VIP tour

[sosoready]

We did one a few years ago, it is a different animal but was a good way to see the park. We were 4 in a group of 8 or so and it was a very prescribed tour. We got fotl access for the predetermined rides once with the group and in the order the guide took us, no individualization like on Disney's.

 

[Malcon10t]

malcon seems to have done a lot of vip tours, so he/she may have guides more willing to break rules, so I wouldn’t go by what they say as something anyone would get.

my understanding is that the official rule is that any reride would have to go through the line again.

I have done a lot of tours, true, but guides do not "break rules." It really is up to the person running the ride how they want to do a reride. All I tell a guide is that the kids may want to ride more than once. For example, once my granddaughter wanted to ride Screamin' 5x in a row, the tour guide arranged for them to stay on. When they rode Goofy's 10x (nothing any adult would willingly do), they circled off and around. When they re-rode Smugglers, they came out and went back thru the line the first time, the second time, the ride operator had them step off to the side, and placed them back in the room to reride. It is totally up to the ride operator. And I never ask to stay on.

As for WDW, my daughter was there in Oct, and did a VIP tour with friends. On several rides, they were asked if they wanted to stay on for a reride. (We were discussing as I asked if she knew if/how the kids stayed on for the Smugglers reride.)

 

[Iceman93]

Good Lord, what's your annual budget for VIP tours???

 

[Malcon10t]

Good Lord, what's your annual budget for VIP tours???

Not so much a budget, but a long story.

 

[Steven G]

Malcon, I asked for re-rides on my first two tours, and were firmly, but extremely politely, rebuffed, unless I wanted to go through the same line again.

Just as "hollywood" stars get a different experience, someone like Malcon will get a different experience from a first time VIP tour taker. I am not saying it's a good or bad thing, just a fact (they want to make sure you keep on taking those tours).

I do apologize that I stated that it's the tour guides who "break the rules", yes, you are correct that it's ultimately the ride operators who make that decision. However, if the ride operators know of your "status", either through personal knowledge, or through the guides, don't you think it's more likely that they would allow you to re-ride?

It's entirely possible, that now that I have 3 vip tours at DL, and 2 tours at WDW, that I may start getting those same favors if I start asking for them, I have no idea. I probably won't ask, because I don't want to put the VIP tour guide on the spot at this point.

However, what I do know, is that even on my first tour, when wait times were really bad, the tour guides did not wait in the FastPass (LL) line when there was another option, but took us through a back entrance, or cut the line somewhere closer to the front then a FastPass would do. That is what (at least in DL) has changed, in my experience. It could have been because it was December 26, and it was very busy, but the guide made it sound like it was a permanent change for most VIP tours, unless they can be convinced to change.

 

[Chickinvic]

Not so much a budget, but a long story.

I'd love to hear it.

 

[dina444444]

I will post as a separate topic on the other board but not sure if it gets much traffic over there. Have any of you done the VIP tour at Universal? That price point seems somewhat reasonable.

I’ve done the group vip tour at universal and I’m a local. It was well with the money and we are talking about doing it again possibly in March.

 

[Steven G]

I will post as a separate topic on the other board but not sure if it gets much traffic over there. Have any of you done the VIP tour at Universal? That price point seems somewhat reasonable.

it is well worth the money. These are the advantages over getting universal express pass:

1) the studio tour is much much better. instead Of 4 large tram buses, there is one small vip trolley, and you get to walk around sets, and get a lot more information.

2) the lunch you get is some of the best theme park food anywhere. It is a full buffet lunch.

3) during The tour, you will generally skip almost all of the line, even beyond the universal express pass.

4) The tour guide is generally excellent in all ways. On rides that usually require a locker (Harry Potter and mummy) they will hold your stuff so you don’t need a locker. They will also have ponchos for you for Jurassic world. They are also usually very knowledgeable about the park.

the disadvantages are that you are with at least one other group of people, and the guide typically has a set schedule of what and when they will take you on (to not interfere with other vip tours). This is usually not a problem because during the tour you will see almost everything, except maybe two or three things, and after the tour is over, your vip badge will still get you In the universal express line, if you want to see them. The guides can be flexible, and you are of course not required to ride something that you don’t want to.

Also, if you love to shop, any shopping time would have to be before or after the tour.

there is also the option, if you wish, to leave the tour at anytime. Some people just do it for the studio tour and lunch, and leave after both of those are over.

for example, on my latest universal vip, we didn’t ride minions, kung fu panda, or animal actors show.

 

[evilmommie]

If you have someone who knows the parks and you are willing in use Genie+ and LL, in my opinion you don’t need a VIP tour service on non holiday weeks/days. That’s been our experience since reopening and current situation.

 

[poptart90]

On our VIP tours we had to exit every ride and re-enter to re-ride. One time when we asked to re-ride Pooh (there was literally no line) we were told no by our guide who was sitting with us. He didn't even ask the Ride Operator, so we exited and walked around. While waiting to board, we watched another VIP tour stay on with their guide going gliding right past. It was a little awkward. When I questioned our guide as to why they got to stay on to re-ride, he told me there were "different levels" of VIP tours....um, ok. Apparently, we were paying for the poo-poo level. Of course I do get that concept, I'm certainly no celebrity, but I second @Steven G above. There is definitely no standard of VIP experience that can be counted on, IMO.

We LOVED the Universal VIP tour. We just pulled the plug and rebooked DL, but the other option was VIP at Universal...and it was a very close second this time!

 

[Malcon10t]

I do apologize that I stated that it's the tour guides who "break the rules", yes, you are correct that it's ultimately the ride operators who make that decision. However, if the ride operators know of your "status", either through personal knowledge, or through the guides, don't you think it's more likely that they would allow you to re-ride?

I think if the ride operator and the guide know each other, it is probably more likely. That said, I am usually waiting at the exit, and the guide has the grandkids and their aunts.

It's entirely possible, that now that I have 3 vip tours at DL, and 2 tours at WDW, that I may start getting those same favors if I start asking for them, I have no idea. I probably won't ask, because I don't want to put the VIP tour guide on the spot at this point.

To be honest, I never ask. I will simply say "I think L wants to ride a couple times", and wait for everyone. If they have to go back thru the line, fine with me. Sometimes the guide will come out to me and say "The kids wanted to go again, so we sent them again."

However, what I do know, is that even on my first tour, when wait times were really bad, the tour guides did not wait in the FastPass (LL) line when there was another option, but took us through a back entrance, or cut the line somewhere closer to the front then a FastPass would do. That is what (at least in DL) has changed, in my experience. It could have been because it was December 26, and it was very busy, but the guide made it sound like it was a permanent change for most VIP tours, unless they can be convinced to change.

I think it will be a change for a while, but not necessarily permanent. Things come and go all the time with tours. Tours have a LOT more access now compared to even 5 years ago. It has only been the last few years we had side door accesses that had prior only been allowed to celebs. Even this last trip, I saw Slash using the LL at Haunted with his guide. (You wouldn't have recognized him if you didn't know it was him.)

 

[twodogs]

We have done 5 VIPs at WDW but never felt we needed it at DLR due to MP. We will have to see how we feel after we return to DLR with G+.

We just did our most recent WDW VIP the week of Christmas. Our usual guide was off that day, but she kindly arranged for her best friend, who is also a guide, to be ours for the day. She was also wonderful! We were able to visit with our usual guide another day we were at the parks, and she said there have been some recent changes that the guides are unhappy about. One of those was the strictness of using the LLs, not the back entrances that they used to use on some rides. There are still some exceptions to this. We did notice that we used a "cut through" the LL (through a side door) on FOP when the LL was backed up. When we re-rode it, the LL was moving well, so we didn't use that side door. For TSMM, there is a separate line for VIPs that happens right after the merge of the LL and the SB line; this saves a lot of time usually, and this was still in use this trip. We were also given the option to skip the stretching room for HM, which we did, and got right onto the Doom Buggy. The LLs were remarkably short our entire trip, including our VIP day, so waits were very minimal. You can only ride ROTR and Remy's once on the VIP tour, which was what we were expecting, so no big deal.

I'm sure the more tours you take, the more little touches might be offered. Our guide was telling us how booked up they had been (there were 95 VIP tours going on that day, which was still 6 days before Christmas), but that a family who had already done 6 VIP tours this year (!) had called and wanted to get one, and they "found a way" even though all tours were booked. As Malcon said, if the guide knows the ride operator, sometimes pixie dust happens. We have had pixie dust from our long time guide on days when we have met up with her to say hi, when we are not on tour that day.

It is such an expensive thing, it makes me sad that everyone doesn't get the same, full experience. It would be terrible to pay that much and have a disappointing day. I hope this doesn't happen to OP again.

 

[dominickolas]

May I please ask the universal experts a couple questions about the shared VIP tour. I'm not staying on site so I think it may eliminate the need for express passes and a 2nd day, so it appears to be a good fit. But...
1. Our group of 4 has two kids that are not interested or tall enough for the big coasters, Velocicoaster or RRR, does this make this a silly purchase?
2. Can you request how early your tour begins or is it based on check-in time on the day of?

Thank you for your help.

 

[dina444444]

May I please ask the universal experts a couple questions about the shared VIP tour. I'm not staying on site so I think it may eliminate the need for express passes and a 2nd day, so it appears to be a good fit. But...
1. Our group of 4 has two kids that are not interested or tall enough for the big coasters, Velocicoaster or RRR, does this make this a silly purchase?
2. Can you request how early your tour begins or is it based on check-in time on the day of?

Thank you for your help.

I think you may get answers on the universal Orlando section of the board. Up thread we are talking about the tour at universal studios Hollywood.

 

[Steven G]

May I please ask the universal experts a couple questions about the shared VIP tour. I'm not staying on site so I think it may eliminate the need for express passes and a 2nd day, so it appears to be a good fit. But...
1. Our group of 4 has two kids that are not interested or tall enough for the big coasters, Velocicoaster or RRR, does this make this a silly purchase?
2. Can you request how early your tour begins or is it based on check-in time on the day of?

Thank you for your help.

For orlando, the universal VIP has some small differences (see above for my review of the Universal Hollywood VIP shared tour)
1) You can go on Hagrid's and (I believe) Veloci-coaster during the tour with minimum wait as an added benefit compared to universal express. This is a positive, if you want to go on those two rides.
2) There is no "studio tour", however to replace that you go "behind the scenes" on some of the rides (usually Men in Black). I did not find this to be anywhere near the experience as in Los Angeles, so this is a distinct negative.
3) The lunch is not quite as good as the one in California, in my opinion. So also a negative.

It is otherwise very similar in what it gets you.

To answer your questions:

1) There are enough rides that it may still be a good choice.
2) When you buy ticket, you choose the time (as they are available)

One more thing, if you happen to get one of the "universal express" hotels like Hard Rock Hotel, you are basically double paying for the VIP tour and the express pass on the same day, so that is a distinct negative. Even though the "universal express" is "free" when you stay at the hotel, it obviously is baked into the price of your room.

 

[dominickolas]

Steven Thank you.

It basically comes down to 2 days park hopper with Express for about $365 a person or 1 day with VIP for $350 a person. At the risk of it being a long day, I think that the VIP would be better, because of the perks of food and also parking.

 

[Steven G]

as long as that VIP tour price is for both parks (not just 1), I would say go with the vip. Please note that the VIP tour will hit maybe 66 to 75% of the rides during the tour, but you can hit any that were missed after the tour is over by using the universal express line.

For example, if your group is thrill seekers, they will probably skip suess land, etc.

 

[diznee princess]

For orlando, the universal VIP has some small differences (see above for my review of the Universal Hollywood VIP shared tour)
1) You can go on Hagrid's and (I believe) Veloci-coaster during the tour with minimum wait as an added benefit compared to universal express. This is a positive, if you want to go on those two rides.
2) There is no "studio tour", however to replace that you go "behind the scenes" on some of the rides (usually Men in Black). I did not find this to be anywhere near the experience as in Los Angeles, so this is a distinct negative.
3) The lunch is not quite as good as the one in California, in my opinion. So also a negative.

It is otherwise very similar in what it gets you.

To answer your questions:

1) There are enough rides that it may still be a good choice.
2) When you buy ticket, you choose the time (as they are available)

One more thing, if you happen to get one of the "universal express" hotels like Hard Rock Hotel, you are basically double paying for the VIP tour and the express pass on the same day, so that is a distinct negative. Even though the "universal express" is "free" when you stay at the hotel, it obviously is baked into the price of your room.

We recently did the VIP Hollywood and though expensive it was so worth it for a 1 day visit. Lunch was great in a nice private dining room! not so much the choices at continental breakfast but still nicely set up. We appreciated the unlimited cold water bottles, hand sanitizer wipe packages, lip balm and rain ponchos. It was a hot day and that park is on a hill in the sun. We are contemplating the tour in Orlando next week. We only have 2 days before our DCL cruise. So since we haven't been in a few years i thought we might do the VIP to get the most out of the day. Since it could be on a Friday I think it may be crowded.

Im still trying to decide to do this and stay at Cabana Bay resort or get 2 nights in deluxe resort with the EP. Arrival night and friday night before driving to PC Sat morning for DCL. Wondering with parking, 2 extra adults in room of 4 for ep it might not be better way to go. VIP Valet parking is included with tour.

 

[mom25kiddos]

This has been super helpful-we are contemplating VIP tours and now leaning towards one at USH-need to go search more threads to find out more!

 

[Steven G]

If you want to consider other vip tours...

San Diego area
Legoland.. for kids 9 and under and Lego lovers, it's definitely fun.
Sea world... They seem to have scaled back their options, but still offer. Its mostly to see multiple up close encounters with animals in a private tour.
San Diego zoo... This was awesome a few years ago, not sure if it's scaled back. Mainly for people who enjoy close encounters with animals. Note that the safari park in escondido area also has their own separate tour which I have not tried.

Los Angeles...
Most of the studios have vip tours, Sony, wb, and paramount, but they are not running right now. They tend to be similar to what you would get at universal vip, with some variations on what you see.
Disneyland of course..
Six flags magic mountain ... Believe it or not they have one. I have not taken this one, but it looks similar to what Disneyland offers.