VIP Tour - January 2022

[ZerasPride]

Good morning everyone!

I am so excited to have booked a VIP tour for our January trip. I did a search and garnered some great info but have a few questions with the new lightning lanes in place.

Anyone that has taken a tour recently care to comment on how LL's impacted your ability to get on rides?

Did you stop for a quick service meal? I was thinking with my DH's health (not good unfortunately) it would be a good idea to pace ourselves and take a little break (30 minutes maybe) at some point.

Did you meet your guide at your resort or at a park? I am thinking we will meet at Hollywood Studios at 1:30 and either stop at 8:30 at Epcot and have the guide get us back to the resort or go another hour and watch Harmonious. Not sure yet.

Any other tips you would care to share? I am so excited I was able to book this tour! I thought it would be all sold out since I am passed the 60 day mark but all the dates I was interested in were open and I "only" waited about 20 minutes on the phone line!

 

[prgal0715]

Congrats on the tour! Am I correct in my assumption that you've booked the Private VIP Tour? Unless things have changed drastically since the launch of LL, one of the perks of splurging on a VIP Tour is getting to bypass the line with your tour guide. You get transportation to and from the parks as well as flexible timing so you can start at 1:30 and stop to eat whenever you want. Enjoy!!

 

[ZerasPride]

Congrats on the tour! Am I correct in my assumption that you've booked the Private VIP Tour? Unless things have changed drastically since the launch of LL, one of the perks of splurging on a VIP Tour is getting to bypass the line with your tour guide. You get transportation to and from the parks as well as flexible timing so you can start at 1:30 and stop to eat whenever you want. Enjoy!!

Thanks for commenting! Yes, I booked the Private VIP Tour. From what I understand, there are certain rides that may have a bypass entrance but in general we will use the LLs. If I am wrong, then that makes me even happier but I am trying to manage expectations. We did not want to waste touring time having the guide pick us up since we are staying at BCV we can just take the boat over to Hollywood Studios after a leisurely breakfast at the resort. But we will have the guide drop us off at the end of the day. I am sure we will be exhausted!

 

[quandrea]

Following, as I’ll be booking soon. How was your booking experience? What time did you get through on the phone?

 

[holden]

You can start the tour wherever you want. Once we started inside AK and another time we were picked up at our resort.

You can stop to eat, but even quick service will probably take more than 30 minutes. We don’t stop to eat; we just grab snacks along the way or bring snacks with us. The nice thing about the tour is you can do whatever you want.

Let your guide know which attractions you want to do. He/she/they will make it happen!

 

[WIll C]

From what I have been told about the VIP tours from people that have been on them lately (we have one booked for January as well), you don't skip the LL queue, you get put into it like everyone else that bought it or has a VIP tour. I'm hoping when we go it won't be too crowded. It was priced at the lowest rate so crossing fingers.

Lines open at 9am EST and you can call 60 days in advance of your trip. I think that's trip+resort stay as we called at 60 to our first day and booked a later day in our stay for it.

They were super helpful on the phone to help you understand things.

We opted to meet our guide at AK and then do that, HS and end up in MK for the fireworks. I suspect we'll get everything we want done but we're not stopping to eat other than perhaps some snacks.

 

[ZerasPride]

Following, as I’ll be booking soon. How was your booking experience? What time did you get through on the phone?

I was pleasantly surprised that my hold was only about 30 minutes. I was on hold to book a cabana 2 separate days (long story) and my holds were in excess of 4 hours!! The phone line opens at 9:00 and I hit #1 right away without listening to the entire prompt menu. Hope that helps! And I was assisted by a lovely cast member who took her time setting up our day. It was a great experience overall.

 

[karenc15]

Good morning everyone!

I am so excited to have booked a VIP tour for our January trip. I did a search and garnered some great info but have a few questions with the new lightning lanes in place.

Anyone that has taken a tour recently care to comment on how LL's impacted your ability to get on rides?

Did you stop for a quick service meal? I was thinking with my DH's health (not good unfortunately) it would be a good idea to pace ourselves and take a little break (30 minutes maybe) at some point.

Did you meet your guide at your resort or at a park? I am thinking we will meet at Hollywood Studios at 1:30 and either stop at 8:30 at Epcot and have the guide get us back to the resort or go another hour and watch Harmonious. Not sure yet.

Any other tips you would care to share? I am so excited I was able to book this tour! I thought it would be all sold out since I am passed the 60 day mark but all the dates I was interested in were open and I "only" waited about 20 minutes on the phone line!

Hi, I just went on a 7 hour tour on Nov. 23. So glad I did because there was no way with the Thanksgiving crowds that we would have been able to get on all the rides that we did even in the span of the four days there.

We decided to meet the guide at Hollywood Studios since most of the rides we wanted to ride were there (MMRR, ROTR, Slinky, RNR, TSM). They suggested Baseline Tap Room as the meeting place since it was on the edge of Galaxy's Edge. We decided to meet at 1PM so that we could eat lunch on our own, carry snacks and end the day at the VIP section for the MK fireworks.

We didn't stop for food, although by 6PM, everyone was rather hungry. Not everyone in our group wanted to ride Space Mountain at that time, so we mobile ordered some food and a few people went to pick it up. Our guide brought us water and some ice cream snacks at that time too.

It was a long day, but we hit all four parks. Remy was down when we got there, but we were able to repeat one ride twice to make up for it. Toward the end of the day we were a little roller-coastered out, having done FOP, EE, Space Mountain and SDMT (x2) kind of all close together.

Was a great once-in-a-lifetime experience...although we're never going to look at those long lines the same again! Let me know if you have any more questions!

 

[trompettecon]

Good morning everyone!

I am so excited to have booked a VIP tour for our January trip. I did a search and garnered some great info but have a few questions with the new lightning lanes in place.

Anyone that has taken a tour recently care to comment on how LL's impacted your ability to get on rides?

Did you stop for a quick service meal? I was thinking with my DH's health (not good unfortunately) it would be a good idea to pace ourselves and take a little break (30 minutes maybe) at some point.

Did you meet your guide at your resort or at a park? I am thinking we will meet at Hollywood Studios at 1:30 and either stop at 8:30 at Epcot and have the guide get us back to the resort or go another hour and watch Harmonious. Not sure yet.

Any other tips you would care to share? I am so excited I was able to book this tour! I thought it would be all sold out since I am passed the 60 day mark but all the dates I was interested in were open and I "only" waited about 20 minutes on the phone line!

We are also doing one at the beginning of January. Getting picked up at the Swan at 8h15. Full MK. Might head over to HS if there is time.You get to use all the LLs + some backstage entrances at some attractions. Can NOT wait! No meals appeal to us at MK so we'll make do with Dolewhip LOL Plus I would not want to waste on of those $$$ Private Tour hours! I'll make sure the guide is ok though

 

[trompettecon]

Following, as I’ll be booking soon. How was your booking experience? What time did you get through on the phone?

2 hours on the phone and then they hung up! Ended up using a TA.

 

[quandrea]

2 hours on the phone and then they hung up! Ended up using a TA.

That is awful! Did you book a whole trip, plus a vip with a TA.

 

[quandrea]

Hi, I just went on a 7 hour tour on Nov. 23. So glad I did because there was no way with the Thanksgiving crowds that we would have been able to get on all the rides that we did even in the span of the four days there.

We decided to meet the guide at Hollywood Studios since most of the rides we wanted to ride were there (MMRR, ROTR, Slinky, RNR, TSM). They suggested Baseline Tap Room as the meeting place since it was on the edge of Galaxy's Edge. We decided to meet at 1PM so that we could eat lunch on our own, carry snacks and end the day at the VIP section for the MK fireworks.

We didn't stop for food, although by 6PM, everyone was rather hungry. Not everyone in our group wanted to ride Space Mountain at that time, so we mobile ordered some food and a few people went to pick it up. Our guide brought us water and some ice cream snacks at that time too.

It was a long day, but we hit all four parks. Remy was down when we got there, but we were able to repeat one ride twice to make up for it. Toward the end of the day we were a little roller-coastered out, having done FOP, EE, Space Mountain and SDMT (x2) kind of all close together.

Was a great once-in-a-lifetime experience...although we're never going to look at those long lines the same again! Let me know if you have any more questions!

You say repeat one ride twice to make up for a closure. I thought on vip tours one can ride as many times as desired.

 

[trompettecon]

That is awful! Did you book a whole trip, plus a vip with a TA.

For Disney I booked everything myself online. For the VIP I booked with a TA.

 

[karenc15]

You say repeat one ride twice to make up for a closure. I thought on vip tours one can ride as many times as desired.

Yes you can ride as many times as you like. I gave a list of rides without any repeats at each park which we managed to fit in. Because of the closure, we had a bit of extra time, so that's why we repeated a ride.

 

[quandrea]

For Disney I booked everything myself online. For the VIP I booked with a TA.

I did t know that was something one could do. Thanks.

 

[ZerasPride]

Hi, I just went on a 7 hour tour on Nov. 23. So glad I did because there was no way with the Thanksgiving crowds that we would have been able to get on all the rides that we did even in the span of the four days there.

We decided to meet the guide at Hollywood Studios since most of the rides we wanted to ride were there (MMRR, ROTR, Slinky, RNR, TSM). They suggested Baseline Tap Room as the meeting place since it was on the edge of Galaxy's Edge. We decided to meet at 1PM so that we could eat lunch on our own, carry snacks and end the day at the VIP section for the MK fireworks.

We didn't stop for food, although by 6PM, everyone was rather hungry. Not everyone in our group wanted to ride Space Mountain at that time, so we mobile ordered some food and a few people went to pick it up. Our guide brought us water and some ice cream snacks at that time too.

It was a long day, but we hit all four parks. Remy was down when we got there, but we were able to repeat one ride twice to make up for it. Toward the end of the day we were a little roller-coastered out, having done FOP, EE, Space Mountain and SDMT (x2) kind of all close together.

Was a great once-in-a-lifetime experience...although we're never going to look at those long lines the same again! Let me know if you have any more questions!

Thanks so much for sharing your experience! Can you tell me how was your guide? I have read experiences where some rave about how engaging and accommodating their guide was and others that said their guide was a dud. I am hoping for someone more engaging. I have requested Kelly Ball and Tom Fox. Hope we get one of them! If not, I'm sure it will be fine. Just excited for this once in a lifetime opportunity!

It is suggested that we meet our guide near the entrance once inside Hollywood Studios by the stroller rental. I wonder if we should change the meet to closer to GE. Interesting. Will have to talk to my husband about that. Your itinerary sounds similar to ours: starting off at HS (MMRR, ROTR, Slinky and TSM) and ending up at fireworks viewing. Thanks again for sharing.

 

[ZerasPride]

2 hours on the phone and then they hung up! Ended up using a TA.

Sorry that happened. I had a similar experience when booking a cabana after 4-1/2 hours on hold. I was NOT a happy camper. But glad it worked out for you!

 

[kungaloosh22]

...end the day at the VIP section for the MK fireworks.

Just out of curiosity, where was that and how was it?

 

[ZerasPride]

Just out of curiosity, where was that and how was it?

I would be interested to know as well. We are debating ending at MK with Enchantment or Epcot with Harmonious in the VIP area. Any reviews?

 

[karenc15]

I would be interested to know as well. We are debating ending at MK with Enchantment or Epcot with Harmonious in the VIP area. Any reviews?

The VIP area was the green section in front Casey's Corner. Despite it being the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, there was plenty of room. It gave us a pretty unobstructed view of the castle. I'm attaching a picture I took from that viewing area. I don't know where the VIP area for Harmonious was, but we got to the Epcot lagoon about 10 minutes before the show started and was able to get a decent viewing spot next to some of the standing tables. Have to say, Harmonious and Enchantment were two of my favorite moments during our 4 days.