YodaRulz
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2023
My daughter, sister-in-law, and I went to Orlando on vacation for a split Universal/Disney stay. Our Disney stay was from Monday 12/4 – Friday 12/8. We decided to do a Private VIP Tour on 12/4 since it was my daughter’s birthday (Happy 27th!). We did have one of our friends and her husband join us on this tour (not the Universal one), so there were 5 of us in total.
Here is our experience…. (warning TL;DR)
How much is it? What do you get?
We did the 1-day private VIP tour and hit all 4 parks (Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios). You don’t have to go to all the parks, you can choose the one(s) that work for you. The prices for the tour this week in December 2023 started at $650/hour and went up depending on the day you chose with a 7-hour minimum. The day we went it was $700/hr. Your park tickets are not included as part of the tour, so ensure you have those purchased. If you are doing more than one park you will need the park hopper ticket (and we had to have a park reservation since those are still a thing when we went). Unlike the Universal tour we did, this tour provides snacks only, not full meals. When I set up this tour, I didn’t ask for a specific cast member but mentioned we wanted someone with a lot of energy, could get us around fast, and could maximize the day to get in as many rides as possible. We got Kelly who was excellent! Will definitely ask for her again next time.
Arrival/Check-in
Our tour started at 11am and was set to finish at 6pm. You can decide on a start time and meet your guide anywhere to begin the tour, including in one of the parks. We stayed at the Beach Club and decided to have our tour guide pick us up and drop us off there. Our tour guide was Kelly and she texted ahead of time to verify time and location. She met us in the lobby, introduced herself, we went over what our priorities were again, and we were off. On arrival at our first park, they do a security check of your bags and get your tickets scanned. No need to go through the main security or park entrance. We extended our tour to 7pm. Good news is you can go up to 10 hours total. You do pay for those extra hours at the same rate, but they will bill in 15min increments. So, for example if you paid $700/hr and go over by 15min you are only charged $175 not the full hour amount.
Food/Snacks
All the snacks and water you want are included. Kelly kept us well stocked with bottled Smart Water all day long. We also got mickey pretzels, popcorn, ice cream bars, and snacks. At each park when we arrived and left, they had cast members waiting with baskets of goodies. This included things like chips, granola bars, gummy bears, mickey rice crispy treats, and more. You can stop and eat any time, but you have to pay for your food, and it counts towards your 7 hours. With all the food they provided we never got hungry enough to have to stop and eat a full meal. The time in the vehicle between parks was enough time and a great way to rest without “stopping” to eat. Kelly did get us 1 Starbucks order on them. She took our order in line at a ride at our first park then went to get it. She had it waiting for us when we got off the ride. At the end of the night, we wanted dinner, so on our 2nd time on Cosmic Rewind (and last ride of the night) I mobile ordered food in queue and she went and picked it up for us and had to waiting when we got off the ride. From there she brought us back to our hotel.
Rides
We hit the big rides in all 4 parks and were scanned in via the lightening lane. You don’t get to actually skip to the front like at Universal, but we never waited more than a few minutes on any ride. The longest wait was Flight of Passage, Rise, and Cosmic Rewind and it was still only about 10-15min max. I loved we could request where you want to sit, so we did a lot of front row! Tron is amazing from the front! Quick note – you can ride almost any ride as many times as you want except Tron (limit 1x), Rise (limit 1x) and Cosmic Rewind (limit 2x). These have longer pre-shows, so it does eat into your tour time but so worth it!
We rode 16 rides (including repeats) across the 4 parks – that means we averaged only about 25min per ride (which includes travel time between parks, walking, bathroom breaks, any queue, and the ride time).
We also got to see some behind the scenes areas. We parked in various areas in each park and came in through cast member entrances. At each stop cast members were waiting on us and opened our doors, helped us out (or back in), had water and snacks waiting. On 2 of the rides, we even went in a back door/exit instead of the LL (MMRR and Haunted Mansion). Kelly was fabulous! She was so efficient; and taught this very knowledgeable Disney person things I didn’t know (even where some hidden Mickey’s I have missed are). She held our ears, sunglasses, and bags on every ride. She got us through the lightening lanes fast since she could go around some of the roped off areas. Always had water in her bag in case we needed it…can’t say enough!!
Final Thoughts
Around Christmas time, or other super busy times so the year, this is the way to go! It made the other 4 days at the park so enjoyable since we didn't feel pressure to use all our time on rides. Definitely doing this again!!!
Here is our experience…. (warning TL;DR)
How much is it? What do you get?
We did the 1-day private VIP tour and hit all 4 parks (Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios). You don’t have to go to all the parks, you can choose the one(s) that work for you. The prices for the tour this week in December 2023 started at $650/hour and went up depending on the day you chose with a 7-hour minimum. The day we went it was $700/hr. Your park tickets are not included as part of the tour, so ensure you have those purchased. If you are doing more than one park you will need the park hopper ticket (and we had to have a park reservation since those are still a thing when we went). Unlike the Universal tour we did, this tour provides snacks only, not full meals. When I set up this tour, I didn’t ask for a specific cast member but mentioned we wanted someone with a lot of energy, could get us around fast, and could maximize the day to get in as many rides as possible. We got Kelly who was excellent! Will definitely ask for her again next time.
Arrival/Check-in
Our tour started at 11am and was set to finish at 6pm. You can decide on a start time and meet your guide anywhere to begin the tour, including in one of the parks. We stayed at the Beach Club and decided to have our tour guide pick us up and drop us off there. Our tour guide was Kelly and she texted ahead of time to verify time and location. She met us in the lobby, introduced herself, we went over what our priorities were again, and we were off. On arrival at our first park, they do a security check of your bags and get your tickets scanned. No need to go through the main security or park entrance. We extended our tour to 7pm. Good news is you can go up to 10 hours total. You do pay for those extra hours at the same rate, but they will bill in 15min increments. So, for example if you paid $700/hr and go over by 15min you are only charged $175 not the full hour amount.
Food/Snacks
All the snacks and water you want are included. Kelly kept us well stocked with bottled Smart Water all day long. We also got mickey pretzels, popcorn, ice cream bars, and snacks. At each park when we arrived and left, they had cast members waiting with baskets of goodies. This included things like chips, granola bars, gummy bears, mickey rice crispy treats, and more. You can stop and eat any time, but you have to pay for your food, and it counts towards your 7 hours. With all the food they provided we never got hungry enough to have to stop and eat a full meal. The time in the vehicle between parks was enough time and a great way to rest without “stopping” to eat. Kelly did get us 1 Starbucks order on them. She took our order in line at a ride at our first park then went to get it. She had it waiting for us when we got off the ride. At the end of the night, we wanted dinner, so on our 2nd time on Cosmic Rewind (and last ride of the night) I mobile ordered food in queue and she went and picked it up for us and had to waiting when we got off the ride. From there she brought us back to our hotel.
Rides
We hit the big rides in all 4 parks and were scanned in via the lightening lane. You don’t get to actually skip to the front like at Universal, but we never waited more than a few minutes on any ride. The longest wait was Flight of Passage, Rise, and Cosmic Rewind and it was still only about 10-15min max. I loved we could request where you want to sit, so we did a lot of front row! Tron is amazing from the front! Quick note – you can ride almost any ride as many times as you want except Tron (limit 1x), Rise (limit 1x) and Cosmic Rewind (limit 2x). These have longer pre-shows, so it does eat into your tour time but so worth it!
We rode 16 rides (including repeats) across the 4 parks – that means we averaged only about 25min per ride (which includes travel time between parks, walking, bathroom breaks, any queue, and the ride time).
- Magic Kingdom – Tron, Space, SDMT, Pirates, Peter Pan, Thunder Mountain, Haunted Mansion
- Epcot – Cosmic Rewind (2 times)
- Animal Kingdom – Expedition Everest (2 times), Flight of Passage
- Hollywood Studios – RotR, RnRC, SDD, MMRR
We also got to see some behind the scenes areas. We parked in various areas in each park and came in through cast member entrances. At each stop cast members were waiting on us and opened our doors, helped us out (or back in), had water and snacks waiting. On 2 of the rides, we even went in a back door/exit instead of the LL (MMRR and Haunted Mansion). Kelly was fabulous! She was so efficient; and taught this very knowledgeable Disney person things I didn’t know (even where some hidden Mickey’s I have missed are). She held our ears, sunglasses, and bags on every ride. She got us through the lightening lanes fast since she could go around some of the roped off areas. Always had water in her bag in case we needed it…can’t say enough!!
Final Thoughts
Around Christmas time, or other super busy times so the year, this is the way to go! It made the other 4 days at the park so enjoyable since we didn't feel pressure to use all our time on rides. Definitely doing this again!!!
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