As a first time Disney World visitor and mom of three young boys, I booked a Disney World VIP Tour to see if it was really worth the high price tag. Here’s an honest Disney World VIP Tour Review where I look at the cost, what the experience was actually like, the pros and cons, and whether I’d book a VIP Tour again for my family.
What a VIP Tour at Disney World Is Really Like
If you’re new here, I’ll start with a brief introduction. I’m Jessica Upton, a mom of three boys and the owner of J.Upton Travel. I’m not an avid Disney mom and had actually never been to Disney World before this trip, which may sound surprising considering I plan vacations for a living. But with a 9, 7 and an almost 4 year old, I figured this was the perfect time to take our family to Disney World. I’ll share more about our overall Disney World experience in another blog post, but today I’m focusing solely on our experience with a Disney World VIP Tour Review.
Booking a VIP Tour
About a month before our trip, I called Disney VIP Tour Services to check availability and pricing for the date I wanted. At the time of our trip, the cost was $750 per hour with a 7 hour minimum and 10 hour maximum, and that included up to 10 guests. Since this was our very first Disney World trip, I wanted to focus exclusively on Magic Kingdom. (I would probably do things differently next time, but more on that later.)
I initially booked a morning tour so we could rope drop with our guide. However, after reading countless reviews and advice in Disney VIP Tour Facebook groups, I decided to move it to the afternoon so we could end the evening in the VIP fireworks viewing area. While that was certainly a nice perk, looking back, I wish I had kept the morning time slot.
Booking was simple. Disney just required a credit card on file, and the cancellation policy was surprisingly reasonable. You only need to cancel at least three days before your tour to avoid a two hour cancellation fee. My plan was to try to fill the remaining five spots so we could split the cost. If I couldn’t find another family, I planned to cancel the reservation. After booking, Disney sent a confirmation email with the meeting location, tour time, and hourly rate.
One thing to note: you don’t get to speak with your guide beforehand. You can share your wishes and priorities with the Disney representative, but you’ll meet and speak with your actual guide on the day of your tour.
Why I Would Choose a Morning VIP Tour
Our kids naturally wake up early, especially coming straight from school into a vacation. Had we taken this trip at the end of summer, when they weren’t already operating on a school schedule, an afternoon or evening tour might have made more sense. But what ended up happening is that all three of our boys fell asleep in the VIP fireworks viewing area. So for our family, I think a morning tour would have been the better choice.
Finding People to Share Your VIP Tour With
I found two Facebook groups dedicated specifically to Disney VIP Tours and posted the details of my confirmed reservation. We were very lucky to find a family of four to share the experience with, and they were absolutely wonderful. The other mom and I scheduled a call beforehand to discuss our priorities and preferences for the day. Thankfully, our goals aligned really well, which made both of us feel comfortable moving forward.
Once we agreed it was a good fit, I called Disney VIP Tour Services back and added their family members and children’s ages to the reservation. We had another call the week before our trip to make sure we’d discussed everyone’s preferences and to come up with a plan for tipping our guide. The day of the tour couldn’t have gone better. Their two boys were similar ages to our older boys, and all four of them got along beautifully.
Paying for a Shared VIP Tour
One thing I learned is that Disney only allows you to split payment by the hour, not by the person. Initially, I had planned to divide the total cost evenly among all nine people in our group. However, the Disney representative explained that the only way to do that directly through Disney would be with Disney gift cards in exact amounts. If you’re paying by credit card, Disney will only split the bill by the hour, and any difference has to be worked out between families through something like Venmo or Zelle.
As for tipping, I read quite a bit in the Facebook groups beforehand. Some people suggested tipping the equivalent of one full hour of the tour. Personally, $750 felt extremely steep, so our families agreed to tip $250 each. Even that felt a little high to me, but it seemed to be within the range of what most people were recommending.
Our VIP Tour Experience
A quick note before I dive in: VIP Tours don’t give you special access to character meet and greets. Since our boys were much more interested in rides than characters, we didn’t prioritize character experiences.
Our guide’s name was Jeremy, and he was genuinely a nice guy. He had been doing VIP Tours for nearly 20 years and has two older sons of his own, so I suspect that’s why we were paired with him. He definitely understood boy energy. We met him at 2:30 p.m. in front of Town Square Theater. I gave him a quick overview of what we wanted to accomplish. We were primarily focused on the bigger rides, and my husband had one request: he wanted to try the Gray Stuff from Gaston’s Tavern. Then we were off to the races.
We started with Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. Jeremy swiped his badge and we walked right through the entrance. Next, he wanted to take us to Astro Orbiter, but as soon as we arrived, he got word that it had temporarily gone down. So we pivoted toward Speedway.
Then it started raining. Jeremy immediately adjusted the plan again and brought us into Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor to wait out the storm. Somehow two people from our group ended up being featured during the show, which was suspiciously convenient. I still think Jeremy may have had something to do with that. 😉
After the show, Astro Orbiter was back up and running, so we headed there before making our way to Speedway. We had actually ridden Speedway earlier that day before our tour and to be honest, the VIP entrance didn’t save us much time there. The lightning lane line was almost as long as the standby line, but the boys didn’t care. They were excited to ride it again.
Next, we rode Peter Pan’s Flight and It’s a Small World. We had also already done It’s a Small World earlier in the day, but the other family hadn’t, and honestly, It’s a Small World feels like a Disney World rite of passage. Afterward, Jeremy had Gray Stuff cupcakes from Gaston’s ready and waiting for us. The boys spent most of the ride telling each other that it was a “baby ride” and afterward teased Jeremy about it, but once the cupcakes appeared and he shared that the “baby ride” was necessary for him to have time to grab the cupcakes, they quickly changed their tune.
From there we knocked out TRON, Space Mountain, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Haunted Mansion, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Somewhere in the middle of all of that, I mentioned to Jeremy that I wanted a family photo in front of the castle. So as the sky started getting darker and another storm looked like it might be moving in, we quickly made the trek over for pictures. Looking back, I wish we had done them earlier in the day. We were sweaty and the boys were tired. Their enthusiasm for family photos was hanging by a thread. But we got the picture, and honestly, that’s probably a more accurate representation of Disney with three young boys than some perfectly staged photo anyway.
We wrapped up the rides with Pirates of the Caribbean, using one of the backstage VIP entrances, and Jungle Cruise. We also made a stop for cheeseburger spring rolls at my husband’s request.
Jeremy then led us to the train station on Main Street, U.S.A., where we were taken up the stairs to the VIP viewing area for the Disney Starlight Parade. There were several other VIP groups there, and bottled water was waiting for us when we arrived. Jeremy had also arranged for popcorn to be brought to the kids because they’d been talking about it for hours. While we were sitting there, I realized that popcorn probably wasn’t going to cut it for dinner, especially since the boys weren’t interested in the cheeseburger spring rolls. Jeremy suggested we mobile order from Casey’s Corner since it was right next to the VIP fireworks viewing area, so that’s exactly what we did.
The elevated parade viewing area was really nice. We didn’t have to arrive especially early or fight for a spot. That said, I would classify it as a nice perk rather than a must have.
After the parade, Jeremy led us through the backstage VIP pathways around Main Street and into the fireworks viewing area. The area itself is a sectioned off turf space with plenty of room to sit, or in my boys’ case, lay down. It wasn’t super crowded, but after briefly walking through the regular crowds to get there, I definitely appreciated having a reserved spot. Once Jeremy got us settled, he signed off for the evening and we gave him his tip.
My husband left to pick up our mobile order from Casey’s Corner, but apparently every experienced Disney-goer had the same idea because it took quite a while. Meanwhile, my middle son stretched out on the turf and quickly fell asleep. By the time my husband returned with the food, he was completely out cold. We managed to get our other two boys to take a few bites, but they had reached that point where they weren’t really hungry anymore because they were just exhausted. My oldest fought sleep for about 20 minutes before finally giving in about five minutes into the fireworks show. About 10 minutes later, my youngest followed. Those boys were completely exhausted and totally unbothered by the music, lights, and fireworks exploding around them.
At first, it felt like ending the VIP Tour with the fireworks had been a bit of a waste. But after reflecting on it, I see it differently. My husband and I got to watch the fireworks together while our boys slept peacefully around us, and somehow that felt pretty magical too.
Note: The one thing we didn’t experience was any of the VIP merchandise, aside from the VIP pins Jeremy gave us. Jeremy never mentioned it, but we also never asked. Looking back, it would have been nice to at least see what was available.
Was the VIP Tour Worth It?
That’s honestly a difficult question to answer because I don’t know what a comparable non-VIP day at Magic Kingdom would have looked like for us. What I do know is that Magic Kingdom was the final day of our trip, and by that point I was tired and my patience tolerance had been tested.
As an experienced traveling mom, I knew I’d be mentally exhausted from a week of vacation and wouldn’t want to spend the day managing schedules, navigating the app, and directing everyone from ride to ride. And I was right.
For me, the biggest value of the VIP Tour wasn’t skipping lines, though it is a massive perk. Had we not booked the tour, I would have been managing Lightning Lanes, staring at my phone all day, and constantly trying to figure out our next move. Instead, I got to be present with my family. I got to enjoy Disney with my kids instead of managing Disney for my kids. And that’s pretty priceless.
And truthfully, having another wonderful family to share the day with was icing on the cake. We all got along so well. Their boys were kind, respectful, and fun, and they genuinely made the experience even better.
Would I Do It Again?
Absolutely, but I would do it differently. As I mentioned earlier, I would choose a morning tour for our family’s current stage of life. If your kids are night owls and can comfortably stay up for fireworks, then ending the evening with the VIP viewing area may be perfect. But if your kids are anything like mine right now, I think a morning tour that takes advantage of rope drop and lower morning crowds might be the better use of your time.
The other thing I’d change is using the VIP Tour across multiple parks. To get the biggest bang for your buck, I think I would purchase Park Hopper tickets and use the VIP Tour in both Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. I would share our must do rides with the guide in advance and maximize the tour by using their expedited attraction access and VIP transportation between parks.
Disney World VIP Tour Review
If budget isn’t a concern, a VIP Tour is a no brainer. It saves an incredible amount of time and allows everyone in the group to be more present. If you’re on the fence because of the cost, I’d ask yourself one question: Is someone in your group willing to learn the Lightning Lane system and spend the day managing your family’s every move through the Disney app? And when I say every move, I’m not exaggerating. Because without either a VIP Tour or a solid Lightning Lane strategy, you’re likely going to spend a lot of time standing in lines and feeling frustrated by the end of the day.
If you’re still unsure whether a VIP Tour makes sense for your family, feel free to reach out. I’m always happy to help you think through the options. I’ll share our full Disney World itinerary and overall trip experience soon, and I’ll link it here when it’s published.
In the meantime, if you’re looking for help planning a Disney World vacation, I’d love to help.
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I’m not Disney obsessed, and I haven’t spent years memorizing every ride strategy or hidden Disney secret. I’m just a regular mom who wants families to have great vacations and after experiencing Disney World for myself, I truly believe every family deserves the chance to make those special memories together.
FAQs
How much does a Disney World VIP Tour cost?
At the time of our trip, Disney VIP Tours cost $750 per hour with a 7 hour minimum and 10 hour maximum. Pricing can vary by date, so it’s always best to confirm the current rate directly with Disney.
Can you share a Disney VIP Tour with another family?
Yes. A VIP Tour can accommodate up to 10 guests, and many families use Facebook groups or personal connections to find another family to share the cost. We shared ours with a family of four and had a wonderful experience.
Does a Disney VIP Tour include Lightning Lane access?
Not exactly. VIP Tours use a separate system that allows guides to escort guests through expedited entrances at many attractions. While the experience is similar to Lightning Lane, it is not the same product offered to regular park guests.
Would I book a Disney World VIP Tour again?
Yes, but I would do it differently. For our family, a morning tour would have been a better fit than ending with fireworks, and I would likely use the tour across two parks to maximize the value.
