Should You Book a Disney VIP Tour? All Your Questions Answered
Updated in January 2024
Have you ever wondered how much it costs to go on a Disney VIP Tour?
If you dream of getting escorted around the park on a Disney Private VIP Tour, but you want to know what it costs and whether it's worth the money, keep reading! I'm sharing all about our family's experience with a VIP guide.
For many people, visiting Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida is already a dream vacation, especially for those with little kids. There’s something about walking through those Disney gates that turns even the grumpiest adult into a child who believes in magic.
This past summer, Chevrolet invited our family to experience that magic on the Ultimate Walt Disney World vacation and road trip to Kennedy Space Center. You can read all about that here. The biggest surprise, though, was the 8-hour Disney VIP Tour they provided us with on the last day of the trip.
To be perfectly honest, I didn’t even know this tour existed until I saw it on the itinerary. I did a quick Google search and my jaw dropped when I found out what the tour entailed.
Now that I’ve experienced the tour for myself, I thought I would share my thoughts and the facts about the tour so you can make an informed decision about whether or not you want to include a VIP tour on your next Disney trip.
Everything You Need to Know About the Disney VIP Tour
What is the Disney VIP Tour?
The VIP Tour is an experience where you get a private tour guide to help you plan and experience your day at the parks in the most efficient manner possible. You'll get a customized experience at Walt Disney World Resort where you get to use the Lightning Lanes for most rides, visit multiple theme parks with private transportation, get inside information from your VIP Tour Guide, and get the royal treatment.
Your “Plaid” (as they are called thanks to their plaid vests) will pick you up from your hotel and take you to whichever park or parks you want to see. Your itinerary is completely customizable. Plaids have access to back entrances, so right from the start you’ll be saving time and skipping lines.
How Much Do the Disney VIP Tours Cost?
As you can imagine, the VIP Tours are not cheap. The hourly rate for the tour is between $450 and $900 per hour, depending on the season, and requires a minimum of 7 continuous hours. The cost of the tour with the 7 hour minimum would be $3,150, and that can be for a group of up to 10 people. Of course this will vary by time of year, and whether you're visiting during one of the peak seasons at Disney theme parks.
In addition, it's important to note that the cost of the VIP Tour does NOT include park tickets, so each member of your group must have a valid ticket, and it must be a park hopper ticket if you want to see multiple parks on your tour.
So you might be thinking (like I was), “Who in their right mind would pay that much money to skip a few lines?”
And if that’s all the VIP Tour was - skipping a few lines - I would agree that yes, that’s an outrageous amount to pay.
But I’m going to tell you why I think it’s worth it for certain groups, and when it makes sense to book this tour. Our tour experience was so incredible that I would even consider paying full price for one at some point in my life. It was that good.
So yes, the Disney VIP Tour Services are a luxury experience. Hopefully, this blog post will help you decide if the VIP private tours are the best way to spend your hard-earned money for your next family vacation to the Disney Parks.
Our Experience with the Disney VIP Tour
As an introvert, I was actually kind of dreading the day of our Disney VIP Tour. My husband, the extravert who can talk to anyone about anything, was along with us on the trip but had to drive back home for that particular day due to work commitments. So it was me by myself with the three kids. And I was going to have to make small talk with a stranger all day? An introvert’s nightmare.
Because we were at a media event, our day began before the park opened in Hollywood Studios to ride the brand new Slinky Dog Dash rollercoaster. We were with a larger group of travel writers and bloggers, so we rode the coaster and then grabbed some breakfast at Hollywood Brown Derby where we met up with our VIP tour guide.
As soon as we met our guide, Michael, my fears were immediately put at ease. He was laid back, easy to talk to, and best of all - GREAT with the kids. Right away he took command of the stroller and asked if there was anything we wanted to see at Hollywood Studios (which is where we met up with him). I gave him a few ideas and within seconds he had mapped out a plan of action to maximize our morning at our first park before heading to Magic Kingdom park.
My 3-year-old, Teddy, really struggles with crowds and loud noises, so as you can imagine, Disney World was a challenge for him. He was over-stimulated and anxious a lot of the time there, and I kept apologizing to our guide, Michael about it.
But it was obvious that Michael was a pro. Not only did my child’s crying not bother him one bit, but he was instrumental in helping Teddy overcome his fears. We tag-teamed most rides, so I never felt overwhelmed juggling the 3 kids by myself.
Skip the Lines at Walt Disney World Theme Parks
Skipping the lines was probably one of the biggest factors in making our day more enjoyable, as kids notoriously get very bored very quickly when waiting in line for a ride. Not to mention I was holding a squirmy one-year-old most of the time who just wanted to practice his new skill of walking.
Thanks to our Private Disney VIP Tour, we spent less time waiting in lines and more time riding favorites like Dumbo, Peter Pan, and Haunted Mansion. Now that our kids are older, we would likely want to get to the front of the line for rides like Cosmic Rewind, Flight of Passage, Space Mountain, Rise of the Resistance, Test Track, and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
Other Perks of the VIP Services (Beyond Skipping Long Lines)
By the way, when I say “we skipped lines” it just means our “Plaid” gave us access to the Lightning Lanes, so our waits were much shorter than they otherwise would have been. But as I mentioned above, having access to unlimited Lightning Lanes for the day is just a small part of what the tour entails.
Efficiency and Maximizing Fun
One of the biggest perks of the VIP Tour is getting to benefit from the experience of someone who knows Disney World inside and out. Someone who has the best strategies for maximizing enjoyment and fun!
Michael took it upon himself to make sure the kids were getting out of the sun every other ride, a strategy I might not have thought of on my own in the chaos of managing kids.
Snacks and Waters
Michael would run to get us cold water once I stopped to reapply sunscreen on the kids and realized that our reusable water bottles were empty. He also pointed out the best spots for snacks and meals that he thought the kids would enjoy.
When he drove us from Hollywood Studios to Magic Kingdom, his van was already equipped with car seats. Upon arrival at Magic Kingdom, a crew of fellow plaids was waiting to greet us like royalty, and hand us cold waters and snacks. (Honestly, that was one of the highlights of the trip for my kids - picking out as many snacks as they wanted from that basket).
Exclusive Access to Backstage Areas
When you're on a VIP tour you get to enter the parks through the backstage entrances so you don't waste any time! You're not allowed to take videos or photos in the backstage areas, but it feels so special seeing the cast member entrance!
An Expert Kid-Wrangler
To me, the most valuable part of the VIP tour is that your guide becomes like another member of the family - but a family member who knows all the secret tips for getting the most out of your day at Disney.
As I mentioned above, my 3-year-old was very shy and easily overwhelmed. At the beginning of our VIP Tour, I was worried that he would cling to me all day, making the tour not quite as enjoyable. But Michael slowly worked his way into Teddy's good graces, and by the end of the tour, my shy 3-year-old was requesting to sit next to Michael on all of the rides and holding his hand in line.
Royal VIP Treatment
Toward the end of our 8 hours, Michael led us to the VIP Viewing Area for the parade in Magic Kingdom (pictured below), then got us popcorn and water while we got settled in. It was the perfect end to our tour, and when he dropped us back off at our hotel, it felt like we were saying goodbye to a close friend. The kids still talk about him to this day - and it's 6 years later as I update this!
Pickup and Dropoff
Your Personal VIP Tour Guide will pick you up and drop you off at your Disney Resort, so it's a great way to start and end your day.
What's the Biggest Benefit of Disney's Private VIP Tours?
Aside from the obvious answer of skipping lines and packing everything you want to do in a few hours, the biggest benefit to me was that I didn’t have to think or make decisions all day long.
Listen, Disney is magical, I won’t deny that. But when you are the deciding adult in charge of the happiness and well-being of three very dependent little ones, the parks start to lose a little of their magic.
Constantly having to weigh wait times versus everyone’s hunger levels and whether the toddler will stay in your arms that long is exhausting. Constantly having to navigate the park, choose what to ride and what not to ride, what shows to see and what to skip, and which characters to wait in line for is so draining. All of this while your kids are whining about walking too much and snacks and thirst and the heat….yikes.
But having a Disney VIP tour guide with you takes that burden off of your shoulders. You’re free to experience the Magic of Walt Disney World with your kids. You’re free to be present and share the experience with them rather than being stuck in your head mapping out the next 2 hours.
You tell your guide what’s important to you, and they put a plan immediately into action. Whether you're looking for the ultimate day of thrills VIP tour or you just want to minimize long waits with little kids, your personal guide will take care of everything for you.
These are incredibly experienced Disney cast members who know the parks like the back of their hand. They can fill in the blanks and suggest rides or shows you didn’t even know you wanted to do (but they’re always right!)
Yes, how the day goes is up to you, but I would highly suggest giving your Plaid a list of must-dos and letting them run with it.
Who are the Disney World VIP Tours for?
I don’t think every family on every trip would benefit from the Disney VIP Tour. There are a few circumstances where this would be far more beneficial and worth the extra money spent.
The Disney VIP Tour is for...
people who are not very familiar with Disney World but have a very limited amount of time at the parks.
people who don’t want to spend hours researching Genie+ park strategy, must-dos, etc. This is for people who are willing to pay someone else so that they can enjoy the vacation with their family.
families who are on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Disney World but still have young children. This is because little ones don’t have the stamina or patience of middle school/high school-aged kids. You can’t push them to the limit without suffering consequences. With a VIP Tour, you can avoid lines, get tons of extra perks, and still do everything you wanted to do (and more!) in a shorter amount of time, and still get back to the hotel for an afternoon nap or swim.
families who are visiting with other family members or friends and are willing to split the cost of a VIP Tour for an ultimate day of fun at the parks. (As long as the total of both families is 10 people or less, including infants).
families for whom money is no object and they want the ULTIMATE magical day at the park. They are willing to pay extra for the very best experience.
As our tour guide pointed out, yes, the Disney VIP Tour is expensive. However, it could potentially save families an extra day at the parks because they’ll be able to fit more into a day. You could use this extra day to enjoy your resort or take a day trip to a nearby beach.
Is the Disney VIP Tour Worth the Money?
I’m not sure I can answer this accurately for you, since Chevy covered the cost our our tour. Of course, it was one of the most memorable experiences of my life, and of course, our kids still talk about it all the time. But we also didn’t agonize over the cost or save up for months to make it work.
So all I can say is that you have to decide if what I described above is how you want to spend your hard-earned money. I hope sharing our experience helped inform your decision!
Plan Your Disney Trip!
Why not make your Disney Vacations even easier? We are planning a big family trip to Disney World this summer now that we're a family of 6! (When I first wrote this post we had 3 kids - now we have 4, and the youngest is almost 4 years old!)
This time we're having Royal Carriage Vacations plan our trip for us! Royal Carriage Vacations is a Luxury Disney Travel Agency that plans every detail of your trip for you at NO EXTRA COST to you! Royal Carriage Vacations can handle all the details of booking a trip to Disney World, including booking a VIP Tour for you!
I would highly recommend the guide we had. He was knowledgeable, great with kids, funny, and shared some insider knowledge and entertaining stories of his time working as a Disney Cast Member. Just request Red Sox Michael as your tour guide (that was in 2018 so I hope he's still around!)
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Emily Krause is a Wisconsin-based travel content creator who writes about exploring the world with kids.
On A Mom Explores you’ll find the best family travel destinations, Disney World tips, and how to make travel with babies and toddlers a little easier.
Emily believes that exploring starts in our own backyards, and adventure can happen anywhere with the right mindset.
