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My WDW VIP Tour Experience
If you are looking for the ultimate WDW day, or if you’re short on time but still want to do it all, a WDW VIP tour is the way! My family decided to add a VIP tour day to our WDW getaway last fall because my kids are younger, so having the extra hands and an easy way to hop from park to park was well worth it to us. My husband is also not the biggest Disney fan (as a veteran he gets overwhelmed by crowds occasionally), so I knew this tour would make things easier on him and help us all experience more.
The reservation window for VIP tours opens 60 days in advance of the date you’d like to tour and the fastest way to get through is to call the Signature Services line when they open at 9 am EST (or have your favorite Pineapple Escapes agent handle the call for you!). You will still need a park ticket for your VIP day, as well as a park hopper if you’d like to visit multiple parks. When you call in, they will ask when you’d like your tour to start; there is a 7-hour minimum as well as the option to add up to 3 hours (if you’d like to add the extra time, speak with your guide during your tour). The hourly rate varies between $450 to $900, and they’ll tell you the hourly rate for your date when you call in. They’ll also ask where you’d like to start your tour; if you are staying on property they can pick you up at your hotel, but that time does count as part of your tour time. You can also choose to meet at the front or inside any of the parks, which helps maximize your time with your guide. Finally, they’ll ask if there are any must-do attractions for your group, but you don’t have to make plans during that first call! You can call or email signature services any time before your tour, or just wait and talk to your guide the day of.
My family chose to have our guide pick us up at our resort at 10 am since the whole point of doing the tour was for us to have an easier day enjoying the parks at the end of our trip. Our guide in the signature plaid vest met us in the lobby of the Poly and we hopped in our VIP van (there are also VIP SUVs, but we had a bigger group) to start our day! Car seats for my kids were already installed, which was a nice touch. We had mildly ambitious plans; after spending time in the Magic and Animal Kingdom parks earlier that week, we decided to focus our tour on Epcot and Hollywood Studios. During our ride to HS, our guide convinced us that with our special backstage access, we could still squeeze in a visit to Pandora at AK, which we’d missed the day before due to a heavy downpour. During this time, we also made plans to add on a few extra hours so our guide could drop us off at the VIP viewing area for Harmonious at Epcot at the end of the day. Space in these VIP areas for the firework shows in each park is limited, so it is important you make a plan with your guide ASAP if you’d like to take advantage of this special access area (it’s well worth it!). There are VIP viewing areas for all fireworks shows, the main parades, and some shows.
When you’re traveling as part of a VIP tour you get ‘backstage’ access to the parks, which means you get to enter the parks at special access points, which usually gets you closer to your next attraction than the normal entrances (it is forbidden to take pictures while ‘backstage’, but you’re not missing much! It’s just regular offices and parking lots). At Hollywood Studios we entered behind the Tower of the Terror, at Animal Kingdom we were able to walk right into Pandora, and at Epcot, we entered by Test Track. The furthest we had to walk was at the World Showcase at Epcot, the entry point we used was pretty far from Remy (I think we could have driven around the World Showcase). While walking in there are usually strollers your guide can nab for you, as well as places to grab snacks and water. When on a VIP tour you don’t have to worry about booking lightning lanes/utilizing Genie+ for any rides since that access is included in your tour. One of the most common misconceptions is that VIP tours get to skip to the front of every line, which is not true! You will still have to wait in the lightning lanes, and sometimes even the regular line. My kids love Star Wars, just like their dad, so we visited Star Wars Launch Bay even though we knew we might have to wait in the standard line.
As Disney days tend to do, our time flew by! We did have to prioritize a few rides over others, which was mildly upsetting since I didn’t think we’d have to skip anything during our tour, but lines and travel took up more time than I thought it would. Our guide grabbed us snacks and water at several points during our day, which was very nice and arranged for a quick-service meal towards the end of our time in Hollywood Studios. It’s recommended that you skip sit-down dining during your tour since it can eat up a lot of your valuable time. Your guide may or may not eat with you, just like they may or may not ride the rides with you. It just depends on the guide and the day! Finishing the tour in the VIP area for Harmonious was amazing, we were able to duck in and out for drinks/snacks after we checked in and we were able to snag the table at the very front so our view was fantastic. Our guide left us there around an hour before the show began, and we were given our special VIP pins (and we gave her a very nice tip because she was truly fantastic).
Overall, I loved the tour and I know it won’t be our last (in fact I’m going on two more very soon!). The best value will be found when you can maximize the number of people in the group (10 is the maximum) to split the cost, or when you’re traveling during non-peak times. Conversely, if money isn’t an issue, then booking a VIP tour for peak days can be a great way to help you navigate the crowds and do more!
So are you ready to have the most magical day ever? Contact your favorite Pineapple Escapes agent or email us at info@pineappleescapes.com to get started!
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