VIP tours at Disneyland?

[AndrewC]

Do we have a thread or area where we can try to group up with other members and go in together on a VIP tour? Or is that against the rules here??

Specifically curious if we could get a group of ~10 people sometime during Oct 20 - 24 that would want to go in on a VIP tour package. The site mentions "starting at" $2975 + admission ticket. Well for ten people that works out to be a little under $300/person premium for the VIP part, which I assume basically means walk on to attractions, and of course having someone "guide us around", but I'm sure we're all pretty much park experts

Has anyone done this package? Does anyone know what the maximum length is? (Could a guide be with us from rope drop till close?)

 

[lalasmama]

That $2975 is for the first 7 hours; there's additional charges for each hour. During higher-traffic times, there is also a premium price, which I imagine it could be likely at the time frame you are going.

Perhaps you could call and get a better idea for a price so people could have a better idea of the potential cost involved.

 

[dawnball]

VIP tours are priced hourly and get you access to the FP lines. Tipping is also customary. You could have a VIP tour from open to close if you were inclined to pay for it - but it may not be the same guide all the time.T believe the rule here is that everyone would have to pay Disney separately and directly, and Disney requires one point of payment, not 10. So this is not the best forum.

Things to consider:

What do you do when someone flakes out/doesn't pay or pays and has to cancel?
What happens when too many people show up?
What do you do when someone in the group is belligerent or obnoxious?
Some people want to do an attraction multiple times, and others want to skip it. How do you decide?
What about attractions that the VIP host doesn't help wait times for?
Which nighttime show will everyone want to see?
Parades? You can get VIP seating - or you could ride more, but not so much half and half. Likewise with character greetings.
How would you handle meals? (TS, CS, splitting up or all together?)

 

[twodogs]

We have done VIP with our family only (6 people) and that is great. But I would never do it with a group that I didn’t know because of all the reasons OP listed. It is just too expensive to feel like you are not getting every bit out of it that you want. And if someone is wanting to ride RSR 10 x, you will all have to do that or all wait while they do it. The guide can only be one place at a time.

 

[pinksand]

It's also a very long day (6+ hours) with total strangers whose touring style/personalities/family rules may not be compatible with yours.

 

[Malcon10t]

Realize you need to know how other people do the park, and a tour isn't the easiest way to learn. Even my own family! Someone above listed all the things that can go wrong. Make sure you have a plan for those. Be aware, prices are generally closer to $600 an hour (ie $4200 for 7 hours, plus a tip for the guide, we usually tip $150-300 depending on the guide.) . Make sure you know what rides are accessible to the guides, not all rides are.

 

[Steven G]

https://disneyland.disney.go.com/vip-tours/ lists all the attractions that the Vip tours can help you with.

I’ve gone on the tour twice, I don’t think it would be as good with people I don’t know. My last one I went with friends but we talked through things before we got there so that we all understood each other.

 

[Steven G]

Also for any ride that has a Fastpass, you go in the Fastpass line in most cases, so it’s not walk on. As well, other rides you will skip a good portion of the line, but not always all of it.

 

[Tasmen]

We just booked a tour for the start of a October. FYI, they are not sure what the hourly charge will be yet. I did mention Galaxy's Edge as a want to do and was not told it would not be available.

 

[twodogs]

We just booked a tour for the start of a October. FYI, they are not sure what the hourly charge will be yet. I did mention Galaxy's Edge as a want to do and was not told it would not be available.

So SWGE IS going to be available on your VIP tour in October? Just making sure I understand your wording.

 

[Tasmen]

So SWGE IS going to be available on your VIP tour in October? Just making sure I understand you wording.

That is what I took from the phone call. Yes.

 

[oscarkitty1]

Thanks for starting this thread! We just booked our VIP tour for December 1st. There are six of us (four adults, two kids) and we thought about finding another four. But I do think it would be hard to coordinate the day with strangers, especially if the children are very different ages than the two in our group.

We've done some of the other tours, like the Holiday Magic. And you are with strangers then, but for a much shorter time period and for way less money.

For those of you that have done the VIP tour, I would love to hear any tips that you have, what made it so worth it, what caused issues, etc...

 

[gypsy_at_heart]

So SWGE IS going to be available on your VIP tour in October? Just making sure I understand you wording.

When I contacted them I was told this regarding SWGE:

“After the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge reservation period has ended, access to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge will vary depending on time of day and operational capacity. It is our goal to make sure all of our tours experience Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, but it is not guaranteed. Access to Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run will also be provided based on the same factors. Our VIP Tour will allow you to experience Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run faster than most park Guests, but please keep in mind this is not the same access you’re used to/getting (depending if they’re repeats) in the rest in the park. There’s no expedited access to Droid Depot, Savi’s Workshop, Oga’s Cantina or any of the food and beverage offerings.”

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Do we have a thread or area where we can try to group up with other members and go in together on a VIP tour? Or is that against the rules here??...

As a pp mentioned, this is allowed only if all the money is paid directly to Disney. If the money is paid to the OP or someone else, then it is not allowed on this board.

 

[Steven G]

Thanks for starting this thread! We just booked our VIP tour for December 1st. There are six of us (four adults, two kids) and we thought about finding another four. But I do think it would be hard to coordinate the day with strangers, especially if the children are very different ages than the two in our group.

We've done some of the other tours, like the Holiday Magic. And you are with strangers then, but for a much shorter time period and for way less money.

For those of you that have done the VIP tour, I would love to hear any tips that you have, what made it so worth it, what caused issues, etc...

1) have a general idea of what rides you want to do before you get to the park, and tell the guide at the beginning of the day, but don’t overplan.
2) plan which parades and shows you want, and tell them a month or two ahead of time.
3) if possible, plan your meals before or after the tour, otherwise you are wasting money eating. Obviously, that can be tough on a minimum 7 hour tour. Bring snacks or buy snacks.
4) your guide will do everything in his/her power to make your tour awesome, so be communicative and friendly.
5) expect a tour guide to be asked questions by other guests not on your tour. They will do their best to answer the questions quickly.
6). Vip tour guides have limits as to what they can do for you.

The only issues caused in general are ride closures, and the guide will generally be able to work around them in some way.

What made it worth it is subjective, but for me, it’s being able to enjoy as many rides as possible even on extremely busy days, the vip seating at shows, and the stories and information from the guide.

We had problems on two different rides with closures, and our guide felt bad, so she got us 6 magic fast passes for us to use after the tour was done. These fast passes could get us on any ride she could get us on at any time. She originally just asked for 3, but the vip tour coordinators gave us 6. We were 7 people, so that’s a lot of magic fast passes (42 total).

 

[cruisehopeful]

I've always been interested, but like others have mentioned, not sure I want to pay out to go along with a stranger's touring plan when I can solo stuff pretty easily.

I think you have a good idea, but you'd really need to get to know the other people ahead of time. There are some people that are just annoying to be around.

 

[ParkHopper1]

Don’t overthink or try to overplan your VIP Tour. Just set some goals and objectives on what you want to achieve for the day and let the Guide lead you on the best way to accomplish that. They do it day in and day out.

 

[oscarkitty1]

1) have a general idea of what rides you want to do before you get to the park, and tell the guide at the beginning of the day, but don’t overplan.
2) plan which parades and shows you want, and tell them a month or two ahead of time.
3) if possible, plan your meals before or after the tour, otherwise you are wasting money eating. Obviously, that can be tough on a minimum 7 hour tour. Bring snacks or buy snacks.
4) your guide will do everything in his/her power to make your tour awesome, so be communicative and friendly.
5) expect a tour guide to be asked questions by other guests not on your tour. They will do their best to answer the questions quickly.
6). Vip tour guides have limits as to what they can do for you.

The only issues caused in general are ride closures, and the guide will generally be able to work around them in some way.

What made it worth it is subjective, but for me, it’s being able to enjoy as many rides as possible even on extremely busy days, the vip seating at shows, and the stories and information from the guide.

We had problems on two different rides with closures, and our guide felt bad, so she got us 6 magic fast passes for us to use after the tour was done. These fast passes could get us on any ride she could get us on at any time. She originally just asked for 3, but the vip tour coordinators gave us 6. We were 7 people, so that’s a lot of magic fast passes (42 total).

Don’t overthink or try to overplan your VIP Tour. Just set some goals and objectives on what you want to achieve for the day and let the Guide lead you on the best way to accomplish that. They do it day in and day out.

Thank you both! We were Annual Passholders for many years, but haven't been to DL in 4 years! So excited to finally be going back. This is our first time going with a group, so that made the VIP tour feasible. We are planning to have lunch at Blue Bayou, then meet our guide after that, so we don't waste tour time on meals, will just snack after that or grab counter service.

I think for everyone else, maximizing rides is the biggest appeal. For me, it's the VIP seating at the Holiday parade and Fantasmic!

Another question - did you do rides at both parks or just DL? I would like to do Radiator Springs Racers and Soarin' if we can. I would love to have the very best seats on Soarin', I've never managed to pull that off. But DL is our priority for sure.

OP - sorry for hijacking your thread. I hope you find this information helpful!

 

[AndrewC]

OP - sorry for hijacking your thread. I hope you find this information helpful!

Not at all! It's all been very helpful.

 

[lalasmama]

Another question - did you do rides at both parks or just DL? I would like to do Radiator Springs Racers and Soarin' if we can. I would love to have the very best seats on Soarin', I've never managed to pull that off. But DL is our priority for sure.

If you have a park hopper, then your guide can take you to both parks.

As far as Soarin', when you get to the gates where they send you to gates A, B, or C, ask for gate B, and let them know you're willing to wait. That should get you Gate B, row 1. If they don't offer row 1, ask for it! Though it may mean going through 2 ride cycles. For us, it's worth the wait!