Holly's Disney World VIP Tour Rating: 2 out of 5
For our trip to Disney world we decided to use a Disney tour guide this was something I had always wanted to try since I saw it at Disneyland. Since we only had four days at the park and nine people who wanted to see everything this was our best option. I was mostly happy with the service but we will not use it again there are a few reason for this. I do want to try the Disneyland option still. Our guide for all three day as was Ray and while he was a good guide yet I feel that if we had a different guide this may be a different review entirely. Keep in mind that the cost for this tour is now $360.00-$500.00 per hour for a minimum of 6 hours the cost at the time of our trip was $355.00.Park admission is not included with the tour.I suggest that if you are going to book a tour to Disney to use the Disney service if you Google it you will find many options for a much lower price however they are not Disney approved.
Ray would pick us up at our hotel or meet us at the parks depending on what I had planned for the day. I was able to time our start and ends times to go with places we wanted to go or were scheduled to eat at after or before the tour. The nice thing about the guide is they will pick you up at hotel and take you to the park likewise this is how you get from park to park. The pickup is one of the best reasons to take this tour you get dropped off at the back of the parks the employee entrance so you never have to worry about waiting to get into the park. Your guide will take you key to the world cards and scan you into the park upon arrival.
Your guide is basically a human fast past who knows the best shortcuts to get from point A to point B they will not take you to the front of the line you still will have to wait but only fastpass wait times usually no more than 10-15 min a ride. The guide will point out things as you move along the park things that you would not notice such as the hidden mickeys that are all over all the parks. If you want a snack or a drink your guide will go get it for you with your key to the world card one perk is you never have to take time out to stand in line for a dole whip!
There was special seating to Fantasmic and we loved this show it was so magical and since maleficent has been my favorite villain since childhood I was excited, both kids enjoyed it and we will see this again for sure when we go back to Disney World. This really is a good show but it filled up fast so if you are not using a guide get there early to make sure you get a good seat it looked like the middle to upper area was the best view of this show.
Over the three days we saw all the rides and things that we wanted to see within reason even with the guide there is so much we were unable to see such as most of Epcot. Our reason for the guide was the rides and the shows and that was all I wanted to use him for to get the most for our money. Our guide worked hard to insure we saw what was on my list luckily we had seen all the characters when we were on our Disney cruise because there seem to not be the time.
Unfortunately there were some real negative aspects to our dream vacation and the service. One issue we found is we booked this partly because my mother in law and grandmother have issues with walking fast and standing for a long time, we had to keep reminding our guide of this as he was so fast sometimes the kids could not keep up I understand that it was his job to make sure we got the things on our list done but it made for some cranky people who could not keep up and there crankiness was understandable we paid a lot of money to have a relaxing trip to Disney not a race to the finish around the parks.
Our other issue was a major one that did not come to light until our last day and our last hour. When using the service you get special seating at some of the shows and this is where our experience with the tour went down the magic drain. I knew that when you do the tour guide and Disneyland you get a special area to sit during the main street parades and I was looking forward to this option I even asked when booking our tour if we would get to see the parade and castle lighting and so on with the guide like in Disneyland I was informed that we would feel like we were in the parade and have a magical viewing, unfortunately our experience was less than magical. The night we went to see the night time parade and the lighting of the castle our guide told me there was no place to see the light parade and castle lighting except in the middle of a few hundred people so we had to stand behind rows of people who got there an hour or more early and were unable to even see the parade floats at all. I was upset since we had planned the light parade and the castle for the last hour on our last day we were unable to try to see it on our own. After I got home I saw that the site also says this is something they I still have not received a reason why we were unable to the fact was we missed something from my childhood I really wanted to share with my children and paid a lot to miss.
Compared to the Universal tours the Disney tour is not worth the money to my family while having a non stop fast pass for every ride was a perk along with the park to park private transportation. I enjoyed having a knowledgeable guide who knew the park inside and out. However there were too many negatives to justify the price $355.00 per hour cost we paid for our tour times. The fact that we were unable to get a good view of the parade that was so important to us was also a major factor in this not being worth the cost along with having to constantly having to tell our guide to slow down was an issue. All in all our guide was good in some respects however while he was knowledgeable he really seemed like he had other places he rather be instead of touring us around this is unacceptable when you pay the high cost this tour is especially in the happiest place on earth. While I normally give all the benefits of doubt to something I review there is no way I would recommend this tour.
Cost and Details
Our total for three days at 6 hours a day we paid a total of 6390.00 along with a 150.00 tip per day bring our total to 6840.00 plus the cost of park admission. The prices have been raised since our trip.
Cost is 360.00 to 500.00 depending on the time you book if you book during peak times you will have the peak rate.
Admission is not included in the cost you will need to get multi-park admission if you plan on doing more than one park.
All Private Premium VIP Tours have a minimum duration of 6 continuous hours up to 10 people including children. More than 10 and you will need to pay for another guide at the same rate.
You have to pay in full when you book the tour and have a credit card with the office the day of the tour in case you go over you time.
You can book your tour at 407-560-4033
