Disneyland Resort VIP Tours
Disneyland Resort VIP Tours
4.5
8:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Monday
8:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Tuesday
8:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Wednesday
8:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Thursday
8:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Friday
8:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Saturday
8:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Sunday
8:00 AM - 11:59 PM
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Lcolorad
Denver, CO3 contributions
Nov 2022 • Friends
$4000 dollars to listen to a Disney employee complain all day. “Zero” stars if I could. We’ve done the VIP tour at least a dozen times, and each time spend $4k or more per tour. And we’ve lived it every time…except today.
THIS time we had a new tour guide. And she was terrible. We went on max 5 rides all day, she spent most of the day talking about what and who she knows in the park and complaining about working too much, walking too much and in general, being rude.
Seriously, if you aren’t a positive person, don’t work for Disney.
Strongly recommend vetting your tour guide before you do this and it’s obvious the quality of your guide has declined.
THIS time we had a new tour guide. And she was terrible. We went on max 5 rides all day, she spent most of the day talking about what and who she knows in the park and complaining about working too much, walking too much and in general, being rude.
Seriously, if you aren’t a positive person, don’t work for Disney.
Strongly recommend vetting your tour guide before you do this and it’s obvious the quality of your guide has declined.
Written November 23, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jeff M
San Francisco, CA6 contributions
Feb 2024 • Family
Our guide was great. However, this is not a "VIP" tour and it is not like the Disney VIP tours elsewhere, like in Paris. The VIP tour at Disneyland is basically just unlimited use of the Lightening Lanes, nothing more, nothing less. You will be forced to wait in those Lightening Lane lines no matter how long they are. You are not brought to the front of the lines like you are at other parks. This is a waste of money and in the end doesn't make you feel all that special. Disneyland needs to rethink this offering to ensure that people on the VIP tour skip the Lightening Lane lines for every ride.
Written February 28, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jessica O
7 contributions
Jun 2024 • Family
Our VIP tour with Mauricio was incredible. Details were planned out over the weeks leading up to our tour via email/phone with the Disneyland VIP team. The day of the tour, we used lightning lanes and entered through exits of each ride. Mauricio gave us background info and interesting facts throughout the day. He was fantastic with my 5 yr old niece and she adored him. The experience is very expensive, but for our large group of 8 it was well worth it. We were able to ride everything on our list in 7 hours and never had to wait more than 10 mins even for Rise of the Resistance and Matterhorn. The day was relaxed and so fun! Thank you, Mauricio!
Written June 9, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
maggsd
Bellevue, WA204 contributions
May 2023 • Friends
My family booked a 2 day VIP Tour Guide at Disneyland. As we were a large party, we have found that the VIP tour is the way to go as the guide keeps the day moving and there aren't as many debates as to where we should go. We were lucky enough to be paired with Trina - her knowledge of the park was unrivaled. Anytime our family ran into issues during our stay she was there to aid & assist. Trina goes above and beyond and we were so lucky to spend two days with her! Thank you Trina!
Written May 16, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Momsfun
Pittsburgh, PA154 contributions
Jul 2016 • Family
We booked the VIP premium tour for July of 2016 at Disneyland California. It was an amazing opportunity with one exception that I will detail at the end of this review.
We were going to be at Disneyland for only one and a half days, and have no immediate plans to return as we live in Pennsylvania, and are Disney World regulars, so we wanted to try to see and do as much as possible in our limited time.
Disney offers a wide variety of tours, this was a personally guided tour where your tour guide will take you to anything listed on their "available" offerings. It is a list with (at the time of our booking) 29 attractions available. They are either rides with fastpass access, or "preferred" access. If fastpass is available, you get in the fastpass lane, and if preferred, they usually use an exit to enter.
Our tour guide Nataly was absolutely the best. She was very friendly, very knowledgeable, and willing to anything to make our day the best. I fell in love with her when she met us at our designated meeting spot, looked at the list of our requests (quite extensive) and said immediately, " I CAN DO THIS"!
As we walked around she offered all kinds of fun and interesting information on Disneyland that we would never have learned without her.
This tour is pricey, per hour depends on the season, ours was $450/hour with a 6 hour minimum...but on a blistering hot Saturday in July, was worth every penny. We saved a ridiculous amount of time-I think we did 20 attractions in 6 hours, and the calculated time in regular lines that day was double to triple. The tour also includes a service to book dining, shows, parades, etc. that can extend past your time with your guide. As an example we had finished our time with Nataly, but we were booked (with seating) for the paint the night parade, the fireworks and world of color, all in the same evening. It was amazing!
Now, the only negative-when dealing with the VIP tour specialists prior to our arrival I feel their communication was very poor. 2 examples are- when I talked to the specialist on my initial phone call and she took all of our requests, she then sent an email confirmation that did not include the dining and show information we had just talked about. The email stated if you have any questions ask. So I emailed back for clarification, received neither an email or phone call in response. I waited a few days, called and then was told someone in a saucy voice "your requests are here" and proceeded to rattle them off. Obviously it was great she had them but did not communicated this to me. Later I needed another question answered, same deal no response. Then when they needed me for something, I answered and again in her email "if you have any questions", which I did, and again no response without a phone call.
These tour days can be very complex as you try to juggle your family's schedules with the Disney attraction schedules, dining, etc. I do not care for people/customers who torture employees just because they can. I had booked the tour 4 months in advance and I contacted them I believe a total of 3 times only and feel they could have been a little more responsive to my questions.
Thank goodness for Nataly because she saved my entire opinion of their VIP program. I had actually printed out the entire email chain I was so unhappy with the service prior to our arrival and was going to seek out their department manager.
Would I suggest this tour to someone? Absolutely, based on time save and experienced gained. It is quite expensive, and in our case we did some pretrip saving to pay for it, but it was a wonderful experience and would recommend it to anyone.
We were going to be at Disneyland for only one and a half days, and have no immediate plans to return as we live in Pennsylvania, and are Disney World regulars, so we wanted to try to see and do as much as possible in our limited time.
Disney offers a wide variety of tours, this was a personally guided tour where your tour guide will take you to anything listed on their "available" offerings. It is a list with (at the time of our booking) 29 attractions available. They are either rides with fastpass access, or "preferred" access. If fastpass is available, you get in the fastpass lane, and if preferred, they usually use an exit to enter.
Our tour guide Nataly was absolutely the best. She was very friendly, very knowledgeable, and willing to anything to make our day the best. I fell in love with her when she met us at our designated meeting spot, looked at the list of our requests (quite extensive) and said immediately, " I CAN DO THIS"!
As we walked around she offered all kinds of fun and interesting information on Disneyland that we would never have learned without her.
This tour is pricey, per hour depends on the season, ours was $450/hour with a 6 hour minimum...but on a blistering hot Saturday in July, was worth every penny. We saved a ridiculous amount of time-I think we did 20 attractions in 6 hours, and the calculated time in regular lines that day was double to triple. The tour also includes a service to book dining, shows, parades, etc. that can extend past your time with your guide. As an example we had finished our time with Nataly, but we were booked (with seating) for the paint the night parade, the fireworks and world of color, all in the same evening. It was amazing!
Now, the only negative-when dealing with the VIP tour specialists prior to our arrival I feel their communication was very poor. 2 examples are- when I talked to the specialist on my initial phone call and she took all of our requests, she then sent an email confirmation that did not include the dining and show information we had just talked about. The email stated if you have any questions ask. So I emailed back for clarification, received neither an email or phone call in response. I waited a few days, called and then was told someone in a saucy voice "your requests are here" and proceeded to rattle them off. Obviously it was great she had them but did not communicated this to me. Later I needed another question answered, same deal no response. Then when they needed me for something, I answered and again in her email "if you have any questions", which I did, and again no response without a phone call.
These tour days can be very complex as you try to juggle your family's schedules with the Disney attraction schedules, dining, etc. I do not care for people/customers who torture employees just because they can. I had booked the tour 4 months in advance and I contacted them I believe a total of 3 times only and feel they could have been a little more responsive to my questions.
Thank goodness for Nataly because she saved my entire opinion of their VIP program. I had actually printed out the entire email chain I was so unhappy with the service prior to our arrival and was going to seek out their department manager.
Would I suggest this tour to someone? Absolutely, based on time save and experienced gained. It is quite expensive, and in our case we did some pretrip saving to pay for it, but it was a wonderful experience and would recommend it to anyone.
Written August 14, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Danika A
1 contribution
Sep 2022
I grew up in southern california and have a disney pass most of my life. For 25 years i have seen the infamous "plaids" and have secretly always wanted the "royal celebrity treatment" that comes with this tour.
I recently graduated college, and as my graduation present. My parents surprised me with a Plaid VIP tour. My parents, my boyfriend and I along with my 6 best friends were able to get this "once in a lifetime experience" I was so excited. I had so many things I wanted to do.
I had read reviews and heard so many great things about this tour. Only to be completely disappointed.
Originally we were supposed to go in June on my birthday, but I got COVID and had to reschedule. I picked Sept 30 because that was a day that worked for everyone along with the fact that the parks would be decorated for Halloween which has always been my favorite time at Disney.
Sept 30, after flying my friends and I in from Oregon where I am currently living, we got to The Grand Californian where we were told to park for the VIP tour. Valet parking was a great way to start the morning, but unfortunately thats where the day started going downhill.
there were no clear signs on where to pick up the tickets and check in. We had to wait in the regular security line with all the other hotel guests, which took up a good 30-45 min. I figured 'hey, okay. maybe the magic starts inside the park'
we had reservations for Carnation Cafe. Ideally sitting outside in their cute patio. No, we got put inside, and when we asked to move the staff said well its first come first serve, and i thought to myself and my group, we were the first ones in line for the cafe this morning, how much more first come can they ask. Not to mention that none of the tables outside had anyone at them. Along with that they took forever to bring out our food. several groups that came in after us, got their food and left before we even got ours.
I tried to think positively that the day would turn around, but i just kept getting let down. our guide met us after breakfast and we started, i shared my list, i said as many rides as possible, and asked for walts appartment tour, which she said was not included, and not running. I said ok, so do we get the backstage tour, you know take the secret back ways that the cast uses, she said no. Well disappointment started early, 9:30 to be exact.
We headed to Starwars land, swimming with the crowd, and walking unbelievably slow. (i have never walked so slow at disney) but i figured 'ok no need to race, because we get to go to the front of every line' again no. we got lightening line while we had the plaid. there was no cutting to the front of the line, there was no 'royal treatment'.
we rode rise of the resistance, and the group road smugglers run. I skipped smugglers because i get motion sickness. While the group was riding, i stayed with the plaid and we tried to plan the day. I asked her about special pin secrets, such as does the VIP tour have special pins. (I had seen them in other peoples reviews) and was hoping/ expecting a VIP pin. only to be disappointed AGAIN
we moved to Big thunder mountain where again all we got was the lightning lane, and had to wait about 20 min before being on the ride. Once we did that, our guide was able to pull some strings and get my dad the opportunity to Captain the Mark Twain River Boat which has always been a dream of his. After Mark Twain we did Adventure land (minus jungle cruise) and New Orleans Square. Rides: Indian, Haunted Mansion, Splash and Pirates. These four rides took an 2 hours, why? because there was no skipping to the front of the line.
At this time we are around 1pm. we have ridden 8 rides. Having had a disney pass, having done genie plus since it has come out, This to me was a REGULAR, NOTHING SPECIAL DAY at Disney. We were needing to head over the DCA but we still had one mountain left. So our SLOW guide walked us in no special way over to Space Mountain, and again put us in the lightening line, which we then proceeded to wait 15-20 min before riding.
After Space, we had decided to stop at the locker, change, order food from the Cozy Cone and head to DCA.
Our food pick up time was 2:45 by 3:30 we were done eating, and ready to ride some more rides. Since we were in cars land, we started with radiator racers, which was a good 30-45 min wait even in the lightening lane.
By 4:00 we had only hit one ride in DCA, I had 5/6 rides still on my list, with an hour (give or take) left with the plaid. Incredicoaster, Toy Story we were able to hit, (still long ish lines (15-20) min waits for both, along with Web Slingers.
I helped cross something off my dads bucket list and now i wanted to do the same for mom. She has always wanted to ride Soarin at the very top row, so that she didnt have ppls feet in her view. I asked the guide if she thought we had time to squeeze one more thing in. Luckily she was able to cross that off the bucket list too.
After Soarin and the end of our tour we headed to lamplight lounge to have dinner. I asked specifically for the office, ive heard its hard to get into but that its super special to have your meal in there. Did that piece of magic happen? No, we got to lamplight a solid 45 min before our reservation, and our tour guide hit me with 'i have good news and bad news; bad news is, we didnt get the office, the good news is that you are checked in for your reservation. '
she told us they were cleaning off a table and that we would be seated shortly. No, once the tour guide left, we were told rudely that we were early, and would not be seated before 6:30. so we waited, finally at 6:40 we were escorted to our table outside on the patio, a table set for 8. when we had a reservation for 10. the host was not helpful when we asked for an additional table and chairs to be brought over, instead he laughed at us, as if we were joking. When the lead/ manager came over to sooth things over, she too was rude and not helpful. Stating that we could go back upstairs and wait for a larger table. No apology, no bringing over one of their many empty small tables, and chairs to rectify THEIR mistake.
After dinner we had a few hours to kill before fireworks and fantasmic, so we went and hit a 'walk-on' ride because not only were we not able to get lightning lane tickets for the one ride we didnt get to, from our plaid, but that when we went to go purchase the lightening lane through genie plus, there were no more lightening lane tickets available for the night.
our walk- on ride still had a 30 min wait. after we rushed over to get our reserved seats for the fireworks. after pushing through the wall of people and the wacky walkways that lead around the crowd for the fireworks, did we finally make it to the reserved seating. Excited to see the spooky fireworks spectacular, were we disappointed that the fireworks were not being fired die to winds (i know this is not the tour's fault; just kinda icing on the cake if you will)
then we shoved our way through the walls of people to get out seats for fantasmic. which was the third highlight of the day.
all in all to say, that the VIP tour was a WASTE OF MONEY! Being a local and a pass holder for SO LONG, i could have and have in the past achieved the same less than mediocre day at disney for a WHOLE LOT LESS MONEY.
not once in my "royal, special, once in a lifetime experience day" did i feel like the red carpet was rolled out for me, not once did I feel like a celebrity at disneyland. No, instead I left disappointed, in the highly promoted VIP tours, in disneyland itself, and more so, for my parents who spent close to $15,000 for the experience (including flights from Oregon, and Hotels once in Anaheim). Something that was supposed to be so special for me, was nothing more than my average day at Disney.
My recommendation, find yourself a local disney pro, and you can save yourself thousands of dollars, for the same crappy experience.
After the guide left, there was no difference, between her being there, and her not. One of the girls in my group, who I took to Disney last year, said that she didnt notice a difference between being on a plaid tour and being escorted by me.
She was not in plaid uniform (vest)
she was not sharing facts, stories, etc.
I recently graduated college, and as my graduation present. My parents surprised me with a Plaid VIP tour. My parents, my boyfriend and I along with my 6 best friends were able to get this "once in a lifetime experience" I was so excited. I had so many things I wanted to do.
I had read reviews and heard so many great things about this tour. Only to be completely disappointed.
Originally we were supposed to go in June on my birthday, but I got COVID and had to reschedule. I picked Sept 30 because that was a day that worked for everyone along with the fact that the parks would be decorated for Halloween which has always been my favorite time at Disney.
Sept 30, after flying my friends and I in from Oregon where I am currently living, we got to The Grand Californian where we were told to park for the VIP tour. Valet parking was a great way to start the morning, but unfortunately thats where the day started going downhill.
there were no clear signs on where to pick up the tickets and check in. We had to wait in the regular security line with all the other hotel guests, which took up a good 30-45 min. I figured 'hey, okay. maybe the magic starts inside the park'
we had reservations for Carnation Cafe. Ideally sitting outside in their cute patio. No, we got put inside, and when we asked to move the staff said well its first come first serve, and i thought to myself and my group, we were the first ones in line for the cafe this morning, how much more first come can they ask. Not to mention that none of the tables outside had anyone at them. Along with that they took forever to bring out our food. several groups that came in after us, got their food and left before we even got ours.
I tried to think positively that the day would turn around, but i just kept getting let down. our guide met us after breakfast and we started, i shared my list, i said as many rides as possible, and asked for walts appartment tour, which she said was not included, and not running. I said ok, so do we get the backstage tour, you know take the secret back ways that the cast uses, she said no. Well disappointment started early, 9:30 to be exact.
We headed to Starwars land, swimming with the crowd, and walking unbelievably slow. (i have never walked so slow at disney) but i figured 'ok no need to race, because we get to go to the front of every line' again no. we got lightening line while we had the plaid. there was no cutting to the front of the line, there was no 'royal treatment'.
we rode rise of the resistance, and the group road smugglers run. I skipped smugglers because i get motion sickness. While the group was riding, i stayed with the plaid and we tried to plan the day. I asked her about special pin secrets, such as does the VIP tour have special pins. (I had seen them in other peoples reviews) and was hoping/ expecting a VIP pin. only to be disappointed AGAIN
we moved to Big thunder mountain where again all we got was the lightning lane, and had to wait about 20 min before being on the ride. Once we did that, our guide was able to pull some strings and get my dad the opportunity to Captain the Mark Twain River Boat which has always been a dream of his. After Mark Twain we did Adventure land (minus jungle cruise) and New Orleans Square. Rides: Indian, Haunted Mansion, Splash and Pirates. These four rides took an 2 hours, why? because there was no skipping to the front of the line.
At this time we are around 1pm. we have ridden 8 rides. Having had a disney pass, having done genie plus since it has come out, This to me was a REGULAR, NOTHING SPECIAL DAY at Disney. We were needing to head over the DCA but we still had one mountain left. So our SLOW guide walked us in no special way over to Space Mountain, and again put us in the lightening line, which we then proceeded to wait 15-20 min before riding.
After Space, we had decided to stop at the locker, change, order food from the Cozy Cone and head to DCA.
Our food pick up time was 2:45 by 3:30 we were done eating, and ready to ride some more rides. Since we were in cars land, we started with radiator racers, which was a good 30-45 min wait even in the lightening lane.
By 4:00 we had only hit one ride in DCA, I had 5/6 rides still on my list, with an hour (give or take) left with the plaid. Incredicoaster, Toy Story we were able to hit, (still long ish lines (15-20) min waits for both, along with Web Slingers.
I helped cross something off my dads bucket list and now i wanted to do the same for mom. She has always wanted to ride Soarin at the very top row, so that she didnt have ppls feet in her view. I asked the guide if she thought we had time to squeeze one more thing in. Luckily she was able to cross that off the bucket list too.
After Soarin and the end of our tour we headed to lamplight lounge to have dinner. I asked specifically for the office, ive heard its hard to get into but that its super special to have your meal in there. Did that piece of magic happen? No, we got to lamplight a solid 45 min before our reservation, and our tour guide hit me with 'i have good news and bad news; bad news is, we didnt get the office, the good news is that you are checked in for your reservation. '
she told us they were cleaning off a table and that we would be seated shortly. No, once the tour guide left, we were told rudely that we were early, and would not be seated before 6:30. so we waited, finally at 6:40 we were escorted to our table outside on the patio, a table set for 8. when we had a reservation for 10. the host was not helpful when we asked for an additional table and chairs to be brought over, instead he laughed at us, as if we were joking. When the lead/ manager came over to sooth things over, she too was rude and not helpful. Stating that we could go back upstairs and wait for a larger table. No apology, no bringing over one of their many empty small tables, and chairs to rectify THEIR mistake.
After dinner we had a few hours to kill before fireworks and fantasmic, so we went and hit a 'walk-on' ride because not only were we not able to get lightning lane tickets for the one ride we didnt get to, from our plaid, but that when we went to go purchase the lightening lane through genie plus, there were no more lightening lane tickets available for the night.
our walk- on ride still had a 30 min wait. after we rushed over to get our reserved seats for the fireworks. after pushing through the wall of people and the wacky walkways that lead around the crowd for the fireworks, did we finally make it to the reserved seating. Excited to see the spooky fireworks spectacular, were we disappointed that the fireworks were not being fired die to winds (i know this is not the tour's fault; just kinda icing on the cake if you will)
then we shoved our way through the walls of people to get out seats for fantasmic. which was the third highlight of the day.
all in all to say, that the VIP tour was a WASTE OF MONEY! Being a local and a pass holder for SO LONG, i could have and have in the past achieved the same less than mediocre day at disney for a WHOLE LOT LESS MONEY.
not once in my "royal, special, once in a lifetime experience day" did i feel like the red carpet was rolled out for me, not once did I feel like a celebrity at disneyland. No, instead I left disappointed, in the highly promoted VIP tours, in disneyland itself, and more so, for my parents who spent close to $15,000 for the experience (including flights from Oregon, and Hotels once in Anaheim). Something that was supposed to be so special for me, was nothing more than my average day at Disney.
My recommendation, find yourself a local disney pro, and you can save yourself thousands of dollars, for the same crappy experience.
After the guide left, there was no difference, between her being there, and her not. One of the girls in my group, who I took to Disney last year, said that she didnt notice a difference between being on a plaid tour and being escorted by me.
She was not in plaid uniform (vest)
she was not sharing facts, stories, etc.
Written October 3, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
epigramic
Singapore, Singapore1,024 contributions
Jun 2016 • Family
The VIP tour gives you the ability to do everything you want in a day - which is great if you are an overseas visitor and are unlikely to return anytime soon. The tour starts with your guide meeting you at the valet drop-off point. It is then off the parks. I had 2 young children - 7 and 5 - and the priority was to take all the rides that they could in the day. Lunch was on the go - and the guide accommodated us. I was amazed at what we managed to cover and the fantastic day ended back at the valet. Our itinerary was (your mileage may vary):
1000
Princess meet greet
Snow white
Pinocchio
Dumbo
It's a small world
1100
Meet Mickey
1130
Matterhorn bobsled
Hatter tea party
1200
Nemo
Autopia
Hyperspace mountain
1300
Buzz lightyear
1330
Jungle cruise
Pirates
1430
Winnie the pooh
splash mountain
1515
Indiana Jones
1700
Peter pan's flight
Storybook canal
Alice in wonderland
1800
Go Gadget
Night Parade
Fireworks
1000
Princess meet greet
Snow white
Pinocchio
Dumbo
It's a small world
1100
Meet Mickey
1130
Matterhorn bobsled
Hatter tea party
1200
Nemo
Autopia
Hyperspace mountain
1300
Buzz lightyear
1330
Jungle cruise
Pirates
1430
Winnie the pooh
splash mountain
1515
Indiana Jones
1700
Peter pan's flight
Storybook canal
Alice in wonderland
1800
Go Gadget
Night Parade
Fireworks
Written October 8, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
WhirledPeasAK
Big Lake, AK1 contribution
Jul 2018 • Family
We really enjoyed our VIP tour with "plaid" host Alberto on July 7. Alberto met us at the Disneyland Hotel at 1:30 pm and walked with us to the park, regaling us with fascinating facts about the creation of the Happiest Place on Earth and secrets for maximizing your experience. He was charming, smart, accomodating to our changing whims, and a real wizard at getting us to the front of all lines, including for a few rides that were not Fast Pass attractions. Alberto made last minute dinner reservations for us at Blue Bayou (a very busy eatery) and joined us for dinner. (Alberto politely declined all of our offers to pay for his food throughout the day.)
We had adults who wanted to do the big attractions (Space Mountain, Matterhorn, etc.) and little kids who wanted to meet princesses and do the little kid rides. Alberto handled these disparate requests beautifully, dropping one group off at the front of a fast pass ride, then sliding the kids and parents onto a kids ride by bypassing the line, while he waited for the adults to finish their ride. He really maximized our time and our enjoyment.
In addition to being escorted to the front of all ride lines, our VIP tour afforded us excellent seating (on real chairs!) for the daytime Pixar Parade and for the evening extravaganza, Fantasmic and fireworks. Not having to camp out for an hour in order to get a decent view of these events was a tremendous time saver and convenience.
A VIP tour is NOT CHEAP. For us, during high season, it was quite expensive. But if you have ten people (the maximum for one VIP host), the cost can be divided among the lucky group affordably. Our only complaint is that Alberto has now ruined Disney parks for us. I can't imagine not having a VIP host for future visits!
We had adults who wanted to do the big attractions (Space Mountain, Matterhorn, etc.) and little kids who wanted to meet princesses and do the little kid rides. Alberto handled these disparate requests beautifully, dropping one group off at the front of a fast pass ride, then sliding the kids and parents onto a kids ride by bypassing the line, while he waited for the adults to finish their ride. He really maximized our time and our enjoyment.
In addition to being escorted to the front of all ride lines, our VIP tour afforded us excellent seating (on real chairs!) for the daytime Pixar Parade and for the evening extravaganza, Fantasmic and fireworks. Not having to camp out for an hour in order to get a decent view of these events was a tremendous time saver and convenience.
A VIP tour is NOT CHEAP. For us, during high season, it was quite expensive. But if you have ten people (the maximum for one VIP host), the cost can be divided among the lucky group affordably. Our only complaint is that Alberto has now ruined Disney parks for us. I can't imagine not having a VIP host for future visits!
Written July 18, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
JasonSt
Cranbury, NJ30 contributions
Aug 2017 • Family
We splurged and did the VIP Guided Tour at Disneyland and California Adventure this trip. We also did it for Universal on the same trip. If money is no object, this is a great experience but if you’re contemplating it in terms of “is it worth it,” unless you are at the park at the most peak times (like New Year’s weekend), the answer is probably not.
To be fair, the experience was exactly as advertised. And our guide was awesome — personable, helpful, enthusiastic, etc. So there’s nothing wrong with the experience per se. It’s just not much bang for your buck. Essentially, the VIP Tour is an unlimited human “Fastpass.” That’s it. With a regular Fasspass you can only get a new one once you used the previous one and the most popular rides run out of passes early in the day. For example, by 10am the Fasspasses for Soarin’ were already for 8pm. So our choices without the guide would either have been to reserve Soarin’ for late in the day and have no other Fastpasses all day or use them for other rides with less delay and never make it on Soarin’ (or standing a 90 minute regular line). With the Guide you can walk onto any Fastness line whenever you want. The Guide walks through the line with you. Also, there are some attractions with no Fastness option where the Guide can get you closer to the front of the line anyway, so it’s like a bonus private-only Fastpass.
What this is not is a paid way to “skip the line.” You still have to wade through the same Fastpass line as anyone who got the free Fastpass ticket. And often those lines were still meaningful. We never made it onto Radiator Springs with the guide for example because when we got there the guide warned that based on where the Fastpass line was we would be waiting at least 30-40 minutes with her (and you are paying for his/her time by the hour). And some rides have poor Fastpass integration, like Indiana Jones which merges with the regular line early on. Also, they had very recently made a change to where the Guide could get you into the line for rides without Fastpasses. They used to walk you in the exit like they do with people in wheelchairs. But they decided that wasn’t working for various reasons so now they have other points where you converge with the regular line. On Pirates, for example, this would have saved us a little time if the line had truly been peak, but it was far enough back that it only saved us a couple minutes in our case. With Tea Cups we had to wait through a couple loads of the ride before the attendant gave us a turn and they let everyone else in first so it was kind of a mad dash to get a cup. Etc. So don’t expect this to be some line magic. It’s unlimited Fastpass, no more, no less.
This experience costs at least several-hundred-per-hour (at peak days it could be twice that) for a group of up to 10 and you must commit to at least consecutive. That’s on top of park admission which is not included. On the plus side, you don’t pay more per person like with Universal. But it’s also an order-of-magnitude more expensive than Universal. But you also get a lot less extras. At Universal the VIP Tour includes breakfast (continental) and lunch (generous buffet), free valet parking, park admission, goody bag and access to areas of the park not available to the rest of the public. None of that is true with the Disney VIP experience. You even pay your guide for the time you spend at lunch and you stand in the same long lines as everyone else to get it (they really need a lunch Fastpass). Not even pictures are included, nor any way to skip the long line to get them.
There is one perk you get other than the unlimited Fastpass and that’s VIP seating at shows on the day of your tour. This was a substantial benefit. We had amazing seats for Fantasmic! Real seats, not the ground others were standing on.
Overall a great experience, just an awful value. They don’t seem to have any shortage of people willing and able to pay for it though. It would be nice if they threw in a few extras like lunch and pictures.
To be fair, the experience was exactly as advertised. And our guide was awesome — personable, helpful, enthusiastic, etc. So there’s nothing wrong with the experience per se. It’s just not much bang for your buck. Essentially, the VIP Tour is an unlimited human “Fastpass.” That’s it. With a regular Fasspass you can only get a new one once you used the previous one and the most popular rides run out of passes early in the day. For example, by 10am the Fasspasses for Soarin’ were already for 8pm. So our choices without the guide would either have been to reserve Soarin’ for late in the day and have no other Fastpasses all day or use them for other rides with less delay and never make it on Soarin’ (or standing a 90 minute regular line). With the Guide you can walk onto any Fastness line whenever you want. The Guide walks through the line with you. Also, there are some attractions with no Fastness option where the Guide can get you closer to the front of the line anyway, so it’s like a bonus private-only Fastpass.
What this is not is a paid way to “skip the line.” You still have to wade through the same Fastpass line as anyone who got the free Fastpass ticket. And often those lines were still meaningful. We never made it onto Radiator Springs with the guide for example because when we got there the guide warned that based on where the Fastpass line was we would be waiting at least 30-40 minutes with her (and you are paying for his/her time by the hour). And some rides have poor Fastpass integration, like Indiana Jones which merges with the regular line early on. Also, they had very recently made a change to where the Guide could get you into the line for rides without Fastpasses. They used to walk you in the exit like they do with people in wheelchairs. But they decided that wasn’t working for various reasons so now they have other points where you converge with the regular line. On Pirates, for example, this would have saved us a little time if the line had truly been peak, but it was far enough back that it only saved us a couple minutes in our case. With Tea Cups we had to wait through a couple loads of the ride before the attendant gave us a turn and they let everyone else in first so it was kind of a mad dash to get a cup. Etc. So don’t expect this to be some line magic. It’s unlimited Fastpass, no more, no less.
This experience costs at least several-hundred-per-hour (at peak days it could be twice that) for a group of up to 10 and you must commit to at least consecutive. That’s on top of park admission which is not included. On the plus side, you don’t pay more per person like with Universal. But it’s also an order-of-magnitude more expensive than Universal. But you also get a lot less extras. At Universal the VIP Tour includes breakfast (continental) and lunch (generous buffet), free valet parking, park admission, goody bag and access to areas of the park not available to the rest of the public. None of that is true with the Disney VIP experience. You even pay your guide for the time you spend at lunch and you stand in the same long lines as everyone else to get it (they really need a lunch Fastpass). Not even pictures are included, nor any way to skip the long line to get them.
There is one perk you get other than the unlimited Fastpass and that’s VIP seating at shows on the day of your tour. This was a substantial benefit. We had amazing seats for Fantasmic! Real seats, not the ground others were standing on.
Overall a great experience, just an awful value. They don’t seem to have any shortage of people willing and able to pay for it though. It would be nice if they threw in a few extras like lunch and pictures.
Written August 26, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
William C
Tiburon, CA12 contributions
Sep 2022
This is a review of the Disneyland VIP Tour offered by Disneyland.
So we went to Disneyland/DCA on Sunday 9/25 and Monday
9/26 and here are my thoughts on the VIP tour.
First of all, if you have enough money to burn then don't need to read this :). This rating on how disappointing the tour set up is NOT for the tour guide. Our tour guide for both times was excellent! Especially this time! She was great! Very friendly, and outgoing, gave us lots of info on the park and kept our two kids entertained while waiting in line.
Day 1: Sunday, 9/25. I purchased Genie + as soon as we went into the park at around 950am. Since it was my first time using the Genie plus, it took about 10min to figure out how it works while my wife was waiting for the Astro Orbiter. Park was crowded but not too bad. As you can see from the picture I post, we did a total of 16 rides from 10am-6pm for both parks by utilizing the Lighting Lane (LL). We really took our time since we knew we will have the VIP tour the next day, we could have done more rides for sure if we want to but we wanted to save our energy for the next day. Total additional cost is $80 (Genie+ for 4)+$80 (ROTR)+$48 (Cars) =$208
Day 2: Monday, 9/26. VIP tour day! We met up with our tour guide at 10:30 (after doing the character dining at Plaza Inn). We first did all the rides we wanted to do that doesn't have a LL (Peter Pan, Dumbo, Alice Wonderland....etc) for our 3yr old and when we are done with those rides, the park was packed! I mean even our guide was surprised by the crowd size for a Monday in September. For other rides we did, I was surprised to find out that we need to get in at the Lighting Lane entrance with those who purchased Genie +, I thought for VIP tours you will get your own entrance. This is fine if it's not a busy day like the day before when the park is not crowded. The problem is that on a busy day, even the LL is long and took a while for couple of rides like Haunted Mansion and Soarin', we waited almost 40min for Soarin' around the world.
Our guide stayed with us from 10:30-7pm, during this time we managed to do a total of 21 rides. The VIP tour requires a minimum of 7 hours and due to a busy day at both parks, we extended extra 90mins. The rate per hour varies and on this day, our rate was $600 per hour and our grand total came out to $5,100. This means waiting for Soarin around the world cost us about $500
I really think with the amount Disney is charging ($500-$700 per hour), they should really have a separate entrance for VIP tours only. If Disney is planning to keep running the VIP tour the way it is now, then you really need to be flexible on your visiting dates, definitely pick a not-busy day to visit (check out the "is it packed" website for crowd calendar, so far I find it pretty accurate) that way you will get on more rides and a lot quicker and make your money worth. But again, if it's not busy then a Genie + might work without paying for the expensive tour. Like we managed to get 16 rides done the day before and like I said we took our time and didn't rush, otherwise we would have done more than 20 rides.
At the end of the tour, our guide was nice enough to give us 3 Lighting Lane passes to use at any attraction except the ones you need to pay for. If you look at the second picture I posted, we used them on Peter Pan, Dumbo, and Haunted Mansion.
We went back to Disneyland after dining at Cathy Circle and watching the world of color (reserved table and seating, part of the VIP tour experience)at around 10pm. By then the park was less busy so we were able to do some more rides on our own.
Our first VIP tour was back in Nov of 2021. At that time, Disneyland has not implemented the Lighting Lane yet so we were able to cut to almost the front of the line for each attraction. I was under the impression this time would be the same but unfortunately not.
If I ever decided to do VIP tours again, I will definitely pick a none busy day to visit and get as many rides without LL done as possible within the 7-hour time, then the rides with LL. After that, I will just buy Genie + and make LL appointments and pay to ride ROTR and Cars again (that is if we want to ride it again). This way we still save money by not extending the tour time. Thanks for reading my review and hope it helps.
So we went to Disneyland/DCA on Sunday 9/25 and Monday
9/26 and here are my thoughts on the VIP tour.
First of all, if you have enough money to burn then don't need to read this :). This rating on how disappointing the tour set up is NOT for the tour guide. Our tour guide for both times was excellent! Especially this time! She was great! Very friendly, and outgoing, gave us lots of info on the park and kept our two kids entertained while waiting in line.
Day 1: Sunday, 9/25. I purchased Genie + as soon as we went into the park at around 950am. Since it was my first time using the Genie plus, it took about 10min to figure out how it works while my wife was waiting for the Astro Orbiter. Park was crowded but not too bad. As you can see from the picture I post, we did a total of 16 rides from 10am-6pm for both parks by utilizing the Lighting Lane (LL). We really took our time since we knew we will have the VIP tour the next day, we could have done more rides for sure if we want to but we wanted to save our energy for the next day. Total additional cost is $80 (Genie+ for 4)+$80 (ROTR)+$48 (Cars) =$208
Day 2: Monday, 9/26. VIP tour day! We met up with our tour guide at 10:30 (after doing the character dining at Plaza Inn). We first did all the rides we wanted to do that doesn't have a LL (Peter Pan, Dumbo, Alice Wonderland....etc) for our 3yr old and when we are done with those rides, the park was packed! I mean even our guide was surprised by the crowd size for a Monday in September. For other rides we did, I was surprised to find out that we need to get in at the Lighting Lane entrance with those who purchased Genie +, I thought for VIP tours you will get your own entrance. This is fine if it's not a busy day like the day before when the park is not crowded. The problem is that on a busy day, even the LL is long and took a while for couple of rides like Haunted Mansion and Soarin', we waited almost 40min for Soarin' around the world.
Our guide stayed with us from 10:30-7pm, during this time we managed to do a total of 21 rides. The VIP tour requires a minimum of 7 hours and due to a busy day at both parks, we extended extra 90mins. The rate per hour varies and on this day, our rate was $600 per hour and our grand total came out to $5,100. This means waiting for Soarin around the world cost us about $500
I really think with the amount Disney is charging ($500-$700 per hour), they should really have a separate entrance for VIP tours only. If Disney is planning to keep running the VIP tour the way it is now, then you really need to be flexible on your visiting dates, definitely pick a not-busy day to visit (check out the "is it packed" website for crowd calendar, so far I find it pretty accurate) that way you will get on more rides and a lot quicker and make your money worth. But again, if it's not busy then a Genie + might work without paying for the expensive tour. Like we managed to get 16 rides done the day before and like I said we took our time and didn't rush, otherwise we would have done more than 20 rides.
At the end of the tour, our guide was nice enough to give us 3 Lighting Lane passes to use at any attraction except the ones you need to pay for. If you look at the second picture I posted, we used them on Peter Pan, Dumbo, and Haunted Mansion.
We went back to Disneyland after dining at Cathy Circle and watching the world of color (reserved table and seating, part of the VIP tour experience)at around 10pm. By then the park was less busy so we were able to do some more rides on our own.
Our first VIP tour was back in Nov of 2021. At that time, Disneyland has not implemented the Lighting Lane yet so we were able to cut to almost the front of the line for each attraction. I was under the impression this time would be the same but unfortunately not.
If I ever decided to do VIP tours again, I will definitely pick a none busy day to visit and get as many rides without LL done as possible within the 7-hour time, then the rides with LL. After that, I will just buy Genie + and make LL appointments and pay to ride ROTR and Cars again (that is if we want to ride it again). This way we still save money by not extending the tour time. Thanks for reading my review and hope it helps.
Written September 28, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Not quite sure what you mean by 'pairing'. The guide comes on some of the rides with you if needed in a group of an odd #. We did tip our guide...I think it is a personal thing with how happy you were or were not with them. I was told anywhere from $50-$150 depending how long they are with you, etc.
Written May 2, 2017
Do any tours take you into Walt's apartment?
Written April 18, 2017
The Walk in Walt Disney tour will take you into Walt’s apartment. It is an amazing tour and provides a lot of information.
Written September 13, 2019
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