VIP tour options/how would you plan your day

@Bubblez also following. Going with my family in november for our 5th trip. I’m one of those spreadsheet gals who figured out a way to ride almost every ride with a fast pass, rope drop and use pre park opening meals to our advantage. But with so much change, I’m starting to consider the VIP tour for a day or two esp if fast passes aren’t back.

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I realized that my main frustrations at the park are both crowds and my family’s refusal to do anything other than at their immediate want/desire. Months of planning, openly mocked and flat out ignored.

They are ruled by such strict schedules everyday, that the thought they have to skip a nap or be up at 3:30am (our time) to rope drop is such a foreign concept to them. Then I get cranky because I know I’ll lose DH half the day because of said nap/work, and DS only wants to do Splash Mountain or Test Track 20 times in a row for single rider. Even if I can stomach 20 drops, I have to do it playing footsie with whosever family I’m jumping in a log with.

All the while, I know I have FP after FP that’s expiring because we can’t cross the park in time or reservations ignored because Pirates is finally under 20 minute wait.

I honestly think the guide will both help us be non RD’ing, spur of the moment riders and keep my grumpy mood in check. I can’t be mad when plans change because then I’ll have a walking FP!

I’d be interested in your thoughts if you do do one, even if it’s just a simple “Yay” or “Nay”.

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Also, as a side note, I’m hoping to add UOR Orlando Informer private party as well. I’ll post those pictures too/give my thoughts if I can get tickets.

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I have a question about the private VIP tour. I know guides can not help you get a boarding group for ROTR. If you have a boarding group can they help you skip any portion of the line? If not, how long are you typically in line once your group is called?

How does the park reservation system impact VIP tours? My understanding is if you have hopper you can hop any time with the guide. Do you need to start in the park of your reservation if you are with your guide?

Do you scan into each park? If you are on the a private VIP tour and start at another park and then enter HS before 1 pm can you try for the 1 pm ROTR boarding group?

Someone had just finished doing a tour and might have better answers as anything I know is pre-Covid. I’ll see if I can find them!

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Paging @kerry218

Sorry to bring you over, but seeing as you just finished a tour, I thought you might have some more relevant answers than I can provide just yet.

Thanks!

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Ok, well here’s their report until they can speak to it themselves!

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We didn’t even try for a boarding group, so I am not sure how that works. We did have hoppers and only scanned into the MK, where we met our guide. You are driven to the back of each park after that, no more scanning. I would be happy to answer any other questions.

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Thanks

Did any of the kids require car seats or booster seats? If so do you need to provide them or are they available on request?

None of the children needed them, but when they called my son they did ask if we needed any.

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We did a tour recently and did Rise on it. The guide could not help us skip any line. Unfortunately we were in line during a shut down too and didn’t move at all for 15-20 minutes (ugh, waste of tour time).

We did have to start in the park that we had reservations for. The guide still took us in a backstage entrance, but we went up to park entrance to scan in at a side tapstyle.

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Hi, and fun! Sorry about the wait though.

So you were able to do Rise? Was that with a BG you had to get for yourself or with no BG?

We got our own boarding group, #17 that day. Our group did ride that day, after the delay. I personally didn’t ride that day. DS9 had to use the restroom urgently while we were waiting, despite being asked if he needed to go on the way to Rise… so we left the line. Our guide offered to try to get the two of us back on and see if we could skip any of the line that time, but we didn’t want to hold up the group any more when we’d already spent so much time in line for Rise.

I don’t think doing Rise on the tour is always a bad idea, but it can eat a lot of time if the ride goes down or has a delay while you are in line.

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Makes perfect sense. Thanks for clarifying!

So was your park reservation for Hollywood Studios? It sounds like if you got BG #17.

Good to know they can not help you skip any of the line once you get your own BG.

Thanks so much.

Actually, it makes zero sense. A private VIP tour is costing — what? — four grand and they don’t do anything to help you get onto ROTR? It’s crazy.

That being said, I agree with @SnowWhiteDoc that it can be a time-suck. When I went on a VIP tour we started with ROTR. We had got our own BGs (what? why should that be necessary?) and we entered through the shortcut route, because one of our party had DAS. But almost as soon as we were in the trackless vehicle, the ride stopped. We were trapped in there for at least twenty minutes before we were walked off. (It might have been cool if we’d stopped somewhere interesting, but we did not.) From there we went to MFSR, where we pretty much walked straight into a cabin. But after an hour of the tour we had ridden one ride.

Moral of the story: given that VIP gets you zero ROTR advantage, there’s really no point (as things currently operate) putting it into your tour.

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I keep meaning to comment on this.

I know you’ve done VIP at DLR, but isn’t it different at WDW because it’s so, so, so much bigger. If you give them an outline they can plan how they’re going to get you round. They minimise walking time by sneakily driving you around backstage, not just from park to park, but within parks, too. Can they do that effectively if you’re just randomly meandering and saying “hey, let’s ride this”? That being said, it could be a wonderfully chilled way to operate. Basically the equivalent of having a Club 33 ticket.

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A VIP tour is amazing, no doubt about it. I skimmed the thread, so here are a few thoughts-
The guides will be at their best when they know exactly what you are hoping to achieve. For some, that is power touring & seeing all four parks & highlights. The VIP tour we last used, I asked for background stories &fun.
We moved more slowly and stopped to talk or find outrageous hidden Mickeys. I really enjoyed it,but I get that everyone wants different things for their tour.
I would consider being picked up at your hotel- during busy times, as it can be exhausting just getting there. We were at yacht club, and getting into the backstage areas was incredibly fast. So on AK day, for example, it was a quick air conditioned drive over, personal bag check backstage, and we just walked right out at safari. At HS, we were walked in at R & R coaster, and on and off the ride before DH was really awake. Or consider using your last 30 mins to get back to the hotel when you are hot and cranky.
We based the day on whether or not I had procured a boarding group at 7 am.One day I missed it, and even though we moved to AK,
The guide stopped us at 1 pm to try for a boarding group again. He had our tix still considered in the HS park even though we had left so we could do that. He was ready and able to take us wherever we wanted.
Four tours would be a lot. You will get everything done so much faster. I’d space the tours so you could use the 48 hour cancellation window, in case you find you really don’t need them all. Covid has changed some things, so whether the guide can sit with you to eat or ride with an odd number of people will depend on current conditions,
I guess. Our guide usually found us seating for snacks,
But then kind of faded into the background area until we were done.
When we were last there in March 21, there weren’t any of the special tours ( keys to kingdom, etc) going on,
And I wondered if you could ask your guide to kind of recreate them. Forgot to ask. Enjoy it-
It’s a wonderful day with a plaid!

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And I forgot- when RotR had a shutdown, he managed to pull us out of line and talk w the ride manager so we just came back later in the day. He was very aware of “wasting” that time in line waiting for the ride reboot.

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That’s perfect and the best I could hope for! Thank you for sharing your experience!

I love the idea of finding hidden Mickey’s and getting the fun stories while keeping to a light schedule of the “headliners”.

By the time I’m on the tour, they may already have the other group tours back up, but I will ask regardless!