disneyland vip tours

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Disneyland VIP Tour – Pricing, Details, Tips – We Have Been On!

Disneyland VIP Tours are the ultimate way to experience the theme parks. There are several special tours offered throughout the year at Disneyland, from Walt's Main Street Story Tour which takes you inside Walt's Fire Station apartment to the Happiest Haunts tour offered at Halloween, but the VIP tours are the top offerings.

For Disneyland VIP Tours, you are led by a knowledgeable VIP Tour Guide, sometimes referred to as a plaid for the color they wear, who will share fun information about the parks and tips with the group and accompany you throughout the day. On your Disneyland tour you'll be able to enjoy perks like expedited access to attractions, personalized scheduling for your park day, reserved viewing for entertainment, and more! You'll often see celebrities around the parks enjoying VIP tours with guides wearing their recognizable plaid uniforms, but any guest can splurge on this incredible experience.

The Mickey Visit team is in Disneyland every single week. We have been on a VIP tour and it was an incredibly luxurious experience that gives you great access to enjoy the parks in a completely stress-free manner. Keep reading for everything you need to know about Disneyland VIP Tours, including details on what they include and how to access the best VIP Tour prices through Get Away Today.

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In this planning guide:

Disneyland VIP Tour Offerings

Before we dive into the details of VIP Tours at Disneyland, we will cover an overview of what is included when you book a VIP tour.

• Personalized planning
• Expedited access to attractions
• Expert VIP Tour Guide who will accompany you through the parks
• Reserved viewing for entertainment

Note that the price of the VIP Tour does not include park admission, so you will need to purchase this separately. We will discuss the pricing more for Disneyland VIP Tours below. Guests may decide to splurge on a VIP Tour due to the significant perks it offers and not having to worry about the hassle of long wait times and having to plan out their day. You can truly maximize your time in the parks and soak up the magic, enjoying your personalized itinerary with your expert VIP Tour guide taking great care of your group's every need.

Below, we will share more details about each aspect of the Disneyland VIP Tours we listed above.

VIP Tour Guide

One of the most defining aspects of your VIP Tour experience is your VIP Tour Guide. Before your tour, VIP Services or Guest Relations will reach out to you to get a sense of what you'd like in your tour and match you with an expert guide who will be the best fit for your interests. Depending on what your priorities are (like riding all of the top attractions or learning about behind-the-scenes secrets), they will find a tour guide who will be best suited to that to make sure you have the best day possible.

During the VIP Tour, the Tour Guides will share interesting facts, tips, and behind-the-scenes stories about the parks that really elevate your experience. The VIP Tour Guides are also experts at navigating the parks and always have a good sense of what is going on during the day. Beyond the basic knowledge of what is currently offered and not offered at the parks, they know the precise nuances of all of the park happenings so that they can help you navigate the parks effectively and make the most of your experience.

VIP Tour Guides can also pick up mobile orders for you to help you make the most of your time. You'll still pay for the food, but this can be a great time-saver.

Disneyland VIP Tour Personalized Scheduling

One of the biggest advantages of Disneyland VIP tours is the personalized scheduling that is included with the experience. Once you have booked your VIP Tour experience, a VIP Tour Coordinator will help with details like dining reservations, start times, any celebrations to note for the day, and your party's priorities. The VIP guides will also make Park Pass reservations for your party as well.

You will have a customized itinerary planned for the day that is tailored specifically to your group's preferences and interests. See our Disneyland & Disney California Adventure 1 Day Itinerary for an idea of what you'd like to prioritize. This itinerary can be flexible if there are any spontaneous changes your group may decide on.

VIP Tour guests can express interest in certain experiences, and as long as these don't interrupt the normal flow of guests at the park, Disney will try to make it happen for you on your tour. For example, guests could request to see a certain character and enjoy expedited access to permanent character meet-and-greet locations that have backstage access. 

With so much of the current Disneyland experience revolving around planning, it is a huge benefit to have all of this taken care of for you so you can focus on having fun and enjoying the experience!

VIP Expedited Access to Attractions

Another benefit included in Disneyland's VIP Tours is expedited access to attractions so you can enjoy as many offerings as possible during your park day. For attractions that offer Genie+ Lightning Lane, this will be through the Lightning Lane entrance. This includes some of the most popular rides of the park with Individual Lightning Lanes like Radiator Springs Racers and Rise of the Resistance. Guests will get the benefit of not needing to make Genie+ reservations or figure out the best time to ride during the day.

For attractions that don't have a Lightning Lane entrance, you will likely enter with your party from the exit, so the wait is shorter than what a Lightning Lane wait would typically be for these experiences. The ability to access rides with significantly shorter wait times, without needing to juggle Genie+ , stand in long lines, and strategize when to get on certain rides, is one of the biggest perks of the Disneyland VIP Tour.

Disneyland VIP Tour Reserved Viewing for Entertainment

During a Disneyland VIP Tour, you'll also be able to enjoy special reserved viewing for entertainment like fireworks, parades, and shows. You don't need to enjoy this reserved viewing during the time of your tour, and we do suggest seeing them outside of that time frame so you can fully enjoy the tour offerings.

This prime viewing is a fantastic perk that VIP guests get to enjoy without needing to stake out a spot hours in advance. Especially for evening shows, it's the perfect way to end a great day after your tour experience. You can see our guides to parades at Disneyland and fireworks at Disneyland for everything you need to know about the current entertainment offered!

Disneyland VIP Tour Pricing and Details—How to Get the Best Prices!

Disneyland VIP Tours start at $500 per hour for up to 10 guests with a minimum of 7 hours and a maximum of 10 hours (gratuities are not included), so the cost of this experience starts at $3,500. Prices for VIP Tours will be higher during peak times like Spring Break and summer, with the higher end of the current pricing scale currently around $800 an hour.

If you have more guests than 10, you will need another guide. The 10 guests for the tour cannot be changed. Once you book the VIP Tours, these are non-refundable when canceled 48 hours or less before arrival. Strollers and wheelchairs are complimentary with your VIP Tour. VIP Tour schedules are flexible within normal park operating hours.

The price of the VIP Tour does not include park admission, and you need to have Park Hoppers if you are planning on visiting both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure. You can book the VIP Tour experience about a year in advance, although the exact hourly rates may not be available until closer to the date of your tour.

While Disneyland VIP Tours are a pricey option, the best way to save money on the experience is to book through Get Away Today . Get Away Today offers a $100 discount off VIP Tours! 

To book this experience through Get Away Today, call their number at 855-GET-AWAY and be sure to mention you heard about them through Mickey Visit get your $100 off. When you call, be prepared with information like when you will be planning your trip and the time you would like your tour to be. Get Away Today can check availability and discuss pricing with you. They'll also be able to follow up about your tour with you over email.

Plan Your Disney Vacation Today!

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You can find more information on planning your vacation in our guides:

• Top Five Tips for Getting Disneyland Dining Reservations
• Best Hotels Near Disneyland 2024: Disneyland Hotel Reviews to Help Plan Your Stay
• Here’s What the Private $18,000 Dinner at Disneyland Is Like

Frequently Asked Questions

A VIP tour at Disneyland currently starts at $500 per hour for a minimum of 7 hours and a maximum of 10 hours (gratuities not included), meaning the minimum cost of the experience is currently $3,500. See everything you need to know about Disneyland VIP Tours in our guide above!

A VIP tour at Disneyland will get you personalized planning, expedited access to attractions, an expert tour guide to take care of your party throughout the day and help you navigate the parks, reserved viewing for entertainment, and more. You can see details about everything that is included in a Disneyland VIP Tour above.

You can book a Disneyland VIP Tour about a year in advance, though the exact hourly rates for the experience may not be available until closer to the time of your tour. See more details about booking the best prices for Disneyland VIP Tours above.

Many who are able to splurge on a VIP Tour consider it worth it due to the unparalleled experience it offers. The personalized planning that allows you to sit back and truly enjoy your park day, the expertise of the incredible VIP Tour guides sharing knowledge and helping you to navigate the offerings of the park, and the ability to save time by skipping long attraction lines and enjoying reserved viewing areas for entertainment make this the ultimate way to experience Disneyland.

Up to 10 people can be on a VIP tour at Disneyland. These 10 guests cannot change, and if you have more than 10 guests, you will need another guide. 

It is customary to tip between 15-20% for a VIP tour guide at Disneyland. Remember that these expert tour guides go above and beyond to ensure you have the best experience possible and take care of your every need. 

Disclosure: We have used all the products recommended on Mickey Visit. We may receive compensation when you click on links to some products featured.

About Emily Midgley

Emily Midgley is a writer from San Diego, California. She was introduced to Disneyland when she was two and has been in love with all things Disney ever since! At Mickey Visit, she will keep you updated with the latest news from the Disney Parks and provide helpful planning content for your vacation. Her favorite rides at Disneyland are Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout, Space Mountain, and Rise of the Resistance. She loves Marvel (especially Guardians of the Galaxy) and lives and breathes anything to do with Star Wars.

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I did a Disneyland VIP Tour – and it was the best $4,200 I’ve ever spent at Disney

Last updated on Feb 28, 2024 by Adam Bryan . This post may contain affiliate links.

I did a Disneyland VIP tour and it was the best money I’ve ever spent at a Disney Park.

Yes, I know, it’s expensive af, but let me start by saying that you have no idea how bad I’ve always wanted to do one.

Plus, pair that up with seeing Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge – a place I’ve been dreaming about visiting for years, and it was basically eating at me to go ever since it opened.

So I decided to bite the bullet.

Disneyland VIP Tour Review

Here’s a quick rundown on how it works:

• Instant access to 30 plus attractions which basically means you get unlimited access to all Fastpass attractions and priority access to about 15 additional attractions.
• Reserved viewing experiences for popular shows, parades, and fireworks in a special reserved viewing section.
• Faster access to character meet and greets.
• 7 hour minimum per tour
• Max 10 guest per 1 tour guide which asl includes children under 3 years old

So here’s how my Sunday with a VIP tour guide went at Disneyland (in May 2019).

And of course it was peak season so just my luck it was $600 an hour. So let me say that first just to get it over with.

Thankfully 2 of my friends came with us so I didn’t feel like I paying that much just for my wife and I.

We met our tour guide Samantha outside of California adventure and proceeded directly to Disneyland park.

Then we finally made it to Galaxy’s Edge. Seeing the Millennium Falcon was everything.

Then with a 5 minute wait, we headed right into the Millennium Falcon.

Riding it twice and being both pilots was a dream. I honestly could’ve went home right after.

Then we did some exploring around Galaxy’s Edge and got some snacks like Green and Blue Milk…

…sweet and spicy popcorn….

…and the coolest Coke bottle you’ll ever see, period.

Then it was time to ride some more rides with our “unlimited Fastpasses!” Our tour guide even rode with us which was pretty cool.

Then once we knocked out all the major rides like Indiana Jones, Big Thunder, Matterhorn, and Hyperspace Mountain, we went over to Disney’s California Adventure to to the same.

The best part was honestly being able to rides Radiator Springs Racers stress-free.

Then once we finished up at the park, we headed back to Disneyland as the sun went down.

Last but not least, we got to watch the fireworks in a reserved, roped off seating area on benches. No standing necessary.

And to make things even better, during the Fireworks, our tour guide went to Galaxy’s Edge and got us a reservation to ride Smugglers Run one last time.

Just a perfect way to end the day.

How much is a Disneyland VIP Tour?

A Disneyland VIP tour ranges from $450 to $900 an hour for a minimum of 7 hours.

The pricing for a Disneyland VIP Tour varies by season and crowd levels.

• Hourly rate is $450 – $900 per hour, per tour guide
• 7 hour minimum
• Park admission is an additional fee
• 2 hour cancellation fees is charged when tours are cancelled within 48 hours.

Is a Disneyland VIP tour worth it?

That 100% depends on you.

Would I do it for 3 days at that peak season rate? Hell no!

But if you only have one day at Disneyland and it’s a weekend and you really really really want to ride a certain ride or explore a new attraction, then yes.

Because in all honesty, there’s only one thing a VIP tour really saves you and that’s time.

No waiting, short lines, and even access to Star War Land, I mean come on, it’s a fantastic offer.

But if money is an issue, bring 9 people with you, split the cost , and it can be quite affordable, especially during offseason (like February).

So in conclusion…

I’ve been to Disneyland quite a few times and I must say, just those 7 hours alone was probably one of the best visits I’ve EVER had.

Great VIP tour guide, awesome company, and nonstop rides at both Disneyland and California Adventure and you got yourself the perfect day.

Update: My Tour in February 2022

So I went on another VIP Tour on February 1, 2022 and I must say, it was a pretty similar experience. But instead of only four of us, there was 8 of us total. But that really didn’t slow us down as we were able to knock out every major ride with a couple hours to spare for repeats.

One difference between this tour and the previous one is that no rides were off-limits. We got to ride Web Slingers in Avengers Campus back to back and entered using the Individual Lightning Lane entrance.

The only thing that was semi-limited was that you are only able to ride Rise of the Resistance once, but honestly, once is enough, especially if you get to bypass that 90+ minute wait.

But if there was one thing that truly separated this experience from my previous VIP tour, its the price.

Since it was off-season and not a Friday or weekend, my hourly rate was $400 (with a 7 hour minimum still).

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About Adam Bryan

Hey what's up, I'm Adam, founder of Urban Tastebud Disney and I spend most of my days eating (and researching, but mostly eating) around Disney Parks to create useful travel planning content that will help you maximize your time and money at Disney.

Reader Interactions

July 26, 2019 at 11:21 am

Sounds like you had a blast…but if you really want to save money and time. All you have to do is be the first group at the park… then you really have time to ride all your favorite rides 2-3 times each (we always do). Then in our group we like pretty much every fantastic ride so we ride each ride by town. Oh and in between these rides we definitely stop at our favorites again like Space mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, Indiana Jones etc. and little ride nearly all rides at the park. Oh and easier waiting in the lines when you have a person who is handicapped. When your handicapped you cant cut lines, but you do get to sit down and be called to your ride spot and take the elevator. Oh and while your waiting on say that one ride you go grab the fast passes to your favorites before hand and match the times. Your done and have immediate access to the next ride… but we only pay the ticket and food or merchandise. Lastly, we do have time for the parade and some people stay…I dont because that is a prime time to go ride rides…just have a map or you will get lost and cut off multiple times due to the parade. Overall, Disneyland is starting to become a 2 day thing. Because lines are ridiculous. But we like our ways of getting around them.

February 07, 2021 at 8:47 am

Seriously that’s just insane, terrible advice from a 1%’er or just an idiot that doesn’t know how to plan his day at Disney

DARREN HUNTER

February 14, 2021 at 4:01 pm

This is a dumb article.

Ramiro Licea

February 08, 2021 at 12:09 pm

Oh and Yes this is what everyone does.

January 31, 2021 at 12:28 pm

I could not read this. My 9 year old has better grammar than this author.

February 01, 2021 at 7:15 am

I could not read this paltry remark. My 7 year old has better insults than Sarah’s 9 year old.

John bremburger

February 01, 2021 at 6:05 am

This was a very nice first world story with people who have some intense first world problems.

February 01, 2021 at 7:10 am

No problems were mentioned at all – very petty comment to make – envious much?

Looks like you learned a new adjective and your goal was to use it twice in one day. Congrats!

February 01, 2021 at 7:12 pm

Stfu rich cunt, youre just mad because your precious hege funds are in trouble and your daddys gonna be broke

February 14, 2021 at 8:27 am

Hilarious how a complete stranger can push your buttons and cause you to toss out obscenities on a site devoted to Disney. Emotion much?

Fred Rubble

July 08, 2021 at 5:31 pm

I can tell by your language you are both trash and obviously uneducated. I would bet money you do not even know what hedge fund really is or the tax implications and advantages to owning or investing one. However I can see that you will never enjoy the success of having money to spend and are full of vitriol towards perfect strangers who simply advised about a good time they had. We are nothing more than sad that you will live a pathetic existence full of failure and hate. Have fun with that!

July 27, 2021 at 6:44 pm

Jeez. You people are a bunch of whining, petty jerk offs. Oh wait. I get it. Disneyland is in OC. You’re just behaving OC-typical.

June 06, 2022 at 7:27 am

Sounds like someone is jealous!!

February 08, 2021 at 3:11 am

Well, you basically have two options. You can continue to angrily respond to everyone pointing out that no matter how well off a person is, this is an insane amount of money to throw at an amusement park (as if your replies will somehow change that fact)….or you can go spend several thousand yourself on this experience. I guarantee you no one here will be upset if you choose to throw away your money that way.

February 14, 2021 at 6:02 pm

I didn’t see anger in the commenter’s comments, just a response to people attacking the author. And that someone gets to the point where they are lashing out and say “STFU…cunt” wow…..complete overreaction.

I respectfully disagree there are 2 options he has – and you know that as well. It’s just your way of marginalizing their comments to two negative responses.

Whether or not it’s an insane amount of money, calling someone out for their grammar/spelling is rude. As far as the insane amount of money, I’m still interested in hearing what options are out there – even if I choose not to spend my money that way.

Why do people want to get snarky about how someone else spends their money?

April 15, 2021 at 7:57 pm

I have to agree with that

December 03, 2021 at 6:39 am

I’m doing this trip..and if you had the money you would to! Don’t hate, participate…

February 01, 2021 at 5:01 pm

Quit trying to sell this over priced experience. We need to send disney a message. “Make your shit parks more affordable” the end.

September 24, 2023 at 7:19 pm

If it’s a shit park, why do you care what it costs? According to you, even if it was $5.00 it would still be a shit park.

Andrew V Rossetti

February 01, 2021 at 8:16 pm

Never been to Disney yet, but that seems like a real good way to go! Thanks for posting

February 16, 2021 at 4:27 pm

February 03, 2021 at 9:15 am

Thanks for posting. I am considering a Disneyland trip with my kiddos someday in the future and I appreciate all the tips people write in their articles. Thanks again!!

February 16, 2021 at 4:31 pm

no problem!

July 03, 2021 at 4:16 pm

Alot of jealous people commenting i see. Good for you man for experiencing a good day at Disneyland!

February 04, 2021 at 2:16 pm

To all readers Sadly this will not happen at Disneyland Park in California with all the new restriction guidelines We’ll have to make a reservation then you’re limited to guests being parks You’ll have to make reservations to get on rides a lot of changes I don’t know how it is in Florida but in California it’ll be way different

February 16, 2021 at 4:32 pm

Yeah that’s kind of a bummer. They did bring back the tours for Orlando so helpfully sometime in the next couple years it returns to Cali

February 07, 2021 at 10:51 pm

My family & I have been to Disney countless times, know the parks & always have a blast. We sprang for the VIP last time (first time) it was worth every penny! I would do it again in a heartbeat. We had 10 in our group & it was amazing. We hit every experience & ride in both parks in our time in one day. Our guide was amazing, the kids still talk about him.

February 12, 2021 at 6:53 pm

How much did you tip your guide? On an hourly or daily rate?

February 16, 2021 at 4:30 pm

We tipped off the hourly rate and a little bit extra since our tour guide did an awesome job

October 28, 2021 at 3:28 am

Would you say you tipped roughly an extra hours worth?

MarkClusters

February 13, 2021 at 3:03 am

Cant you just buy a fast pass ticket for all the rides? It’s not clear to me wbat the added value is of dragging this guy along.

February 16, 2021 at 4:29 pm

Yeah that’s usually how everyone (myself included) does it since it’s honestly the better option. However, since we were flying in from Orlando and Star Wars Land was very new and busy, this was the best way to practically guarantee entrance at that time.

April 18, 2022 at 4:02 pm

The lightening lane pass is only available on certain rides and does not include the new one in the Star Wars area (Resistance). So your guide will get you to the front of the line for ALL rides with a maximum wait time of 15ish minutes.

August 31, 2023 at 11:38 pm

No, that won’t work. Genie+ limits you to once per ride, requires a timed return time, and limits you to holding one Lightning Lane entry at a time (until 2 hours have gone by). With all the scheduling restrictions and limited availability, you might get to use 3 or 4 Lightning Lanes in a day, and you’ll be having to adhere to a schedule to be at certain rides at certain times (often backtracking across both parks). VIP Tour solves all of that – go to any ride you want, in whatever order you want, as many times as you want (except ROTR – limit once). We did 17 rides across both parks in 7 hours, including Cars and Guardians twice each. There is no substitute for a VIP tour. It’s the only way I do Disney nowadays.

February 20, 2021 at 3:30 pm

Wow, what a mouth on the jealous chick! I think this is a great option …… I’ve done it three times with two families….. I’m sure it will change now …..plan on doing again ….great fun and time well spent , anyway between two families, you almost spend as much anyway ! We all had all year passes , by the way ……🤪

March 10, 2021 at 1:28 pm

Great article! Totally makes me consider doing a tour which I never considered before, thanks!

April 04, 2021 at 8:27 pm

While the tour guide makes between $15-17/hour. Gotta love Disney. 🤣

April 05, 2021 at 2:57 am

I really wonder what kind of people would spend $4200 to have a guy lead you around in Disneyland. Yes, you save a bit of time because the guy probably knows the place better than you. But you lose the sense of discovery. You lose the privacy and intimacy of your household. And you lose a disgusting amount of money.

Katherine Wong

April 21, 2021 at 6:40 am

Disgusting to YOU. How anyone chooses to spend their money is their business. What someone thinks is exorbitant is chump change for another. As for the other commenters saying the 1% blah blah, “hedge fund manager”, my husband is a mechanic. We scrimp and save for these experiences. Pre-pandemic Disneyland was a local-infested, freaking zoo. Wish people would add, in my opinion to their inane analyses on the way people live their lives. Live and let live. Or, live and let die.

April 27, 2022 at 4:58 pm

What are you implying by “ local-infested, freaking zoo”?

April 28, 2022 at 4:06 am

Still I find it weird that somebody would like to spend their day at Disneyland with a complete stranger, let alone pay for it. It’s not as if you need to find your way around in a strange country where you don’t speak the language and you risk your life if you end up in the wrong neighbourhood. It’s a f***ing theme park. You get a little map at the entrance.

April 15, 2021 at 10:13 am

For the price I was expecting to read that you learned a lot about the park, history or some behind the scenes gems. Here’s my pro tip, which is much cheaper: go early, avoid the magic morning park, buy a MaxPass (when available again), use the mobile app to preorder food as much as possible. Your feet will thank you.

John Marbles

April 15, 2021 at 10:57 am

For that price I would expect a blowjob by Minnie Mouse herself.

April 21, 2021 at 6:43 am

You like ’em dry…and with a side of hantivirus to boot, eh?

July 08, 2021 at 5:26 pm

Crude but funny!

garthbiscuit

April 16, 2021 at 1:35 am

My preferred way of visiting Disney World is the following. I pay a professional journalist 250K to spend a whole week at the park. He will taste all the food items, ride all the rides and even interview other guests. Then he will write everything down in a nice booklet, which is then printed on fancy looking silky paper. This way, I can enjoy the park, reading the booklet in bed or on the toilet! I don’t even have to leave my house. And best of all, no waiting lines!

April 16, 2021 at 2:59 pm

Thanks, Adam. I loved the article, and hope to take the tour, with my family, some time in the future. Just wondering how you tipped your guide?

April 17, 2021 at 4:36 pm

You had to pay for tparking??, that’s laughable, sad really. No behind the scenes tour, or maybe a peek inside the apartment above the fire station.

April 21, 2021 at 6:42 am

Some people just go for the rides, ya know?

Sander Theys

April 29, 2021 at 1:16 pm

As a european: why the hell do you have to tip the guide? You just gave him 4200 dollar to spend a day at disneyland. I really dont understand that whole tipping thing…

Windsong Conlon

December 11, 2021 at 2:58 am

I wonder that the hourly wage is for the tour guides. If it’s only $20 an hour then it’s just $140 pay for 7 hours. A $500 tip means everything to them if that’s the case. But I really don’t know.

May 08, 2021 at 2:54 pm

Did they check your ID when entering? I know it’s only open to CA citizens but a few people in our party aren’t from California.

June 19, 2021 at 7:52 pm

Love this!! Thank you for the review!! Definitely considering this for our next trip to Disney!!

Not A Cheap Ass

June 20, 2021 at 4:21 pm

Don’t listen to all these cheap ass people who live in liberal, broke ass, CA. The VIP IS 100% worth it. No need to get there early as hell or having to run around getting passes to ride what you want to ride. With the VIP, you do what you want, when you want.

October 11, 2021 at 1:20 am

Hates liberal, broke ass CA, drops over $4,500 to spend an entire day there. You really showed them my guy

Emil Cheaffers

July 09, 2021 at 1:41 am

I really don’t get why you would want to spend your day with a total stranger, breaking the intimacy of spending quality time with your family. I would not do this even if it was free. The only explanation I can think of why people should do this is when they are a bit retarded and not able to read the little park map you get at the entrance. You don’t want to get stuck in Alice’s maze for 9 hours straight.

December 11, 2021 at 3:02 am

The tour guides are fun! At least that’s what I’ve heard 😉

August 26, 2021 at 11:54 am

Any idea if Webslingers or Rise of the Resistance is included?

September 10, 2021 at 1:40 am

So for a few days Rise of the Resistance was included but they backtracked on that. Web Slingers is probably still too new to be included

November 09, 2021 at 9:08 pm

Hello! Thank you for sharing. Your VIP tour guide followed you guys the whole 7 hours? Or let you guys walk around on your own and meet up later? How soon do you let the VIP tour guide know to reserved seats for the fireworks? The roped off seating area on benches sounds awesome. You mentioned 7 hours with the tour guide – from what time to start and end?

December 22, 2021 at 6:16 pm

Hey Sandy, the tour guide follows you the entire time. The only time they ever left us was when they didn’t want to go on the ride with us. For the fireworks, we told our guide during the tour that we wanted to end the day watching fireworks so she made sure to get us back in front of the castle just before they stared. It’s a 7 hour minimum and you can choose any time slot. I just prefer afternoons/evenings so we started our later in the day. Hope this helps!

December 29, 2021 at 12:01 pm

Great article. I think you just sold me on this. Definitely doing this next time. Totally worth it to knock out all the big rides and then some in one day for both parks. Cost per person is reasonable if you max out the # in your group, seems like a great deal to me. My time is worth way more than waiting in line for over an hour.

Those haters can go fly a kite. And I like having first world problems.

Happy new year!

February 14, 2022 at 11:38 pm

We are going for a VIP tour in the morning and CAN NOT Wait! Thank you for your article.

February 15, 2022 at 1:31 am

Great! We did it last month and now we can’t get enough of this kind of activity. Yesterday I paid $7500 for the Walmart VIP Shopping Tour. This tour guide helped me picking the best produce and pointed me straight at the cash register with the shortest line. Money well spent, I would say!

Erin Holmes

February 22, 2022 at 11:02 am

I did it too! It was so worth the money. Not sure how I’ll ever do it again without the VIP!

Deborah Williams

March 28, 2022 at 11:48 am

Thank you for the info! Our VIP Tour (for Disneyland only) will be at the end of April and we are very much looking forward to it! Few perks have been added to the VIP Tour now that I’d like to share: free valet parking up to 2 cars at Grand Californian Hotel, free lockers, free manual wheelchair, free dinner/parade/fireworks reservations (even if your tour has concluded, you still get the reservations). I am waiting to hear back if we get complimentary ponchos for Splash Mountain so will report back. Also, not all Tour Guides will have a tour that day and will be assistants for those that do! So if you have merchandise, popcorn buckets, etc and don’t want to carry any more, an assistant will come and get your things and hold for you until tour has concluded. I saw a video of someone sharing their VIP Tou experience and the tour guide waited in line for popcorn for the guests! The guests still ad to pay but I mean waiting in line for a churro if I need to visit the ladies room? Yes please!!

April 11, 2022 at 9:17 am

How munch is it total for 5 people? And is it only for one day?

September 02, 2022 at 12:40 am

Thanks for writing about your experience, as I was curious what the VIP tours entail. If money is no object, then it sounds well worth it especially not having to stand in those endless long lines Disneyland always seems to have.

John Galbraith

September 02, 2022 at 1:22 am

I don’t think those lines disappear just because you’re dragging a complete stranger along.

November 12, 2022 at 1:05 pm

My wife and I went on the VIP Disneyland California tour November 1st 2022. We have been visiting Disneyland from Ireland every year (except 20 & 21 since 1992. I will compare it with Universal VIP, Universal gives you breakfast & lunch, you get genuine immediate access to attractions, no wait in the lightning lane for 10 minutes, also you can still use your VIP pass after the tour has finished for the remainder of the day. Universal is very much less expensive, although you are in a group of about 15. Universal also gives you access to a special lounge. Disney is really out to make as much profit from people as possible, the guide was pleasant, but I felt the value was poor.

January 31, 2023 at 5:27 pm

My family and I still talk about how great our Universal VIP tour was. Well worth the money for sure

January 27, 2023 at 4:28 pm

I was wondering how much you ended up tipping your guide? There are 4 of us that will be with our guide so similar to your first tour.

Thanks in advance!

January 31, 2023 at 5:26 pm

Hi! So if I remember correctly, it was around $100

February 27, 2024 at 3:53 pm

Yikes…$100 seems kinda low. For a 7-hour tour (at $700/hour), I tipped $500.

March 05, 2024 at 5:52 pm

ISMAEL GOMEZ

May 10, 2023 at 1:12 am

well just love your pictures and story… We are doing this for our 45 anniversary because we always wanted to do this And we just love Disney… And if people cry about cost,,, Stay home……..

February 27, 2024 at 3:52 pm

This is one of those clickbait “articles” that gets its dateline constantly updated so it appears “fresh”, when it is actually many years old. The VIP tour price quoted ($425-600) is woefully outdated. I took 2 Disneyland VIP tours last year (2023) and have one scheduled for June 2024. On my last tour (September 2023), I paid $700/hour on a Thursday. Based on recent quotes, the price is now $600-900 per hour, but I’m sure that will continue to rise. Regarding all the comments about it being outrageous, all I can say is: I found it to be a good value – the freedom to enjoy the attractions in any order with minimal waiting resulted in a stress-free 7 hours where we rode 17 rides in DLand and DCA (all the E-tickets plus a few other faves). Well worth it.

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• Disneyland Resort

Disneyland VIP Tours Are Back! Here’s Everything You Need To Know

by Melissa Roden · October 26, 2021

Here at MickeyBlog, we are so excited to share the news that bookings have resumed for Private VIP Tours at Disneyland Resort.  It doesn’t get more magical than having your very own private Disney expert take you through the theme parks and to the front of the lines of some of your favorite attractions!

What’s Included in a Disneyland VIP Tour

For those unfamiliar, the Private VIP Tours run for 7-hours at Disneyland Resort.   Included in the booking is hassle-free white-glove service and hospitality. There’s also some additional premium benefits worthy of mention: 

• Theme Park Reservations – Guests are still required to make theme park reservations for the day of your VIP tour. But, don’t worry, if you don’t already have a reservation the VIP tour office will help you out! 
• Private VIP Tour Guide – One VIP guide is assigned per group of ten. If a group of more than 10 you will need to purchase 2 tours providing you with 2 tour guides. 
• Front of the Line Access – Enjoy your favorite attractions without the wait times! 
• Complimentary Disney PhotoPass- Guests booking a VIP tour will get unlimited PhotoPass downloads to capture your experience as a Disney MVP. 
• Parking is Included – Guests arriving from off-property will be able to park at Disney’s Grand California Hotel & Spa as part of your package! 

How Much Does the VIP Tour Cost? 

This depends on the time of year you book. Prices start at $425 per hour and go up to $700 per hour per tour.  Guests should remember that there is a 7-hour daily minimum per tour. 

Guests should note that park admission is not included in the rate. Cancellation fees may apply when tours are canceled with only 4-days of arrival. 

UPDATED: Health and Safety Recommendations From The State of California 

If you’re planning on booking a VIP tour in the near future, it’s good to be up on the latest health and safety recommendations.  According to a piece published by Disney today, Private VIP Tours will be required to follow the healthy and safety measures at Disneyland Resort.  

At the moment,  the State of California is recommending that all guests be fully vaccinated or that you must obtain a negative COVID-19 test prior to entering Disneyland Resort. For more information on Disneyland’s health and safety policy and procedures please visit: Disneytraveltradeinfo.com/dlr to view important details. 

Image Credit: Disney

For more information on Disneyland VIP tours or to start planning your Disneyland getaway, you can fill out my form below for your FREE no-obligation quote. 

For other VIP Tour information, including valuable know before you go details, click here .  Readers are also encouraged to keep following along with MickeyBlog for further Disneyland news and updates!

Thinking about a visit to Disneyland? Getting started is easy! Simply fill out our form below to get your FREE, no-obligation quote from MickeyTravels.  

Find articles like this helpful? Then why not consider working with an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner?  As an agent with MickeyTravels, I’ll be on hand to assist you with everything from finding your perfect package to helping you plan lots of special touches to make your visit truly magical.  Best of all my services are absolutely  FREE .  Get in touch at  1.800.801.4025  via email at  [email protected]   or follow along on  Facebook

Melissa Roden

As an agent with MickeyTravels and a Blogger with MickeyBlog I enjoy sharing, tips, tricks and advice to help readers and clients get the most out of your time with Disney. When I'm not helping clients plan their perfect holidays or nab those hard-to-get discounts you can find me enjoying a Dole Whip at Disney World with my daughter! Reach out for a FREE, no obligation quote at 1.800.801.4025 or find me on Facebook !

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Are you looking for a way to take your Disneyland experience to a new level? Imagine gliding past long lines, having a personal Disney expert craft your day, and gaining access to hidden corners of the park that few ever get to see. I’m talking about a Disneyland VIP Tour! 

The VIP experience at Disneyland is like stepping into a fairytale within a fairytale. It’s an exclusive adventure designed to make you feel like a true Disney insider. While Disneyland is already a world of wonder, the VIP tour takes that wonder and amplifies it to a level that’s hard to put into words. Imagine having the park at your fingertips, with a knowledgeable guide to lead the way, ensuring your day is filled with unforgettable moments.

In this post, we will explore this extraordinary experience in depth. Whether you’re a Disney fanatic planning your dream trip or a curious adventurer considering the Disneyland VIP tour route, this blog is your ultimate guide. I’ll take you through what you can expect, from the perks of going on a Disneyland VIP Tour to how to prepare for your day of enchantment. I’ll share tips for making the most of your Disneyland VIP Tour adventure, and we’ll dive into the behind-the-scenes magic that makes Disneyland the iconic destination it is. We’ll also discuss what you can expect to pay for your Disney Parks VIP tour. 

Check out my YouTube Video about my VIP Tour experience!

So, join me on this journey as we prepare you for a day filled with pixie dust, exhilarating rides, delicious treats, and memories that will last a lifetime. The magic begins now!

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They have great deals on hotels! Many of their properties offer a free night with a stay, free parking, extra discounts, or a complimentary breakfast! You save the most money when you purchase a vacation package and bundle your hotel rooms with one of their discount resort ticket offer.

If you book a package with park tickets and a hotel room, you can use my code MIX10 to save an extra $10. That’s more churro money, friends!

I have a bunch of hotel reviews that might be helpful for you if you’re still trying to decide where you’d like to stay.

Disneyland VIP Tour Podcast

Here’s an episode I did on my podcast with a review of my Disneyland VIP Tour!

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On this episode of Mix In Some Magic, I'm reviewing the VIP Tour at Disneyland! I got to experience this tour for the first time last week. In this episode, I'm covering everything you need to know about it, including how much it actually costs and if I think the price is worth it!

Thanks for listening!

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Disneyland VIP Tour

The Benefits of Going VIP

If you’ve ever visited Disneyland, you know that the lines, the crowds, and the hustle can sometimes take some of the magic out of the experience. That’s where going VIP comes in. In this section, we’ll unravel the benefits of opting for a VIP tour at Disneyland.

 Skip the Lines: No More Waiting!

One of the most enticing perks of a VIP tour is the power to bid farewell to those long, winding lines that seem to stretch to infinity and beyond! With a VIP pass in hand, you’ll be whisked away to the front of the line for most attractions—no more waiting in the scorching sun or the chilly night air. You’ll have more time for what matters most – experiencing the magic of Disneyland.

Imagine strolling past the “60-minute wait” sign with a confident stride, feeling like a Disney celebrity as you’re escorted directly onto the ride via the lightning lane or a side entrance. Whether it’s the adrenaline rush of Space Mountain or the nostalgia of the Pirates of the Caribbean, you’ll enjoy more rides and attractions in a fraction of the time.

 Personalized Itinerary: Tailored to Your Wishes

Disneyland isn’t just a place; it’s an experience, and no two experiences are quite the same. With a VIP tour, your day is as unique as you are. Your expert VIP tour guide will work with you to craft a personalized itinerary based on your preferences.

Whether you’re a thrill-seeker, a foodie, a character enthusiast, or a little bit of everything, your tour will reflect your desires. Want to meet Mickey Mouse? No problem. Are you craving a Dole Whip float? They’ve got you covered. Dream of exploring the secrets of the Haunted Mansion? Your wish is their command. The VIP tour is your ticket to a Disneyland day tailor-made to create memories that matter to you.

 Expert Guides: Disney Enthusiasts by Your Side

Navigating the sprawling wonderland of Disneyland can be overwhelming, even for seasoned visitors. That’s where your expert cast member guide comes in. Each VIP tour is led by a seasoned Disney enthusiast who knows the parks inside and out. They’re like your own Disney encyclopedia, providing insider knowledge and fascinating facts at every turn.

These guides aren’t just experts on the parks; they’re also skilled in ensuring your day runs smoothly. They’ll keep track of reservations, handle logistics, and offer valuable tips to maximize your experience. With a VIP guide by your side, you can relax and savor the magic, knowing that every detail is taken care of.

 Exclusive Access: The Disneyland Few Get to See

Beyond skipping lines and personalized itineraries, a Disneyland VIP tour opens doors to exclusive areas of Disneyland that are off-limits to the general public. Imagine visiting the Disneyland Dream Suite, a lavish apartment nestled above Pirates of the Caribbean, or stepping backstage to see how the magic is made. These behind-the-scenes glimpses add an extra layer of enchantment to your VIP adventure, giving you a deeper appreciation for the artistry that brings Disneyland to life.

Preparing for Your Disneyland VIP Tour

Your VIP tour at Disneyland promises to be a day filled with enchantment and wonder. But before you embark on this magical adventure, there are some essential preparations to ensure you make the most of every moment. In this section, I’ll guide you through the steps to prepare for your VIP tour.

Booking Your Disneyland VIP Tour: What You Need to Know

The journey begins with booking your VIP tour. You’ll need to call Disneyland to book your tour. Here are a few key points to keep in mind:

• Advance Reservations : VIP tours can be in high demand, especially during peak seasons. It’s advisable to book your tour well in advance to secure your preferred date.
• Group Size : VIP tours accommodate up to 10 people. If you have a large group, you’ll need to book two tours, so you have two VIP guides on your private tour. 
• Tour Duration : VIP tours come in various durations; there is a 7-hour minimum, though. Prices for private tours are based on an hourly rate, so you can add more time if you like. Choose the length that suits your preferences and schedule.
• Special Requests : If you have specific attractions or experiences you want to include in your tour, communicate these preferences when booking. The more your guide knows about your desires, the better they can tailor your itinerary.
• Pricing : VIP tours are an additional expense beyond park admission. Pricing varies based on when you’re booking your Disneyland VIP Tour. Peak season(like holiday times) will cost more than the off-season. Prices range from $500- $900 per hour. 

Packing Essentials: Must-Haves for a Day at Disneyland

Packing for your VIP tour requires a blend of practicality and readiness for a day of Disney magic:

• Tickets and ID : Don’t forget your VIP tour confirmation, park tickets, and identification. Keep them in a secure, easily accessible place.
• Comfortable Footwear : You’ll be doing a fair amount of walking, so wear comfortable, well-broken-in shoes. Consider cushioned insoles for extra comfort. Check out my  top shoes to wear at Disneyland ! 
• Weather-Appropriate Attire : Check the weather forecast for the day and dress accordingly. Layers are often an excellent choice to adapt to temperature changes throughout the day.
• Backpack or Bag : Bring a small backpack or bag to carry essentials like sunscreen, water bottles, snacks, and personal items.
• Phone and Charger : Your phone will likely be your camera, communication tool, and entertainment all in one. Don’t forget a portable charger to keep it powered up.
• Sun Protection : Sunscreen, sunglasses, and a wide-brimmed hat will help protect you from the California sun.
• Rain Gear : If rain is in the forecast, a compact, lightweight poncho can be a lifesaver.
• Autograph Book and Pen : An autograph book and pen are essential if you or your little ones are into character meet-and-greets.

 Meeting Your Guide: A Friendly Face in a Magical Place

Your VIP guide will be your key to unlocking the Disneyland magic, so it’s essential to know how to connect:

• Meeting Point : Your tour confirmation should include details about where and when to meet your guide. Typically, you’ll meet at a designated spot near the park entrance or at the Grand Californian Hotel. Just look for the cast members in plaid vests! 
• Ask Questions : Don’t hesitate to ask your guide any questions you have about the day’s plan, attractions, or anything else Disney-related. They’re there to make your day as enjoyable as possible.
• Personal Preferences : When you meet your guide, reiterate any personal preferences or must-do experiences you discussed during the booking process. This helps them tailor the tour to your wishes.

A Day in the Disneyland VIP Tour Life

Now that you’ve prepared for your Disneyland VIP tour, it’s time to dive into what your day will look like. Get ready for a magical adventure unlike any other Disneyland visit.

 Exploring the Parks: Rides, Attractions, and More

As the day unfolds, your VIP adventure takes you on a journey through the heart of Disneyland. Your guide will lead you to a curated selection of rides and attractions tailored to your preferences. Feel the exhilaration of soaring through the skies on Soarin’ Around the World, take a whimsical trip through the Hundred Acre Wood on the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, or embrace your inner pirate on Pirates of the Caribbean.

But your experience isn’t limited to just the attractions like “it’s a small world”. Your guide will ensure you don’t miss out on the smaller, often overlooked gems scattered throughout the parks. Hidden secrets, charming nooks, and photo opportunities galore await you.

 Dining Like Royalty: Exclusive Culinary Experiences

As your VIP treatment continues, it’s time to refuel with a touch of Disney dining magic. VIP tours include dining reservations wherever you like! Just tell the cast member when you make your reservation, and your VIP concierge will make them for you. 

Of course, your guide will also help you navigate the park’s various quick-service options, ensuring you savor the best snacks and treats Disneyland has to offer. From churros to Dole Whip floats, the options are as delicious as they are diverse.

 Behind-the-Scenes: Secrets and Stories

One of the highlights of a VIP tour is the opportunity to go behind the scenes and learn about the inner workings of Disneyland. Your guide may share captivating stories about the park’s history, point out hidden details, and even take you to exclusive backstage areas.

Ever wonder how animatronics work or how the park’s iconic parades come to life? Your guide is a treasure trove of knowledge, ready to reveal the secrets that make Disneyland the enchanting place it is.

 Customized Surprises: Your Tour, Your Way

While your day follows a planned itinerary, there’s always room for surprises. VIP tour guides are known for their ability to add spontaneous moments of magic to your tour. Whether it’s arranging a special character meet-and-greet or securing a prime spot for a parade or fireworks show, your guide is dedicated to making your tour a special experience. 

 FAQs: Answering Your VIP Tour Questions

You may have questions about your upcoming Disneyland VIP tour. Here are answers to some frequently asked questions:

How far in advance should I book my VIP tour? : It’s advisable to book your VIP tour as early as possible, especially if you have specific dates in mind or a large group. Tours can book up quickly, especially during peak seasons.

Can I choose the attractions I want to visit on the VIP tour? : Yes! Your dedicated tour guide will work with you to create a personalized itinerary that includes your preferred attractions and experiences around Disneyland Park. 

Is food included in the VIP tour cost? : While some VIP tours include bottled water, most do not include full meals. Be sure to check the details of your specific tour when booking.

What is the cancellation policy for VIP tours? : Cancellation policies can vary, so reviewing the cancellation terms is crucial when making your reservation. Typically, you must cancel within a specific timeframe to receive a refund.

Can I use my Disney rewards or discounts for VIP tours? : Disney rewards and discounts typically do not apply to VIP tours due to their exclusive nature. Be sure to check with Disney directly for any specific promotions or offers.

Do I need a park hopper ticket for my Disneyland VIP tour?:  That’s up to you, but I think to take full advantage of the VIP service, you’ll want to have a park hopper ticket on your Disneyland VIP tour to give you access to all the attractions at both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure. 

Is a Disneyland private VIP tour worth the money?:  The answer to this question depends on you. There’s no doubt that a Disney private VIP tour is the most efficient way to spend your Disneyland day. For many people, the cost of private guides and short lines you can access with a Disneyland VIP Tour is well worth the money. Other guests might disagree. 

Your VIP tour at Disneyland is not just a day at the park; it’s an immersive, enchanting adventure filled with magic and wonder. Take a moment to reflect on the incredible memories you’ll create, the attractions you’ll conquer, the delectable Disney cuisine you’ll savor, and the insider stories you’ll uncover.

These VIP tours offer a level of priority access and personalization that few other theme parks can match. They turn a day at Disneyland into an unforgettable, tailor-made journey that caters to your interests, creating cherished moments you’ll carry with you for a lifetime.

Why Every Disney Fan Should Consider VIP Tours

If you’re a Disney fan, you might wonder if a VIP tour is worth the investment. Here are a few compelling reasons why it’s a must-do for enthusiasts:

• Maximized Magic : VIP tours allow you to make the most of your day at Disneyland by skipping lines, accessing exclusive experiences, and receiving insider insights from your guide. It’s the perfect way to spend a day at Disneyland! 
• Personalization : Your VIP tour is crafted to match your preferences, ensuring you get to enjoy your favorite rides, meet beloved characters, and explore hidden gems. Want to ride Rise of the Resistance 10 times in a row? You can do it! 
• Exclusive Access : VIP tours grant you access to behind-the-scenes areas and experiences that regular park guests rarely see, adding an extra layer of enchantment to your visit.
• Time and Convenience : With a VIP guide handling logistics, you can relax and enjoy the magic without worrying about reservations, schedules, or navigating the park.
• Creating Memories : Disneyland VIP tours create many magical moments you’ll cherish forever, from front-row seats for parades to personalized surprises. It’s a wonderful way to spend a family vacation! 

As you embark on your Disneyland VIP adventure, remember that the magic is not just in the attractions and experiences but in the joy and wonder you bring to it. Whether this is your first time at Disneyland or you’re a seasoned Disney fan, these tours unlock a world of enchantment that will leave you with a heart full of Disney magic and memories that will last a lifetime. Enjoy your journey, and may it be filled with pixie dust and dreams come true!

Make sure to check out my podcast for lots of Disney planning information! You can find it on  Apple Podcasts ,  Spotify , or wherever you listen to podcasts. Just search for “Mix In Some Magic.” Follow me on  Instagram  for lots of Disney tips and fun!

I'm Melissa, your Disney vacation aficionado and full-time mom to four. Whether it's sipping Diet Dr. Pepper or sharing unbeatable Disney planning tips, I'm all about adding a touch of magic to everyday life. Let me help turn your Disney dreams into reality with insider advice and customized planning strategies. Join me on this magical journey and make every Disney adventure unforgettable! Read more...

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Disneyland Resort VIP Tours

Top ways to experience Disneyland Resort VIP Tours and nearby attractions

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Disneyland Resort VIP Tours - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

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Disneyland VIP Tour 2024 Service Review and Guide

Disneyland VIP Tours provide for easy access to all of the Disneyland Resort attractions and special treatment at shows with reserved seating.

Save on your stay! Disneyland COMBO Hotel + Ticket Discounts Save big when you book your Disneyland tickets and hotel through our recommended travel sponsor that's worked with Disney for over 30 years! Get the best deal for your vacation so you don't break the bank! Book now >

On one day of our trip we were with a large group of close friends and family touring both Disneyland and California Adventure. We went on every single attraction that we wanted to and the most that we waited for any attraction was 20 minutes. How did we do this you are wondering? With the amazing Disneyland VIP Tour service!

Disneyland VIP Tour 2024

The Disneyland tour guides, often called plaids by the public, are a Disneyland staple. Walt Disney first established the tour guide program in 1958 to help welcome Disneyland park guests into what was then a revolutionary foreign idea to them. Since then the types of tours have greatly expanded and the VIP tour was introduced.

Disneyland VIP Tour Guide Benefits

I am sure that you are thinking, “that's great, but why should I get it?” Well here is why. The VIP tour guide will cater for your every need. You will be VIP for the day, being waited on hand and foot. Your tour guide acts as a “concierge” as many of us adoringly called our guides. Anything was possible with a phone call.

The biggest perk of the guide is the special access to the Lightning Lane line and skipping the line all together. When you are with a tour guide they will almost immediately escort you on every attraction. It was really cool to see them join us on the rides (I'm sure that this a huge perk to the job)…as seen above.

Another benefit of the tour program was we had our choices of reserved seats for the fireworks, World of Color, Fantastmic!, and both parades. At meal time your guide will find and reserve perfect restaurants for your family or group.

VIP tour guides are able to get access to a ride on the Lilly Belle, an exclusive train car on the Disneyland railroad that is very hard to get a spot on.

You also get unlimited PhotoPass downloads from the day! This includes any attraction photos, character dining experiences, and magic shots!

Tour guides can also show off the Disneyland Pet Cemetary located behind the Haunted Mansion. Regular Haunted Mansion Cast Members can sometimes take guests out to see it like in the video below, but it is so much nicer with your guide.

Once you book your tour (details below), your tour guide will get in touch with you to figure out the details of the day or entire trip and decide on what attractions your family should ride and where to eat.

Disneyland VIP Tour Details 2024

Your Disneyland VIP tour includes a few perks that start before you even enter the park! Make sure you're prepared with what you want your day to look like when you talk to the VIP Tour Coordinator. Make your reservation as far in advance as possible because these tours are quite popular!

Planning Details

• The VIP Tour Coordinators will contact you to help you plan your day including start times,  special celebrations, specific family priorities for the day and special dining needs.
• They will also book your Disneyland dining reservations and get your VIP reserved seating set up for the shows you select.
• The minimum length of your VIP tour is 7 hours and allows for flexibility for any spontaneous decisions along the way.
• Tours are available only during normal park operating hours.
• Complimentary strollers, wheelchairs, and lockers are offered to VIP tour guests.
• Minors must be accompanied by an adult throughout the entire tour.

Reservations 

• Reservations are required and can be made by contacting Disney Special Activities at [email protected] or (714) 300-7710.
• Tours in other languages besides English may be available with advance notice.
• Starting at $3,500, this cost covers the tour for you and up to 9 other guests with a minimum of 7 hours. Additional guests past the maximum of 10 will require a second tour guide at an added cost.
• Theme park admission to either park is not included in this price. If you plan on seeing both parks on your tour then you must get Disneyland park hopper tickets.
• Cancellation notice of 48 hours is required to avoid a cancellation fee equal to 2 hours at the booked rate per each VIP Tour Guide.

Disneyland VIP Tour Tips

While in line or walking around, the guides will provide back stories and interesting factoids about the park if you ask….make sure to ask, the stories are really fun and enhance your entire day. It is customary that if you stop for a snack to offer to buy the guide food. Often times they will refuse anything, but still offer. At meal times it is your choice to decide if you want your guide to join your or not. Also, throughout the day guides may slip away while you are on an attraction or having a meal. Don't worry, they just went off to “clock in” and check on other pieces of your day. Final super important tip, make sure to tip about 15-20% for your tour guide. It makes sense since they just spent the day catering to your every need. 

Our Experience

As we said above, the tour guides made our Disneyland vacation. The ability to cut lines and sit in areas with perfectly unobstructed views is simply amazing. The only problem with the experience is that it is highly addicting. It was a very special experience that I am very happy to have enjoyed.

If you end up deciding to have a Disneyland VIP tour guide make your day magical at Disneyland then you will be the envy of all of the “regular” Disneyland visitors . Remember not to gloat to much when you are cutting them in line, you have been there too. 

Universal Studios Hollywood VIP Experience

Universal Studios Hollywood offers a VIP Experience that rivals the Disneyland VIP tours in both cost and content. At Universal Studios you'll pay less than $400 for the entire day and receive tons of great extras with the experience.

Everyone has been raving about this new tour. You can learn more and get a discount on my discount Universal Studios tickets page .

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22 comments add your comment

I wonder what guests would pay WED Graduates and ITF Veterans for an Inside Knowledge Tour of attractions they have worked on? One way to employee our Disney Seniors and Veterans. I remember my first Tour Guide in 1958, on my 3rd visit to Disneyland. The price was much lower back then, as was everything else.

I don’t know, but boy would that be awesome. I have friends in the VIP Tour/Guest Services department who have received special tours of the Haunted Mansion and other attractions. They have a chance to win these tours by winning raffles in their department.

I think 355 per hour is way too much. Then you ask for a20$ per hour tip. Who gets the 355 per hour? Disney will not get my season pass money next year wither. Shiesters

Kindly contact me to arrange conceirge services at Disneyland from the 13th to 17th August 2014

Regards Farzana

Sorry for the late reply, but we aren’t the people to ask about that. Contact Disney directly as said above.

I was pretty much horror stricken while reading this review. Had my former beloved overlords at the Mouse House finally taken one shortcut too many and gone to the Dark Side? Of course profit is important, but the guest (all guests rich or not) should enjoy the parks in equal fashion. See, back in the late 80s early 90s I worked in Guest Relations as a V.I.p. tour guide and so much of this article was contrary to Disney S.O.P. (standard operating procedure). Tips??? No Disney theme park employee is allowed to accept tips. The exception: if a guest offers 3 times despite your refusal, you can accept the tip, if you explain it will be donated to the United Way. But that’s a minor detail. I knew it has been over 20 years. A lot can happen in that time. I was hoping that Disney hasn’t gone through a huge shift in policy since the early 90s, but I’d learned from my Grandmother, to expect the worst and be pleasantly surprised if/when it doesn’t happen. So I called Disneyland Guest Relations to find out what in the name of Walt was going on! Guess what I learned? Disney policy hadn’t changed at all. You can rent a V.I.P. Tour Guide, but that doesn’t entitle you to backdating attractions! EVERY tour I had thought a guide could backdoor them onto rides and thought the person booking the tour was not bein

Thanks for the comment. We never “backdoored” any attraction except for Toy Story Midway Mania if I remember correctly.

Thanks for clarifying Gavin! Disneyland and WDW offer very different guided tours and I was very nervous that Disney had finally fallen to allowing guests to buy their way to the front of the line. I hope you read the continued comment. I hope its clear that I didn’t think there was.any intent to misinform readers (I can’t say that about all sites). I wish I hadn’t used my Kindle to post the comment. Some of.the autocorrect words are laughable and worse, it posted the portion you commented on before it was completed. My own fault for not writing in a traditional format. That premature posting meant that I wrote the 2nd half was a mad dash to clarify not only my initial point but explain my own intent as well as express my admiration for the work done on this site. I had hoped to have it posted before it was read by the editors. I know that typos abound, but it was a calculated risk as I hoped that if read as a whole my comments wouldn’t sound too snarky and I especially hoped it wouldn’t sound like I was scolding you. If I did, I hope you’ll accept my apology. I’ll be writing in external word processing programs and pasting the completed text from now on!

Continued…. Truthful when they were told so over the phone. I had a White House Press coordinator and her family that had to stand in line with the unwashed masses. Ironically, Jamie Lee Curtis refused a guide and any other perks her celebrity status would afford her. She explained (turning a truly horrible day into a magical one for a jaded tour guide whose pixie dust was way past its expiration date) that she wanted to have a “normal everyday guest experience in the park” with her daughter. She assured me that she could blend into the crowd, I asked her jokingly to prove it, she put on sunglasses and her entire look changed. I could’nt stop smiling and agreed she could blend. I said something about having a lot of experience considering her father is Tony Curtis and she was raised in the spotlight… (why use one.word when 50 will do just as well). She smiled.and said simply, “actress”. Btw-when I saw the pirates movies, I wondered if someone I told the story to .was on the cast of writers when Jack Sparrow simply says “pirate” when Elizabeth Swan gets angry when he behaves piratical – lying, stealing etc. See, celebrities get a VIP Guide who can backdoor them onto a ride, but it’s NOT for the celebrities benefit, it’s for the safety of the guests in line. Imagine Michael Jackson standing in line for the Haunted Mansion for a moment. No, imagine him standing in line when he was still alive! I saw him walk through the utilidors next to the cast member’s cafeteria. He was with body guards, Disney execs, record company execs and there was a mad dash to get to him! By Disney employees who are taught to never approach celebrities and never ask for autographs etc..if that had been in the park itself, I’d be concerned for his safety and.the other guests. It was that moment that MJ went from freakishly to tragic figure. He was a man trapped.in a prison of fame, a tower of isolation created not by him, but by Joe Jackson and Barry Gordy. Anyhow… Ive distressed enough… So back.to the.article.- I called Disneyland Guest Relations and asked about this article and the nice host I spoke to.assured me that Disneyland had not gone.through a change.of philosophy regarding guest experience. He assured me that no amount of money will buy a backdoor pass. HOWEVER, they offer a guided.tour called Walking in Walt’s Footsteps. The tour includes some backstage experiences. It sounds like the reviewer simply misidentified the tour as being a VIP Tour. While it may seem to be a minor error, it’s one.of.those errors that make cast members cringe when told “…but I read on the internet/in the newspaper/in my guidebook that..”. As a Guest Relations host, one of the main duties was distributing information and correcting misinformation the guests had gathered when planning their trip. I’d never heard of us being called Plaids, but had heard the term “Grounded Sky Witches” more than once. I was told that the term came from the fact that the G.R. costume resembles a flight attendant uniform. Some of us had a reputation for being “cranky” which was caused by our inability to fly. I’m sorry to tell you that a great deal of this review is incorrect, however I’m pleased to say the rest of the site is fantastic! I’ve read many of the other articles which seem to be examples of solid reporting, fact collection and summation/conclusion. This article’s errors seem to be an anomaly in an otherwise fantastic website. I can’t imagine that the author was motivated by malicious intenet or desire to mislead readers. It seems that the site is maintained by kindred spirits, and even located in The City I call home. I’m sorry rather selfishly because I had hoped to approach the web masters about writing some articles for this blog. I don’t know how receptive they will be to the idea of me contributing articles after I assaulted one of their posts. I wrote this directly in the comments box on the site, using a kindle and the on-screen keyboard so it’s not as polished as I would like.. it’s in two parts because I accidentally submitted the article before I intended. I really love this site. I visit several on a regular basis and this site often has material I haven’t seen elsewhere. More than anything, I enjoy the passion for the parks.and.all things Disney. It’s infectious and it really does deliver my doctor’s recommended Disney Dose.

I was at Disneyland for the 4th of July weekend and I just want to tip my hat off to Andrew, our guide for doing such an excellent job. He covered everything and kept a smile on his face the entire time.

Wow Lonnie, that is worth mentioning. The 4th of July Weekend was crazy in the parks this year.

You need to update the costs…

The cost of Disney’s VIP Premium Tour Service varies between $360-500 per hour depending on the season. Please call Disney Special Activities at 714-300-7710 for the current pricing.

DISNEY VIP Tour Guide Service

For all those wondering about the Disney’s VIP Premium Tour, I searched endlessly and found very limited up to date or recent info and chose to write this informal but informative review for those considering it. This post will focus on the Disney Owned and Operated VIP Premium tour that only they offer. This is not referencing the many knock off tour companies in Orlando and California that use “VIP tour” in their titles but can NOT offer direct unlimited priority access to attractions, shows, and Disney reserved seating. Please forgive spelling typos and grammatical errors (not proofreading) as this is not meant to be fine poetry but useful information for those interested. My goal will be to provide info on what to expect and what not to expect as well as make comparisons between VIP Premium tours at Disneyland (Anaheim) as well as Walt Disney World (Orlando). I have participated in both of these and recently completed my first Disneyland trip this Christmas 2015 for which I booked a Premium VIP tour. I have gone to WDW in Orlando over 100 times with my family since we have family in Orlando and did the premium VIP tour there approximately 2 years ago so some procedures may have changed at WDW but the Disneyland VIP tour info is as recent as it gets! We also chose to stay on property even though we have family in Orlando and for those with family and in-laws know why! I will try to address certain topics and compare the two when appropriate. The first thing to remember is this review is referencing the Disney VIP Premium Tour Only and not the other hundreds of tours Disney offers. This is the ultimate premium VIP experience and as you can imagine is NOT CHEAP but is convenient and every person who reads this review will need to determine if the experience is worth the money. This info is not meant to be gospel but the info presented here is based on my personal recent experiences and may not reflect current offerings but is current for me. Here we go…

COST: This will vary depending on the time of year you visit and obviously the holiday times are the most expensive and you do pay by the hour (6 hr minimum at both DL and WDW). I paid $550/hr on our recent Disneyland (DL) Christmas trip and about $400/hr on our past WDW Christmas trip. However, like all things at Disney, prices change and usually if not always go UP!. The WDW website now lists the cost to vary between $400-$600/ hr. This buys you and your group of up to 10 people a private VIP guide (wearing plaid) . If you have more than 10, a separate guide will be required and same costs apply for each guide! So if you like someone enough to share a tour guide that may average out cheaper per person but you may not get as much done having a full group of ten or separate families who may not agree on what to do next. Either way it’s beyond EXPENSIVE, but to me worth it for my family of 5 to do alone. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said standing in a 2hr line for a 2 min ride “Oh what I would pay to get priority access”, but it has to make sense for you.

SEPARATE ADMISSION REQUIRED?: YES, in both DL and WDW separate admission is required and is in addition to the cost of the tour, so buy those park tickets. If you plan on park hopping you better buy park hopper tickets and not single park, single day tix or you will be stuck in that one park. Be aware.

RIDE ACCESS: Be aware this is not instant “front of line” access despite the cost. As a general rule, most if not all attractions that offer Fastpass (FP) access allow you priority access. This means your guide can get you through the fast pass line as many times as you want to go. Know however, there may still be a short wait, but my recent experience at DL took a 110 minute standby wait to 5 min with our VIP guide. Ride access also varies between DL and WDW. In DL, most of Fantasyland is not available for premium access due to size of exits we were told and for $550/hr this was disappointing. (we could not get premium access to some of our favorites like Peterpan, Snow white, Mr. Toads, Winnie the pooh, Dumbo etc. mostly the small kiddie rides. ) At WDW, most of Fantasyland was accessible) This was a big difference between the two parks. All of the big rides at DL and WDW (FP access) are included and save a ton of time. Some rides you just enter the FP line with your guide where other rides you and your guide enter through the exit (even faster access) It really depends on the particular attraction.

RESERVED SEATING: This is another nice feature which is included in the VIP tours at both DL and WDW. There are special reserve seating areas for the Nightime Fireworks and other BIG shows specific to each park as well as the Parades. The key to this is to remember you have to arrange this seating for the specific shows you want to see when you call the Disney VIP number to book your tour. The reserved seating of the VIP tour is a nice perk for several reasons…first- since it is reserved seating you don’t have to start finding a viewing spot along the parade route or in front of castle for fireworks an hour and a half or longer before the show!! This gives you a ton more time to continue to ride attractions with your guide… second- in many cases the Disney cast members and characters know where the VIP sections are and tend to acknowledge you and make an effort to wave or smile at your kids or party. third… if certain shows involve picking someone out of the crowd to help or participate in a show, you can bet it usually is a VIP tour party individual that is selected. (coincidence? I think not)This may not always be the case but still another great photo opportunity if it happens. REMEMBER to book or at least request this reserved seating at the time you book the tour.

WHEN TO BOOK: As with Dining reservations or FP reservations, it pays to call or reserve as much in advance as possible to ensure availability. DL books VIP tours 90 days in advance and last I knew WDW books 6 months in advance. Confirm these dates on the websites as this may have changed. I called exactly 90 days out to book our Christmas DL VIP tour since Christmas can be so crazy. Also reserve seating is on a first come first serve basis so you don’t want to book a tour a week before Christmas and then act surprised or worse get upset that all reserved seatings are booked! PLAN AHEAD.

HOW LONG IS TOUR? There is no set time as far as a maximum number of hours but there is a minimum for each day. Current minimum is 6 hrs at both DL and WDW.

IS FOOD INCLUDED? No, food and beverages are NOT included with the VIP Premium tour. It is also up to you whether you want your guide to join you or not while eating. If they do, you are not expected to pay for their meals but we chose to do that since we considered them more a part of the family for the day rather than just a human FastPass ticket. One thing to keep in mind, especially during the busier times of year and holidays is that even with Dining reservations it can take at least an hour to an hour and a half to eat a sit down meal. Keep this in mind if rides are your priority. It can wind up being the most expensive sit down meal you’ve ever had at $550/hr plus the cost of your food and the meter keeps running while you eat. I’m lucky in that our kids are picky with food and one has a Gluten allergy so we usually hit the quick service or counter ordering locations to avoid wasting time sitting for a long meal on the clock. I’m not suggesting to NOT make dining reservations and if the princess dinner or lunch in the castle is a must for you then by all means, do it…after all, you dictate the pace and priority of the day. It’s your tour and you’re paying a lot of good money for it.

CHARACTER GREETINGS: Nothing eats up more time if you have young ones wanting to meet, take pictures or get autographs with the Disney Characters . Thankfully, many of the more popular characters now offer a FP meet and greets or are present at “character” meals. The character meals are nice because you kill two birds with one stone. You feed yourselves and the characters come to you!!! No waiting in a random line that suddenly appears where the character is standing. On our recent DL trip, we had a private meeting with Mickey and Elsa and Anna. This was nice and did not feel rushed through. No other characters were accessible on the tour. Thankfully my kids are getting tired of the meet and greets and have started and never finished about a dozen autograph books. Parents know what I am talking about here. WDW seem to have better access to characters and bypassing lines than DL. If there is a certain character you must meet and don’t want to wait in the endless line, ask the VIP cast member when you call to book the tour.

OTHER VIP TOUR PERKS: Even though WDW and DL now offer a Disney Photopass service which is where their photographers take the shots and then give you a card to view them later is convenient, you are at the mercy of where these photographers are located. Plus you don’t own the pics and have to pay for them. For me, family photos and memories are priceless and the more , the better. Having a VIP guide allows me to actually be in the pics with my family rather than looking at years of photos where I only exist behind the lens and not in the picture!!! Your guides can also assist with having purchases you make in the park get stored at the exit to pick up or transported back to your hotel. Beats carrying them around all day. VIP Guides can not get you employee discounts on items and meals so don’t ask.

CLUB 33: For those Disney Veterans and those who know about it, the highly coveted reservation or ability to eat at the exclusive private club 33 in DL is not accessible from the tour. Sorry, I tried too. I did not ask to see the Cinderella suite in WDW Cinderella castle or Walt’s private apt in DL, or the Disney Dream Suite in DL so I can’t say if the guide would have accommodated. I doubt it but it never hurts to ask.

TIPS FOR GUIDE: This topic continues to be a confusing one. When at WDW, our VIP guide said tips could not be accepted. This was NOT the case this Christmas trip to DL. Our guide was happy to accept one and in my opinion earned it. We had him for a full day tour for 2 days back to back. What is appropriate? Up to you, but I heard a one hr rate tip is good and a 2 hr rate tip is for an excellent experience. I went between and paid a 1 1/2 hr rate tip for our guide. Yes, this can be a $500 -$1000 tip but if you’re fortunate enough to be booking the Premium VIP tour, just go with it and reward your guide..

At the end of the day, each person has to decide if this VERY EXPENSIVE VIP experience is worth it. We were able to ride everything we wanted to in DL and had reserved seats for all the shows and parades at Peak Christmas time. This would have never been possible without our VIP guide. A prime example of this is where we completed three of the big rides and were done in 25 mins. Total wait time otherwise would have totaled over 270 minutes without our guide.!!!! Is it worth it? You decide! Hope this was helpful and informative. Walt and his creations are timeless and truly amazing. Enjoy them how you wish and Thanks for reading.

Visited December 2015

Awesome addition with new information! Thank you for taking the time.

Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a comprehensive and informative review. It is really hard to find accurate information about the VIP tours.

Happy to help. This information is always changing though, so be sure to ask lots of questions at the time of your booking.

Say you book a VIP tour from 9 am to 3 pm. You want to watch the parade at 3:30 pm and the fireworks show later that night. Will the plaid worker still be able to make arrangements for preferred seating for these shows or must you be with the plaid worker during that time in order to enjoy that perk? TIA

This is a good question. You should be able to have them make the reservations for you, but this is a question better answered via their phone line.

As a former Tour Guide from the 1970’s I am really disappointed in the expectations of those posting on this site. I am guessing none of you ever heard Walt’s words…”everyone is a VIP, no one should receive special treatment”. It is a sad day when dollars and cents will allow anyone to move into a position before another guest. Then again, the 10-ride ticket book (including admission) was less than $10 in my day! I do wonder how you feel when you step in front of a child or international guest standing in line for an hour to see It’s a Small World for the first time?

My goodness. Bless your heart

Pricing is incorrect for 2023. I just took a VIP tour and the price range is now $500-900 per hour (with the high end applying to peak times such as Christmas), with a 7 hour (NOT 6 hour) minimum. So, no, you are not getting a VIP tour for anywhere near $2550.

Currently $500-900/hr in Fall 2023

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Professionally Conducted & Managed VIP Tour Experiences!

Offering a unique vip disneyland experience extensively customized to each guest, discerning travelers know what a disneyland holiday should be, our guests experience disneyland without hassles, long lines/queues & stress,   our vip concierges are quite simply, "the best in the industry".  our clientele can attest to their knowledge & professionalism., our vip private experiences are designed to help you enjoy all the "must-do's" in just the first 6 hours of the day. your family or group will have hours left during the rest of the day to do anything you like, such as spending a little more time in the park, or heading back to the hotel to cool off at the pool.

At Southern California Private Tours, we are intimately familiar with Disneyland. Your VIP Concierge will make sure you have the best VIP experience at Disneyland - without stress or confusion, and at a tempo that allows you excitement and time for relaxation. Your VIP Concierge will be "at your service" during your 6 hour tour.

A Customized VIP Private Disney Experience with us means you will have a private concierge working on your itinerary from the minute you make your reservation. Even if you are booking last minute, we will do our utmost to ensure you have the experience of a lifetime.

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What Is a VIP Tour at Disneyland?

Disneyland, the happiest place on Earth, offers an even more magical experience with its VIP Tours. These tours provide a premium, personalized adventure that goes beyond the usual park visit. But what exactly is a VIP tour at Disneyland? How does it differ from regular admission, and is it worth the cost? Let’s delve into everything you need to know about Disneyland’s VIP tours.

A VIP Tour at Disneyland is a premium, personalized park experience. It includes your own tour guide, expedited access to attractions via Disneyland’s Lightning Lane, reserved seating for events, and a custom itinerary based on your interests. The cost ranges from $450 to $900 per hour, with a minimum commitment of seven hours. The price does not include park admission or access to all rides.

What is a VIP Tour?

A Disneyland VIP Tour is a bespoke experience designed to make your visit extra special. With a VIP tour, you get your own personal tour guide, often referred to as a “plaid” due to their distinctive attire. Your guide will take you on a customized journey through the park, sharing insider tips, fascinating stories, and assisting with your needs throughout the day.

Benefits of a VIP Tour

The benefits of a VIP tour are numerous. They include:

• Expedited access to attractions : VIP tours offer access to attractions via Disneyland’s Lightning Lane, allowing you to bypass long queues and maximize your time in the park.
• Reserved seating : You have access to premium viewing areas for parades, fireworks, and other spectacular events.
• Personalized itinerary : Your tour guide will help craft a plan that suits your interests and preferences, ensuring you get the most out of your Disneyland experience.
• Insider knowledge : Your guide will share insider tips and stories about Disneyland’s history and hidden gems.

Cost and Inclusions of a VIP Tour

The cost of a Disneyland VIP Tour ranges from $450 to $900 per hour, depending on the season, with a minimum commitment of seven continuous hours. It’s important to note that the tour price does not include park admission, which must be purchased separately. The tour can accommodate up to 10 guests, making it a suitable option for large family gatherings or group outings.

While the tour does not include front-of-the-line access to all rides or cover food expenses, the VIP tour can offer a unique and exclusive Disneyland experience, especially for those with limited time in the park.

How to Book a VIP Tour

You can book a Disneyland VIP Tour by sending an email to [email protected] or calling (714) 300-7710. Given the popularity and limited availability of these tours, it’s recommended to book well in advance to secure your preferred date.

Making the Most of Your VIP Tour

To get the most out of your VIP tour, consider these insider tips:

• Plan ahead : Work with your VIP planner to create an itinerary that includes your must-do attractions and shows.
• Utilize your guide : Your guide is a wealth of knowledge. Don’t hesitate to ask questions or seek advice on the best way to navigate the park.
• Remember to tip : It’s customary to tip your guide, usually around $20 per person in your group.

A VIP tour at Disneyland offers a unique experience that goes beyond the regular park visit. While it comes with a premium price tag, the personalized service, expedited access to attractions, and insider knowledge can make it a worthwhile investment for a truly unforgettable Disneyland adventure.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can i book a vip tour on the same day of my visit.

No, due to the high demand and limited availability of Disneyland VIP Tours, it is recommended to book them well in advance to secure your preferred date.

Does the VIP Tour cover both Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park?

Yes, the VIP Tour covers both Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park. Your guide can help you navigate both parks efficiently.

Are VIP Tours available every day?

Yes, VIP Tours are typically available every day. However, availability may vary depending on the season and specific park events.

Is there a discount for annual pass holders or Disneyland Resort hotel guests for the VIP Tour?

Unfortunately, Disneyland does not offer discounts on VIP Tours for annual pass holders or Disneyland Resort hotel guests. The VIP Tour is a premium service with a set price.

Can VIP Tour guides accommodate guests with special needs?

Yes, Disneyland VIP Tour guides are trained to accommodate guests with special needs. Be sure to communicate any specific requirements or needs when booking your tour.

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Leah is an expert on Disney World and Universal Studios, and she loves sharing her tips and tricks for visiting the parks with others. She knows both parks' ins and outs and can help you make the most of your visit.

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Is the Disney VIP Tour Worth It?

Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This influences which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money .

At some point, in hour five of your day at a Disney park, you’re probably tired of standing in lines. The magic of Disney theme parks is undeniable, but when the sweat sets in and your feet begin to ache, you may be wondering if there’s another way.

The Disney VIP tour allows you to skip the lines with a dedicated tour guide and a custom itinerary. But, of course, it’s pricy, so let’s take a closer look at the Walt Disney World VIP tour, how much it costs and whether it’s worth it.

What is the Walt Disney World VIP tour?

Disney offers a variety of enhanced experiences for those willing to shell out extra money. This includes group tours and behind-the-scenes expeditions; however, its most premium product is the personalized VIP tour. The VIP tour isn’t just limited to Walt Disney World — you can also book these private tours at Disneyland and other Disney parks.

The VIP tour at Disney grants you your own Disney tour guide who’ll whisk you from ride to ride without waiting in long lines. In addition to this, you’ll also get special access to restaurant reservations and entertainment seating, including fireworks.

Disney VIP tours do not include park admission. You’ll have to pay for this separately.

You’ll tell your tour guide what you’d like to see and do, and they’ll plan the day. You can even park hop with the VIP tour, which means you’ll be escorted to another park in a private vehicle.

» Learn more: How to plan a trip to Walt Disney World

Disney VIP tour cost

The Disney VIP tour is costly and doesn’t include park admission. The rate for a tour depends on the season and the crowd levels. So just how much is the Disney VIP tour? Prices range from $450 to $900 per hour, and you must book for a minimum of seven hours. The price includes up to 10 people, including infants.

Be aware that cancellation policies differ across parks.

At Walt Disney World, canceling with less than 48 hours' notice will incur a cancellation fee of two hours at your booking rate.

At Disneyland, VIP tours are nonrefundable if canceled less than four days in advance.

» Learn more: How to go to Disney World for cheap

Are Disney VIP tours worth it?

The Disney VIP tour is expensive. Although unlimited front-of-the-line access and guaranteed seating are nice, you’ll really need to budget for an expense like this. Let’s break this down using Walt Disney World as an example.

The cheapest rate you’ll pay for a Disney VIP tour will cost you $3,150. In exchange, you and up to nine of your friends will receive seven hours of unlimited front-of-the-line access, a personal tour guide, premier access to dining reservations and dedicated entertainment seating.

At this rate, the total cost of the tour will be $315 per person. So it’s unlikely that you’ll want to book a VIP tour for multiple days unless you’re trying to squeeze in as much activity as possible.

Use a credit card that’ll maximize your bonus points on your Disney vacation.

If you’re a large group with a relatively limited amount of time, a tour can help maximize your vacation. It’s probably best for family reunions, bachelorette parties or other family group trips for special occasions. These are the kinds of people who will be able to maximize the Disney VIP Tour.

You should probably skip the Disney VIP tour if you're on a budget, traveling in smaller groups or can afford to spend multiple days at Disney.

Disney VIP tour vs. Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lane

When comparing costs in the following examples, let’s say you’re booking the VIP tour for just one day.

In October 2021, Disney introduced the paid Genie+ system, which replaced the now-defunct (and free) Fastpass Plus program. Genie+ operates similarly, with the ability to book individual return times on most Disney rides.

At Walt Disney World, this experience costs $15 per person per day.

Sadly, Genie+ doesn’t include some of the most popular rides at each Walt Disney World park, including Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and Space Mountain. Instead, the fast lane for these rides is priced separately and available a la carte via Individual Lightning Lane.

You’ll need to pay per person, per ride, for attractions included in the ILL. Costs vary according to demand but can be as high as $15/person. In addition, you can only purchase ILL access once per ride, per day. So there’s no way to use the fast lane for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance continually, for example.

» Learn more: How to book the new Star Wars hotel on points

Under the old Fastpass system, a return time didn’t guarantee you a front-of-the-line spot. Instead, you’d experience a shorter, separate line from the main queue.

Now let’s say that your party of 10 has chosen to head to Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios for the day. Naturally, you want to skip as many lines as possible, so you’ll pay for Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lane attractions.

Genie+ comes out to $150 for the day for all 10 of you. It’s a little more challenging to predict ILL pricing, but let’s say it’s an average of $11 per ride. Everyone rode all four ILL available, two at Magic Kingdom and two at Hollywood Studios, which means you’ve paid $440 for ILL rides.

Altogether, you paid $590 to take advantage of Genie+ and ILL, which will have granted you shorter lines at most rides.

There’s a massive difference between paying $3,150 for a VIP tour or $590 — one option is five times the price of the other. But, of course, you can also choose not to spend any additional money at all, in which case you’ll pay for park admission and elbow it out with everybody else.

» Learn more: The best travel credit cards right now

The best benefit of the Disney VIP tour? Time saved

Consider the range of benefits you’ll receive when comparing a Disney VIP tour vs. Genie+ and ILL. Disney VIP tours give you a whole host of special perks, including one that’s almost impossible to find — time.

You’ll save time moving between parks in a private car. You’ll save time waiting for a good seat for the fireworks and save time in the Lightning Lane lines because a VIP tour jumps you past those who have paid for that luxury.

In this case, the Disney VIP tour makes a compelling example for those with limited time, especially if you can max out the tour group with 10 people. If you only have a day or two to experience the parks, why would you spend it waiting in the vast lines?

This is especially true when you consider the already high costs of a Disney World vacation, which can climb into the thousands of dollars for a big family and multiple days at the parks.

» Learn more: Best Disney World hotels to book with points

How to book a Disney VIP tour

You can start booking a VIP tour up to 60 days in advance.

For Walt Disney World, bookings can only be made by phone. So you’ll need to call the VIP tour office at 407-560-4033. The office is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily.

If you’re looking to book a Disney VIP tour at Disneyland instead, you can book by email at [email protected] or call the office at 714-300-7710.

» Learn more: How to budget for a family trip to Disney

If you want to book Disney’s VIP tour

There’s no doubt that a Disney vacation can be magical, but you’ll need to pay up to experience all that pixie dust. A Disney VIP tour is undoubtedly a splurge but can make sense for those looking for as much convenience as possible.

Before you book, make sure to do the math on costs and whether it is affordable. Otherwise, stick to options such as Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes to help re-create the experience at a fraction of the cost.

Photo courtesy of Walt Disney World.

How to maximize your rewards

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Disney VIP Tours – How To Book and What To Expect

If you’ve come to this page you’ve undoubtedly heard about Disney VIP tours for their theme parks and are interested in learning more. You’ve come to the right place. In this guide I’m going to break down everything about a Disneyland and Walt World VIP Tour including who can book them, how much they cost, are they worth it and what to expect from one. I’ve mae this very personal as I’ve had the opportunity to experience VIP tours over 15 times in my travel career. I also book VIP tours for clients (including you) and have a lot to offer to help you make the most of your experience should you choose to do one.

Let’s start off with some of the most basic questions:

How Do You Book a Disney VIP Tour?

With me of course! Guests who are interested in booking an VIP Tour for Disneyland or Walt Disney World should use the form below to contact me. Once the form is submitted I’ll go to work getting your quote. Once I have this I’ll get back to you and let you know the price and everything included. When you’re ready to book just let me know and I’ll confirm it. 

Why book with me? As I mentioned before, I’ve been on over 15 VIP Tours and know how they work. I have guides to recommend, reserved seating suggestions and in general, how to get the most out of your tour. My services are very fast, friendly and professional. I’ve booked tours for families, businesses, and even celebrities. Whatever your needs are, I will accommodate. Plus every guest who books with me receives a $100 Disney Gift Card to use at the parks while on their tour. A special thank you from me to you!

I can also book your admission for the theme parks at a discounted rate.

What is a VIP Tour at Disneyland and Walt Disney World?

If you’ve even been to the parks and seen a Cast Member in Plaid walking around the parks with a group of guests and taking them on rides, you’ve probably seen a VIP tour. They are private tours for park guests that include a guide for a predetermined amount of hours, typically 6 or more. The guide (a specially trained Cast Member) accompanies your group and is able to provide several services including quick access to attractions and shows, reserved seating for entertainment, dining reservations and more. 

Over the years however, VIP Tour guides have become known as human FastPasses. The idea being that most guests book a tour so that they can skip the lines at all the attractions and experience more without waiting. And to be completely honest, this is 80% of it. It’s the biggest perk you’ll get out of a VIP Tour and really the dream everyone wishes they could experience. 

Tour guides however do also provide a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the parks and are an amazing asset to you when you have questions or concerns. Nobody knows more about the parks and how they run than tour guides. This is very useful, especially for guests who have never visited the parks before.

Who Can Book a VIP Tour at the Parks?

I have great news! Anyone can book a VIP Tour at the Disney Parks. It’s just a matter of setting one up for the time you plan to visit. Most people think that these tours can only be done by celebrities or connected people at Disney. This is not true. In fact, most tours that you see are being done with regular people who want to take advantage of the tour perks. 

There are currently three categories of tours that Disney offers and one is for any guests who want to do one:

• Premium VIP Tour – For Celebrities who are visiting the parks.
• Club 33 VIP Tours – For Club 33 members and their guests.
• VIP Tour – Available to anyone who wants to book.

Despite there being 3 “different” ones, they are all pretty much the same. You’ll have a guide who will take you around the parks, get you on rides, and help in anyway they can. The only difference for a Premium VIP Tour is that they are only for celebrity guests (a decision made by Disney) and typically move guests from one are to another via backstage or corridors so that they don’t get bombarded with fans. Otherwise that tour is also the same as the other two.

I have personally booked my own VIP Tours for several years as well as experienced ones through Club 33 and I can tell you they are exactly the same.

How Much Does a VIP Tour Cost?

The biggest question of them all: Pricing. I hope it doesn’t come as a surprise that VIP Tours are expensive. Consider what you’re getting for your group plus the personal attention for a Cast Member dedicated to your wants and needs for the day. Having said that, tours start out at $2,975 and go up from there. Several factors will decide your total cost:

• The day your visiting
• Availability
• How many hours you need

There is a cost per hour but nothing that’s set in stone as it changes based on the day you want to do the tour. For instance, a tour on New Year’s Eve will cost you much more per hour than say a Wednesday in February. Same goes for weekends. They are typically pricier than a weekday. The lowest cost per hour is going to $425 and can go all the way up to $600+ per hour.

The average cost for a VIP Tour is about $4,000 with 7 hours of tour time.

Disneyland VIP Tours

Tours at the Disneyland Resort include quick access to all attractions, reserved seating for parades and fireworks (based on availability), parking, dining reservations and more. Your tour group can have up to 10 guests and can last for as many hours as you want with a minimum of 7 hours each day. Keep in mind that every BODY counts toward your party number, including babies and infants that don’t require tickets. This means you can’t have 4 adults, 6 kids and 2 babies as that puts your group count at 12 which is over the 10 that’s allowed. 

VIP Tours at Disneyland can include both Disneyland Park and California Adventure Park if you have a park hopper ticket. Since the Tour does not include theme park admission, whatever ticket you buy is what you can do on the tour. So if you purchase a 1 park per day and choose Disneyland as your park, you can only do the tour in that park. 

Guests may request reserved seating for the fireworks and/or parades that may be happening the day of their tour. Dining reservations may also be made in advance for places including Blue Bayou, Carthay Circle Restaurant, Lamplight Lounge and more. 

Guests can expect to experience both Disneyland and California Adventure Park in a single day while on a tour. This includes most attractions and entertainment. Typically the tour length for this is 8 hours but with the right group could be done in 7. Guests on tour do receive Lightning Lane access to both Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and WEB-SLINGERS along with every other major attraction with Lightning Lane. 

You also receive quick access to all non-Lightning Lane attractions as well including Peter Pan’s Flight, Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise and more.

Walt Disney World VIP Tours

Walt Disney World is a very unique place to do a VIP Tour and, in my opinion, the best place to do one. With four parks to experience, there are several ways to attack your day and get a lot done. Like Disneyland, tours in Orlando also include quick access to major attractions via Lightning Lane as well as exit access to smaller attractions. Essentially there’s no waiting for much. 

VIP Tours include all four parks including Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, EPCOT and Animal Kingdom. You can visit all or one or two or however many you want during your tour as long as you have the Park Hopper option with your ticket. Also remember that theme park admission is not included with your tour. If you do purchase a 1 park per day ticket, your tour will be in that one park for the entire day.

Tours can include up to 10 guests with a minimum of 7 hours booked. Every BODY counts towards that number including infants or babies so be aware of that when booking.

The other thing that I love about Walt Disney World VIP Tours is that they include a lot of backstage access which is always fun for the Disney lover. 

Disney Private VIP Tours

Are disney world’s vip tour services worth the cost .

Back in 1965, Walt Disney started something called the Disneyland Resort Ambassador Program. The idea was to personalize Disneyland’s in-park experience and make a trip to the park as memorable as possible.

This Disneyland program served as a forerunner to Disney VIP Tour Services, a division of Disney which offers exclusive in-park experiences at Walt Disney World Resort. Each of these Disney VIP Tours has its own dedicated tour guide to give you a personalized experience.

Yes, Disney Tours are pricey. But they do give you expedited services onto the most popular rides, a behind-the-scenes glimpse into what makes Disney World so magical, and special treatment that you can get anywhere else in the park.

With that said, let’s first discuss the benefits of Disney Private VIP Tours and why they are considered the crème de la crème of Disney World experiences. Then we’ll examine the cost of Private VIP Tours cost and ways you can make VIP Tours more affordable. We include a breakdown of the 4 other VIP Tours that Disney currently offers in order to help you decide if one of these tours may be a better fit for your family vacation.

And finally, once you decide that Disney VIP Tours are something you wish to participate in, then it’s time to contact The Vacationeer ( https://vacationeer.com/private-vip-tours ) to make your arrangements.

So let’s get started!

What are Disney World’s Private VIP Tours?

As part of the VIP Tour Services  program, Disney offers Private VIP Tours as a way to fully maximize your Disney World experience.

Think of them as the ultimate Disney choose-your-own-adventure: you customize your own multi-park itinerary and then embark on your personalized dream adventure with practically no wait times at all.

You will receive an array of special perks including expedited door-to-door transportation to the parks, expedited entry onto most attractions of your choosing, and a knowledgeable Disney tour guide to accompany you at every step.

Here are some of the benefits:

• Pre-arrival planning and customization
• Explore the theme parks with your own personal Disney VIP Tour Guide
• Expedited access onto your desired attractions for everyone in the group
• Ability to visit multiple theme parks per day
• VIP treatment including private vehicle transportation to and from your hotel
• Special reserved viewing areas for parades, select stage shows, and nighttime spectaculars
• Flexible start and end times (7-hour minimum)

Disney’s Private VIP Tours – Cost, Reservations, Services

Cost of Disney Private VIP Tours

Disney VIP Tour Services offers several tours that are priced on a per-person basis. These include The Ultimate Day of Thrills VIP Tour , Ultimate Disney Classics VIP Tour , Ultimate Nights of Adventure VIP Tours ), and the Taste of Magic Kingdom Park VIP Tour . We will discuss these tours later.

Disney’s Private VIP Tours , on the other hand, are not priced on a per-person basis. Instead, the cost of Private VIP Tours is based on an hourly rate for a group of up to 10 people.

Private VIP Tours Details

Here are some details of Disney World Private VIP Tours:

• Depending on the season, tours will cost is between $450 and $900 per hour, per group ( not per person) — subject to change
• A maximum allowance of 10 guests per Private VIP Tour
• A minimum of 7 continuous hours is required per day
• Valid admission is required for each theme park (not included as part of tour cost)
• VIP Tour Services allows you to book up to 180 in advance (recommended)

While Disney’s Private VIP Tour s are the ultimate way to spoil yourself at Disney World, they’re also an easy way to spend cash.

Cost-Effective: Share a Private Disney VIP Tour w/ Friends and Family

As we mentioned, Disney allows your group to include up to 10 guests . This is an important detail because the 10 guest allowance opens up a lot of possibilities. By sharing Disney VIP Tours with other interested couples and families, you could effectively reduce a $3000 or $5250 overall expense down to as low as $300-$525 per person.

Sounding good! But how do you go about forming a group of up to 10 people?

For safety concerns, Disney doesn’t allow Disney travel agencies   (or any other organization) to match you up with random people to form a group of 10. In this day-in-age, these types of policies make sense because you never know who you will be matched up with!

That said, you can still form your own group – comprised of friends and family members – to reduce the cost per person.  So ask your friends, your aunt, your nephew, your favorite neighbor, or your co-workers. Who knows – they may just love the idea of taking a Private Disney VIP Tour with you…and saving money in the process!

Even if you don’t come up with a full 10 people, you will still save a significant amount of money if you just add a few more friends and family members to your Private VIP Tour.

Other Disney VIP Tours

Private VIP Tours aren’t the only Disney VIP Tour Services option. Here is a summary of the other 4 other VIP experiences that Disney World offers:

1. The Ultimate Day of Thrills VIP Tour

The Ultimate Day of Trill VIP Tour is a 7-hour experience that gives you expedited access to Disney’s top attractions.

This tour has a good mix of fun, fantasy, and fast-paced thrill rides. Guests start their day at Magic Kingdom Park where they benefit from special access (ie, you don’t wait in the normal line) on select rides such as:

• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
• Space Mountain
• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
• Splash Mountain
• Haunted Mansion

Then you will take a break to enjoy your lunch at a quick-service restaurant (included in the cost!) before embarking on a few exciting Epcot attractions like Soarin’.

During the afternoon, guests are whisked over to Hollywood Studios to experience some of  the best Hollywood Studios rides such as:

• Slinky Dog Dash
• Toy Story Mania!
• The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
• Star Tours – The Adventures Continue
• Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith

2. Ultimate Disney Classics VIP Tour

The Ultimate Disney Classics VIP Tour lets guests experience the Magic Kingdom’s most beloved classic attractions. The small-group tour is lead by a Disney VIP Tour Guide to make sure your experience is hassle-free, relaxing, and fun!

During the tour, you will receive special access to Magic Kingdom’s iconic attractions, which may include:

• “it’s a small world”
• Peter Pan’s Flight
• Dumbo the Flying Elephant
• Jungle Cruise
• Mad Tea Party
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid

This tour is great for kids of all ages because there are no height restrictions for any of the attractions on this tour.

3. Ultimate Nights of Adventure VIP Tour

Ultimate Nights of Adventure VIP Tour is a wild, 4-hour guided group tour of Disney’s Animal Kingdom park at nighttime. Guests receive expedited access so that exploring the lands and riding attractions is a breeze.

The Animal Kingdom rides   on this tour include the following attractions:

• Kilimanjaro Safaris
• Avatar Flight of Passage (44” height requirement)
• Na’vi River Journey
• Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain (44” height requirement)
• DINOSAUR (40” height requirement)

As well as the following show:

• Rivers of Light nighttime spectacular (select nights)

Guests will also receive signature snacks and a specialty beverage (alcoholic (21+) or non-alcoholic).

4. Taste of Magic Kingdom Park VIP Tour

Taste of Magic Kingdom Park VIP Tour is a brand new experience where guests have the opportunity to go inside the kitchens of several Magic Kingdom restaurants and sample several of Disney’s most iconic menu items.

During this 3-hour tour, guests will interact directly with Disney’s chefs and learn of the rich food history of the park. Guests head backstage to experience what goes into the production of Disney’s busy restaurant scene.  Guests will sample an amazing assortment of sweet and savory food items along the way as their VIP Guides make sure your experience is as enjoyable and informative as possible.

Cost of other Disney VIP Tours

Cost of other Disney VIP Tours 

Here is a breakdown of the cost of Disney’s 4 other VIP Tours:

The Ultimate Day of Thrills VIP Tour

• $349 per person (plus tax)
• Valid admission for each theme park is required (not included as part of the tour cost)
• The Ultimate Day of Thrills VIP Tour is currently offered on Monday, Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday.
• Tour begins at 8:30 AM and lasts around 7 hours
• There are blackout dates, especially during holidays and other busy periods

Ultimate Disney Classics VIP Tour

• $249 per person (plus tax)
• Lunch is included in this price!
• Valid admission ticket to Magic Kingdom is required (not included as part of the tour cost)
• Tour begins at 10:00 AM and lasts around 4 hours

Ultimate Nights of Adventure VIP Tour

• Valid admission ticket to Animal Kingdom is required (not included as part of the tour cost)
• Tour begins 4 hours before that evening’s first Rivers of Light performance and lasts around 4 hours
• The tour operates 7 days per week, except on blackout dates

Taste of Magic Kingdom Park VIP Tour

• $99 per person (plus tax)
• This tour is currently offered on Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, except during blackout periods
• There are blackout dates, especially during holidays and other busy periods.

Contact The Vacationeer to Book your Disney VIP Tour

The Vacationeer is our preferred Disney Travel Agency and we recommend contacting them today if you are interested in Disney’s Private VIP Tours or one of the other VIP Tours currently offered at the resort. Here is what to do next:

✔️ Fill out the contact form HERE to request more information

✔️ A Disney travel planner will contact you with a price quote

✔️ Do you have any questions? Concerns? Your Vacationeer is there to assist you with your Disney World VIP tour

✔️ When you book, The Vacationeer will handle all of the leg-work of your VIP Tour and make all of your Disney World trip reservations (tickets, hotel reservations, dining reservations, Disney Genie+ , Lightning Lane Passes , and more)

✔️ As part of booking through The Vacationeer, there are absolutely no fees for this service and you get the lowest price

We hope our Disney VIP Tours page is helpful.

Are you ready to book your Disney VIP Tour? Please contact the Disney Travel Agents at The Vacationeer .  They will explain how you can participate in these unique experiences!

For more useful Disney World information, please review some additional pages on  MagicGuides  like our   Disney Dining Plan Calculator ,  Disney World Map , Disney World for Adults , Why Use a Disney Travel Agent , Disney World Payment Plan , Free Disney World Photos , and Disney World Weather articles.

Thank you for reading our page, and we hope you have a magical Walt Disney World vacation!

Related Posts:

Private transportation, backstage parking and skipped lines: What it's really like on a Disney VIP tour

As once smirked by "The Lion King's" villainous lion, Scar, "Life's not fair, is it?"

You see, even though all are welcome in the happy place that Walt built, not everyone waits in the same lines to ride Dumbo or Space Mountain. In fact, some barely wait in lines at all.

There's a way to experience Disney World without a hot trek through the parking lots or long waits for rides, but with perfect fireworks-viewing areas reserved just for you and with almost zero advance planning required. And on top of that, there's a way to get all-day access to a Disney expert with pockets full of pixie dust and keys to backstage shortcuts, who can guide you and troubleshoot any problems that arise.

This magic isn't a fictional fairytale or reserved for A-list stars. All of this (and more) is available to anyone willing to pay for the very real Disney VIP tour guides.

This small army of top-tier magic-makers is employed by Disney and can be spotted around the parks in their signature plaid vests whisking small groups of very fortunate guests into back entrances and to the front of the lines.

For more TPG news and deals delivered to your inbox, sign up for our free daily newsletter .

After waiting several hours to straddle a banshee and ride Avatar Flight of Passage in Animal Kingdom, you may be desperate to know how you can have one of these Disney "magicians" whisk your group out of the sun and into the fun.

While I've done the three-hour wait to ride a banshee myself, I've also now experienced the magic of not waiting. Here's how the Disney VIP tours work and exactly how much magic you can actually squeeze out of the day when you say goodbye to the long waits.

Related: These are the best hotels at Disney World

What's a Disney VIP tour?

A private Disney VIP tour is kind of like having your own assigned Mouseketeer and personal set of keys to the kingdom.

While I'm sure they could give you a more traditional tour of Disney World if that's what you wanted, it's really not exactly a tour.

When you are on a Disney VIP tour, you've got your own official Disney guide who can plan your day, serve as your own unlimited human FastPass, drive you to and from your Disney resort and from park to park with cool and efficient backstage parking. Most people who buy a Disney VIP tour do it to skip the bulk of the lines and experience as much of the parks as possible in a short amount of time. This is why TPG's founder Brian Kelly purchased the VIP tour with his nieces and nephews for a one-day visit to Disney World.

But it's not just the quicker ride access that is special. Even before you know you need it, the guides can also make bottles of water, rain ponchos and Mickey bars seemingly appear out of thin air.

These tours must be booked for a minimum of seven hours and you can have up to 10 people on the tour for the same hourly rate. Just don't have an 11th person because then you need a second guide and your cost doubles.

Related: What it costs to visit Disney World

What we did on our Disney VIP tour

We gathered up exactly 10 Disney-loving friends and family members and booked a seven-hour VIP tour.

In the end, we went a bit over those initially planned seven hours as we had a few more things we wanted to do when the original time limit expired. In total, our tour was about eight and a half hours from start to finish.

We lost about 15 minutes on the front end when we couldn't find our youngest daughter's MagicBand as we were walking out the door and then had some forms to sign when we met up with the tour guide. In hindsight, we should have skipped looking for the band and done the forms in advance. We also lost some time for lunch -- more on that below.

Counting transportation to and from our resort and the transfer between the two parks, we spent probably a little over an hour in transit. That means we had a bit under seven hours of true park experience to work with that translated into 16 attractions.

Here's how the time on our Disney VIP tour played out.

• 10 a.m. Official start time.
• 10:19 a.m. Depart Disney's Wilderness Lodge for the Magic Kingdom.
• 10:26 a.m. Clear security through side-gate entrance with no line and park in a backlot to the side of Main Street, U.S.A.

• 10:29 a.m. Officially walk into the Magic Kingdom.
• 10:33 a.m. Watch a cavalcade (aka a mini-parade) as it passed by the castle.
• 10:40 a.m. Try to ride Pirates of the Caribbean, but it was down and would stay down much of the day.
• 10:49 a.m. Ride No. 1 -- Magic Carpets of Aladdin.
• 10:56 a.m. VIP guide got waters for everyone and "pixie dusted" my youngest with Dole Whip since her favorite ride, Pirates, didn't work out.

• 11:09 a.m. Ride No. 2 -- Splash Mountain.
• 11:35 a.m. Ride No. 3 -- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
• 11:55 a.m. Ride No. 4 -- Haunted Mansion.
• 12:19 p.m. Ride No. 5 -- Peter Pan's Flight.
• 12:26 p.m. Bathroom break and hunt for hidden Pascals near the "Tangled"-themed bathrooms at the request of my daughters.
• 12:49 p.m. Ride No. 6 -- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
• 1:03 p.m. Ride No. 7 -- Mad Tea Party.
• 1:21 p.m. Ride No. 8 -- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.
• 1:42 p.m. Ride No. 9 -- Space Mountain.

I ordered lunch in the Disney app by 1:10 p.m. but it wasn't actually ready until about 1:50 p.m. We weren't all done eating until about 2:10 pm., so while some in the group kept riding rides during that time, it also was a pretty inefficient part of the day for those who were scouting for tables and waiting for food. Waiting 40 minutes for chicken fingers and fries and fighting for a table isn't a great use of time when you are paying for a guide by the hour.

• 2:17 p.m. Depart for Hollywood Studios.
• 2:39 p.m. Arrive at Hollywood Studios and park in backstage parking near Tower of Terror.
• 2:56 p.m. Ride No. 10 -- The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.
• 3:11 p.m. Ride No. 11 -- Rock 'n' Roller Coaster.
• 3:57 p.m. Ride No. 12 -- Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway.

• 4:21 p.m. Ride No. 13 -- Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.
• 5:02 p.m. Ride No. 14 -- Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run.
• 5:28 p.m. Ride No. 15 -- Slinky Dog Dash.
• 5:44 p.m. Ride No. 16 -- Toy Story Mania!
• 6:24 p.m. Arrive back at Disney's Wilderness Lodge.

As you can tell by some of the time gaps between rides, you don't always have a zero-minute wait to ride. Some rides, such as Runaway Railway and Rise of the Resistance, still had a bit of waiting involved.

At other times, such as with Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, Aladdin and more, you essentially got to walk right up to the start of the ride.

It's worth a mention that we didn't need to compete with thousands of other guests at 7 a.m. for a Rise of the Resistance boarding pass, as one ride without a pass is included with the tour.

The VIP tour is really at a huge advantage right now as waits for most rides on this day were over an hour. And since FastPass has not yet returned to Disney World, there weren't many others in the FastPass line.

The guide, Annie, and I chatted about what we would do next and adjusted plans on the fly.

As the afternoon Florida rain came and some attractions were temporarily unavailable, we'd adjust plans again. When she'd pose a ride that we didn't want to do (like "It's a small world"), it was no big deal and we kept on going to the next thing. She was available to go on rides with us (which was really fun as she knew some awesome "secrets") and she was also available to skip the ride and do other things while we rode, such as order water or hold a bag.

While we did our tour during the day, the tour guide can let you access special, reserved VIP viewing of fireworks if you do it in the evening. And while we only went to two parks in one day, you can go to all four if you want. It's essentially your time to use however you please.

Related: Why you might want to think twice before a theme park trip right now

What does a Disney VIP tour cost?

Here's the bad news. A Disney VIP tour costs $425 to $750 per hour, depending on the season. And that's on top of your park admission tickets, which aren't included withe the tour.

There's no way to know exactly what your tour will cost without calling 407-560-4033 or working with a Disney vacation planner as we did. You can only book the tours 60 days in advance and they do sell out, so plan ahead. Remember, you need to book at least seven hours, so the minimum price for a Disney VIP tour will be $2,975 for up to 10 people. You can do a tour for up to 10 hours, so while the minimum price is $2,975, a 10-hour tour in super peak season could set you back a staggering $7,500.

On our July date, the tour was $550 per hour and we spent a total of $3,850 on the initially planned seven hours. (And sadly, this did not code as a travel charge, so use the credit card that awards you the most on everyday spending -- I went with my Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card to earn 2 miles per dollar on the charge.)

With our added time, the grand total came to $4,675 before the tip. That's $467.50 per person on our tour, if you want to think of it that way. ( In terms of the tip, while it is at your discretion, this is a Disney position that can accept cash tip. It's common to go with 15 - 20% of the amount of your tour or tip the equivalent of one hour. )

While not all 10 people did every single ride, I'm going to assume they did here for simpler math since they all had the opportunity.

At $467.50 per person, given that we did 16 rides, that's kind of like spending $29.21 per "FastPass" access. That's not exactly a fair way to look at it as there were plenty of other perks to the tour including the door-to-door transportation, awesome insider knowledge from the guide herself, etc., but it's a decent starting point.

Additionally, throughout the tour, our group was given about 25 bottles of water ($3.50 each), 10 Mickey bars ($5.50 each), 10 rain ponchos ($12 each), one stroller rental ($15) and a cup of Dole Whip ($5). We were also each given a special Disney VIP tour pin which you technically can't buy, but we'll put the price at about $12, which is in line with the cost of other Disney pins.

The retail price for buying those goodies on your own at Disney is around $402.50, or $40.25 per person. If you factor that out of the total cost, the cost for quick access drops a little from $29.21 to $26.70 per person per ride.

Obviously, if you didn't stop for lunch, started right on time and moved at a quicker pace than our group, then you probably could have a higher ride total. You could even start right in the park if you don't want transportation and squeeze in more rides that way, too.

Related: These are the best restaurants at Disney World

But our goal wasn't to rack up ride totals for the sake of impressive math, it was to enjoy the heck out of the rides we love the most with the friends and family we've missed too much over the last year and a half. And while you could argue using time getting picked up and dropped off at our resort was a waste, with 10 people ranging from 6 to 70 years of age, it sure didn't feel that way.

Bottom line

There's absolutely no way we would have done those 16 rides in eight and a half hours on our own. Given what crowds and wait times were like at Disney during our trip , it's unlikely we would have done half that number on our own. Even if we had, it wouldn't have been predominately the headlining rides.

It's not necessary to spend a small fortune on a VIP tour to have a great time at Walt Disney World.

I've successfully been to the park dozens of times and never before had a Disney VIP tour guide at the ready. Timing your visit during the less busy days, being at the park when it opens (which is before it says it opens), doing rides during fireworks and close to closing time are also great ways to pack more attractions into your day without spending more money.

However, right now with the high crowd levels and no other FastPass options, if there was ever a time to rally a group of friends and go for it on a planned upcoming trip, there's no doubt the VIP treatment dramatically increased the enjoyment factor for our group.

Disneyland | Disneyland fight involving stroller-pushing mom…

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Disneyland | disneyland fight involving stroller-pushing mom leads to ejection, a group of women pounded on a screaming woman lying on the ground at disney california adventure as grade school children stood by and watched..

A fight on April 23 at 5 p.m. in front of the Lamplight Lounge at Disney California Adventure led to the ejection of the Disneyland resort visitor who allegedly instigated the fight.

The Disney California Adventure guest who started the fight was removed from Disneyland Resort property, according to Disneyland officials. Disneyland Resort will not tolerate any type of violence, according to Disneyland officials.

ALSO SEE: Galactic Starcruiser space cocktails land at Oga’s Cantina in Disneyland

Anaheim Police responded to reports of a fight at Disney California Adventure and assisted Disneyland security with keeping the peace, according to Anaheim Police spokesperson Sgt. Jon McClintock. Disneyland asked at least one guest involved in the fight to leave the property, McClintock said. No arrests were made.

The fight involved a group of women who punched and slapped another screaming woman lying on the ground at DCA’s Pixar Pier as grade school children stood by and watched, according to an online video posted by Instagram user 714 Layla. A woman pushing a baby stroller joined the fight and slapped the woman sprawled on the ground.

“You started hitting us,” one of the assailants said according to the video. “So how about that?”

A woman yelling “Leave her alone” stepped in to break up the beating.

“It’s unclear what led to the video’s events or how any of the guests know each other,” according to WDW News Today .

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Disney VIP Tours: What You Need To Know: Cost, Perks, and Types

Robin Hutson

February 20, 2023

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It’s not just about skipping long lines in California or Florida. Here’s what to expect booking Disney VIP tours.

I had so many questions about hiring a VIP tour guide at Disney World.

• How do private tour companies differ from the official Disney tours? 
• When are the services worth it?
• What is actually included?
• What is the cost of a Disney VIP tour?
• How much gratuity to pay your Disney VIP guide

Here’s my best effort at answering questions regarding Disney VIP tour guides you may be considering for your Disney World vacation , which is definitely the indulgent and desirable “Enchanted Extra” in Disney speak, or “Expensive Extra” in my speak.

Read on for Disney’s private tours, non-Disney private tours and when to use each. There’s a time and place for each kind. Looking for a Disneyland VIP guide ? Read about our experience in California.

Different Types of Disney VIP Tours

I have used both private companies and the official tours from Disney. Disney World offers more options because there are more parks, more group VIP tours, and more unofficial tour companies in the market.

The most exclusive option is the Disney Private Premium VIP Tours where the “plaid vests” escort you around the park like a celebrity. You’ll use backstage areas to maximize your time park-hopping in less time and have access to all Lightning Lanes (the expedited priority line at rides) with your guide. It’s not truly front of the line access, but it’s close, and your wait times will be minimal.

If you plan to use a non-Disney tour company, stick with a company that has been around a few years and check their Trip Advisor reviews. We only book the best private companies for our clients that we use for our own families.

Be wary of any tour company that seems too good of a deal or whose promises include things like “Any ride you want” which indicates bending Disney’s rules or worse, exploiting Disney’s disability passes, the lowest of the low.

Disney VIP Tours Cost?

Disney World Private Premium VIP Tours cost significantly more than the non-Disney VIP tour companies.

The official Disney World Private Premium VIP Tours vary from $425 to $900 per hour with a seven-hour minimum. The dynamic pricing surges during three-day weekends and holidays. Best hourly rate is midweek outside of the high cost of Spring Break and Christmas season.

Disney allows guests to tour up to 10 continuous hours, and those hours beyond the first seven can be added while on your tour. You do not have to book your total hours in advance beyond the minimum seven. That brings the total Disney VIP tour cost between $2,800 to $4,200 for the experience, before gratuities.

Disney VIP Tour Tips and Gratuities

It is critical to incorporate your guide’s tip into your tour budget. A minimum of one hour’s rate should be given, and more if you can offer it. It is easy to bring cash, but most guides will share their Venmo account to make it easy to pay at the end of your tour since you cannot use a credit card.

VIP Tour Maximum Party Size?

All Disney VIP tours are designed for parties of no more than 10 people. Disney will require a second cast member guide for parties larger than 10. Infants, unfortunately, are included in that headcount of family members.

That second guide will stay close to the first group, but it offers a change for families to divide up by thrill level, too. Also, the 10 guests registered for the tour must be the same 10 guests throughout the tour. No changing family or friends within the parks allowed.

What is the Disneyland VIP tour cost?

Just like a Disney World VIP tour, here’s what to expect for a Disneyland VIP tour (Read our review of a tour from start to finish). They cost between $425 and $850 per hour with a 7 hour minimum. You can bring up to 10 people, including infants.

Non-Disney companies run from $200 to $350 per hour, typically with a six-hour minimum, bringing the total from $1200 to $2,500. The cost per hour for all companies varies due to the demand of the season.

The holiday week of Christmas and New Year’s Day is the busiest time of year. VIP services are most useful and in demand, so book early. The second busiest time is in March when Florida public schools are on Spring Break. Big states like Texas often share the same week, making it one of the toughest weeks to get hotel and dining reservations.

VIP Disney World Planning Services

Don’t stress, it’s a vacation. Luxe Recess is the leader in planning luxury Disney vacations, especially for those families who aren’t Disney die-hards. Read more about our services and fees. We’ll plan a five-star Orlando adventure for your family.

Disney World VIP Tour FAQs

What exactly does a disney vip tour guide do compared to a non-disney guide.

This is where the experience differs between the official Disney VIP Tours and the non-Disney companies. 

Join the  Luxury Disney World  Facebook group if we can answer questions about your next Disney vacation.

Pre-arrival and dining reservation assistance.

Disney’s Private Premium VIP Disney Tours only offers assistance for the day of your tour. They can assist with park tickets and reservations and dining, but they can only procure a dining reservation that was available on the public site. They also do not begin booking these until 9AM, and you could be booking your hard to get table as of 6AM that day.

Private companies will offer more hand holding in vacation planning, sometimes for an additional fee. This will include ticket booking, as well as park and dining reservations.

The day of your VIP Disney Tour

Your Disney guide can pick you up at your hotel or meet you inside the parks. I usually discuss the advantages of each option with my clients.

The Disney guides have access to all Lightning Lanes and can put you in the expedited lines to reduce wait time. The guides stay with you in line until you board the ride, so we would also get the first seats of each ride. Some rides have secret entrances that the Disney guides use at Magic Kingdom, but I don’t want to spoil the surprise!

When you are ready to move to the other parks, you can use backstage entrances where a VIP vehicle is yours for the duration of the tour. We were met with a snack basket by another guide outside our van to grab some chips.

After certain rides, our guide would meet us with bottles of water, Mickey bars, and Mickey pretzels. Not all guides do this, but the ones I request do. We did a 10-hour stint this summer in the crazy heat, and those snacks and waters made it physically possible.

People rarely book sit down meals during their tours. It’s a day for ordering quick service meals using the mobile app. There is a VIP fireworks viewing area for Magic Kingdom if you time your tour to conclude when the fireworks begin. I can help you map all of this out.

The Non-Disney VIP Experience

Our non-Disney guide introduced herself by phone and asked us about our ride priorities to create a loose plan for our tour. She offered to arrange private transportation or guide us on the best parking options.

Our non-Disney guide used her detailed knowledge of the rides, their duration, their wait time patterns, and locations to maximize our time so that we saw as much as possible. She asked what we had never done and weighed in one rides we should try at least once.

While she didn’t have Disney’s line access, there are definitely patterns to learn when you do this every day that gives you far greater expertise than a typical Disney park goer, even an enthusiast passholder.

In addition to a park plan, there are several concierge-type experiences that our guide offered. At each ride, she parked our strollers and waited for us with our stroller at the exit. She would go get waters, popcorn, or iced tea while we were on a ride and had them waiting for us.

Our VIP guide took pictures of us with her phone, and she extracted my camera from around my neck a few times so that we now have proof that I was actually at Disney World with my family, a wonderful perk for me that lasts long after the tour.

Towards the lunch hour, she took our orders, set us on rides, and then we met her at the Columbia Harbor House where she waited for us with our plates of salmon and broccoli at the table. My husband thought this service was worth its weight in gold.

The perks of a true Disney World expert

They were, of course, many moments where our guide’s park knowledge surpassed my own, and I loved it. On the Buzz Lightyear ride, we were playfully competitive shooting lasers at Zurg’s various targets.

She sat with me and showed me where to shoot my laser gun. By the time we had gone through the first room, she had maxed out the score at 999,999. Sit on the left side. Now I know. Lots of little insider tricks of hers made the rides more fun.

What if you already know the Disney parks really well?

There were many intangible perks to using a guide, too. I still found Disney VIP Tours different because I was able to enjoy the day without being the family navigator, planner, and boss. I could truly check out and not be in charge. This gave me the opportunity to let the experiences reach my own inner six-year-old much more easily. I smiled a lot more. Worth every penny.

Another benefit is how the dynamics shift when a neutral party is involved and in charge. If you are traveling in a group where more than one person wants to take charge, a tour guide smooths the tension. Especially for multi-generational trips where there may be too many cooks in the kitchen.

After we finished our day with our guide, we pulled into the Four Seasons Orlando , my daughter gave our guide a big hug, and I was so grateful to experience Magic Kingdom park in a way that felt like a real vacation for me.

When to splurge for Disney’s Premium Private VIP tours for ultimate backstage access

Ride access is more challenging now, and even the best Genie Plus users will adit it is harder now to get ride access. So if you are going to ride all of the new rides, ride all of the best rides, or try and combine more than one park in a day, you need a VIP tour.

With the Premium Private VIP tours, you are paying for their VIP Lightning Lane access for any ride (formerly the FastPass line) to avoid long waits. These Lightning Lanes are at most of the rides at all of the theme parks, especially guests’ favorite attractions.

Younger children’s energy will put a ceiling on the special access you have paid for, and some attractions offer no Lightning Lane, so you are still might wait in line for things, even with a VIP escort and the magic access they offer.

If you have small children and you are still traveling with strollers, I think the private guides can give parents a major perk of a much needed break leading the family around Magic Kingdom or Animal Kingdom with a pro. You’re tired. You deserve it. Make this the best day for all of you.

Which parks and attractions work best with Disney VIP guides?

Truthfully, all parks are on the table now given that Epcot, where guides didn’t use to visit, is now the hot park to take people on the latest Guardians of the Galaxy coaster. (It’s that good!)

Magic Kingdom’s number of rides and roller coasters puts it in its own league compared to the other Walt Disney World Resort parks. It has more Lightning Lane experiences than any other park, and the layout is vast and can be overwhelming for newbies. The timing of all the attractions and crowd formations is not easy to learn if you’ve only been a few times. And Hollywood Studios has many great rides and a very confusing layout, so I never suggest people visit their first time without a guide there, either.

In our four park whirlwind tour with our Disney guide, we got to ride the following rides. Rise of the Resistance, Smuggler’s Run, Star Tours, Flight of Passage, Toy Story Mania, Slinky Dog Dash, Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Tower of Terror, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Kilimanjaro Safaris, Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, Expedition Everest, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, just to name a few.

If I were organizing a multi-generational family vacation to Disney World, I would also use the services of a VIP tour. To assign the leadership to a knowledgeable nonmember of the family keeps everyone happy.

People who go to Disney once and hate it simply don’t know what they were doing. It is a complicated trip. The goal is to have fun, and you’ll have a lot more fun and better memories when your kids aren’t seeing you stressed trying to figure out where to go or what to do when you don’t have a clue.

I would also book a tour if I dreaded the idea of going to Disney and wanted the “one and done” approach. Warning : I thought I was going to be one of those people, but several thousand dollars later, Disney has the last laugh.

Need an expert to take over the planning? We  plan your Disney World vacations . I’ll share what VIP experiences are worth every penny and tell you what to skip.

Headed to Universal Studios? Check out why the Universal VIP Tours are worth every penny, and we book those, too!

Disneyland Hotel Club Level: Celebrating Walt In Style

These luxury portugal resorts were designed for families in every detail, 17 thoughts on “disney vip tours: what you need to know: cost, perks, and types”.

A VIP tour sounds like a great way for Mom to be able to sit back and enjoy the time as well and not have to worry about planning or feeling like you are going to miss something. Also like the idea of having one with a group so there is no question of who is in charge!

We are going to Disneyworld Orlando in December and would like a VIP Guide. Do you have a person/company you can recommend please? Thanks

That is all outlined in the above article. ?

I really really enjoyed this article as I have long wondered what these tours did and now finally know. I’d love to try one – sounds so much less stressful than the degree we had to take in Disney Studies for our trip!

Honestly I had no idea these tours existed before reading your article. It sounds like an amazing way to save yourself (and your family) some stress if you can afford it. I know we would have loved this option a few times we went to the park when our kids were younger and when we traveled with my parents. It would have made things a lot easier.

You missed a few perks of using Disney’s Premium service.

We’d love to hear more! What else besides the pixie dust Fast Passes did you enjoy?

One of the best perks for us involved them transporting us around property. We park hopped all four parks going to just the rides on our list. We were loaded into their white vans and transported via backstage to the different locations saving us a ton of time. We maximized our time and never felt rushed.

Yes, that’s true in that it can make a big difference in parking hopping multiple times in one day. I can’t imagine my kids handling more than two parks in a day, but that might be just be my own preference projecting. If getting on rides was my priority, I would probably prefer to do the Ultimate day of thrills and spend the other thousand dollars saved elsewhere on food and spa and extend my stay at the Four Seasons or Waldorf!

So interesting! There is SO much strategy to navigating the parks; I can see why having a Cori could make a HUGE difference. Thanks for sharing!

Yes, Paula! I consider myself savvy but Cori helped us use our time on a whole new level.

I am reaching out to anyone who would like to share with our family a VIP private tour (up to 10 people) we are a family of 3 so 7 of you would like to share $450.00 an hour for 8 hours at Disneyworld – we want to schedule a private tour on 6/16/2017 from 2pm to 10pm somewhere during this timeframe Pandora and elsewhere – Anyone interested email me at [email protected]

Patricia, you should join the Luxury Disney Facebook group and ask there. The link is in the article.

We splurged for a private VIP tour a couple of years ago when we took our kids to Disneyworld for the first time. We started out at the Magic Kingdom and managed to fit in 10 rides in 90 minutes! Many of these rides had wait times of at least 30 minutes. The pace slowed down at the other parks since the rides are more spaced out geographically but it was very stress free having our guide drive us to the different parks and lead us to the fastest routes to get where we needed to go. We were able to get to every ride on the kids’ wishlist in 1 day and ended up the day in a prime reserved section for the night show at Hollywood studios.

That sounds like it was an incredible vacation! Would you do it again?

We decided to take a last minute trip to Disney, taking our niece for her first time. Since we are only 1 month out and have nothing planned, would you recommend Disney Private VIP tour or MyVIP?

How old is your niece? Is the goal to see the most in the shortest amount of time? Or just someone to maximize your time arranging so you can enjoy and not plan?

Comments are closed.

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