Hi! I wanted to get other’s thoughts who have done VIP tours at WDW to see if maybe my family’s experiences have just been off or if we perhaps have too high of expectations. We’ve been on many tours (10+) and the prices have gone up exponentially in the last few years (latest tour was $900/hr with the 7 hour min.) and I’m always bothered that for the huge cost (our tours almost never end at the 7 hour mark because we can’t get everything we want done in that time.) that you still have to wait in the LL’s (so, theres still a wait. Sometimes kind of a long wait), limits on how often you can ride certain rides (Rise, Tron, and GotG), and guides are hit or miss on how good they are (we had one that was a straight up nightmare one trip.) For several thousands plus tip…I kind of expect a different experience. I know I know…we keep booking them so that probably isn’t helping lol but every time I say to myself why don’t they do xyz differently.
This was compounded after using Universal’s private VIP tours. They used to be less than Disney but now price is similar I think. But its actually VIP. Straight to the front of the line, ride as much as you want, sit down meal included, backstage access to some areas, etc. Its night and day (also, shout out to Mary who is an amazing guide there.) They do have a lower amount of people per guide (5 i think) so maybe that is a downside to some but that limit doesn’t affect us.
Has anyone else felt this way? Or am I expecting too much?
No offense but I wish I had your problems! All kidding aside, I never saw the value in a VIP tour unless I’m only in Disney for a day or 2. I can get on every ride that I want using ILL and Genie+ and all the tips from La Cava and do it at my own pace at a fraction of the cost.
Paying $500+pp to skip the lines when I can do it for $50pp just doesn’t make sense.
We were in Epcot 2 weeks ago, arriving at 2:30pm. We got VQ using BG1 for GOTG at 7am and also bought an ILL so we could ride 2x. Stacked Frozen, TT, Soarin, SE, Remy and we were done w every ride by 7pm. Had dinner at via Napoli, fireworks and back to hotel. All that cost us about $40pp. Between RS and drops you can get on every ride you want.
When you put it like that l…it definitely does make the tours seem like even a worse value the craziest part is the last few trips we did, I was shocked at how many guides I saw AND when I went to book over the holidays they were booked solid for 2 straight weeks. So, I started to think maybe I was being crazy for being frustrated when it seemed in such high demand.
Plus I brought up this point about being surprised it’s not front of the line access on a Reddit sub and got completely skewered for my “ungratefulness” that it’s not front of the line. Even though I contend that for 9k…most would assume it was lol
I can’t believe it’s not front of the line. I’ve only done the VIP non private AK tour in 2019 that they don’t do anymore. That was nice when I was solo for my first AK trip but now I wouldn’t find value in it since I know how to maximize time in the parks. At Universal I’ve done the VIP tour at HHN which is straight to the front of the line. I’ve been mixed on if that is worth it because express pass is pretty good. It really depends on the guide. One guide I had completely skipped the show. Another guide zig zagged the whole park making us walk unnecessarily. But HHN without a guide makes you walk 2 miles to get out of line so definitely worth vip to avoid that.
It does vary based on the ride and probably to some extent the guide. On certain attractions the VIP tour guide can/will cut more of the line than on others. Haunted you can skip the stretching room if you want, on Space we’ve cut the line on occasion. I think on Dinosaur and maybe Test Track as well if you’re OK sacrificing the design stage. Basically often to cut more of the line you’re sacrificing something though…
Last fall we waited over 30 in the LL line before getting to the design stage. I’d be very upset if I were paying that kind of money to wait in a line like that.
And that may have been a day where TT went down which backed things up. I know one time we were on a VIP tour, the guide dropped us in the LL and we ended up bailing because things were just stacked up and not moving. Unfortunately that’s a risk with any tour given how many rides seem to be right on the edge of going offline at anytime…
Some of the LL’s do get quite backed up. On the last tour we did, we had a 45 min wait on mine train. It was the most expensive standing around I’ve ever done lol. I’d say that long, isnt the norm, but we consistently had 20-30 min waits on certain rides during tours. I forgot that there are a few rides that, as the previous poster mentioned, they can cut some of but its not many. I think that was true for HM, Pirates (this is a relatively new addition I think), and Toy Story Mania (maybe its guide dependent on which they use.)
So it’s definitely not about value. It’s “I like Disney and don’t want to do genie+ and $ doesn’t matter.” Yes, they could be better. But the people who book them don’t want to tour any other way or want to make their day as efficient as possible without going down obscure internet rabbit holes to learn hacks on forums like this . Clients who’ve done both obviously agree that UO is much, much better, but UO is not Disney, and many folks want Disney, too or instead.
Personally, I like the internet rabbit holes full of hacks that save me $5k, but a lot of people don’t have the time or desire.
We had the private VIP tour about 10 yrs ago. Bought it while we were there because it was Spring Break. The parks kept closing due to the crowds. It was worth it. Another time we did the non private tour which was a lot more reasonable but Disney doesn’t offer that tour anymore. With the insane VIP tour prices, I don’t think I’ll book it.
Does the guide ride with you? I think I’ve seen that usually they just wait for you, how does it work on rides where you have to scan twice? Does the VIP status simply get added to your MDE account / profile for the day?
It depends a lot on the guide (and the ride). It also likely varies off of your group size and the ride - i.e. are they evening out your group? Or taking up another row? So it basically varies depending. We’ve never had an issue at the 2nd tap - guessing that the initial tap gets you “approved” essentially so the 2nd is good. Sometimes the guide will stay with you threw the line and then skip out at the end too. A lot depends if they need time to grab drinks or something or not.
But we’ve had guides that rode most things with us and others that barely rode anything.
I’ve done the non-private VIP tours at Universal and it came with breakfast and lunch and true skipping the line so I’d do it again. It’s not cheap but it’s not Disney prices either. I can never bring myself to drop the Disney price for the reasons you state like not getting to skip the line, no food, etc. So I can’t compare and relate to what you’re saying other than it sounds perfectly reasonable to me that you should get to do that. What do they do with celebrities because I once heard Kevin Hart comparing his kids trip to Disney with their mom versus him and how he’s done with the whole park in four hours cuz he skips all the lines. Is there another elite level of VIP tours where you can skip the lines?
the craziest part is the last few trips we did, I was shocked at how many guides I saw AND when I went to book over the holidays they were booked solid for 2 straight weeks. So, I started to think maybe I was being crazy for being frustrated when it seemed in such high demand.
. Clients who’ve done both obviously agree that UO is much, much better, but UO is not Disney, and many folks want Disney, too or instead.