VIP Tours information

[White Rose]

Hello! I've been talking on various boards about the upcoming VIP tour we have planned, and also before we scheduled it, I had questions on other's experiences. (We are going for my dad's 80th and we have 10 people going, which is perfect, and allowed us to cut off: an extra vacation day for 3 adults, 9 adult park tickets, 1 child ticket, 3 meals for 10 people, and 3 hotel rooms from our bill, making the tour more reasonable!) I 've read debate on how the VIP tours are too expensive etc...I'd prefer to not discuss that here...the price is the price.

I have heard different reports about tipping/not tipping. Some say you can tip, some say you can not. Some say the cast member's food is paid for by Disney, some say, no.

Well we are going this upcoming September and the following is the letter we received by e-mail after I booked.

I highlighted in yellow where it states you can not tip the guides. Maybe some guides take tips, I don't know, but the official policy is no tips. Of course we will offer our guide a tip and let them refuse it, because from what I understand they are not paid well to do all they do!

I just wanted to settle the argument.

Since we will be having one meal while the tour guide is with us, we will offer to have him/her join us, and see what they say/what happens. I'm not against tipping - I think they SHOULD be allowed to accept tips!!

I've also included a link to the online brouchure: here

Maybe this might be a good starting place for more people to discuss the tours they have done and their own experiences. We have done some backstage tours over the last few years and have found them informative, fun and I'm amazed how much info the behind the scenes tour guides have!!

 

[supersnoop]

Most recently, I read that the guide must refuse the tip at least three times, but they're allowed to accept it after that.

 

[Disneychick75]

Most recently, I read that the guide must refuse the tip at least three times, but they're allowed to accept it after that.

I read that a long time ago but CMs, including tour guides, can lose their jobs if they accept a tip.

 

[White Rose]

I read that a long time ago but CMs, including tour guides, can lose their jobs if they accept a tip.

I read a book called "The Ride Delegate", that said, pretty much the same thing. The book was a bit romanticized, so not sure if it is factual.

 

[White Rose]

Most recently, I read that the guide must refuse the tip at least three times, but they're allowed to accept it after that.

I booked the trip the last day of May 2015, and the letter clearly stated no tipping, but I doubt it would say..

"In order to tip the guides, you need to ask them 4 times." rofl.

There is a joke somewhere in that statement like rubbing a lamp - getting a genie and 3 wishes - but I'm too tired to make it work.

 

[baler31]

While they accept the tip after the 3rd time, they are supposed to turn it in to their direct supervisor. Obviously, that does not always happen. We are about 50/50 with the guides,with some of them quite clear that they are expecting a tip. It is true that Disney pays for their food, so no worries there. I did not know the 3 time rule until my niece worked for Disney and had me read "The Ride Delegate."

I really just wish Disney would revise the rules. I think the current rule puts many people in an uncomfortable position when they are given clear guidelines not to tip. That was exactly what happened on our first tour and we did not have cash with us. The guide was clearly expecting a gratuity and waited in the GF valet area while my husband went to get his wallet.

My husband works for an international company and we travel all over the world. We are always careful to research the culture and appropriate local customs. I would be mortified for this to happen in a foreign country after I had verified that a gratuity was not expected

 

[White Rose]

While they accept the tip after the 3rd time, they are supposed to turn it in to their direct supervisor. Obviously, that does not always happen. We are about 50/50 with the guides,with some of them quite clear that they are expecting a tip. It is true that Disney pays for their food, so no worries there. I did not know the 3 time rule until my niece worked for Disney and had me read "The Ride Delegate."

I really just wish Disney would revise the rules. I think the current rule puts many people in an uncomfortable position when they are given clear guidelines not to tip. That was exactly what happened on our first tour and we did not have cash with us. The guide was clearly expecting a gratuity and waited in the GF valet area while my husband went to get his wallet.

My husband works for an international company and we travel all over the world. We are always careful to research the culture and appropriate local customs. I would be mortified for this to happen in a foreign country after I had verified that a gratuity was not expected

Omg yes I would be completely embarrassed. I read the ride delegate, too! I do not know if "stuff" would be a better "tip" like some sort of momento, but I would think the guides would have seen every type of souvenir and purchased it already if they wanted it.

It is an awkward position. We do try to tip, and we had a VIP tourguide at another amusement park and she was amazing. We wound up offering her a tip were her manager could hear and the manager told us no. We actually saw her another day a discretely tipped her. In the case I am talking about, the guide mentioned the guide's salary in general, it was a mistake on her part, but she was very young. Anyway, she made less then $10 an hr, so we tipped her what we felt she was worth, a lot more then that!

 

[21stamps]

I know this is an older post, but wondering if OP can share your experience?

Did you enjoy the tour? Can you request to do certain parks only?

Thanks!

 

[White Rose]

Yes and yes. My sister in law and her negativity were dealt with very very well. We had one of the 10 who did not want to be there and played the role of the suffering Martyr for the whole trip, telling us the kids get sea sick, or car sick, and the kid in question saying.. Erm.. I do? She also complained about everything including food, rides, the weather, how cold the air conditioning was, and what we were doing. She wanted to do her own thing (shopping in Epcot) while the nine of us wanted to ride rides with the tour guide. We told her it was fine but she 'suffered along'. The guide told her he would let us know where to meet him, but she said no very dramatically. He was amazing dealing with her.

He told us...we were his contact and he would listen to her complaints but not let it impact the rest of us...or steer the group wrong. He stood out in the pouring rain, not because we told him to, he just...did. He let us do what we wanted and he offered suggestions on when and how to do it with the best possible outcome. We got to do front of the line or at least at the FP point for everything. We went behind the scenes briefly just to move through the park at a better speed. He drove the car around to meet us behind the scenes when we were changing parks. He even pushed my niece's wheelchair...she was recovering from shin splints.

We did what we wanted and went where we wanted. At the beginning of the day we told him what we wanted to do and a baseline on what we wanted to see and he took care of the rest.

He was amazing and worth it for the large group and small amount of time we had together. We did 4 parks in 3 days in sept riding every rides we wanted, had time for shopping afterwards.

During a huge downpour, he kept the kids occupied in Epcot by doing the sum of all thrilled, while the adults rested with snacks. He was WORTH EVERY PENNY. We saved 2 hotel nights (3 rooms x 2 nights!) as well as less food expenses, as well as shorted the amount of vacation days needed.

My dad had a blast. That is the important part. And...yes he took the tip without being asked 3 times. My SIL even tipped him...( for putting up with her I guess...lol)

 

[21stamps]

Yes and yes. My sister in law and her negativity were dealt with very very well. We had one of the 10 who did not want to be there and played the role of the suffering Martyr for the whole trip, telling us the kids get sea sick, or car sick, and the kid in question saying.. Erm.. I do? She also complained about everything including food, rides, the weather, how cold the air conditioning was, and what we were doing. She wanted to do her own thing (shopping in Epcot) while the nine of us wanted to ride rides with the tour guide. We told her it was fine but she 'suffered along'. The guide told her he would let us know where to meet him, but she said no very dramatically. He was amazing dealing with her.

He told us...we were his contact and he would listen to her complaints but not let it impact the rest of us...or steer the group wrong. He stood out in the pouring rain, not because we told him to, he just...did. He let us do what we wanted and he offered suggestions on when and how to do it with the best possible outcome. We got to do front of the line or at least at the FP point for everything. We went behind the scenes briefly just to move through the park at a better speed. He drove the car around to meet us behind the scenes when we were changing parks. He even pushed my niece's wheelchair...she was recovering from shin splints.

We did what we wanted and went where we wanted. At the beginning of the day we told him what we wanted to do and a baseline on what we wanted to see and he took care of the rest.

He was amazing and worth it for the large group and small amount of time we had together. We did 4 parks in 3 days in sept riding every rides we wanted, had time for shopping afterwards.

During a huge downpour, he kept the kids occupied in Epcot by doing the sum of all thrilled, while the adults rested with snacks. He was WORTH EVERY PENNY. We saved 2 hotel nights (3 rooms x 2 nights!) as well as less food expenses, as well as shorted the amount of vacation days needed.

My dad had a blast. That is the important part. And...yes he took the tip without being asked 3 times. My SIL even tipped him...( for putting up with her I guess...lol)

Thank you for this!

I'm still trying to figure out if I want to spend that amount of money, but the efficiency is so tempting!

There are not fast pass spots available for Chewbaca and Kylo Ren (and I would hate to use a FP on a character anyway-especially 2!), and the vip tour woman I spoke to earlier said that both are front of line on the tour. As well as Jedi Training spot.

It could allow us to do HS and Epcot in a half day, and then dinner and Candlelight Processional after. Also allowing us to not have to do a rope drop day at HS- instead the next day we can do a daytime with the storytellers, resort break and then head back to HS for Minnie's Holiday Dine F! Package.


I know the question "worth it" is purely subjective, but as far as HS and Epcot - do you think that would be a good combo? Both of our MK days are on party days, one with the party, one leaving at 7. We are staying in a theme park view room at CR, so will watch Wishes from there one evening..and I just don't feel like we need a tour guide on either of those days.

 

[White Rose]

Yes... Doing HS and Epcot together is exactly what we combined. We stayed at the beach club and he met us in the park after an early lunch. The value was there for us due to our party's large size.

It is harder to move a large group through any place quickly, and the guide made it easy. We told the guide what we wanted to do and I think he suggested the Epcot/HS combo. When you can travel by private car behind the scenes, moving from one park to the next is hassle free!

Here is another thing to consider...after the guide was done with us on our last day, my hubby and I went on the app and got 3 FPs that night for some rides. See...the tour guide does not use FP, so you can use them on your own time!

While the rest of the group was packing, we were off riding some rides on our own. If we had planned this ahead of time we could have gotten some big ticket rides, but instead we got no wait access to BTRR, Winnie, and another ride, I forget. Now it happened the wait for big thunder was like 10 min, so we used our FP, then rode it another time during the fireworks. That little slice of heaven...seeing the castle aand all the color and magic as we came up around the turns actually made me cry. It was perfect.

The trip was very stressful...dealing with my extremely unhappy SIL...she ruined many meals with complaints, made us so late for our dinning reservations that we had to blow dining credits for hot dogs because we missed dinner. She still complains about the trip. She hates Disney.

Without our VIP tour guide, who kept us moving and focused on fun, I would have snapped. He was not there to be a mediator between everyone and her, yet he was a neutral third party who she could complain to, and still get everyone going! ( when it rained and we all got soaked, she wanted to force the kids to go back to the hotel and not come back, but the guide gave us options and helped avoid a nasty meltdown. )

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Thank you for this!

I'm still trying to figure out if I want to spend that amount of money, but the efficiency is so tempting!

There are not fast pass spots available for Chewbaca and Kylo Ren (and I would hate to use a FP on a character anyway-especially 2!), and the vip tour woman I spoke to earlier said that both are front of line on the tour. As well as Jedi Training spot.

It could allow us to do HS and Epcot in a half day, and then dinner and Candlelight Processional after. Also allowing us to not have to do a rope drop day at HS- instead the next day we can do a daytime with the storytellers, resort break and then head back to HS for Minnie's Holiday Dine F! Package.


I know the question "worth it" is purely subjective, but as far as HS and Epcot - do you think that would be a good combo? Both of our MK days are on party days, one with the party, one leaving at 7. We are staying in a theme park view room at CR, so will watch Wishes from there one evening..and I just don't feel like we need a tour guide on either of those days.

I guess I'll chime in as I've done the VIP tour as well! If you can afford to do it, I would vote yes on hiring the guide for a DHS/EP combo during the holidays. If they are including non-FP+ character meets and Jedi Training with the tour (they did not when we did the tour, though he did sneak me in to see Tinkerbell before she had FP+) that will save you an incredible amount of time. Also, with the tiering in EP, he/she will be able to get you on TT, Soarin' and the new Frozen ride/meet and greet quickly. I think your plan to do VIP for the major attractions at DHS/EP and then doing EP WS, Candlelight Processional and Minnie's Holiday Dine is actually quite perfect.

 

[21stamps]

I guess I'll chime in as I've done the VIP tour as well! If you can afford to do it, I would vote yes on hiring the guide for a DHS/EP combo during the holidays. If they are including non-FP+ character meets and Jedi Training with the tour (they did not when we did the tour, though he did sneak me in to see Tinkerbell before she had FP+) that will save you an incredible amount of time. Also, with the tiering in EP, he/she will be able to get you on TT, Soarin' and the new Frozen ride/meet and greet quickly. I think your plan to do VIP for the major attractions at DHS/EP and then doing EP WS, Candlelight Processional and Minnie's Holiday Dine is actually quite perfect.

They only have 6 spots open for tour people for Jedi Training and are taking reservations now. I know that I want to do it.. I don't know if I want to spend that amount of money lol...so I'm not booking just yet.

I have never been to WDW during the Christmas holidays, and for this tour I'm considering Black Friday (crowd levels say 9/10). We leave the next morning for 7 nights on the Fantasy, and then come back to WDW for 4 nights after.

I go so crazy on Christmas presents every year, and if I do this tour I would justify it by taking some money away from that budget. Part of me says just do it, we still have untouched toys from this past December. I just don't know if it will be a shock to my child to not have as much under the tree on Christmas morning.

The positive reviews are making me lean that way! To be determined...