Luxury Disney World: What VIP Tour Services Offer and How Much They Cost
Updated October 2018.
If you read this blog, chances are you’re a luxury traveler–or at least you hope to be soon. If you appreciate First Class, VIP services and preferential treatment, a trip to Walt Disney World may seem like your worst nightmare–being stuck in 3-hour lines with masses of people surrounding you may not sound like the vacations you’re used to. If this sounds like you, then you may be very pleased to know that Walt Disney World actually offers VIP Tour Services.
What are Disney’s VIP Tour Guide Services?
Well let’s first start out with what they’re not–a Disney VIP Tour is NOT the same as hiring a handicapped person to escort you and your family to the front of the line. This is very, very not cool, Upper East Side Mommies! Shame on you. What are VIP Tour Services, though? Essentially, your Disney VIP Tour guide is an unlimited Fast Pass. Hiring a guide doesn’t afford you the chance to skip directly to the front of the line, instead your guide is your free ticket to enter every ride’s Fast Pass line as many times as you want (and repeatedly if you so desire). FastPass lines are not generally longer than 10-15 minutes, (or at least that was my experience in all my trips to Disney World) though, many rides have barely any Fast Pass wait at all. The only rides that still have a short line even with Fast Pass access are usually Soarin,’ Tower of Terror, Rock-n-Roller Coaster, and a few others. But like I said, these weren’t much longer than 10 minutes.
How Many People Can Go with Each Disney VIP Tour Guide?
Each tour guide can take a maximum of 10 people around the parks.
What Are Some of the VIP Tour Guide Perks Besides Not Waiting on Line?
Your Disney VIP Tour Guide will pick you up at your hotel in the morning to devise a plan of exactly what attractions you want to hit. Then they will whisk you away in a private vehicle to your first stop (bye-bye Disney World public transportation!). You’ll enter the parks through their back-door entrances (a la Madonna and Mariah Carey) closest to the attractions you’re looking to visit. This saves you tons of travel time between parks and hotels. (Usually Disney usually estimates the average trip to take 1 hour between parks) This leaves you more time to spend enjoying the Disney magic! Guides also are able to get your preferred event seating at shows and parades. Also, want to sit in the front row on your favorite ride? Or the back? Your guide will make sure whatever seat you want is yours. We rode the Aerosmith Rock-n-Roller Coaster front row baby! And, if you want your kid to star in the show next to Mickey mouse, while not guaranteed, your guide can definitely help!
My Super Adorable VIP Tour Guide and Parents
How Much Does a Disney VIP Tour Guide Cost?
Prices vary based on whether you’re a Disney hotel guest or not and also whether it’s holiday season (which is of course their busiest time of year). Prices start at $425/hour (and go up to $625 per hour, depending on the season). And there is a minimum of 7 hours to hire a private Disney VIP Tour Guide. Park admission is not included in these prices, that means you also have to buy tickets for each person on your tour.
Is Hiring a Disney VIP Tour Guide Worth It?
At first glance, $2,975 (minimum) plus the cost of tickets may seem rather steep but when you consider that you could conceivably see all four parks (Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom and EPCOT) in just one day (or more realistically two), you have to factor in that you won’t need to buy tickets for those extra days.
However, the reason to get a VIP guide is to make your experience magical. Yes, it’s a lot of money but it changes the entire experience of the park completely. It turns a crowded and stressful day into one of magic and excitement where there is no obstacle in your way.
So I would say, if you have the means to do it, it is absolutely worth the price! And there are ways to make it work–consider that you can bring 10 people with you so if you can split it with another family or two, it really starts to make sense.
So, the 4 Parks in 1 Day with a VIP Guide–can it be done?
It is extremely ambitious at the least. If you are with kids I would say it is too much. However, it can be done if everyone is moving quickly and don’t want to see every single attraction. It would definitely be rushed, which may take some of the enjoyment out of it, but if you want to do Disney like a VIP and don’t have that much cash, it can be done!
My Top Five Reasons I Would Hire a VIP Tour Guide Again
I thought it was a truly magical experience and I can’t believe that I hadn’t done it before. Here are some of my fave parts of the experience.
1. You can skip the lines–obviously that has to be number one!
2. You get to learn insider knowledge, all of the guides have had extensive training about the Parks’ history and they can give you a bit of behind-the-scenes information.
3. Visit multiple theme parks in one day if you’re on a short trip. It can cut down on the number of tickets you need to purchase.
4. No public transportation or searching for your car in the parking lots.
5. This is the only way to experience Disney World stress-free!
To book a VIP Tour Guide or find out more information, click here.
If you’re all about that VIP luxury lifestyle and want the perfect hotel to stay at during your visit to Walt Disney World, check out our review of the Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World Resort.
*I was part of a VIP Press trip to Disney as part of my visit to Golden Oak. However, I was with my parents and we all agree that this is the only way to see Disney World from now on! We are already planning our family vacation back here with the whole family sans lines and we will happily pay.*
About The Author
Katie
Katie is a luxury lifestyle expert. She runs luxury lifestyle sites, KatieLara.com and Smartypanties.com. But she's not only a luxury lifestyle blogger, she's also a freelance writer for The Huffington Post, Fodor's, Forbes, Pursuitist, Just Luxe and She Knows. She's also a professional photographer and her photos often appear alongside her writing.
Great article–thanks for sharing! I most appreciate your math equations…I was trying to figure it out in my head, then realized you’d done all the hard work. And what a deal–$110 is a very small price to pay for the perks you get with the VIP guide! (And PS I can’t believe people hire the handicapped to get to the front of the line–disgusting!)
- December 3, 2013It is all relative – and the 110$ difference in the scale of things is nothing.. especially if you work it on an hourly basis!
- December 23, 2013I totally agree!! And trust me, it makes a HUGE difference in the experience!
- December 26, 2013I am glad to see your article as you had described about the difficulty of selecting the best car from the variety of cars and also you had described the services offered by the car renting companies.THANKS!
- December 31, 2013According to Disney, their VIP tours do not include front of the line access (this is of right now in March 2014) do you know if this is what they say, but then you actually do get it once you are there, or is this a new policy?
- March 31, 2014You don’t get to go straight to the front of the line, rather you get unlimited Fast Pass access.
- April 1, 2014Since I’m doing some checks into this – I thought I’d offer my comments – your costs are wrong I think – the VIP tour does not include the park tickets – as you mention twice in the write up – but you ignore that cost in the calculations
So add back in nearly $2,790 – plus its not clear if the VIP tour means you don’t need to buy the park hopper – so that could (maybe) add around $900 to $1000 – suddenly the VIP tour for 10 person is going to be around $4,000 more expensive than your figures – so an extra 500’ish per person is much more like what I would have expected otherwise everyone would be doing it.
- May 26, 2014AH ha- I retract some of that – I forgot you are planning that you can get all 4 parks done in one 8 hour stint with a Disney Guide – realistically Hmmm – I doubt it – so its probably going to be somewhere in the middle of our two prices – mine is too high as you will certainly see a park entry cost saving – but can you really do 4 parks in an 8 hour day – food for thought for those reading.
- May 26, 2014Hi David, I do appreciate the math checking, I must say, it’s been a while. I do believe you can fit 3 parks into one day, you’d really be surprised how quickly it goes when you just want to hit the big rides. BUT that said, if you want to see EVERY ride, yes you will need some extra time. But my guide said it certainly is possible and that she’s done it before 🙂
- May 30, 2014Can the VIP tour guide arrange a tour of the castle suite?
- May 26, 2014I believe that they can, they really do everything to help make your dreams come true!
- May 30, 2014how much is the suggested tip rate for the VIP guide
- May 27, 2014There isn’t a set amount but I’d say in general for good service in the US people generally tip between 15 and 20%
- May 30, 2014We’ve thought about using a tour guide for our family of 8 in October (ages ranging from 4-73), but I’m hearing that October is pretty dead and we can get on to rides with very little wait time. We don’t have park-hopppers and going to use them for MK only. Do you have any insight on that? Thanks!
- July 6, 2014No matter what time of year, the most popular rides have lines–they may not be as long but they’re still there. I was there in October last year and it was still pretty crowded. You would be able to see alot of Magic Kingdom in one day without a VIP Guide but if you want to repeat rides, etc.
- July 7, 2014Thanks for the advice!!!
- July 7, 2014Very informative post !!!! Thanks for the great information really enjoyed the read ..great stuff !!!Thank you so much for sharing this informative and useful post !!!! we are same field .for more information visit our sites http://bit.ly/1j1VTjy
- November 4, 2014So happy you found it helpful! Please come back and visit again! And give a share too if you love us 🙂
- November 4, 2014Expensive is a word that has never been defined acurately. Cost-effective is a far more useful term. Having read you post, I think that Disney’s VIP Tour Guide Services are definitely cost-effective, and that is very, very important.
- December 26, 2014Yes! I agree! Thanks for stopping by!
- January 23, 2015For us, it Doesn’t make sense when in reality, kids aren’t paying for themselves. If you had 10 adults, maybe. We are a family of 6, there’s no way we could ever do that. We’ve gone to Disney several times. For us, the best time was the week before Christmas. No one is there! Take the kids out of school, no lines, you still get the holiday parade. Spend your VIP money elsewhere 🙂 like another trip!
- January 5, 2015Does anyone know anything about guides who are not affiliated with Disney? I read online about Michael’s VIP tours.
- February 4, 2015Never heard of those but I don’t think that anyone other than Disney can get legitimate VIP passes. You don’t want to get scammed or end up using Handicapped passes.
- February 4, 2015We took your advice and during the forth of July used a VIP tour guide! We had the most magical experience! I would recommend there services to anyone! We are only a family of 4 but we brought our mother In law and my mother and the park was mega crowded and hot! The longest we waited was 10 mins! We only could afford to use her for the first two days but boy it made the trip amazing! I would have never known about this service without your wonderful post! Thanks for making my moms vacation one she will never forget! With out the VIP tour guide I don’t think our parents would have been able to do much!
- October 3, 2015I’m so happy to hear you had a great time! And so happy that my post was useful! And thanks so much for coming back and letting me know!! It made my day!
- October 3, 2015Hello! We are currently doing 4 days in Disney world win a VIP tour guide. Is there a guide to what a good tip would be for her? $2800 per day is the cost. Thanks!!!
- April 11, 2016I honestly wish that I remember what we tipped but it’s been quite a while so I’ve forgotten. Let us know what you decide!
- April 28, 2016