking him) So it was mostly all LL rides, and while most turned out ok, 3 of them took up nearly two hours of our time. I did not notice any downtime while in those lines.

so, sure if you are going to take advantage of pirates, Peter Pan, fantasyland rides, etc, it may still be worth it.

my group was Not liking Snow White, and was only barely enthusiastic about Peter Pan, so we stopped doing the fantasyland rides. Note that if I was with my usual group of 2 people, we would have likely done more fantasyland rides, like mr toad, Alice and Pinocchio at the least.

This is the first time that we were unable to do what I thought was a modest list for a vip tour. It’s also the first time I decided to do both parks, my priors were just Disneyland Park. We were disappointed.

 

[Malcon10t]

I have a few guides - Ashley, Alexx, Jeff O, DJ, Diane, Estaban, Joseph Abe, and Steve.

A couple are difficult to get because they can choose their guests and rarely take new tours.

There are a few guides who have not worked VIP in a while and have been placed in the role causing issues because they aren't as familiar. I know of at least 2 other people making the same comments as Steven G.

I'm trying to think of our rides on NYE - Started at Monster's at 4pm, Guardians line too long, went to Web, came back to Guardian, went back to web, re-rode web, went to Cars, then Maters, went back to the Pier, did Incredicoaster 2x, TSMM x2, Pixar Pal Around, Swings, Goofy's SkySkool x2, Little Mermaid, Soarin', stopped to eat, headed to DL, hit Star Tours, Space, backtracked to buzz as it was too long earlier, wanted to do Matterhorn, but it was down, Small World, Tea Cups, BTMRR x2, Pirates, Haunted, Rise, Smugglers 3x, another BTMRR, and headed to fireworks seating at 1030 for Midnight fireworks. My 6yo grandson fell asleep on the benches, while the "teen" girls danced away to the DJ at the castle.

 

[Wilcojoe]

We are staying at the Disneyland Hotel 3/6-3/9 with my wife and two boys (ages 13 and 10). My wife really wants to do the VIP tour with park hoppers for 3/7 and 3/8. I feel that it would be much more cost effective to do 3 days 3/7-3/9 and just pay for the additional Genie+ And LL. I just don’t see the value in the VIP tour on days when the park isn’t extremely crowded. Our school district has spring break a week before most schools begin their spring break in Texas and well before a lot of schools on the west coast. Especially since I am reading that the VIP tour benefits really have changed, I am beginning to think the VIP tour is not worth the extra money. Thoughts?

 

[Malcon10t]

Especially since I am reading that the VIP tour benefits really have changed, I am beginning to think the VIP tour is not worth the extra money. Thoughts?

The tour benefits really haven't changed. Prior to Covid, tours still had to deal with FP and MaxPass lines. On occasion, the guide could back door you (example is Soarin', they could take you in a side door, but then you are in the far row and couldn't get the middle section) and I would guess this is all being worked out again. World of Color and Fantasmic aren't currently available. So that is a downside. Hopefully by late spring. It really depends on what YOU are expecting out of a tour. I like deciding to take a break, and they have a table set up for you and you aren't dashing to find seating. Or food times are an hour out and they push it thru. Or getting reservations for a restaurant after your tour. There are a lot of positives to a tour. I do tend to do tours when I have my grandkids with us. Not so much when it is just my daughters and I.

But Genie+ and ILL are pretty sweet add ons too.

 

[Wilcojoe]

The tour benefits really haven't changed. Prior to Covid, tours still had to deal with FP and MaxPass lines. On occasion, the guide could back door you (example is Soarin', they could take you in a side door, but then you are in the far row and couldn't get the middle section) and I would guess this is all being worked out again. World of Color and Fantasmic aren't currently available. So that is a downside. Hopefully by late spring. It really depends on what YOU are expecting out of a tour. I like deciding to take a break, and they have a table set up for you and you aren't dashing to find seating. Or food times are an hour out and they push it thru. Or getting reservations for a restaurant after your tour. There are a lot of positives to a tour. I do tend to do tours when I have my grandkids with us. Not so much when it is just my daughters and I.

But Genie+ and ILL are pretty sweet add ons too.

So with a guide you basically just get in line with the LL folks? I was under the impression that you essentially jumped to the front of the line?

 

[Malcon10t]

So with a guide you basically just get in line with the LL folks? I was under the impression that you essentially jumped to the front of the line?

No, never has been that way. But in the past, it hadn't been an issue. I think there is currently a surge in the number of Genie+ sales. I did not see issues with the ILL lines.

 

[Wilcojoe]

Thanks for the help Malcon! Out of curiosity, do you ever get dirty looks from the masses, when you jump to the front of the line? I am curious how that looks.

 

[Malcon10t]

Thanks for the help Malcon! Out of curiosity, do you ever get dirty looks from the masses, when you jump to the front of the line? I am curious how that looks.

I've never noticed. Most I usually get is if we are in the parade viewing or fireworks viewing, people will ask how we got the seats. I just tell them it is part of the VIP tour.

I will say, when we were under 10 mins to midnight, and my 6yo grandson needed to go to the bathroom, the tour guide was handy to get my son and GS from the hub to the Adventureland bathroom and back in time for fireworks.

 

[3threebabies]

We are staying at the Disneyland Hotel 3/6-3/9 with my wife and two boys (ages 13 and 10). My wife really wants to do the VIP tour with park hoppers for 3/7 and 3/8. I feel that it would be much more cost effective to do 3 days 3/7-3/9 and just pay for the additional Genie+ And LL. I just don’t see the value in the VIP tour on days when the park isn’t extremely crowded. Our school district has spring break a week before most schools begin their spring break in Texas and well before a lot of schools on the west coast. Especially since I am reading that the VIP tour benefits really have changed, I am beginning to think the VIP tour is not worth the extra money. Thoughts?

So, kinda wondering if we live close to each other! We are going 3/6-3/9. Newish Texan here, so not as familiar with everyone’s spring breaks. Ours is pushed back a week next year.

 

[Chokky]

Thanks for all of the great info everyone!

 

[Wilcojoe]

So, kinda wondering if we live close to each other! We are going 3/6-3/9. Newish Texan here, so not as familiar with everyone’s spring breaks. Ours is pushed back a week next year.

We are currently living in Central Texas near Waco, after living in Houston for the past 12 years. Most of the school districts in the state have their spring break the following week. We like the early spring break as our vacations tend to be a lot less expensive and more importantly less crowded.

 

[3threebabies]

We are currently living in Central Texas near Waco, after living in Houston for the past 12 years. Most of the school districts in the state have their spring break the following week. We like the early spring break as our vacations tend to be a lot less expensive and more importantly less crowded.

I’m in San Antonio, but we are flying out of AUS direct and nonstop to SNA. This is our 1st family DL trip. Part of why we chose DL over WDW was timing of west coast spring breaks and the benefit I presumed we would have in CA. Needless to say I totally knew we made a good choice when discounts dropped. Our previous states/school districts had winter breaks, so end of March was the earliest we ever had before.

 

[Malcon10t]

At wdw for example, for tower of terror, we twice cut to near the front to save a lot of time, and I remember that happened in dl as well on previous tours.

I spoke with one of my regulars and asked a few questions. One of the questions was regarding the back entrances we had previously used. (She also trains guides.). She explained to me that a big part of the issue is staffing. They are currently unable to staff the back areas. She also explained they are trying to hire, but (and I have heard this from several different areas over Christmas talking to various managers) people are accepting the job, going in thinking "This is Disney!" only to find out it really is a job. And (a current big one) they hire in as a part time, only to find during Christmas they are scheduled for full time. And while it was well noted in interviews that Disney will increase hours during busy times, new hires aren't believing and then get upset. They are having a huge turn over at the 3 week mark. I know I am hearing this in a lot of the areas. I know restaurants in DL that would be big hires and people think This would be fun, only to find out it isn't as glamorous as it seemed from the outside. And some come in thinking "I am going to be a server!" only to find out they would be a busser for a LONG time as the servers there have been there since Walt!

 

[Mr. Mike]

The kids loved riding Web Slingers 4 times in a row. (Rise is only once a day.). They enjoyed riding Smugglers 3 times so they could do all positions.

Malcoln, your comments are very helpful. Thanks for posting them. (I'm a long-time reader of these forums.) Quick Question: When you rode an attraction more than once in a row, did you have to get back in line to ride it again or were you able to remain on the vehicle?

 

[Malcon10t]

Malcoln, your comments are very helpful. Thanks for posting them. (I'm a long-time reader of these forums.) Quick Question: When you rode an attraction more than once in a row, did you have to get back in line to ride it again or were you able to remain on the vehicle?

It varies by time and day and ride. Web, we exited and went back in line. However, it rarely longer than 5 mins to enter the building. Incredicoaster and Goofy;s, the kids stayed on. It depends on the ride operators.

 

[Mr. Mike]

It varies by time and day and ride. Web, we exited and went back in line. However, it rarely longer than 5 mins to enter the building. Incredicoaster and Goofy;s, the kids stayed on. It depends on the ride operators.

Thanks for your reply. What about Smugglers? Were you allowed to stay in the vehicle? (That's the ride I know our kids will want to ride more than once.)

 

[Malcon10t]

Thanks for your reply. What about Smugglers? Were you allowed to stay in the vehicle? (That's the ride I know our kids will want to ride more than once.)

They came off the first time to ask if it was ok to ride again. I don't know for sure what happened between 2 and 3 as I told the guide it was fine for them to ride to ride all positions.

 

[Mr. Mike]

They came off the first time to ask if it was ok to ride again. I don't know for sure what happened between 2 and 3 as I told the guide it was fine for them to ride to ride all positions.

Thanks, Malcon. And thanks again for all of the very helpful info you're posting.

 

[Steven G]

Let me just say that in all the times I’ve been on a vip tour, any rerides i would have to go back to the line, could not just reride it. That includes both WDW and DL.

i didn’t even try to ask on the latest tour.

malcon seems to have done a lot of vip tours, so he/she may have guides more willing to break rules, so I wouldn’t go by what they say as something anyone would get.

my understanding is that the official rule is that any reride would have to go through the line again.

 

[Wilcojoe]

I will post as a separate topic on the other board but not sure if it gets much traffic over there. Have any of you done the VIP tour at Universal? That price point seems somewhat reasonable.