VIP Tours at Disneyland

[kate2961]

Has anyone ever used the VIP Tour services at Disneyland? If so, how was your experience? What types of things did you do?

Thanks for any help.

Kate

 

[fairycat]

A few ladies on the board have done this as part of the Disladies met up. My group had a really good tour guide who seemed to really listen to what we wanted from the experience. It seems like they really work with you to adjust the experience to the group. We did only a few rides and asked LOTS of questions, mostly we wanted a history lesson and lots of inside information and really got that. I know some of the other groups did more shows and rides then we did. I loved the experience and would love to have the chance to do it again!

 

[kate2961]

Cool

Thanks for the information.

I noticed from your post that you may also be a vegetarian. If true, any tips for eating in and around DL, including local beach areas and San Diego.

Kate

 

[fairycat]

Yes, I am a lacto/ovo vegetarian and am a regular at DLR. Overall you really do have a lot of options, usually at least one per restaurant, sometimes more. The only bad thing is I tend to eat the same thing over and over haha!

I love WCT the Caprese Sandwich is my favorite but they also have a salad and a veggy lasagne. Blue Bayou has a mushroom dish I really like and I know in the past they also had an off menu marinara pasta dish. The Mexican place has a lot of options since the rice and beans are veggy, the best to me though is the Grilled Veggy Tostada, it's HUGE and perfect to share for a good price.

In DTD Jazz Kitchen can be tough but since I love there bread and salads and like their desserts it always works for me HOB is a PITA they offer salads and sides nothing else. I skip there. I like Catal and UVA bar for some good eats too.

Outside DL you will find a lot of options as well, ethnic foods like Thai and Indian are always great choices, but watch out for Mexican, the more traditional the place the more likely everything will be filled with Lard. In San Diego they have a really good little Italy with some yummy food!

 

[LittleBlackRaincloud]

On the other hand, I was on the VIP tour with the girl's group this year. We ended the tour early and got our money back because it was not what we were told it would be. Our tour guide did not have anything planned for us, she literally followed us from ride to ride. She said that we could pilot the Mark Twain, and then once we were on told us that we couldn't because the pilot was too new. That ended up wasting 20 minutes of our tour time which is not cheap! When asked if she could share any trivia or little known information with us she couldn't. She tried on one attraction, but was wrong on a couple of things she told us.

We did get tickets to ride the Lily Belle, and that was awesome, but overall the experience was very disappointing. I'm so glad that with several phone calls, and letters sent, we finally got our money back.

I think it all depends on which guide you get.

 

[fairycat]

On the other hand, I was on the VIP tour with the girl's group this year. We ended the tour early and got our money back because it was not what we were told it would be. Our tour guide did not have anything planned for us, she literally followed us from ride to ride. She said that we could pilot the Mark Twain, and then once we were on told us that we couldn't because the pilot was too new. That ended up wasting 20 minutes of our tour time which is not cheap! When asked if she could share any trivia or little known information with us she couldn't. She tried on one attraction, but was wrong on a couple of things she told us.

We did get tickets to ride the Lily Belle, and that was awesome, but overall the experience was very disappointing. I'm so glad that with several phone calls, and letters sent, we finally got our money back.

I think it all depends on which guide you get.

That so stinks how bad your guide was!!!! I am glad you got your money back. I do agree having a good guide does make a huge amount of difference as I heard some ladies did not like their guide either the year I did it. I wonder if there is a way to request a advanced or specfic guide to avoid this issue?

 

[kate2961]

Thanks fairycat for the restaurant advice. I was going to pass on Blue Bayou because I thought they had nothing for us to eat. I'm glad they have options since it sounds like an interesting restaurant.

Do you remember the name of your guide? Maybe I could try asking for them.

Kate

 

[DangerMouse]

I'm pretty sure Fairycat's guide was "JD". All the gals raved about him.

If you get a guide named "Ryan" -- good luck.

 

[fairycat]

Yeah I think it was JD, the issue is I heard he is gone now Who was the third guide that trip? I thought they were ok?

 

[LittleBlackRaincloud]

The way I understand it, we did request certain guides, but in the end we were at the mercy of who was scheduled to work that day. The guides we requested did not work the day we had our tour.

 

[LittleBlackRaincloud]

Oh, and Callie, do you remember the name of the plaid that we got the Club 33 admission tickets from? He was wonderful, and told us stories about Club 33 while we waited for all to be sorted out. He said he did not do tours "yet". I would love to try a tour with him as a guide.

 

[kate2961]

The way I understand it, we did request certain guides, but in the end we were at the mercy of who was scheduled to work that day. The guides we requested did not work the day we had our tour.

That makes sense. I guess we just have to hope that we get lucky.

Thanks for all of your help.

Kate

 

[Jack'sGirl5]

Hi Kate,

Haven't been on the boards for a while but was just browsing and saw your post.

My daughter (also Kate) and I were in Disneyland for a week in June and were lucky enough to get to do a VIP tour for a couple of the days. Our guide was Chris and he was really great.

Chris was very knowledgeable and really worked with us to make sure we got what we wanted out of the tour. We were asked which shows and parades we wanted to see in advance and then discussed the day plan with Chris each morning. He was very flexible when we changed our minds too. He was also great with my 10 year old daughter. They played spot the hidden mickey and other fun games on rides.

We were able to really maximize our time in the parks. He would get us in a show or in a line for a ride and then we would come out and he would have fast passes for two more rides. It was wonderful. The types of special things we were able to do:

* Great walk up, front row seating for parades and fireworks
* VIP seating for shows -- Chris always positioned us in the seats with great views
* Rode in the Mark Twain pilot house
* Rode in the Lillybelle
* Rode in the front of the monorail
* Held a front table for us at Billy Hill
* My daughter got singled out a lot by cast members who knew Chris
* Chris handled all of our meal reservations

He was also fun to ride with and just generally really pleasant. I know the tours are pricey but we really felt we got a ton out of it. Best of all for me, being a single parent, I am always in charge and responsible --- I got to just go along for the ride and it was awesome!

Good luck and have a great trip!

Liz

 

[kate2961]

Your experience sounds awesome. Great summary of the benefits of VIP Tours. I think that it would be worth the price to do it for at least one day of our trip.

Thanks so much for the help.

Kate

 

[kate2961]

Yes, I am a lacto/ovo vegetarian and am a regular at DLR. Overall you really do have a lot of options, usually at least one per restaurant, sometimes more. The only bad thing is I tend to eat the same thing over and over haha!

I love WCT the Caprese Sandwich is my favorite but they also have a salad and a veggy lasagne. Blue Bayou has a mushroom dish I really like and I know in the past they also had an off menu marinara pasta dish. The Mexican place has a lot of options since the rice and beans are veggy, the best to me though is the Grilled Veggy Tostada, it's HUGE and perfect to share for a good price.

In DTD Jazz Kitchen can be tough but since I love there bread and salads and like their desserts it always works for me HOB is a PITA they offer salads and sides nothing else. I skip there. I like Catal and UVA bar for some good eats too.

Outside DL you will find a lot of options as well, ethnic foods like Thai and Indian are always great choices, but watch out for Mexican, the more traditional the place the more likely everything will be filled with Lard. In San Diego they have a really good little Italy with some yummy food!

I read your review of V&A. I had never imagined that they would have such great veggie stuff. It is now on my list of places to go at WDW. Thanks for the review.

I was also intrigued by your references to Napa Rose. How do I go about letting them know that I want veggie meals? Do I call in advance? Do I tell them when I make the reservation?

Thanks again for your help.

Kate

 

[fairycat]

I read your review of V&A. I had never imagined that they would have such great veggie stuff. It is now on my list of places to go at WDW. Thanks for the review.

I was also intrigued by your references to Napa Rose. How do I go about letting them know that I want veggie meals? Do I call in advance? Do I tell them when I make the reservation?

Thanks again for your help.

Kate

I would tell them when you make a PS personally. The last time we went we just shared a appetizer and dessert. They adjusted the appetizer to make it veggy for us and it was delicious. They are usually very good about working with you. We have mostly done the NYE event there but have eaten there other times and always enjoy it!

 

[fairykin]

I'm sending You lots of pixie dust that it works out for You.

I went on the VIP tour in Feb and it was so bad they refunded the money back to the people in our group.

I loved getting to go on the LillyBelle.. that was interesting. However, we did have a very not good experience.

I wish you the best in whatever you decide.

 

[toocherie]

On the other hand, I was on the VIP tour with the girl's group this year. We ended the tour early and got our money back because it was not what we were told it would be. Our tour guide did not have anything planned for us, she literally followed us from ride to ride. She said that we could pilot the Mark Twain, and then once we were on told us that we couldn't because the pilot was too new. That ended up wasting 20 minutes of our tour time which is not cheap! When asked if she could share any trivia or little known information with us she couldn't. She tried on one attraction, but was wrong on a couple of things she told us.

We did get tickets to ride the Lily Belle, and that was awesome, but overall the experience was very disappointing. I'm so glad that with several phone calls, and letters sent, we finally got our money back.

I think it all depends on which guide you get.

That so stinks how bad your guide was!!!! I am glad you got your money back. I do agree having a good guide does make a huge amount of difference as I heard some ladies did not like their guide either the year I did it. I wonder if there is a way to request a advanced or specfic guide to avoid this issue?

Hi Kate,

Haven't been on the boards for a while but was just browsing and saw your post.

My daughter (also Kate) and I were in Disneyland for a week in June and were lucky enough to get to do a VIP tour for a couple of the days. Our guide was Chris and he was really great.

Chris was very knowledgeable and really worked with us to make sure we got what we wanted out of the tour. We were asked which shows and parades we wanted to see in advance and then discussed the day plan with Chris each morning. He was very flexible when we changed our minds too. He was also great with my 10 year old daughter. They played spot the hidden mickey and other fun games on rides.

We were able to really maximize our time in the parks. He would get us in a show or in a line for a ride and then we would come out and he would have fast passes for two more rides. It was wonderful. The types of special things we were able to do:

* Great walk up, front row seating for parades and fireworks
* VIP seating for shows -- Chris always positioned us in the seats with great views
* Rode in the Mark Twain pilot house
* Rode in the Lillybelle
* Rode in the front of the monorail
* Held a front table for us at Billy Hill
* My daughter got singled out a lot by cast members who knew Chris
* Chris handled all of our meal reservations

He was also fun to ride with and just generally really pleasant. I know the tours are pricey but we really felt we got a ton out of it. Best of all for me, being a single parent, I am always in charge and responsible --- I got to just go along for the ride and it was awesome!

Good luck and have a great trip!

Liz

Yes, I really do think it depends on your guide. I've gone on the VIP tour twice--both times on the Ladies' Trips. The first time we had the middle guide (i.e., not JD or Ryan) and she was "ok" but not OMG what a great guide! The second time we had the girl (and I do mean girl) who didn't know as much about Disneyland as I do. I had never heard of DL refunding tour money so either that was a testament to the fact that she really wasn't good in that job or the lady who organized our tour was very convincing (or a little of both!)

I have heard from some people on other boards that they have had fabulous times on VIP tours--and I think it all depends on who your guide is.

 

[LittleBlackRaincloud]

Liz, your tour sounds fabulous, and like everything we wanted in Feb. I hope Kate's is as nice as yours!

Heather

 

[bumbershoot]

I had never heard of DL refunding tour money so either that was a testament to the fact that she really wasn't good in that job or the lady who organized our tour was very convincing (or a little of both!)

Plus the part that you guys were on the phone with the VIP office while you were with the tourguide, letting them know that there were problems....