Are VIP tours hard to book?

[dieumeye]

We are planning a VIP tour for an upcoming trip, and the booking date is approaching.

How hard are they to book? What are the chances that we’ll be able to get our preferred date?

I have read here and elsewhere that there is more demand for VIP tours than there are available tours and they sell out quickly. I’ve also seen a suggestion to book multiple VIP tour days in a row, and then cancel the earlier days - thereby getting a jump on a later day (like people do with 60+ length of stay dining reservations).

However, I don’t think I have ever seen anyone say they were unable to book a tour. So I’m a little uncertain about how difficult they are to get. I don’t want to get my hopes up if it’s possible that they will sell out “instantly“ on the day they are released.

 

[WIll C]

Never had an issue on the 30 day mark. Popular days will probably sell out quickly but normal days I don't expect you'll have problems, especially with the big price increase for 2023.
I have also not seen any large amount of gripes on some of the Facebook groups either around tours.

 

[T.G.I.Friday]

I think so long as you call in the morning of day 60, you should be fine.

 

[MiketheGrate]

Never had an issue booking a specific day other than when we were booking a tour during Thanksgiving week. I think we had to move it a day or two from where we really wanted it, but it wasn't a huge issue.

 

[HeiHei2018]

Never had an issue on the 30 day mark. Popular days will probably sell out quickly but normal days I don't expect you'll have problems, especially with the big price increase for 2023.
I have also not seen any large amount of gripes on some of the Facebook groups either around tours.

How much was the price increase? (or what is the new range of hourly rates?)

 

[T.G.I.Friday]

How much was the price increase? (or what is the new range of hourly rates?)

$450-$900/hour


https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/e...YEd7L38wmxLorsdDLZQfSbB3TgRRviRcaArI0EALw_wcB

I could be wrong, but I think the range for 2022 was $425-$800.

 

[WIll C]

How much was the price increase? (or what is the new range of hourly rates?)

It's $600 - $900 now (maybe more). We had booked one for next week and the cheapest price was $600/hr. Had to cancel but we'll do one next year and hopefully they don't bump it higher. It is possible there are cheaper pricing later in the year but I doubt it at this point.

 

[10CJ]

What time can you call to book this?

 

[WIll C]

What time can you call to book this

I think it's 10am EST to 5pm EST.

 

[dieumeye]

We were able to book the VIP tour date we wanted without issue at the 60 day mark.

And this is during spring break time, so I imagine demand is fairly high.

 

[10CJ]

We were able to book the VIP tour date we wanted without issue at the 60 day mark.

And this is during spring break time, so I imagine demand is fairly high.

Awesome! What time did you call? How far into your trip was the day you wanted?

 

[dieumeye]

It was actually our TA that called. Prior to calling, she had also stressed that tours fill up quickly so there were no guarantees, and that she has no special access to tours as a TA, so she’d be calling the line just like everybody else.

She called at 9am eastern (6am pacific), which was the time she was told VIP tours for our trip would be available. We wanted a tour two days after our arrival day. We got the date we wanted.

 

[10CJ]

Thanks for the additional details!

 

[mmouse50]

If you book a VIP tour for 1 park (8 hours preferably 10-6) - do you have to give them a list of rides that you want to ride ahead of time or is basically do it on the fly like any another other day of touring? I know that they will pick you up at your resort if requested but would it be better to meet them at the park? What do you do about eating lunch - eat a big breakfast and pack a lot of snacks or plan on stopping to eat? Will eat a sit down dinner at the conclusion of the tour.

 

[WIll C]

They'd like a list but it's not anything you have to stick to. We gave them our must dos but plans changed during the tour.

I would suggest meeting in your first park so you're not wasting time with the transfer to the park. Eat breakfast and just grab snacks during the tour, or take a break for a mobile ordered ahead quick service meal.

 

[Minnie1222]

If you book a VIP tour for 1 park (8 hours preferably 10-6)

You're planning to do only ONE park? The best thing about this tour is getting picked up from your hotel and get driven from park to park.

 

[mmouse50]

Going over a holiday weekend and for my group 1 park 8 hours - guessing that we will be able to do 8 rides - I do have park hoppers so if it looks like we will get done early I can move to another park. Planning on doing The Studios and touring plans lists it as a 9 for the day I want to do the tour on

 

[T.G.I.Friday]

I don’t know your group size/dynamic, but I think you are going to have way more time than you need.

We’ve done two tours on fairly busy days, and both times we spent probably no more than 2 hours at HS and did -

ToT
MMRR
Slinky
TSMM
Smuggler’s Run

I would have another park with some rides in mind just in case you find you have a lot of extra time to use.

Have fun!

 

[john7994]

Going over a holiday weekend and for my group 1 park 8 hours - guessing that we will be able to do 8 rides - I do have park hoppers so if it looks like we will get done early I can move to another park. Planning on doing The Studios and touring plans lists it as a 9 for the day I want to do the tour on

We have had groups of 6 - 10, and did the headliners in all 4 parks. It really depends on how you want to pace day, what rides are must-haves, and the mobility level of the people in your group. Not suggesting hitting all 4 parks is a "right" answer - its just how we utilized our time. Access to most rides is via LL entrance - so your "wait-time" per ride will vary based on that entrance activity at the time. Some rides have unique access points for the guide to utilize for the group.

Its good idea to have some sense of what you want to do and communicate this upfront with your guide - they also are willing to accommodate changes in a park itinerary on the fly. VIP Tours typically require Park Hopper enabled tickets as part of the restrictions for the tour. We made the mistake of having day tickets non-park hoppers and I had to pay the difference.

 

[mmouse50]

Is there any idea of how long you will wait for a ride? I was thinking 1 hour per ride so not to rush getting to from ride to ride - is that too long? Wanting to do Rise, Slinky dog , TSM, MMRR, RNR and TOT at the Studios Columbus Day weekend - could do RNR and TOT at early entry so we could take that off the tour and go to Epcot for Test Track, Remy, GoG and Frozen Does anyone think that could be done in 8 hours?