Ultimate Day of Thrills Tour Questions?

Just sharing a little fantasy here (this is totally unsubstantiated and is just in my head):

The Ultimate Thrills Tour used to include AK instead of Soarin, but they switched it out last fall because of AK construction/refurb. In another thread, someone reported that DVC members and AP holders will have early access to Pandora in AK, starting in late April, in order to test the new land. I have an Ultimate Thrills Tour booked for April 30. I can't help but fantasize that Disney might decide to "test" bringing Ultimate Thrills back to AK for the new Pandora rides? pixiedust: I know it is probably just a pipe dream, but that would be so cool, I can't help but wish for it. I will do my best to keep my expectations in check. 8-)
 
My review:

I took the tour on 3/7/2016, and I checked in around 8:15 a.m. I was told to check-in to Tomorrowland Terrace at Magic Kingdom no later than 8:30 a.m, but the tour didn't officially start until about 8:45 a.m.

There were 21 people in our group and 3 tour guides. We stayed all together and would only split up with one tour guide when we went to another park. I really can't remember their names, and I didn't really care to catch them. Most of the time they joked about this being training for one of the guides, so I don't know if we got the full experience.

We walked to Space Mountain at 8:45 a.m, and waved to all of the people standing behind the ropes to Tomorrowland (jk on the waving), but we were getting some looks. We then waited by Space Mountain until 9 a.m. (park opening). That was very amusing, because we got to see the stampede of people breaking every rule of Disney trying to be first in line for Space Mountain. It was rather hilarious, but now I have a greater appreciation for the CM's that handle that crowd every morning.

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Schedule:

Ride order in MK: Space Mountain, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Railroad, and Pirates of the Caribbean (surprise attraction).

After those rides, we transported to EPCOT, and got to walk backstage of The Land Pavilion. This was cool, because you get to see backstage of pretty much every World Showcase Pavilion before reaching The Land.

While at the Land, we had lunch at Sunshine Seasons. Honestly, it was ok. Nothing special.

Ride: Soarin.

After riding Soarin, we then went back to our transportation and drove to Hollywood Studios.

Ride order: Rock N' Rollercoaster, Tower of Terror, Toy Story Midway Mania, and Star Tours.

After Star Tours, our guides said goodbye, and our tour was over about 20 minutes earlier than scheduled.

Bathroom/snack breaks are built into the tour.

After the tour, I made all of my fastpasses for AK (Expedition Everest, Kali River Rapids, and Rivers of Light), so I can get all of the "thrill" rides done in one day. I had rode Dinosaur earlier in ym trip, so i didn't see the point to ride that again.

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The tour got more worth it as the day went on in my opinion. A lot of the rides at MK that we went on to start would have been walk-ons or a short wait. The attractions I found it worth it at MK would have been 7DMT and Pirates (40 minutes when we got there). The reason why i say this is the day before, I was able to ride Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Big Thunder Railroad in the first hour of MK being open. Haunted Mansion didn't have a wait when i got there. When we got to Soarin, it was a 55 minute wait. After that, Hollywood Studios had the longest wait times. Rock N' Rollercoaster was 75 minutes, Tower of Terror was 60 minutes, Toy Story was 60 minutes, and Star Tours was 35 minutes. I find this service basically to be paying for time. You go in the fastpass line for each of these attractions.

I still don't see the point to go to EPCOT only to ride one ride. This is the Ultimate Day of Thrills Tour, and you won't even go on the ride that posts 64.9 mph (Test Track)!!! I would easily get rid of Haunted Mansion, Star Tours, or Toy Story and change that with Test Track. That is since those aren't really "thrill" rides in my eyes. A better lunch location would be nice too. We are in EPCOT with a lot of food locations that I find to be better than Sunshine Seasons.

Is it worth the money? I would say yes. Is it a great experience? I would say yes. I only wish that Disney could make it just one hour longer, and take advantage of going to Test Track and possibly even Frozen.

I hope everyone enjoyed reading my review!

@sfbank
 
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Thank you so much for the review. As you know I have this booked and wanted to make sure it is worth the money to keep it. Glad you had a good time. Thanks again!!
 
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I'm wondering if they moved the meal to Sunshine Seasons to keep things moving along as it is a full day. I loved the brown derby when I dined there for Dine with an Imagineer but I don't mind that I'll have some time on my own now that lunch is quick service. There are some blogs I've read where the tour included Test Track. I'm booking this with a friend who is joining me for a short three day trip. I think it will be fun!
 
What ride do you think they'll add now that Splash will be down for six months? I'm taking this tour in October.
 
What ride do you think they'll add now that Splash will be down for six months? I'm taking this tour in October.
It's hard to know. Some tours went to Buzz Lightyear with what other people have reported in the past. Mine did not however. They could possibly add Test Track too. It's just hard to know until that time actually comes, and if someone reports back on here.
 
Just sharing a little fantasy here (this is totally unsubstantiated and is just in my head):

The Ultimate Thrills Tour used to include AK instead of Soarin, but they switched it out last fall because of AK construction/refurb. In another thread, someone reported that DVC members and AP holders will have early access to Pandora in AK, starting in late April, in order to test the new land. I have an Ultimate Thrills Tour booked for April 30. I can't help but fantasize that Disney might decide to "test" bringing Ultimate Thrills back to AK for the new Pandora rides? pixiedust: I know it is probably just a pipe dream, but that would be so cool, I can't help but wish for it. I will do my best to keep my expectations in check. 8-)
Please report back regardless. I'm booked in October and would love an updated review.
 
Just sharing a little fantasy here (this is totally unsubstantiated and is just in my head):

The Ultimate Thrills Tour used to include AK instead of Soarin, but they switched it out last fall because of AK construction/refurb. In another thread, someone reported that DVC members and AP holders will have early access to Pandora in AK, starting in late April, in order to test the new land. I have an Ultimate Thrills Tour booked for April 30. I can't help but fantasize that Disney might decide to "test" bringing Ultimate Thrills back to AK for the new Pandora rides? pixiedust: I know it is probably just a pipe dream, but that would be so cool, I can't help but wish for it. I will do my best to keep my expectations in check. 8-)

Please report back, Hope your tour was wonderful!! We have this scheduled for June. We are really excited for it and booked AK fast passes for after for the 4 park in one day experience.
 
Please report back, Hope your tour was wonderful!! We have this scheduled for June. We are really excited for it and booked AK fast passes for after for the 4 park in one day experience.
I have my review above with doing fastpasses at AK afterwards. I did my tour in March, so it is pretty recent.
 
To anyone taking the Ultimate Day of Thrills tour in 2017 wanted to post my experience. I had posted to a previous thread from last year but it appears to have been taken down.

We did the tour on January 2, 2017 so for those who wondered earlier if they do the tours around Christmas/New Year's, the answer is no to Christmas - last year I believe they had tours scheduled through December 17 or so and then stopped them for the Christmas/NYE holidays. However the very first day they were available to be booked was January 2 which was the last day of our NYE trip so that worked out perfectly and we enjoyed getting the "VIP" treatment as the last hurrah on our trip. When we booked the tour it had been mid-2016 back when they were operating on the old schedule where the tour ended in AK. As others posted, that has since changed but we did not find out about the change until late December. Supposedly they were going around calling people to inform them of the change at the time since we had booked under different circumstances, but we never received a call. Instead, I called VIP services and told them we were unhappy with the change as it had affected our booking Fastpasses and after they thought on it awhile, they came back to us and offered us two anytime Fastpasses for one of the earlier days of our trip to allow us to get Fastpass+ for the AK rides we would have previously been able to do on the tour. That was the compromise.

Ok so getting back into the tour itself - the new tour did indeed start at MK, then go to Epcot and end in DHS, skipping AK. They said the change was due to people calling and complaining that they wanted to experience the new Soaring Around the World attraction (I don't really buy it though - I think it was a smart move for Disney to change the tour to Epcot as they were now guaranteeing less rides for those who pay while also taking out the promised table service meal. At one time it had been Whispering Canyon, then Hollywood Brown Derby but all marketing materials have been changed to no longer promise a sit down table service meal and they now just promise lunch. As of late 2016 the tour takes you to Sunshine Seasons, a glorified food court.)

We checked in at 8:30 and left shortly after. We rode these rides:

Pirates of the Caribbean, then Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain RR, bathroom break, 7 Dwarves Mine Train, Space Mountain and finally Buzz Lightyear due to making good time.

Then we got in the private vehicle and were whisked through the backstage areas of Epcot where you see the back of the buildings and different lands - so cool. It's just like looking at a soundstage. Then lunch and Soarin'.

Then bathroom break. Then back to the vehicle one last time to DHS where we rode on Tower of Terror first (since the roller coaster line was long), then Toy Story Mania, then Star Tours and finally Rock N' Roller Coaster.

I don't recall the end time exactly but we ended the tour maybe 30 minutes ahead of schedule because we had a Fastpass at the Great Movie Ride and I recall going to them and asking if they would allow us to ride early since our tour had ended. Also, after the tour people were given the option to have a lift to AK or Magic Kingdom if they chose. We stayed put since we had already had a chance to visit AK the previous day due to the scheduling changes.

Just wanted to share my experience in case this helps anyone thinking about what you do on the tour. Yes, they just whisk you into Fastpass lines but the best part of the tour is not having to worry about anything. Your tour guides lead the group through the lines and ours even nudged the cast members a few times to remind them we were on a tight schedule, which meant we got to go in front of people waiting in the standby lines and feel special. Definitely worth it on a trip like ours where the regular lines were exceedingly long due to it being New Year's season. Oh and the VIP lanyard you get to keep is also pretty cool.
 
We did the tour last week. Pandora was not included. One of the guides said that they are creating an AK only tour and that Pandora will be included in that tour. It won't be added to the Thrills tour.

We did:

At MK...Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Haunted Mansion, Pirates, 7 Dwarves

Then lunch at Sunshine Seasons in Epcot and rode Soarin

Then at DHS...Rock N Rollercoaster, Tower of Terror, Toy Story, Star Tours

We could stay in DHS or take the van back to MK. We took the van. Tour finished around 3:30/4pm. We tipped our guides, but we were the only ones to do so.
 
We did the tour last week. Pandora was not included. One of the guides said that they are creating an AK only tour and that Pandora will be included in that tour. It won't be added to the Thrills tour.

We did:

At MK...Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Haunted Mansion, Pirates, 7 Dwarves

Then lunch at Sunshine Seasons in Epcot and rode Soarin

Then at DHS...Rock N Rollercoaster, Tower of Terror, Toy Story, Star Tours

We could stay in DHS or take the van back to MK. We took the van. Tour finished around 3:30/4pm. We tipped our guides, but we were the only ones to do so.
Thanks for this. Now I know to fp test track. My friend is coming with me for three days and this was a way to ride all the big rides at one time. I'll fp test track on the night we eat dinner at Epcot.
 
Thanks for this. Now I know to fp test track. My friend is coming with me for three days and this was a way to ride all the big rides at one time. I'll fp test track on the night we eat dinner at Epcot.

Our guide said they don't do TT because it takes too long.
 
We did the tour last week. Pandora was not included. One of the guides said that they are creating an AK only tour and that Pandora will be included in that tour. It won't be added to the Thrills tour.

We did:

At MK...Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Haunted Mansion, Pirates, 7 Dwarves

Then lunch at Sunshine Seasons in Epcot and rode Soarin

Then at DHS...Rock N Rollercoaster, Tower of Terror, Toy Story, Star Tours

We could stay in DHS or take the van back to MK. We took the van. Tour finished around 3:30/4pm. We tipped our guides, but we were the only ones to do so.


Wow! I wonder when the AK tour will be happening?
 
Thanks for the updates. We are doing the tour in 3 weeks and I will definitely give feedback here as well.
 
Ok so the tour is accomplished. In the end definitely felt it was worth it. Our tour guides were a blast and we had a fun group. I agree that one ride at EPCOT is not really worth it. It was fun the see the running of the bulls while we were waiting to start out at Space Mountain. All in all I think we will do it again.
 
We are doing this tour in 2 weeks. Are there any updates reviews? Anyone gone on this tour recently? With Toy Story Land being built, do they still include TSMM?
 

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