I am wondering if the use of a VIP tour is worth it during for use next week. I know they are expensive but I am concerned about the level 10 crowds and spending most of our time in lines.The VIP gets you in the fast pass line for every ride that has it. It does NOT get you to the front of that line. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Worth it is totally relative in terms of VIP tours. With a six hour minimum you’re looking at a minimum cost of around $2,100. They can get you nearly immediately access to most attractions. I’ve seen some reports last year from liners that their plaid tour guide was unable to allow them access to A&E, although I don’t know if that has changed.
If cost isn’t a concern I think you’d loving having one. I’ve never seen a negative review of a VIP tour.
Having said that if getting a vip tour guide for more than six hours and/or multiple days becomes a bit hard to swallow I think you can do well with a well planned out touring plan utilizing the current FPP structure even on a CL 10 day. It’s all about your expectations.
So we are a party of two and the cost is $500/hour minimum 6 hours. Steep. The worth it question is wondering if the TP would be sufficient. My son does not ride coasters so we can cross those off the list which helps the TP.
Well it’s $360 an hour with a six hour minimum for a private VIP guide. At least that is the cost currently listed on the website. My understanding is you can ride whatever you’d like as many times as you like so for some, that’s worth it.
Now with that in mind the hourly rate actually covers up to ten people so you might see if other parties might be interested in sharing. I’m sure other liners going at the same time would be thrilled to consider splitting the cost. If you can get ten people to join in $36 an hour per person is a lot more palatable lol.
Another option is a new packaged vip tour, that I actually haven’t seen many reviews of. The “Ultimate Day for Young Families VIP Tour” lets you ride several of the family oriented rides in Magic Kingdom without waiting in line, then you get an included table service lunch, then over to Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom to get a few rides at each of those as well. The cost for that one is $299 per person so it’s somewhat more reasonable, but it isn’t private so you’ll be touring with a small group of others.
Have you made any touring plans? If you build a customized plans with the attractions you’d like to see it will estimate the wait times based on previous years data for the dates you’ll be there and the anticipated crowd levels for this year.
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So here is our plan:
again, no coasters by design. My only concern is whether the wait times in the plan are actually realistic. If they are then there is no need for VIP. Any thoughts?
If I had never been to WDW before and didn’t want to take the time to study the guide books it might “approach” (but never equal) “worth” it to me. But with as many times as I’ve been, and with as much as I know about WDW, I seriously doubt I could “learn” very much from a VIP guide. So what it would really come down to is an MK “express pass” that would cost $4000 for a 12 hour day. Even divided by 10, that’s $400/day/person. There are WAY too many other things that I would rather spend that money on…
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I don’t see any wait times that are out of line. I do notice your plan doesn’t stop to eat in the morning, so I presume you’ll be snacking along the way. That and bathroom/photo breaks could slow you down a little at some point.
Also, for attractions like Stitch and Carousel of Progress, while it’s likely true that there will be no line to speak of, you may wait a few minutes for the theaters to open upon. Hall of Presidents could also end up being a wait if you don’t arrive close to show time.
I noticed you only have two FPP selections made. Is that intentional? If you could get one for Peter Pan, then that would save you some time. You will also be able to make additional FPP reservations at a kiosk in the park once you’ve used your first three. That probably won’t make a difference for what you have planned later in the day, but if there’s something you want to re-ride, then that may help.
Lastly, 40 minutes for lunch is cutting it close if you hope to meet all four Pooh characters at Crystal Palace. They may arrive in a bunch when you first get there, but I usually budget an hour and a half for character meals. You’ll likely see all the characters within an hour, but sometimes your table isn’t ready when you first arrive, so I’d rather play it safe. Of course, if meeting everyone isn’t critical, then you can get through the meal more quickly.
Getting back to your original question, it sounds like you have a pretty good touring plan. If you think you can follow that, then you’re going to see everything on your list (barring an attraction closure or some sort of horrendous weather event). If you don’t feel comfortable with the structure of your touring plan and have the disposable income to hire a guide, then you could do so, but for the attractions you are seeing and the plans you have made that doesn’t seem necessary. Level 10 crowds in March are not the same as Level 10 crowds on the 4th of July, Christmas, or New Year’s Day. The Touring Plans scale just doesn’t go to 11.
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Looked at your TP. If this is a CL 10 day, I think some of the times are very “optomistic”.
- The first that comes to mind is the JC. 3 min? This means it is basically a walk-on, and I’ve NEVER seen it a walk-on.
- Splash, 2 hours after EMH at only 6 minutes also seems to be unrealistaclly low.
- Even without a line it takes a couple of minutes to walk through the PoC queue, so 4 min also implies basically a walk-on - something I have never seen before.
- I think the HM time is also a bit optomistic; I don’t think I’ve ever seen it less than 20 min other than right at RD or late night.
- I think 40 min is too short to plan for CP lunch - if you want to have character interactions; I would plan on not less than 60.
- HoP “might” only be 8 min, but if you just miss the show, it will be 25 or so before the next one lets in.
- Granted, there is typically a very short line for the Treehouse, but to go all the way to the top and back down again in 13 min might qualify as an aerobic workout.
- I think 38 minutes for TSI is also low; you’ll have to wait for the raft to the island, explore the island and then wait for a raft back to FrL. Unless you plan on only 20 min to explore the island (and it could easily take double that; there really is quite a bit to see) you should add 10-15 minutes to this one.
- The riverboat “could” only be a 5 min wait, but if you just miss a sailing it could be 20.
- It shows 15 min wait before Wishes; if you want a “good” spot in front of the castle, you need to double or triple this - at least (people start staking out spots well over an hour in advance, and the crowd will be crazy).
- 15 min for the second MSEP is probably OK, but you’ll do better finding a spot in FrL than MS (unless you’ve staked out a spot on MS for Wishes and just stay there).
Looking at your walking times, you must have set the TP control to “run”. I’m a fast walker, and alone in an empty park I could probably make these times. The times within each land are OK, but your TP has you criss-crossing the park a number of times, and things like Philharmagic to the Speedway in 4 minutes, at noon on a CL 10 day just aren’t going to happen.
In short, I would be surprised if you could get all of that in on a CL 10 day. Not sure of your son’s age, you might want to consider dropping HoP and the riverboat. I LOVE HoP, but I think your sone might be very bored. Although it’s kind of cool to be on a “riverboat”, there is really very little to see; I can’t remember the last time I took the 30-40 min to do it. Unless your son is a SERIOUS Stitch fan (and isn’t afraid of being alone in the dark with strange noises, sensations, and smells), then I would recommend skipping it; it’s probably the single most disliked attraction id WDW (for a good reason).
But I am not the reigning MK King (in fact, it’s my least favorite of the 4 parks and it’s the one in which I spend the least amount of time), so I will defer to others with many more days there to refine/refute my observations… 
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We’ve had “magic” FP access and we have had the offsite VIP tour companies that cost significantly less. It is easy to breeze through most rides where there is typically a 10 minute wait from entering to ride.
I wrote about the different types of VIP guides and costs, and I agree that one of the set tour guides of thrills or little kids is a great compromise.